What is the ultimate K-Line item?

The PRR A5 is a beauty too. A small conventional sweetie.

@pennsynut posted:

For me it's the TMCC scale K4s engine. I added magnets and reed switch to get 4 chuffs. I don't know how accurate all the details are, but have read that it is a very good version.

I could not agree more completely. I have a K4 1361 and it has got to be one of the most dependable engine I ever owned. It never let me down. One of my fellow club members Kevin has a Vision Line Big Boy he would run it on one of our two mainline tracks and I would run my Kline K4. The K4 would stay step for step with the Big Boy and they say Kline’s cruise control was no good.

I also have two Legacy K4s which are identical to the Kline K4 in every way except for the electronics. Love those K4s too.

JohnB

I also can't settle on one, I like several:

SuperSnap track. realistic in appearance, quiet and the switches still work flawlessly for me in near daily use. agree the larger diameters are impossible to find and the 031's becoming scarcer.

O scale operating cars: Milk (and automated dairy milk can loader!) Barrel, Merchandise Box, Ballast and Logs. I like that these cars can be activated by a hand held remote anywhere on my layout. no wiring involved.

Ringling Bros Circus cars: wagons, supply, performer coaches along with figures, animals and billboards. I added the tent (third party) and have a Circus diorama .

SuperStreets is a cool addition to my layout.  small radius curves made it fairly easy to add.  

The  Marx Hudson with  air whistle tender.  I would have to say these engines run as smooth as ones I  paid multiple $ for.

and the limited sets from Boscov's, Emory Distributors, PP&L, Scranton Hobby, etc. Not expensive but add the challenge of finding them.

Thank you Maury Klein for bringing some very nice products to the hobby!

@AlanRail posted:

Here is what is the problem with this thread . . .yesterdays advancements are today's standards.

I would have said K-Lines 21" bi-level passenger cars except NOW Sunset makes better ones.

The OP is talking about the ultimate K-Line item, not the ultimate bi-level.  I think my 19 year old K-Line 21" cars should be in the ultimate K-Line item category, but they are not quite up to the standards of my 3 year old GGD 85' cars.  Overall, though, a think a lot of the scale-sized K-Line items' scale fidelity was pretty good and compares favorably to MTH and Lionel's so called new stuff (how old are their molds?).  I'm not going to compare my die cast K-Line 2-8-2 to a brass 3rd Rail 2-8-2 for obvious reasons, plus there is a $1,000 difference.

The car below is one of my favorites.

For me, it was the K-Line "O" gauge SUPER K Track with all those plastic ties and the Great Super K Switches with the low profile motors. One one of my layouts  had 350 pieces of track and 22 switches. For me, it worked the best. # 2 was the 16" Aluminum CPR Streamliners.

The "S" gauge Pacific using the reproduced Marx 333 boiler.

Sadly, K-Line never made it, but went out of business first.

The later F3/F7 diesels were very well detailed and good performers. These PRR units came with a scale fixed pilot and coupler that I have installed since this photo. Now have ABBA which all smoke - a beautiful locomotive!

Here's a few ultimates:

Milwaukee bay window caboose

Hiawatha 21" passenger cars

Scale PRR K4 #1361

ATSF F3 ABA (modified with Kadees and fixed pilot)

ATSF 21" Super Chief/ElCapitan single and hi-level passenger cars

Bob

Like a dead artist. No support till their gone. I always feel sad when reading about how great their stuff WAS. It's quite possible had they received this much support when in business they might have survived, although he was not the worlds smartest business man.

@necrails posted:

My CNJ 4-6-4T tank locomotive.  Lots of detail, runs great, did not cost 1K like the new version.

I just had the NYC one of these smoke itself. GRJ said that there is some common issue with the motor driver board that burns up by itself. The solution is to replace it with the Electric RR Cruise Commander M and Super chuffer II to get the chuff back since the chuff signal is generated by the original board. If I had known the frequent failure of these boards, I would have replaced the board sooner. Makes a mess to clean up if it smokes itself.

