MTH FM Trainmaster, Premier vs. Rail King

The current Premier FM Trainmaster is from all new better detailed tooling, the Rail King Trainmaster is scale size, though less detailed in areas like screening and handrails. 

MTH has done a very good job on both.  The Railking is a big bang for your buck.

BobbyD has it right.  The Railking is scale sized, although it is a clone of the version Lionel came out with during the postwar period, which gives it a nostalgic look but does have simpler (molded-in) detailing and with tin-plated handrails that are very toy-like by today's standards of scale if that's a standard you measure by.  It does have better detailed trucks than the postwar version though.

The Premier is all-new tooling with much improved accuracy and with roadname-specific configurations and separately-applied detailing such as lift rings & grab irons, see through screens, more realistic looking fuel tank, etc.

Both are good runners, but ultimately the choice between the two would depend upon your personal preferences between traditional/postwar looks or the more scale-detailed oriented looks.

I have 2 of each EL. Don't see any difference when they're moving from a couple of feet away

dobermann posted:

I have 2 of each EL. Don't see any difference when they're moving from a couple of feet away

The Postwar Lionel, Rail King, and Williams Trainmaster FM's (being eerily similar to each other) are very nice pieces and as Marty says the Rail King with Proto 2 or 3 are a real value.

Not to be repetitive - never stopped me before, though - the MTH RK and Williams FM Trainmasters are essentially models of a model: the PW Lionel Trainmaster, an engine that was good - even great - in its time as a scale model, but the tooling is very dated and crude when compared to the Premier and K-line versions.

I have a dummy Southern Premier TM - not only is it Southern Rwy-specific in some details (walkways in the pilot area), it is light-years ahead in general looks of the PW and its clones. I can tell the difference.  

Looking at the photos you can easily tell which is RK and which is Premier. IMO the Premier is well worth the extra $100 bucks. (pay no attention to the dust )

No comparison! The railing version is just another post war copy with better electronics. The latest ps2 premier trainmaster are detail specific to the road name. It even blows away the k-line model and it has 6 wheel drive! ��The railing version is only 4-wheelin it.��

The Premier also does not have the huge unprototypical body mounting screw on the front and back. That screw would be about 2 feet in Diameter in 1:1 scale!!!  I am surprised no one has mentioned that yet! But that aside, yes the Rail King scale is the best bang for the buck but the Premier would have all the road specific details.

Just to add more to the confusion:  Early Premier versions were Postwar clones which were later demoted to Railking Scale models when the recent version that SouthernMike has posted came out.

No comparison! The railing version is just another post war copy with better electronics. The latest ps2 premier trainmaster are detail specific to the road name. It even blows away the k-line model and the Premier model has 6 wheel drive! ��The railking version is only 4-wheelin it.��

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

No comparison! The railing version is just another post war copy with better electronics. The latest ps2 premier trainmaster are detail specific to the road name. It even blows away the k-line model and the Premier model has 6 wheel drive! ��The railking version is only 4-wheelin it.��

Exactly!   The new tooling Premier Train Master blows the old Premier tooled away.  The old tooling appears to be the  now RK version.

Here are some shots of my Southern and Pennsy new tooling Train Master(s).

Ron

Thanks for the overwhelming responses. I see the differences now especially with the photos. Not sure which way I'll go. I love detail but sometimes sacrifice it for price. Never questioned those screws on either end of the RailKing engines until now. Great history lessons and endorsements on this site!