What did you think of your very first mth railking locomotive?

I moved up to O gauge in 2007 with a Railking RTR Southern passenger set. That little bantam engine still runs great, but doesn't get much track time anymore. I am now up to 30 MTH engines, including  RK Imperial, RK Scale, and Premier. Of those engines I have only had a problem with two (one RK, one Premier). Both were fixed under warranty, and the customer service was great both times. I have read the stories on here about the problems people have had with their service, but I have no complaints about my limited dealings with them. I highly recommend MTH's products to any one who asks about my trains.

I got a railking K4s back in the late 90's and I was impressed! With proto 1 and all, it was great.  The first "traditional" pennsy k4 that had the proper headlamp placement, belpaire firebox, and correct 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. (imagine that) . Sure, there were accurate brass 0-scale models out there but not for under 400 bucks....Still have that loco and it still runs great!

The first RailKing locomotive I bought was also the first MTH locomotive I owned. That locomotive was the C&O Allegheny with Proto-Sounds one. It was the first articulated locomotive I owned and thought it was amazing compared to the Lionel offerings from the same time period. Kudos to MTH for moving the hobby forward in the 1990's to a place I doubt Lionel would have ever gone without the competition.

My first MTH brand came direct from MTH. He still sold that way. It was a traditional size NYC F3 freight set with horn. My first from Mike was  Williams when he sold out of his house. Oh but I am a Lionel guy much more than MTH.

My first Railking locomotive was the Santa Fe 3000 Mohawk. I was blown away by the smoothness of operation and smoke.

Time has passed and technology has evolved, but I still love that little locomotive!

I fell in love with it. I couldn't afford any LIONEL stuff so buying them 2nd hand were 4 out of 10 came from and my first was a Proto 2.0 SANTA Fe Northern. It was amazing, and when Lionchief came out, I still stook with MTH because MTH is nicer and I could run it off of DCS. 

my first MTH proto-1 was intimidating clinks n clanks and move transformer handle up to x volts wait a few seconds for computer to ramp up.

but at the time I thought this was the coolest thing to happen in toy trains since those large 25 cent candy canes came out for christmas mid 1950's

Mine was the N&W 611, I think it cost $250 and had a piston driven smoke unit and a plain old whistle. It's still my favorite locomotive never has had a maintenance issue and pulls like a mule.

 

Jerry

I can't remember if my first was the traditional sized NYC F3's or if I bought the NYC freight set with the Mohawk.  This is prior to Proto1 coming out.  Ran the hell out of the F3's and eventually sold them, as I did the Mohawk when I replaced it with a Proto2 version.  While I have a couple of Premier engines, and have had Lionel and Williams diesels, I've been a stalwart Railking fan since it came out.  I like the size and how it looks on my layout, which though large doesn't really accommodate scale steamers or scale diesels the size of E units too well.  My favorite:  D&H Alcos (Proto2 version) running ahead of the 5-car aluminum 60' (15 inch) passenger set from the late 90's.  On occasion, I'll swap out those cars for the Williams 6-car set with the fluted sides.

My son convinced me to buy an MTH train in 2002 and I bought the J passenger starter set. Now I have a couple dozen engines and have thanked Mike at York for making my retirement so enjoyable. We have to pause once in a while to smell the roses and appreciate how fast the technology for trains is changing. Remember the whistle and bell buttons? I'm not into the wifi thing----yet.

I repaired a MTH rail king 2-8-0 proto 1. A customer complained that it would just sit there. Changed the battery and away it went.

I remember the sound was fantastic and the smoke was more than I had ever seen in a Lionel.

Unfortunately, I never saw a  MTH product for another 9 years... it was always a Lionel town here living near Mt. Clemens, Mi.

My first MTH loco was the Santa Fe 4-8-2 that did not look like all of the Lionel offerings,it was a new beginning.

Mikey

Back in 1994+/- I bought a GG-1, a Challenger, and a BL-2 from MTH.  All still run as well as when new.  I upgraded all to PS2 when the upgrade kits first came out.  Now have 26  DCS-equipped..

It is a PS 1 Burlington Zephyr.  Bought it for my youngest son before he was born (15 years now!).  Had problems at first with the hook up of the cars and that rear motor.  Also the battery (replaced about 10 years ago with a BCR).  Ran it a month ago.  It hadn't seen action for 2 years.  Ran like a top.  The most stylish of the deco streamliners IMHO.

