K-Line Reading Crusader

I've seen this flyer about it:

I’m not a fan of streamlined steam, but this was a nice set.  Not scale-sized, but nicely detailed and more faithful to the prototype than the RailKing version.  IIRC it had the correct two observation cars and the front one dovetailed into the tender shroud, just like the prototype.

This was one of at least three Reading-themed sets K-Line did for the Boscov’s Department Stores.  The others I know of were the “Schuylkill” passenger set headed by the train set (Marx) Pacific, and a reasonable representation of the Joanna mine turn headed by a GP38 in the final Reading solid green.  Most of the rolling stock in the GP38 set was scale-proportioned.  As a Reading fan I liked all of these!

It was unique.  I'd never seen a front observation car before like the one in this set.  I believe this passenger set was one of K-Line's most beautiful sets!

Wasn't the purpose of the observation cars at both ends to avoid having to wye the train at each end terminus?    

I am working on converting 2 Weaver Crusader observation cars into post Reading Canadian National versions.  

VistaDomeScott posted:

Wasn't the purpose of the observation cars at both ends to avoid having to wye the train at each end terminus?    

I am working on converting 2 Weaver Crusader observation cars into post Reading Canadian National versions.  

Yes it was.  

It’s a really nice outfit Dan, I had one when I ran the smaller stuff.....very well built, ran like a watch. It sold rather quickly when I posted it. I got a little bit of a premium for it. I had a few of Kline’s semi scale equipment from their last hoorah.....it all was really nice stuff.....I’d rank Kline’s semi scale equal too or maybe even a wee bit better than the big two.....certainly a far cry from the earlier KLine stuff.......Pat

harmonyards posted:

It’s a really nice outfit Dan, I had one when I ran the smaller stuff.....very well built, ran like a watch. It sold rather quickly when I posted it. I got a little bit of a premium for it. I had a few of Kline’s semi scale equipment from their last hoorah.....it all was really nice stuff.....I’d rank Kline’s semi scale equal too or maybe even a wee bit better than the big two.....certainly a far cry from the earlier KLine stuff.......Pat

The last time I had any experience with K-Line stuff was in the late '80s.  I got out of "O" gauge in the '90s and only returned a few years ago.  K-Line made some very nice equipment while I was away.  Too bad they went under.  

The PRR museum in Strasburg has/had one of the observation cars. When I toured it, it was outside and un-restored.

I've upgraded a couple of these to TMCC and fan driven smoke, it's a nice set.  I'm doing a Weaver for a customer now, that's the scale sized one.

A couple of thoughts and recollections . First, there is a very well done article on the Kline and the Weaver sets in the TCA e*train archive that is really worth the time to read. It summarizes the history of the actual train and does a great comparison of both sets. IMHO, the biggest issue with Kline set is the OEM KLine sound system. It was a very early attempt before K-Line was licensed to use TMCC and Railsounds. (A few were actually outfitted with TMCC and Railsounds and sold through the KLine Collectors club.)

Prior to all Crusader sets being made, there was a pettion that was circulated at South Eastern PA train meets to make a Crusader set. This was at beginnings of the glory days of modern scale three-rail o gauge.

Apparently both KLine and Weaver took note. KLine had a history of making Reading Railroad items exclusively for Boscov's department stores for over a decade. The Crusader set was to be a pinnacle of those items. The cars were scale height and width but 15 inch length to Navigate 0-31 curves. The engine came with two pilots, on smaller for O-31 and another for larger radii. The engine was near scale but had a narrower cowling and an adapted semi-scale chassis, but could be easily mistaken as full-scale by anyone who was not an aficionado. The cars had detailed interiors which was a new innovation at the time. They did not include passenger figures like later KLine passenger cars. 1000 sets were made which was thought to be very limited at the time. The set had a price tag of $1000 which scarred the Boscov management but they pressed ahead. For Boscov's, this was a high price tag. There was a particular Boscov buyer who championed the production very hard. He felt they would all be sold over 2 Christmas seasons.

At the same time Weaver announced its Crusader set. The fully scale engine sold for $999 as did the fully scale passenger set which had green tinted windows but no interiors. I do not know how many were made but I would guess half or less of KLine production. As followers of the Reading Railroad are limited, both manufacturers were probably hurt by each others efforts.

