Premier vs. Railking diesel-electrics

Railking has smoke, unless the engine is too small to fit the smoke unit.  Premier are more detailed - grab irons, walkway tread, see through screens. Many of the Railking diesels were former 1st generation Premier locos. The switchers you mention have scale dimensions.

There's some early Railking engines which had terrible proportions: SD60M, SD45, Dash8

I didn't see smoke units listed in those smaller units. Do the Railking switchers have crew figures? They don't show up as a feature nor in catalog pictures.

Hi have the SW-8 switchers.  MTH 30-20407-1 and MTH 30-20408-1.  They are the US Army and US Air Force switchers.  They have figures but no smoke units. 

Some of the Railking Diesels are NOT O scale. Some of Those are the SW1, Sw8/Sw9, Sw1500, MP15 as thier hoods are too wide and a bit too high like comparing Lionel Postwar NW2 to the Scale NW2.

NOte the Later Railking diesels made in the last few years have More detail that rival Premier diesels at a reduced price than Premier.

The Railing SW1500 assuredly does have a correct scale width hood (6 ft). The prototype's hood is 12 ft 6 ⅝ inches tall from the railhead. The model's hood scales 12ft 10 inches tall from the railhead so just 3 ⅜ inches off. The height of the prototype's hood from the walkway is 7 ft 2 inches and that of the model is 7 ft 5 inches so again, just 3 [scale] inches off. 3 scale inches at 1:48 = 1/16 inch (actual). Close enough to scale dimensions for my 70yr old eyes.

The MTH PS3 SW1500 is my favorite model locomotive.

Incidentally, the prototype EMD NW2 had a 7 ft width hood as did all EMD end-cab switchers until the release of the SW1500. The iconic Lionel NW2 has a hood width of (scale) 7 ft 8 inches.

Everyone: is it my observation that Railking diesels are head and shoulders above Lionel's various LionChief line diesels in terms of details, variety, and sounds? Granted, I've only been looking on-line at homemade videos on Youtube. It seems the prices of both companies diesels are comparable?

If my rather limited review is accurate, O-gauge is losing a really nice line of trains.

Paul, you just can't unilaterally say.  You might be able to say RailKing diesel sounds are better across the board.  Detail is a little more case by case in my experience.

I have a RailKing RS-1 which is one of my favorite engines in terms of detail and I own MTH, Legacy, and 3rd Rail.  By comparison, a very similar engine, the RailKing RS-3, is a massive step down.  It does have smoke but no crew figures (not even a cab interior) and a fraction of the separately applied details that the RS-1 has.

As Mike says you have to take them on a case by case basis. For a few prototypes like the SW1 MTH is the only option. It may not have scale dimensions but then most don't. I believe only the Weaver RS3 is scale. The rest of the RS3s, MTH and Lionel, are too wide or maybe the cab is too long to accomodate the motor.

Pete

I have mostly Railking but do have a Premier and Railking E-8 models.  I don't have any other models in both Railking and Premier but was surprised how big a difference there is on this model.   

When I didn’t have too many engines and was building my roster, I went strictly Railking.  Now that I do have too many engines, I lean more towards Premier.

In some cases, the difference in price between Railking and Premier is easy to justify.  The Alco PA1 is one example.  In other cases, the difference in price may not be worth it to everyone.

It’s easy to tell which Railking engines are scale.  The catalog describes them as Railking Scale and the website feature list says 1:48 scale proportions.  As has been said, some current Railking engines were once Premier.

The RS3 does not have crew figures because there is not enough room for them due to the motor cover.  Some RS3s have smoke, others don’t.  If an engine has smoke or crew figures, it will generally be included in the catalog and website feature list.

In my observation, MTH engines are priced about 20%-30% less than a comparable Lionel engine.

If you want a really neat little switcher, check out the MTH 44 Tonner.

And yes, we are losing a really nice line of trains.

Atlas, another choice, TMCC/Legacy  operating systems.  While there appears to be some limits to the O-scale models, still in business.  More expensive, IMO.