I have decided that I am going to stick with mostly MTH trains because I have not been to impressed with Lionel. My layout does consist of Lionel Fastrack and has O36 & O48 curves. I am wondering if anyone could tell me what my best bet would be for this tight of curve, RailKing, Imperial or Premier? Cost is not a consideration for my decision and I like the nice detail but I want the trains to look right when rounding the curves. Any suggestions?
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Since you don't have all the large curves I would stick with the railking line also. I do have some of the premier diesels that are pretty big but I only run carpet central ....so its easy to put up some bigger curves once in a while....even though some of the larger engines will run on the smaller curves they look and run better on the bigger ones
Since you have tight curves, I personally would stick with Railking products. I have Railking products from all across the board with Rugged Rails pieces, standard Railking steam, Railking Scale diesels and Railking Imperial steam and diesel. My layout is 4x8 (see photo) and can pretty much accommodate any Railking locomotive which is not the case with Premier.
Well it's not that simple. I have 042 curves on a smallish layout(6x12) and my favorite engines are the Premier, an Atlantic and an H-10 both steamers and one S-2 Alco. All operate well on 042. If you are requiring your engines to run on the 036 and the 048 then that is a limiting factor and you should probably go with RK Imperial. I believe they all run on 0-31. See MTH's website for specific radius required.
I would love some bigger engines but my size limitations have forced me to stick with the smaller engines and earlier than later time frame. I will never buy an SD70 or an E8 or T1. As it is the 64' wood sided pass cars require 042 and they will not negotiate an 0-31 curve, I know I tried.
Like everything, you have to compromise somewhere. Good luck with your decision and I think you can still get the detail you desire with the limiting radius.
Since you have tight curves, I personally would stick with Railking products. I have Railking products from all across the board with Rugged Rails pieces, standard Railking steam, Railking Scale diesels and Railking Imperial steam and diesel. My layout is 4x8 (see photo) and can pretty much accommodate any Railking locomotive which is not the case with Premier.
If I were you, yes I would stick to Railking locomotives. Some Premier freight cars do fit in well with Railkings so that can be an option to you if you want to go that route.
There are Premier Steamers and Diesels that run fine on 048 and 031. Don't overlook them if you are interested in detail. Look at the smaller steamers and diesels. The MTH website indicates the track diameter for each one. The Railking F units look small compared to the others. Railking Scale is the same size as Premier but less detail.
The Imperial diesels look good on a smaller layout especially the SD70Ace
Mort
I bought my son the Railking Imperial GS-4. After running it I thought to myself I buy Premier WHY? On smaller radius layouts they are the answer.
Scott Smith
Another thing to consider is the overall relationship of your equipment's size to one another. As others have mentioned, the nomenclature can be confusing - Railking, Rugged Rails, RK Scale, Imperial, and the like. Premiere generally conotates 'true 1:48 scale' equipment. The Railking line generally incorporates various degrees of 'compression' or size reduction. If most of what you will have will be of the smaller sized equipment then the true scale (whether RK Scale or Premiere) can look slightly oversized.
If this is not a major concern (as it is with many of us) mixing them is fine. There are many Premiere engines and rolling stock items that can handle the tight curves and blend in well with the non-scale equipment.
Most of all its YOUR RR so have fun!
If this is not a major concern (as it is with many of us) mixing them is fine. There are many Premiere engines and rolling stock items that can handle the tight curves and blend in well with the non-scale equipment.
Most of all its YOUR RR so have fun!
If this is not a major concern (as it is with many of us) mixing them is fine. There are many Premiere engines and rolling stock items that can handle the tight curves and blend in well with the non-scale equipment.
Most of all its YOUR RR so have fun!
Nice looking layout. Thank you for your service!
Is there a certain railroad or era you are looking at?
Nice looking layout. Thank you for your service!
Thank you on both counts.
Is there a certain railroad or era you are looking at?
Well, I am trying to model anything Michigan. Originally I was going for MCRR with a modern twist. Now it is just anything Michigan.
You can do premier and get all the scale detail you want. You will have to stick to smaller prototypes like the 2-8-0 H3, 0-6-0's O-8-0's and even a pacific 4-6-2 when it comes to steam. Diesels could be GP7&9's, GP30's, etc. Just stay away from the larger prototypes. The most important thing is to have fun.
On Imperial mallets- articulated engines, Big Boy, Challenger,etc,both engine trucks articulate or move to go around tight radius layouts. The Premier engines pivot the front truck while the rear is stationary, as per prototype. Someone correct me if I am wrong as I do not own a Premier engine, yet.
Frank
I think the Imperial line could be compared to the Lionel Lionmaster line. Slightly smaller engines that can run on tighter curves with more detail and maybe features than the railking line.
I don't own a single MTH locomotive so unfortunately I can't recommend anything. Just bought my third car off of ebay though and so far I like them.
Cool to see somebody modeling Michigan stuff. I started getting a few Michigan things and had my Lionel 0-6-0 tank engine relettered to the DT&I RR. I figured since I live in Michigan, I might as well have some stuff for railroads that actually ran in Michigan.
Good looking layout too. I can see the small town Michigan influence (other than the big mountain 
). Small, but not too cluttered.
I guess one more thing to add, as David1 said, you can get away with running the smaller scale sized engines on those curves such as the Geeps or smaller steamers. As long as you don't go too big, you'll be fine.
Just to get the juices flowing, here's my RK Imperial 0-6-0 I repainted into a Seaboard engine:
I only wish MTH would offer more of these Imperial engines.
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