But model train sales were very competitive at this time and MTH aggressively marketed against its competitors. So MTH introduced it's first Railking Crusader set at this time. The engine was a very accurately scaled-down model but the cars were mismatched. However, the engine sold for around $350 and the cars for $40 each.

The market was flooded with Crusader sets.

After the first Christmas season, Boscov's was left with more sets than they expected. Next year they decided to sell the sets for around $700 and they did not all sell. It was rumored, the buyer had serious health issues exacerbated by situation. I do not believe another KLine Boscov exclusive set was ever made again. The unsold sets were returned to KLine and were quietly sold to KCC members with TMCC and Railsounds.

I have a relatively small layout and run the Weaver engine with the KLine cars. They match up wonderfully.

I just purchased 4 BNIB K-Line Reading Crusader cars to compliment my MTH Railking Engine and Tender.

Then I made the mistake of googling the K-Line set and ended up getting a brand new set from Gryzbowki’s of Moosic, PA.

Don’t know if I’ll keep both but might end up selling the 4 new K-Lines I just got.

Went a bit crazy😆

Christopher, thank you for sharing this information about the Crusader sets.  The K-Line set was really spectacular, so it is a shame that it did not turn out well for Boscov's or its buyer.

Here is a contemporary K-Line advertisement for its set, "Better than BRASS ...":

Below is a 1998 article for that set, designated as K-1925, then forthcoming in 1999, in the K-Line collector's club quarterly:

The original set came in an impressive box:

And here is another ad for the upgraded set with TMCC and Railsounds that appeared in the Spring 2002 K-Line Connection quarterly, with the slightly different set designation of K-1925S - it says there were only 35 such sets available:

Here are some photos of the different engine/tender packaging and appearance for the later set:

Apparently, a limited number of the original sets came with numbered prints of the Crusader, of which only 25 were available:

If anyone has additional information about this print, I would like to know more.

David

Not to give Weaver's outstanding scale model short shrift, here is a page from a Weaver flyer promoting it, and a few photos of the actual models - note the matching blue trucks on the passenger cars, and the prototypical dual observation cars ## 1 and 5:

David

When this model came out I was fresh out of college,  and broke as a spoke.

I grew up with a Reading address but this offering really only caught fleeting attention from me at the time.

I could appreciate it's beauty but even now $1k for a single train wouldn't really fly.  Also the 054 curve requirement really curtailed the available audience for this beautiful set.

Luckily for me at the time, my sister in law was working for Boscov’s so I bought it through her employee discount. In 2009, I had a long lay-off, and took many photos of my trains to post on the Weekend Photo Fun. Here are a few from that time.

Here she is. Photos taken with my iPhone 3G. I have the train posed on Fast Track I got with my Polar Express set.

A co-worker showed me his set. They were numbered from what I remember. I had never seen a model train before with so much to show off... in a part like the shrouded tender, that hardly anyone would ever see.

as you can tell, so took the pics at night, so I am using all the room light, plus enough power in the train to allow the interior to be illuminated.

Unlike the Weaver model pics shown in another post, the coach exterior is reflective, like a mirror. That made taking pictures like this difficult. I wanted to show off the interior, but instead you can see my hand on the telephone.

Yes I actually have the set and really do enjoy it. I wouldn't say it is the most accurate model, but a good one none the less. I did two videos on me upgrading it to tmcc. I wouldn't call it my best work as I was younger, but it isn't awful.

FYI, steamers don't turn off the headlight when reversing.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

FYI, steamers don't turn off the headlight when reversing.

I have since then hooked it all up to your super chuffer for rule 17 and it is LED now. Doesn't do that anymore. 👍

That's a good thing.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

That's a good thing.

I use your products in all my full fledged upgrades. Am going to be attempting something very cool with your Chuff Gen very soon. 👀👀

love my set,,,,upgrated to ps3 per gunrunner ,,,which reminds me ,,i need to run mine,,ps the cars are super nice

@Sid's Trains posted:

Yes I actually have the set and really do enjoy it. I wouldn't say it is the most accurate model, but a good one none the less. I did two videos on me upgrading it to tmcc. I wouldn't call it my best work as I was younger, but it isn't awful.