For me, my K Line adventure started with their awesome Mikado...then Redi Kilowatt...and onward to the cabooses..the Mikado is the most reliable engine. The F7s arent bad either..

For Me it was the PRR Jeffersonian 21" IT took a little time on da Bay but with exception of the RPO, I got a used whole set!

ITs even better when pulled by the PRR K4 with Smoke deflectors!

HEre are some pics of my K-Line collection:

Then there are the later woodside reefers with hanging beef or pork loads.  Nice paint and details.

In the 2004 First Edition catalog K-Line introduced what I believe are still the most detailed refrigerator cars produced to date. These were the scale 40-foot wood-sided reefers. All were numbered in the K742-XXXX series. To say these were detailed would be an understatement. A number of the cars included detailed interiors which could only be viewed by removing the roof. Many of the cars also included loads including bananas, pork, beef, and crates. K-Line cataloged a great number of them, some of which included four different road numbers. Unfortunately K-Line only produced very few of the many reefers cataloged. For years I have endeavored to find a list of the cars actually produced without success. Internet searches have shown that some cars are readily available however others that were produced were obviously produced in very limited quantities, and consequently command premium prices.

In the early '90s K-Line had Intermountain assemble some reefers. They left off some detail to accomodate the three rail trucks but otherwise came with same fragile detail that Intermountain is known for.

Pete

The NYC J1e Hudson, followed by the Berks (both styles), then the 4-6-6T.

There so much for me to list but It’s the Coca-Cola Cars

Shagger, the K-line reefers were about as good as the Atlas reefers but for less money. When K-line went out of business I was buying them from a big dealer for $15. I really can't tell them apart. The Doggie Diner is my favorite. Don

Can't imagine there's too many of these left?

John

That's a tough question to answer. I have a tank engine, scale Hudson, Lima Berkshire, shay, Mikado and Pacific.  Nick Ladd told me he believed the Shay was the best locomotive K-line ever produced. As far a  defining locomotive it would be the scale Hudson.

Scott Smith

@D500 posted:

The NYC J1e Hudson, followed by the Berks (both styles), then the 4-6-6T.

Add the impressive Kline 18” NYC Pacemaker passenger cars to that Hudson, and now we’re taking some nice details.....too bad the Kline set of cars outclasses the Legacy cars to this day.....

Pat

c.sam I was lucky enough to get two sets of late Milwaukee Road F-7s. The first set had three pilots. Regular one, one with scale coupler, and coupler door closed. It as the later one I got were unopened boxes. The later one only had two pilots, reg and scale coupler. Never did find a B unit for them. Interesting side note. The scale coupler pilot was black, I guess to match the bottom of the loco.Don

@scott.smith posted:

That's a tough question to answer. I have a tank engine, scale Hudson, Lima Berkshire, shay, Mikado and Pacific.  Nick Ladd told me he believed the Shay was the best locomotive K-line ever produced. As far a  defining locomotive it would be the scale Hudson.

Scott Smith

I have two K Line scale Hudsons. The first one I ordered from Trainz which came and it was unknowingly by me, weathered. A rather nice job with the cab curtains, etc. but I wasn't into weathering. I kept it anyway and am really glad I did. Very nice and kind of special. When I'm not into weathering, I run the other one. I installed the Cruise M in both and they run super.

Scott, I bought the scale Hudson just to put on the shelf. It's beautiful. I sold my shay as I had no reason to run it on the Milwaukee. I have three Berkshires, one is the Lima Demo. don

A wooden caboose that looks like a typical wooden caboose.  Not the flattened NYC cupola that the other manufactures make.   The K-line caboose can then be re-lettered to your favorite railroad.

Tony

@SDIV Tim posted:

There so much for me to list but It’s the Coca-Cola Cars

Is that the set, the mini aluminum passenger car,or the ttax set?

@Alan Hamel posted:

In my personal opinion, the K-Line Reading Crusader is the rarest and most definitive of model railroading train sets.

