MTH IMPERIAL RailKing ??

I have one & love it.

I have the RK Imperial PS3 version and it's one of my favorite engines.

Spence -

I had no idea that MTH had gotten the non-compound (simple) syncopated chuff

correct. I'm impressed. So far I have not heard a Lionel simple articulated get it right.

But, I didn't go the DCS route, so my MTH stuff tends to be used PS1-to-be-upgraded-to-ERR, and I'm out of touch with MTH steam.

RailKing Imperial engines are very nice and a very good value for the price. I don't have any steamers, but I do have a few diesels. All of my diesels are a bit larger than Postwar traditional size and also a bit smaller than the Premier scale versions. I would guess the steamers are about the same in size. I have seen a few RK steamers at my LHS and they are very nice and so is the price.

Silly question... I watched the video and specifically the behavior of the smoke. Is that how all Big Boy smoke performs, with them plumes sort of shooting one to the rear and one to the front. 

I too have an Imperial RK Big Boy and I truly enjoy it.

It is definitely bigger than a traditional Lionel engine.

And yes the Drivers go in and out of sync. And the smoke follows the sound.

bbsfdl60;

The issue with the smoke you found is caused by the smoke chimney having a shallow funnel to the 2 stacks in the shell. the smoke does not split evenly or pulse one stack or the other like a real Big Boy. Placing a slight blockage in the funnel can direct more smoke to the front and another there can make it shoot up without going forward. Note, High Temp materials needed for this.

RK Imperial is pretty cool.  Great detail, slightly compressed to it runs on tight curves.  The best of both worlds.

If you don't want true scale it's the best deal out there.  For the money the best detail and features.  I have two of their steamers, and I couldn't be happier about them.  Bigger than post-war, but not scale steamers.  The diesels are scale.

Alan

Ditto re the favorable comments for the Imperial Rail King. I have a few Imperial steamers. They run very well and look good.

Can any of you proud owners of Rail King Big Boys make a comparison for me please.  I realize that the MTH would be larger than the postwar steam engines that I have.  In the real world Big Boys would be larger than your average steam engine also but I'm curious to know if the they are approximately the same comparable size difference that would exist in reality. Hope that makes sense.

The RK Imperial diesels are not scale. The SD70Ace is actually an inch and a half shorter than the premiere SD70ACE . 

The MTH catalogue says the RK Scale and RK Imperial diesels are scale size. I don't have any of these locos and am surprised they are not as advertised. An inch and a half is a pretty big difference. 

suzukovich nailed it and is correct, the Imperial versions are smaller, but they still look larger to me than the postwar sizes. I also have some of each type and can verify this.

MTH states this correctly in the catalog. They actually say the Imperial versions are "traditional proportions" (or semi-scale) and operate on O-31 curves. The RK Scale specifically says they are 1:48 scale with less detail than Premier and still operate on O-31 curves. Imperial does not say that they are 1:48 scale. Go to page 9 of the 2015 v1 catalog and read the descriptions for each version. No where does it say the Imperial's are 1:48 scale versions. It also took me a long time to get this straight, had to read it a few times along with some actual product descriptions checking dimensions. I think possibly the fact they are on the same page gives one the impression they are both scale, but they are not.

Thanks rtr12 for setting that straight.  Imperial does NOT mean scale. Just much more than Railking detail.

These two 0-6-0 are a comparison.   The Shawmut Line locomotive is the Imperial.

Thanks, finally got something right. Even a blind hog gets a piece of corn once in a while.   

For size comparison, here are two ES44ac locomotives, one MTH Premier the other MTH Imperial RailKing...

Thanks rtr12, thanks Keith. I guess I didn't read the catalogue carefully enough. I assumed that there was a progression from Rail King to RK Scale to RK Imperial, with the last 2 1:48 scale, but you know what happens when you assume. The pictures make it very clear.

The 2 locos look exactly the same, Mike, though the tenders are different. Both are really nice.

I have 2 Imperial steam engines and think they are a very good value for the money.  They are at the top end of my budget.

You're welcome, as I said above it also took me a while to get it straight. Sometimes I think they do this to us on purpose. Keith's pictures really show a difference. I sometimes run the Imperial and Premier stuff at the same time and hadn't really noticed as big of a difference as it appears to be in his pictures, especially the bottom picture.

Greta value same sounds and smoke. go for it!!

Not all Imperial Rail King locos are scale. Some have abbreviated length to accommodate tight radius curves. My Imperial Y6b is an example of a locomotive with an abbreviated length. However Rail King locos typically have scale height and width.