K-Line Parts Inventory...Where did they end up?

Don. I am not sure but I thought TRAINZ has a limited amount.

Don...  I think you might be right, now that I've thought more about it.  I'll send Trainz an inquiry...see what happens.

KD

@dkdkrd posted:

Don...  I think you might be right, now that I've thought more about it.  I'll send Trainz an inquiry...see what happens.

KD

I will second that you are on the right track.  Trainz did buy out Brasseurs inventory. They have been slowly but surely been adding to the K-Line parts inventory shown on their website.  It seems like about 50-100 parts per week for 6 months or more.  Some items have sold out within a few days to a few weeks depending on number of parts available and desirability.  Some are just there for now.  The best luck I have for finding an item at Trainz is putting in the description, ie. "K-Line handrail" and then choosing the "Train Parts" click box in the left column area.

Just checked and they have 931 K-Line parts listed on the Trainz website.

Give it a try, they may have the parts you are looking for.

Wow!...That didn't take long!!  After sending an email to Trainz they within an hour (1) confirmed  they acquired the K-Line parts from Brasseur's, and (2) without knowing the specific p/n being sought, they're not staffed for the type of search I need.

They claim having 15,000 parts in their parts department, adding more every day.   I can, however, do my own sort-and-search of their K-Line parts that have been posted, I'm told.  More being photographed, posted over time.

Time to think about formulating a 'Plan B'.

Here's the situation...

Bought a K-Line Berkshire, ATSF 4198, the cool Coffin heater version, a few years back...secondary market, of course.  Poor baby had apparently tried sky-diving off a train table, or answering a cornfield meet dare.  Long story shortened...bent/loose parts corrected...runs, sounds, pulls like Igor, the champ!  (Net price for the initial adoption and corrective surgery was a classic 'steal'. )

But the bell/number boards assembly that sits low on the pilot lost two of its 3 number boards.  By then, K-Line was going through death throes.  Frankly, I decided the massive engine number, 4198, boldly printed on the side of the tender sufficed as adequate engine ID for the little 1:48 hostlers, engineers, firemen, etc..

Then Lionel bought the tooling, reissued the engine in matching ATSF paint/lettering, but as engine 4199, a valid prototype sister.  Checked Lionel's parts listing...and there was the assembly part number and excellent photo...of bell/number boards assembly 4199...in stock, even!  There's actually 3 number boards on that part.  Change the last digit??...not typically in my skills inventory!

But, I thought, perhaps, that knowing the Lionel (4199) version of the assembly might be a great way to search the equivalent K-Line parts exploded views (?), parts listings (?), and inventory.

Ah, well, maybe it's not a hill to die on.  If I can determine the identical number font style, perhaps I can fudge and print some new decal overlays, put on the ol' Optivisor, cut some clear lenses, attach the decals, etc., etc., etc..

Guess I'll put it on the Cottonelle Bucket List.

Thanks for the help/info/suggestions.

KD

@dkdkrd posted:

Then Lionel bought the tooling, reissued the engine in matching ATSF paint/lettering, but as engine 4199, a valid prototype sister.  Checked Lionel's parts listing...and there was the assembly part number and excellent photo...of bell/number boards assembly 4199...in stock, even!  There's actually 3 number boards on that part.  Change the last digit??...not typically in my skills inventory!

I would buy and install the Lionel Part and see if anyone notices.

You could also use it as a "what's wrong with this picture" test.  Show a kid the Loco and give them 30 seconds to figure out what isn't right with it.  To make it fair give adults 5 minutes.  LOL

Try this website, it may require some digging but there's alot of good info here. Not sure about specific part numbers though

http://www.legacykline.com/ords/otmapps/catalog.html

“But the bell/number boards assembly that sits low on the pilot lost two of its 3 number boards.  By then, K-Line was going through death throes.  Frankly, I decided the massive engine number, 4198, boldly printed on the side of the tender sufficed as adequate engine ID for the little 1:48 hostlers, engineers, firemen, etc..

Then Lionel bought the tooling, reissued the engine in matching ATSF paint/lettering, but as engine 4199, a valid prototype sister.  Checked Lionel's parts listing...and there was the assembly part number and excellent photo...of bell/number boards assembly 4199...in stock, even!  There's actually 3 number boards on that part.  Change the last digit??...not typically in my skills inventory!”

Are the numbers on the headlight painted on or plastic inserts that let the light through? If the latter they can be pushed out and placed in the replacement headlight.

As for the last digit on the front number board many times a decal sheet will have digits that small or just close up the 9.

Pete

I print numbers on my laser printer white on black, cut them out, glued them to the existing number boards after removing the old numbers, and then a couple coats of clearcoat.  With a little care, they can look pretty close to the stock number boards.

