RailKing is King

@third rail posted:

Railking was the perfect idea for what we need in O gauge.  Cheap enough for a first time entry level train, detailed enough to compete  with the high priced boys, and still have the possibility of remote control via DCS on all 3 platforms, (ps1,2 and 3.)

And  Bill........they are the perfect three dimensional ' canvases ' for artwork and weathering .🤓

I most run Lionel but I have a MTH Railking Pacific Surfliner with the seven passenger cars and a ATSF and UP northern on the shelves for display. I been thinking of selling the BNSF/UP engines since I have scale ones but these engines are such a great value its hard sometimes.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

And  Bill........they are the perfect three dimensional ' canvases ' for artwork and weathering .🤓

You are so right.  Here are before and after pictures of my Railking NW2 that I weathered.

Bill, great weathering job!

Joseph you comment about RK providing a great canvas is so true.  Here's a couple of pictures of my K4 detail project. I was worried about adding 1:48 PSC detail parts to a model to a RK, less that scale model, but the bar pilot in particular was a perfect match.  I have more detail plans for this model, but this was took care of the major surgery...

Here's a picture of my M1a with a PSC pilot.  I'm obviously a Pennsy fan!

I admire the boldness, confidence and skill of those among us, not me, who take an already gorgeous RailKing model and weather it or modify it to make it better.

You know it's just like jumping into a swimming pool.  You're first afraid because you don't know what the water's temperature will be.  But after a few minutes everything feels fine and it becomes a fun experience. I  recently weathered a pair of Weaver ALCO C628's using acrylic washes.  I thought I went too heavy so I cleaned it up with alcohol and started over.

If you have any doubts,  look at photos of prototype locomotives and cars and draw inspiration from them. I wanted these two to look like they have been hauling trains of ore cars their entire lives.

The blue Conrail is my first MTH engine (PS1} I got getting back into the hobby in the late  90s (Jack, we're going right out the north end} The Sante Fe is one of my PS2s, You know I love the PS1 rail yard and passenger station sounds,and then PS2 was a jump forward and I liked them even more. I love the sounds of my PS1s and 2s when they idle,That's  why when I got my first PS3 I was so disappointed with the sounds (the operation and the detail is nice) but I won't be getting anymore PS3 if I ever get another engine,but I'm pretty much done buying stuff anyway.   I'm in the process of cleaning all my stuff (that's why the stuff has a little shine to it, I'm taking pictstures of all my stuff right after I clean them) But back to the thread, I love my MTH railking and it really got me back into the hobby and has given me many hours of enjoyment

RailKing is King ... actually many Kings on my railroad.    I love that MTH produced so many short line liveries  in their RailKing line not just in locomotives but also cabooses, and rolling stock.    RailKing scale locomotives are the best value  IMHO.  MTH produced the 0-4-0 Docksider in the RailKing line , and 2-8-8-2  Y6b mallet.   Below are the individual "Rail Kings" of my fleet.  

Baltimore and Annapolis SW9 with B&A caboose. RailKing Scale.

Patapsco and Back Rivers VO1000  RailKing Scale

B&O SW9 RailKing Scale

Canton RR SW1500 RailKing Scale  and caboose

MA & PA SW1

A real gem IMHO ... The Aerotrain.    Only major manufacturer to produce one of these trains.  

GP9 RailKing Scale

Docksider

Y6b mallet

Great topic, Arnold! And, a lot of great pix and replies!
At my (former, now disbanded, club), I was called the “Rail King” because that’s what I brought to run at the club, as it was what fit on my CBL. RK locos, and RK rolling stock. Especially loved the RK 6 car themed rolling stock sets. PRR, NYC, Southern, NH, GN are several I remember. Had a lotta problems early on with 5v locos, and got to know MTH’s repair guy, on a first name basis. Patronized a lot of dealers, but have to say, Mr. Sutter was my numero uno.

Ha ha ha. 😂  Well, I've gotten a real kick out of reading through this thread about how some of you think that "Railing is King." Only I thought everyone knew that LIONEL IS KING, especially its stuff manufactured from about 2000 through 2012. Oh well, live and learn, I guess. 😉

I have several RK subway sets:

One of the R-17s is mine; both converted to scale wheels:

No photos but I also have the Liberty Liner (converted to two-rail), two Zephyrs (Flying Yankee and Burlington) and a few other RK products.

@Transman posted:

The blue Conrail is my first MTH engine (PS1} I got getting back into the hobby in the late  90s. I love my MTH railking and it really got me back into the hobby and has given me many hours of enjoyment

I think you nailed it Joe.     That is what got me going in the hobby AGAIN.      I still like my post war stuff ,BUT, when I saw the operation of the RK ps2 dash 8 and the sounds and smoke, I was hooked.

I have many other iterations now but now that you mention it , I harken back to the memories of that first RK purchase.