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Now that I'm home for the evening I got to go back and watch some of these videos...all of these cars and their different liveries are fantastic!

 

I really knew very little about the 21" cars prior to March but I'm glad I'm part of this club of folks who love them!

 

I did edit my post and put a few more pictures up. I might make a quick video this evening as they really are quite pretty, especially when in motion!

 

Keep the pictures and videos coming folks!

Originally Posted by mixerman:

amc dave- stockyard express has a 7 car set ,all nice boxes,w/the kline shipping boxes.they have an ad in the ogrr magazine every month for contact info. clyde lewis  always had a good relationship with kline when they were around - still alot of new origional stock at his store.-jim

Many Thanks Jim!!! But I doubt they will be $60 each. I had no business buying this car. But other than a nice Chessie T-Shirt I had bought nothing....having just spent some at a large train show a week before. It was leave with $60 in my pocket or this fantastic NYC OBS car....you see who won!

Dave...in my opinion the car you got is part of one of the nicest sets that K-Line made.  It would be worth getting the others in the set as they do come up for sale AND perhaps Stockyard Express has them.  In any case, for the cost of a top of the line steam locomotive, you could have the rest of the cars that are in the set....and the pleasure of watch those gleaming cars on the rails!!

 

Alan

It's an MTH Premier/PS2 (freight yard PFA) set from around 2001. Picked it up a few weeks back as I've been unable to find the Premier 4-stripe F3 set from around 2002...so this was a close second. Once I finally locate the F3 set (passenger station PFA) I'll use these with some of the D&RGW freight cars I've been picking up.

Those Rio Grande FTs are really nice!  I obtained an AA pair that are both (independently) powered and they have become some of our favorites. The MARS lights, illuminated side number boards, and FOUR streams of smoke from each A unit are great features that set them apart when running. The only improvement would be if we could change out the pilots for some with better scale appearance.

Would some from a Premiere F3 be a simple install?

Originally Posted by c.sam:

Those Rio Grande FTs are really nice!  I obtained an AA pair that are both (independently) powered and they have become some of our favorites. The MARS lights, illuminated side number boards, and FOUR streams of smoke from each A unit are great features that set them apart when running. The only improvement would be if we could change out the pilots for some with better scale appearance.

Would some from a Premiere F3 be a simple install?

Without getting too offtrack I wholeheartedly agree! Dual powered A units with 4 smoke stacks each make for quite a sight! And the MARS light and the illuminated side number boards are the icing on the cake!

That's a beautiful set! When I was talking with Gregory LePak at the Denver show in March he did whip out one of the books he wrote in the 70s, Vanishing Varnish, which had a section devoted to The Prospector. The paint scheme of the K-Line cars (and the brass video above) was third iteration of "The Prospector"  which ran from 1951 through 1967 (the first being a Budd car set which couldn't handle the mountain grades from 1941 to 1942 and the second being a FT let unit (same paint scheme as the FTs I have with matching passenger cars) which ran through the rest of the 40s). I can't find any information as to how long the trains actually were, but most photographs (in the book and those I've found online) typically show between 4-7 cars. Starting in 1962 they started with a piggy back service of up to 4 85' flat cars with 2 trailers each behind the rearmost passenger car.

 

One thing to note though is that the K-Line cars are (for the most part) accurate representations (#1231 being a combination, Mt. Timpanogos being a diner/lounge, Heber C. Kimball being a sleeper, and 1249 a dome/observation).


Oh, and my Heber C. Kimball car is missing one of the end doors.

 

Anyhow it's probably a good thing they didn't have 6-8 cars or else I'd be pulling my hair out trying to find them and/or would be trying to figure out how to plan for an even bigger basement layout!

I know this topic was started quite a while back but it seems even more "current" with the prices and demand we are seeing.  With the great looking Sunset/3rd Rail/GGD 21" cars and the Lionel 21" cars, the K-line 21 inchers just seem to still be in high demand...  Recent sales here on the forum and on the auction sites seems to be climbing!!

Alan

Okay so it's been established that the demand for the K-Line cars is high.  They made the best 15 inch CZ cars ever and the 18 and 21 inch cars are nice too.  My question is that if demand for these cars are so high why isn't anyone picking up the ball and running with it. I have one set of the 15 CZ and wouldn't take any amount of money for them.  I bought the entire set for 125.00 about 4 years ago and I haven't seen a deal like that since.

I am a huge fan of those cars and buy every one I can get my hands on.  I recently picked up a set of Lionel Southern Pacific (new) 18 inch aluminum cars  and they are fantastic.  A real thing of beauty.  I buy 18 and 21 inch cars.  I buy every one I can get my hands on.  I was always chasing the 21 inch CZ cars and two York shows ago I got lucky.  K-Line aluminum cars are everywhere in my house.  On the layout, under the layout, on the living room walls, stacked in the spare bedroom, and on the train room wall.