John...

That's something I thought I might try.

The side pair of number boards are/were printed on clear plastic 'wedges' inserted into the casting, as Peter alluded to.  This allows the numerals to be lighted.  One board survived the punch to the nose, the other did not.  I'm going to see if I can cut a clear plastic wedge for the vacant board.  Maybe then I could figure out how to print (ink jet) a black mask with clear numbers on white decal paper.

The Lionel 4199 part is listed at $25...plus shipping/handling, of course.  For the time saved in figuring out the above DIY solution, it's an OK price to pay.  OTOH, were the K-Line 4198 version of the assembly available, and at a price much higher, I would think twice...or more...about spending money vs. time.  I have my limits of both when entering a project.

BTW... Jim! (Mainline Steam)  I've considered your idea, too.   Re the potential challenge...Do you really think 5 minutes would be long enough???

Later...

KD

Being lazy, I'd buy the wrong numbered board and just remove the numbers to do my renumbering trick.  I did that a couple of times, for the pilot mounted wedge headlight for articulated steam.

In a clutch, I have 3D printed a number of "plastic" MTH, Lionel and a few K-line parts in resin.

However, printing requires a bit of work designing an accurate part-model to print, printing, clipping off support sprues and painting since I print in gray, clear and flexible resin.

It would be much better if TRAINZ made their K-Line inventory available.

Here is the last published list from Brasseur's

Maybe an easier solution is to print the number(s) on inkjet-printable transparency film and cut/glue in place.

@DaveP posted:

Maybe an easier solution is to print the number(s) on inkjet-printable transparency film and cut/glue in place.

Dave,

Good idea!!  Unfortunately I don't believe I have any such clear film anymore.  Back in the early days of PowerPoint presentations using clumsy overhead projectors I had a modest supply of the same.  Then it all ran out...as well as my pre-retirement need for it.   Maybe I need to make a trip to Staples.

OTOH, I have some ink-jet clear decal film.  I think it may work in this case.  I've found a reasonable facsimile for the railroad Roman numerical font...Bell MT...and have created a black masked '4198' image with, I believe, clear numerals.  I'm zeroing in on the o/a sizing using regular paper and the printer's re-sizing tool.  We'll see how it goes.

Fortunately both side-facing number boards can't be viewed simultaneously.  So this replication will be close...but not necessarily a perfect complement to its mate facing the other direction.  Hey, the guys at the shop didn't give me the alter-moniker of 'Lucas Gudinov' for nothing!

KD

Thought I'd close this mini-project out by giving a quick summary of acceptable success...IMHO, of course!

To review...

The remaining remnant of a nose encounter with some immovable object was a missing number board on the left side of the headlight/bell/and 3-board detail attached to the pilot deck.  I was able to shape and polish apiece of clear plastic to fit the board mount cavity on the casting.  But coming up with an acceptable way to provide a 'matching' "4198", as on the right side was the final hurdle.  The decal numerals had to be translucent, since it was through-lighted by the headlight bulb. It's proximity to the forward-facing un-lit board meant that a matching numerical font would look the best.  So, here's how it looked for the last couple of years...until it recently rose to the top of my bucket list of trivial pursuits!...

And, here's the other right side, defining my goal...

Well, I first searched numerical fonts in my WORD listing to see if I could come close to the Railroad Roman style, since that specific font was not on the list.  I found a couple that were close enough.  The black mask was to be opaque, the letters 'clear' or translucent, but legible white when the headlight was off.  I found a menu option that maximized the contrast between the font and the background field (mask).  As printed on paper it seemed to be what I needed.  Our printer has a custom re-sizing feature in !% increments making the reduction to fit an easy task.

I have waterslide decal paper for our inkjet printer in two formats...clear backing and white backing.  I wasn't sure how translucent the white backing would be when lit, so I tried the clear backing first...

Not good!...for two reasons.  First, the black mask wasn't opaque enough.  Too much light was bleeding through the mask washing out the contrast with the numerals.  Further, the numerals being 'clear',  had no real clarity when the headlight was off!

So, we then printed on white decal film...

Acceptable success!  Not only was the black mask more opaque, but the numbers unlit were white and in good contrast to the black mask when unlit!

Not a perfect match to the right side number board, but as I said earlier, you really can't see the right and left boards simultaneously, so it's moot.

Good learning experience!  Another one crossed off the list!!

She's an awesome engine...pulls like a well-fed ox!

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.

KD (Lucas Gudinov)

FYI, I print them on plain 20# paper, white on black.  Then I cut it out, stick it to the plastic lens with canopy glue, and then some clearcoat.  The black ends up being really black when backlit.