Mystery K-Line/Lionel VRE Diesel

I have been a K-Line fan for years, and do not recall ever seeing this VRE GP38 for sale, so if was ever produced at all, it is certainly rare at the very least.

The other VRE products that K-Line sold, all three in the "Sounder" paint scheme, appears in the 2005 1st edition catalog, not long before the end of Maury Klein's company.  K-Line-By-Lionel products all had a 6-xxxxx model number (except the SD70Mac/SD75Mac club engines which were sold by K-Line and delivered by Lionel, which had a 2-xxxxx model number), so this model was apparently designed/planned before the Lionel takeover.  I do not think it was a Lionel product at all, as the Train World NJ webpage would indicate.

It appears from this old document floating around on the internet that your engine was listed in the 2004 1st Edition K-Line Catalog - see the O Scale Diesels section on page 2, right column, half-way down:

Lo and behold, it does appear in that catalog (though as a GP40, not a GP38), as does a Tri-Rail F40PH; but I cannot say I have ever seen either of these two engines for sale - must have been produced in very low numbers.

David

@David98 posted:

Lo and behold, it does appear in that catalog (though as a GP40, not a GP38), as does a Tri-Rail F40PH; but I cannot say I have ever seen either of these two engines for sale - must have been produced in very low numbers.

David

So it does! Good find...I figured it was in a catalog somewhere, now we wait to see if anyone actually has the model!

@David98 posted:

I have been a K-Line fan for years, and do not recall ever seeing this VRE GP38 for sale, so if was ever produced at all, it is certainly rare at the very least.

The other VRE products that K-Line sold, all three in the "Sounder" paint scheme, appears in the 2005 1st edition catalog, not long before the end of Maury Klein's company.  K-Line-By-Lionel products all had a 6-xxxxx model number (except the SD70Mac/SD75Mac club engines which were sold by K-Line and delivered by Lionel, which had a 2-xxxxx model number), so this model was apparently designed/planned before the Lionel takeover.  I do not think it was a Lionel product at all, as the Train World NJ webpage would indicate.

It appears from this old document floating around on the internet that your engine was listed in the 2004 1st Edition K-Line Catalog - see the O Scale Diesels section on page 2, right column, half-way down:

I've never seen it either and would love to do so!