I picked up my New York Central E-8 ABA set from MTH the other day, so I thought it might be interesting for people to see the Premier version side by side with the K-Line E-8s. Here's a head-on view of the two, with MTH on the left, K-Line to the right. Yes, there's a huge obvious difference which I'll get to towards the end! Otherwise they're both nice-looking diesels IMO. The MTH pilot is green like the real thing. (Disclaimer: when I refer to the "real thing" I'm basing it on the restored version I've seen here in NJ. Whether or not their restoration is prototypically accurate I can't say.) The grab irons on both are placed inside the word " Central" on the nose; the real version has the irons outside the "C" and the "L" The K-Line has these two "pockets" above each running board...I have no idea what they are. The real thing does not show anything like that, though it does have an inset square plate just below and to the left of the headlight.
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Here the side view, MTH on top. Fairly similar...the type face on the MTH is slightly larger and makes contact with the door frame whereas the K-Line is small and does not touch the frame. From the photos I've seen of the real thing, the MTH placement is maybe a little more accurate. The most glaring difference is the MTH model has, to the left of the front door steps, a logo "General Motors EMD Locomotive" (hard to see in these pictures, and in fact I had to get a magnifying glass out myself to read it while holding it right in front of my face.) And towards the rear, under the diesel number, are the letters "DPA-5E" Oddly, when searching for photos of the real thing I never saw an E-8 with either of these markings. Certianly not an exhaustive search on my part; maybe someone better versed in NYC history can explain.
Here you can see the "General Motors" logo more clearly on the MTH model, above. The K-Line version below has a tiny blank oval plate in that general area, so maybe they did acknowledge the logo but didn't add that detail to save time or money. The MTH model has more detail around the door frame, the K-Line has more rivets around the portal hinges. It's hard to tell from the photo but the MTH truck has more detail.
Here's an overhead of the roof, MTH above, K-Line below. Probably the angle showing the greatest similarity. One major difference towards the rear.
Here's a fun series of photos....the E-8s shot from straight on. The first is the MTH. 2nd is K-Line. And the third is the real thing. The comparison is probably imperfect because the real thing was shot outside, while the two "toys" were shot with whatever natural light was coming in my window, but you get the general idea. (Anyway, for comparison's sake, better to have the two O gauge versions shot under identical lighting.) And here's where we get to the obvious difference. The K-Line, in my opinion, is closer to the true Century Green color. Or at least truer to the Century Green that resulted in whatever restoration work the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey did to this unit. The K-Line color has a slightly "bluer" tint to it, I think, and therefore closer to the real-world model. But here they are, you can draw your own conclusions.
MTH
K-Line
The restored New York Central E-8
I apologize for any technical inaccuracies or mangled terminology. I'm no diesel expert. Those in the know who can point out corrections or explain stuff more clearly, feel free. I can tell you that I'm looking forward to taking my new ABA unit and placing it on the layout later today. It'll be nice to see an ABA setup of these beautiful engines, nice as the K-Line AA's are. I prefer the color of the K-Line engines, but I'm happy with both. They're both great-looking. There are differences between the two, both subtle and obvious. But I'm sure operators of either one are happy to own them!
- Mike