Years ago, my friend Kirk Mitchell (now passed)  from Just trains was selling them at his booth for $58.00 each.  I purchased a very large number of them.  Kirk sold me 3 Santa Fe transition cars for the same price.  I remember the first year the Orange hall opened and K-Line was in the corner near where Lionel is today.  They sold loose cars from sets.  I picked up 9 Santa Fe 21 inch full domes for $50.00 each.   Right place-right time.

I still buy them and will keep doing so.

 

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

When I discovered these cars, in 21", it seems like it was  just before K-Line folded.  I was immediately interested because K-Line offered a number of western roadnames, some still not offered by anybody else,  in striking colors.  I set out to get as many of the RPO's from the various roadnames as I could and was still doing that when K-Line closed.   I have never liked "shorty" cars, and also, when first offered, and they were being overproduced and dumped, I gleefully stocked up on K-Line "heavyweights" including a number of unlettered ones.  I kitbashed a couple into combines, which K-Line did not offer.  Wish I had gotten more of the aluminum RPO's, as I didn't get all of them.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

I am a huge fan of those cars and buy every one I can get my hands on.  I recently picked up a set of Lionel Southern Pacific (new) 18 inch aluminum cars  and they are fantastic.  A real thing of beauty.  I buy 18 and 21 inch cars.  I buy every one I can get my hands on.  I was always chasing the 21 inch CZ cars and two York shows ago I got lucky.  K-Line aluminum cars are everywhere in my house.  On the layout, under the layout, on the living room walls, stacked in the spare bedroom, and on the train room wall.

Years ago, my friend Kirk Mitchell (now passed)  from Just trains was selling them at his booth for $58.00 each.  I purchased a very large number of them.  Kirk sold me 3 Santa Fe transition cars for the same price.  I remember the first year the Orange hall opened and K-Line was in the corner near where Lionel is today.  They sold loose cars from sets.  I picked up 9 Santa Fe 21 inch full domes for $50.00 each.   Right place-right time.

I still buy them and will keep doing so.

 

Marty...you are the KING of passenger cars!!  I sure wish I would have been at that York you speak of above...WOW!  About 9 years ago I purchased a large number of K-Line 21" cars from Grand Central....namely the Hi-Level Santa Fe and Amtrack Superliner cars.  I also got the CZ cars and SP from them...averaged about $50.00 per car.  Now look at the prices!!!

Alan

I have the K-Line 15" B&O 4 aluminum  set with interiors and passengers and they are fantastic. Looking for some more cars to add to a train to be pulled by my new MTH PS-3 scale F-3's. The 18 and 21" cars are extremely nice, the nicest out there in my opinion, but the 15" cars rank right up there for those that can't run the longer cars.

VaGolfer1950 posted:

I have the K-Line 15" B&O 4 aluminum  set with interiors and passengers and they are fantastic. Looking for some more cars to add to a train to be pulled by my new MTH PS-3 scale F-3's. The 18 and 21" cars are extremely nice, the nicest out there in my opinion, but the 15" cars rank right up there for those that can't run the longer cars.

Thats the beauty of them - they have a "Premier" quality at a "RailKing" price.  And it's not just a matter of "can't";  I'd prefer to run a few more shorter cars that look better around the layout.  I "can" run the 21" cars, but I don't like the way they look on my layout.  

bob2 do you have the 3 rail take off trucks any for sale>

 

No- I gave them all away.  It seemed like tons - I think I 2- railed about 40 for the Museum.

Seeing the recent night time photos above makes me jealous - I got just about everything but the high levels and the Milwaukee set.

On the other hand, I am out of room for trains.

Yes, the 21 and 18 inch cars are  beauties and I enjoy seeing them on Marty Fitzhenry's layout, but for those of us who are space constrained we have to make do with the 15 inchers.  I must say that I really like them and have collected and operated the Canadian Pacific, New York Central, Rio Grande,Southern Pacific,Great Northern, New Haven, Pennsylvania FOM, and Baltimore & Ohio sets.  Just check out my site at www.lewrail.com for plenty of photos.

 

lewrail13C STREAMLINER CABINET 2014

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  • 13C STREAMLINER CABINET 2014

I think the reason why K-Line Cars are holding their value is simply because they where the best passenger rolling stock ever made and that holds true today.

Not only do they look great they track as beautifully as they look.

It's a shame K-Line did not concentrate on that part of the market and only offer a limited amount of engines and other rolling stock. I think they would still be around today.

Oh well, it was great while it lasted.    

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