My first MTH engine was a Norfolk and Western j-class steamer. The wire on the smoke unit came off after about a year. Was told it was out of warranty. The wire was held on to the circuit board by a pinhead of solder. Tried to resolder and on and apparently got some solder across the circuit. Turned it on and engine went dead. Sent in for repair. After about 3 months they got back to me and said the repair I made to the Smoke unit wire shorted out the whole sound board and it would cost $380 to fix. Told him to keep it as I didn't want to pay $50 postage to have a broken engine sent back to me. Technically it was my fault. But you have a wire like that held on by a pinhead of solder, and also in such a small,small  circuit area to attach that wire to, seems like a really poor design.

 

Second MTH engine bought around the same time was a Santa Fe F3. Was using it one day and it ran over a piece of stray wire I had left on on the layout. Got stuck in the front Proto coupler, and shorted the unit out. Sent in for repair again. Waited about four months this time. Got the same story as the steamer. The wire shorted out the sound board when it hit the Proto coupler and it would cost $380 to fix. Told him to keep that one also as I didn't want to pay $50 to have an engine sent back to me that didn't work. Those were my first and last dealings with MTH. I'll never deal with them again. Seems like very poor quality / design. Stuck with Lionel since then.

I bought (2) Susquehanna FP45s (Proto 3) from TrainWorld about a year and a half ago and they continue to run great!  Glad I bought two as they are hard to find new.

It was a Mountain which ran like a top.   Had it for years and sold it to a fellow forumite when I began to upgrade to PS 3 locos.   Highly recommended.

-Greg

my first and only MTH engine is my PRR M1a I bought used from a forum member about 10 years ago. I look at the pictures of the new Lionel M1s, and I love them, but they are not in my budget. My RK M1a has only left the rails for traction tires and a new theater. I run it with my Type V. It smokes like crazy, I love the sounds. There are a few other PRR RKs I'd like to get as well.

 

 

 

My first MTH engine was Railking Chessie System F3A Powered Engine. I had first to get it reset done but this engine has run flawless.  

1st and only RK engine I got was the original Daylight and water tender they made. Looked nice, smokes like crazy, ran good. Still have it with ERR cruise installed.

I've always thought MTH Railking locomotives are the best value in O-gauge, particularly the Imperial versions. As good as those Proto 2 locos were they are even a better value on the aftermarket. 

Mine was the first  RK N&W J 611. When a buddy of mine brought his to work, I was in HO, and he told me it was $299....I had to go see for myself. Came home with it....never looked  back. 

My thoughts were it was a great deal for ubder $300.....

RK N&W J Bantam passenger set.  We had just entered the hobby and were absolutely amazed at how much more sophisticated and how much more value it offered than the Polar Express set we got at the same time.  Amazed by the sound, ridicoulous amount of smoke, command features and detail in the passenger cars.  

Within a week the front light wouldn't work without a constant reset, the passenger car lights flickered incessantly, the locomotive had every fault known to man pop up on the DCS handheld screen, many of which meant the train wouldn't run, and finally, it just wouldn't do anything anymore other than "click" when we turned on the track power.  Went back to MTH 3x for same repairs, still has issues. Shipping was always on me.  But you know... that simple Polar Express set still works perfectly. 

Peter

I think my first Railking engine was an A-B-A C&O F3 set. I thought highly enough about that set that I've since purchased many more MTH engines. Curt

I will preface this post with the statement that MTH was the best thing that ever happened to the O gauge segment of our hobby.  They spurred competition and that has been a good thing for all of us who enjoy O gauge trains.  That being said my first MTH engine was a K4s Pacific with loco sounds and a fan driven smoke unit which I bought in the very early 1990s.  The engine looks  and runs great but the Loco sounds whistle certainly leaves a lot to be desired.   Also, the fan driven smoke unit lasted less than a month.  Nevertheless, I still have the engine and run it from time to time.  Sadly, I bought several more MTH engines over the years but have had mixed results with them.   This is no reflection on MTH; I just think I'm one of the unlucky ones when it comes to Mike's.    

Bought my first RK set which was Conrail set 028 back in 1996 and haven't bought anything else since with the exception of the Lionel Acela and only because it was a Acela.

 

Joe B.

