MTH Railking imperial class A, was one produced?

Offhand, I don't believe MTH has ever produced an N&W class A in Railking. They have done in the Railking line the J, the Y6, 0-8-0s and 4-6-2s in N&W but I've never seen an A.  

Funny enough, MTH has made the A in their Premier line in every known variation. 

Lionel did make a Lionmaster Class A, in both TMCC and Legacy though if you have your heart set on an A that can make O31 curves.

Thanks for verifying that, I will check the lionmaster TMCC out and even perhaps consider the y6b.  

One more question please, as a conventional operator, am I missing anything significant between a lionmaster with legacy and one with TMCC?  I have a few locos with legacy but I have no TMCC units. Will I notice anything? Thanks. 

The Legacy model has a smoking whistle but has a sensitive throttle. The TMCC model runs pretty good, it would be hard to find it because i couldn't find one anywhere and that is when I bought the Legacy unit. 

No Class A in MTH Railking. The Imperial Y6B is a real winner. Not a fan of PS3 so I personally would go on the hunt for a PS2. Note the Imperial Y6B was issued twice with PS2 and at least once as a non-Imperial. The difference between the two is very noticeable. 

"...as a conventional operator, am I missing anything..."

Yes. 

And it's (TMCC or Legacy Lite) so easy.

Thanks Guys,

D500, I knew that was coming....  

Tim, you are right. the current snap shot of prices shows that the discount for the lionmaster class A TMCC is not much (maybe $250 for a 14 year old loco????) and as you say there are not many out there.  What do you think the market price should be for a class A lionmaster TMCC with odyssey? (not fair to answer whatever I will pay!)

SJC, I was not thinking of a Y6B but maybe originally but maybe now.  

I had the PS2 MTH RK Y6b. This was one of the best pullers I have ever owned. I did sell it only because of a focus on scale only. I still have the TMCC Lionel 1234 A. It is the only semi-scale locomotive still in my collection. Either, if not both are good choices.

I have the Lionmaster A and the MTH Imperial Y6B - both are great engines and two of the best available in the condensed world of 031 curves. The y6 looks to short, the A is beautifully condensed with great proportions.

I have an MTH RK Class A 30-1507-1 and yes it is in the Imperial Line.

With you also being a conventional operator, if good conventional performance is as important to you as it is for me, I would stay far, far away from PS3 steam. 

There is a software issue that causes the steam engines to literally lock up tight when using the direction button and/or throttle to slow/stop the train. It literally wreaks havoc on your traction tires, derails the train if going fast enough and the gearbox sure doesn't like it. 

MTH acknowledges that they know about the issue but told me they were not willing to invest the time and $$$ to fix it as no one runs conventional - everyone runs DCS now.....REALLY?!?!? 

A PS2 version should provide years of happy operation. 

RJT posted:

I have an MTH RK Class A 30-1507-1 and yes it is in the Imperial Line.

That is a C&O 2-6-6-6 Allegheny not an N&W Class A 2-6-6-4!!!

As Mike W mentioned above,  the Lionmaster articulated locomotives have a much better overall appearance (IMO) than the RK articulateds visually. Lionel seemed to do a better job of compressing the locomotives whereas the RK models appear 'stubby', too tall, and the like. They are all excellent performers however.

I had the Lionel smaller Class A and it was a real jewel. Eventually traded it for the scale version but was very pleased while I had it.

hokie71 posted:

Thanks Guys,

D500, I knew that was coming....  

Tim, you are right. the current snap shot of prices shows that the discount for the lionmaster class A TMCC is not much (maybe $250 for a 14 year old loco????) and as you say there are not many out there.  What do you think the market price should be for a class A lionmaster TMCC with odyssey? (not fair to answer whatever I will pay!)

SJC, I was not thinking of a Y6B but maybe originally but maybe now.  

300 to 350 the TMCC Big Boys and Challengers in he Lionmaster line are about that price.

check the forum sponsors and see if they got any around. Some find stuff they didn't know they had

I'd also recommend the Lionmaster line. I jave the newer Legacy version. It has amazing sounds and smokes like an MTH. The only drawback is if your used to super slow Legacy speed control, this doesn't have it. It still has speed control and can go pretty slow, but the throttle is touchy and it likes to start off at probably 5-8 smph. For me the appearance and sound make up for it.

Thanks for all the good feedback, here is a summary of what I have learned:

1) Everyone likes the appearance and performance of the Lionmaster class A.  Good price point!

2) The RK MTH Y6B  and the Allegheny units operate well, good pullers, but  avoid PS-3 (Hmm, I have one steam ps-3 now!).  Overall proportion and appearance of the MTH units may not be as attractive as the Lionmaster but still nice.

3) The suggestion from RJT made me think about the Alleghenies  with N&W road name.  I wonder if these ran long enough so the 8 or 9 that the Virginian bought from Lima survived and were purchased and operated by the N&W for a period of time?

Big Jim: My bad and stand corrected I miss read my inventory list and you are correct.