Opinions on K-Line F40PH

I have six K-Line F40PHs and all three numbers they issued.  The one not shown is 322.  I like them a lot and the price is usually very good.  They are scale and represent the Phase II variation of the F40PH with the recessed fans.  In many ways it is more accurate than the MTH Phase I version.  It only has Railsounds 2 and as a result the horn is a Leslie A200 and not a KL5A.  The colors, while not correct are a lot closer than MTHs.

My only other complaints are that the front electro coupler sticks out too far and it is a little lighter than the MTH one.

MTH shown for comparison:

Thank you Jonathan.

Mine runs flawlessly, too. Mine came with TMCC, not all did.

Terry

@tcripe posted:

Mine runs flawlessly, too. Mine came with TMCC, not all did.

Terry

Terry,

Do you know which ones did not have TMCC.  All of mine do.... I think?

Jonathan,

Sorry, I do not know more. From what I heard, they had to stop using TMCC. A licensing problem? But some got sold before they couldn't be used any more.

Terry

I have not had any issues with my 1st Gen K-Line F40PH, but I did upgrade the sounds to get the turbo.  The first run was generic TMCC 567 non-turbo sounds and 3-chime horn.  One other thing I did do was reprogram the TMCC, and some other upgrades, as well.  The ditch light lenses should be pushed in from the inside, which is why they stick out so far, but haven't had a chance to do that, yet.  I also purchased a Circuitron power board and Amtrak flasher kits to install in this unit to try and get the correct strobes.

I like the metal snow plow, as well as the metal grab irons and handrails, especially on the rear of the unit in which the stanchions are mounted into the deck, rather than MTH's stamped metal sills and stanchion single piece, although the chrome isn't my cup of tea.

The shell, especially the nose cut outs, are correct, as we as GG1's mention of the colors, and add to that the front pilot has the correct number of steps (3).  MTH's missed on both the nose and front pilots, and only fixed colors in the latest catalog.  The 2nd Gen and newer K-Line units have cruise.

There are pictures and videos here: K-Line F40PH &...

The MTH F40PHs have their own benefits and issues; but we won't go and further in to that here.

Thanks!

- Mario

One of my favorite (prototype) engines... can't wait to get one of my own. This thread has been helpful. Thanks.

@CentralFan1976 posted:

I have not had any issues with my 1st Gen K-Line F40PH,
…
The 2nd Gen and newer K-Line units have cruise.

Mario, thanks for your review and videos.  I like when the train led by the Genesis comes by, it sounds like the real thing!

Alas I waited too long and the F40PH I was thinking about buying got snapped up by another lucky buyer.  The hunt continues…

I have a question.  I have never seen one of these engines but in looking through the K-Line catalogs I could not find one instance where they were described as 'scale'.  Generally about this time (2000) they were going out of their way to describe their new releases as scale if they were.  Did I miss something?

As near as I can measure, the unit's height and width are pretty close, but coupler to coupler length should be 14" but this is 15 1/4" kadees might take that down an inch total.

Terry

Going through my collection and finally pulled this custom painted K-Line F40PH out of the box.  While it does not capture all the details of the current rebuilds of the VIA F40 fleet, it is a wonderful paint job.  I wish I knew who repainted it.  I've owned this for about 6 or 7 years.