Some-bay-dy in New Jersey is selling the set on a popular auction site right now - perhaps inspired by this thread?

David

@Tim O'Malley posted:

Luckily for me at the time, my sister in law was working for Boscov’s so I bought it through her employee discount. In 2009, I had a long lay-off, and took many photos of my trains to post on the Weekend Photo Fun. Here are a few from that time.

Here she is. Photos taken with my iPhone 3G. I have the train posed on Fast Track I got with my Polar Express set.

A co-worker showed me his set. They were numbered from what I remember. I had never seen a model train before with so much to show off... in a part like the shrouded tender, that hardly anyone would ever see.

as you can tell, so took the pics at night, so I am using all the room light, plus enough power in the train to allow the interior to be illuminated.

Unlike the Weaver model pics shown in another post, the coach exterior is reflective, like a mirror. That made taking pictures like this difficult. I wanted to show off the interior, but instead you can see my hand on the telephone.

It’s a very nice set. I actually just bought a BNIB Crusader from a PA hobby shop. I was a bit surprised that it didn’t come with track and transformer. My K-951 transformer will run the train but the chuff rate is off. I’ve tried other transformers that correct the chuff rate but don’t operate the horn/bell.

Manual mentions a K-954 with 110vac. What transformer did you use?

Thanks

Elliot GB:  With that set—up on my bed, I think I used the  CW80 transformer from my Polar Express set.
I don’t think I ran the train around the loop more than a few times. I found out about it’s poor quality sound, and was told by a couple of men who worked for K-Line to get a Lionel sound board. In their words, Lionel was the best. I never got around to buying the sound board, and can’t remember taking the train out of the boxes since then.

According to the NORAC operating rules:
"22. Engine Lights
A. Headlight The headlight facing the direction of movement on every train and engine must be displayed brightly by day and night. Engines in yard service must display the headlight to the front and rear, by day and by night."
The engineers do this on the steam locomotives.

The K-951 transformer is limited to a maximum output of 40 Volt-Amps:

The K-954 transformer, referred to as a "High-Powered" transformer in the K-Line catalog (see attachment), puts out 110 Volt-Amps, or nearly 3 times as much juice:

An MTH Z-1000 or Z-750 transformer would probably do the trick, also.

David

@Sid's Trains posted:

I use your products in all my full fledged upgrades.

Very nice loco and cars, Sid!  Did you ever repair the lighting in that last observation car?  I recall that, at that time, K-Line used what it called "Streamlighting," which consisted of a strip of 8-10 tiny, clear incandescent bulbs.  Unsure if those lights could be replaced individually or if they were in series and all went out when one blew.

@RadioRon posted:

Very nice loco and cars, Sid!  Did you ever repair the lighting in that last observation car?  I recall that, at that time, K-Line used what it called "Streamlighting," which consisted of a strip of 8-10 tiny, clear incandescent bulbs.  Unsure if those lights could be replaced individually or if they were in series and all went out when one blew.

Thanks. I did repair the lighting in that car with a new board. Though now I am upgrading all the cars to LED lighting with capacitors.

Former Member posted:

Anyone familiar with the K-Line Reading Crusader K-1925 ?

Looks like that, in the past year, the person now categorized as a "Former Member" never returned to review the many comments and photos he was provided.   

@Tim O'Malley posted:

Elliot GB:  With that set—up on my bed, I think I used the  CW80 transformer from my Polar Express set.
I don’t think I ran the train around the loop more than a few times. I found out about it’s poor quality sound, and was told by a couple of men who worked for K-Line to get a Lionel sound board. In their words, Lionel was the best. I never got around to buying the sound board, and can’t remember taking the train out of the boxes since then.

Tim,

I appreciate the response. I have a variety of transformers, one being a step down from the 954 along with an MRC and Z-1000, none of which allows the train full functionality. I have to use one to work the horn and bell, the other 2 don’t. I’m trying to get the 954. Not many around. I still love the set but the sound such as it is does leave much to be desired 😉