Click on the attached image to ENLARGE.

One of the storylines behind this is tragic though.  If it's the engine I am thinking about, a gentleman from Boscov's backed the production despite the much higher than usual price point for the store.  It was an acclaimed model but unexpected competition and other factors resulted in much lower sales than anticipated.   Despite a career of commercial success he retired with the a significant black mark on his record because Boscov's couldn't move them off the shelf. 

The "Ultimate" K-line was they allowed my to buy all the trains "I could not afford" !!!  The SF F-3 ABA with 6 motors that would pull my car out of the ditch.... SP Daylight (not scale)...... All the Ringling Brothers Circus items (non-licensed) that fills my favorite part of the layout,,,,, The American Red Cross cars...... My layout is filled with wonderful K-line items. Thank you Murry.

TURTLE 2 Well said.....Don

The 21" Bombardier "cough drop" commuter car sets. They did a great job on these. A nice add-on to the set is the Atlas New Jersey Transit commuter coach as Metrolink leased them to increase capacity on the San Bernardino line.

The other one is the Amtrak Surfliner commuter set. The K-Line set was the only correctly done configuration The MTH cars were repainted Superliners, though later Surfliner trains did add a Superliner coach to the consist (and eventually painted them to match). A friend of mine has a set of these that he 2-railed and was  offered a ridiculous amount of money for the cars and his 2-railed F59PHi.

@c.sam posted:

The later F3/F7 diesels were very well detailed and good performers. These PRR units came with a scale fixed pilot and coupler that I have installed since this photo. Now have ABBA which all smoke - a beautiful locomotive!

Good pick Sam, I have the same ABA set, they run great, sound great, have close coupling couplers plus the scale pilot. Just about every thing you would want but the tethers will drive you crazy. Great engines but I am going to stick with the scale TMCC K4.

JohnB

Ultimate product? I am a Hugh fan of their early “classic” rolling stock in the brown boxes. Traditional boxcars ( 6464 types), tanks, gondolas, hoppers, with wonderful attention to paint schemes of the postwar period. Die cast sprung trucks, great couplers. They smoothly free roll on the k line black tie tubular track system. I like the 031 turnouts as well. Anyone remember the K line collectors club? I remember there was a train store (I forget what number k line store it was) but it was in Long Island in the mid 80’ s run by a young couple.

Murray, we are all greatful.

Hard to top the Milwaukee Road Skytop observation cars, which put a rear end to the 15, 18, or 21-inch aluminum passenger consist as striking as the front end - the whole T&A package, as it were ...

David

I own an assortment of K-Line scale locomotives that people have already mentioned but this Metro-North EMD F7 is a basic model that looks and runs well.

MELGAR

In this train nut's opinion there are just too many to remember-their 15 and 18 inch passenger cars, the "speeders", Plymouth switchers, many of their KCC exclusives like the Golden State sets, the Kennecott sets and the Timkens, their F3,7s and E units, the circus cars, the die cast hoppers and 16 wheel depressed center flat cars, the Interlubans, some of their scale steamers like the K4s and Mikados, many great cabooses-and who could forget the PRR Hammerhead RS3? It was a great time to be in the hobby and I still am sad about their demise !!

Two fine traditional American institutions have been lost: K Line and the RBB&B Circus which was indeed, THE Greatest Show on Earth.  RIP, you may be gone but you will NEVER be forgotten!

The passenger car sets are standouts, but there were others as well.  There are just too many to pick just one.

George

Hello Pierre, was that Long Island store in the New Hyde Park, western Nassau County area?  I remember going there once and buying some rolling stock, notably an Alaska RR "6464" box car at a time when ARR offerings were pretty thin.  After the store closed up I would see the man selling parts and some K-line items at local train shows.  I saw him at one last year.

Mel, I've got that Metro North F7 with TMCC operating system.  Got it for a real good price from a Staten Island hobby shop. I don't remember the name but I believe they opened a second shop in NJ, then closed up brick and mortar operations for internet only.