I have been lurking on ebay and I have noticed that K line TMCC locos appear to be considerably cheaper than Lionel. Is there a good reason for this? Thanks; Don
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As Lionel owns K-line, I guess they make a cheaper version so as not to compete with themselves. I have found that the old k-line products were smaller in scale than even the Lionel semi-scale. Probably still are.
K line locos have always been cheaper even when K Line still existed, probably too much so, contributing to the demise of the company.
With that in mind, if a K Line loco breaks, parts are becoming scarce, Lionel on the other hand has the best parts selection/service in the hobby.
K Line no longer exists,Lionel dropped them as well.
Having said that, it seems Lionel has aquired much of the K Line tooling for scale steamers. Lionel has been reissuing these locos with legacy under the Lionel name, albiet at a hgher price.
K-Line made both Scale and undersize engines. Lionel has rereleased many of K-Line's scale engines including Mikados, Berkshires, Shays, now the PRR A5. K-Lines versions were heavily discounted and most today are available at or below the discounted price. Lionel has priced them above K-Lines list price. This in part reflects inflation plus in some cases improved Legacy electronics. K-Line engines are solid performers with all of the detail of Lionel's copies. You can decide if the upgraded electronics are worth the price.
Pete
K-line used the same TMCC parts as Lionel. There are a few exceptions, such as the K-line "cruise" function. But the R2LC, Railsounds, DCDR, and motherboards were all the same as Lionel.