No OKHIKER..you are not alone.  My first was a 614 C&O Greenbriar.  It had no sound.  I sent it in for warranty service and it came back with a note it "tested and functioned fine".  Still no sound so I opened tender and the wires were never soldered to the speaker at the factory.

I wrote a whole blog post about it which you can read here

Short version is that I got an MTH RK B&O Pacific with 6 matching streamlined coaches and a few years later I was working for the largest MTH dealer in Ohio and doing R&D work for exclusive products from MTH and Weaver.

My first was a N&W 611J MT-1105. Low on details, essentially a "mute", smooth runner, good puller.

My first RailKing engine was a 0-8-0 switcher. That was three layouts and many years ago. I of course only had Lionel before that because there wasn't anything else. What an amazing jump. Sound, electro couplers (something I thought I would never see again) metal tender and great detail at a great price. That little switcher got me started in High Rail Scale. I bought a number of Rail King engines and finally switched to MTH full scale when they started coming out with the big Milwaukee electrics. It was a long journey that included K-line, Atlas, Lionel, and of course MTH. All in scale. Thanks Rail King. Don

Pennsylvania RS-3. Still running great.  Can pull a lot of cars. 

Thirteen years ago I discovered and purchased my first MTH Railking engine .... a Pennsylvania turbine  6-8-6.  AWESOME!!!!!

My first MTH engine was also my first RailKing engine.  It was a NYC F-3 AA pair and although an excellent runner the small pickup rollers were a problem over switches.  I sold it right after I bought it and did not buy another MTH engine for years after......

Rolland

My first and only RailKing engine is the PS1 Allegheny.  I think it's ok for what it is.  The sound is ok, the detail is ok.  I've not had much runtime on it since I bought it as it had a stripped worm gear on one motor when I bought it, and I've been unable to locate a new motor yet for it.  Still runs with one motor enough to have an idea of what it's like.  All in all, I Greatly prefer the K-Line version of the Allegheny which comes with TMCC in the same price range as the RailKing PS1 version.  

I would probably consider purchasing other RailKing products if the price was right, but nothing has called out to me so far. For me the price has to be competitive with a similar conventional or TMCC engine as DCS is not a viable option for me at this time.

JGL 

My first RailKing (and MTH) engine was a Norfolk & Western J that had smoke and a standard whistle.  Although PS-1 was available, I was unable to find one equipped with it.  I had purchased several Lionel engines of the same era, and was disappointed with the sounds and performance as well as the value for the amount spent.  When I unwrapped the J I was astounded by the quality of the piece.  When I ran it the first time, I could not believe how quiet and smooth it ran, and how consistently it responded to the transformer controls.  From that point on I was sold on MTH.  The J was priced lower than any comparable Lionel product of the time, and the quality exceeded my expectations.

All but one of my MTH locos were dead when I bought them and all have been converted to DC operation. They run and pull great.

Daniel, did you buy then new or used? Never had a problem with PS-1 unless they sat for a year or so. Don

I "backed into" O gauge in round about way.  I went to an auction for RR 1:1 signals and signal books etc.  An MTH (who??) Burlington switcher came up. What the heck, bid on it and if doesn't work, makes a nice shelf piece.  Dug out a circle of track and surprised when it made prime mover sounds, then startled when it talked.  Right then got back into O gauge and now have a modest "round and round" layout with never ending scenery, cars and buildings (keep 'em coming Menards!).  Great winter and rainy day hobby, then outside for gardening hobby.

Good afternoon, my first MTH engine was a PRR K4 Railking Proto 1.

Bought this engine brand new from Jim's Train Shop in Homer City. Saved and saved to buy this engine.

Accessing features with he horn and whistle buttons took some getting use to but compared to my Kline 4-6-2 Pennsy Flyer set with no sounds and just a wisp of smoke here and there the MTH Railking K4 was a great improvement.

When the MTH Z4000 came out, this made running a MTH Proto 1 engine even enjoyable.

Station Sounds and Accent Sounds were cool and something diffrent that I never experienced before.

I had this particular K4 upgraded to PS2 but it is down right now with a drive motor failure.

Looking back to those times to where the technology that is available today, MTH along with Lionel have come a long way.

I realize there are grumblings about problems with new engines, but you have to realize they are putting a lot of electronics under an engine and tender shell to make their engines operate and sound as real as the real thing steam or diesel as possible.