K-line ?

Sadly K-Line is gone. Lot's of praise for them now but little support when he was in business.

The 333 Marx type engine was redone but looks the same. K-line used a can DC motor with a electronic reverse unit making it able to run on any AC transformer. The early whistle tender required a K-Line whistle button but was revised and later whistles would work from from most transformers.

The K-Line version of the Marx 333 was a great running locomotive the pulled like an ox. The smoke unit was it's weak point. I have a few and also have installed the power unit in a Marx 1829. After they went kaput, there were a few models released as K-Line by Lionel. Aristo was supposed to release the Pacific with he K-Line tooling, but not sure if RMT is going ahead with it now that Aristo is gone also?

Steve

K-Line is defunct.

These locos run on AC track power and have a very reliable electronic E - unit for smooth operation.

They have a can motor and traction tires. They are geared very well, so they operate at all speeds except "rocket fast" and they are terrific pullers.

The built in whistle in the tender requires K-Line's own controller, which was always included in the box.

The smoke units in the early models were small Seuthe types that were so-so in smoke production. The later home brew smoke units were even worse.

All in all, this is an excellent running, very powerful locomotive that looks like the original Marx version. The tender is from the Marx 1829 large plastic Hudson and looks too large for the loco to my eye. But there are thousands of the plastic scale Marx tenders out there for purchase very inexpensively.

Juts to expand a bit on this, when K-Line was just starting out they acquired a number of Marx molds that were used to make the Marx Deluxe freight cars.

After that they were able to locate the molds to make the 333 & 1829 Marx steam engine at a former Fisher Price factory outside of Albany, NY.

At first K-Line made their 3000 series engines directly from the restored and revamped marx mold. In the mid-90's they created a new mold from the original, as the constant use of old molds will wear down the detailing on the finished products.  The tender for these engines was also derived from a marx mold, and later on K-Line created a new, longer tender for these reliable engines. As noted the K-Line engines will run on AC power just fine, and in fact they maintain a prototypical slower speed without updated electronics.

The K-Line Collectors Guide book goes into good detail about K-Line's early days, and the use of the Marx molds.  Copies of the book can be found on E-Bay, but as the book is out of print, prices have shot up.

Ken

Yes the asking prices are from $100 to over $250. I bought a number of K-Line catalogs a few years ago which actually provides a nice history of the product...and not a lot of money. One would guess with these prices, a new printing would be coming out soon.

And I go to the Legacy K-Line site usually to get answers.

Though a hi-railer primarily, I am also a bit of a Marxist, myself. The 333 (S-scale/O-gauge) was an attractive loco based loosely on a B&M Pacific, and the K-line 3000 version

looked the same but was modern, DC-motored, internally.

Great gearing, as stated above.

But I also like the looks of the 666, but wanted one to run better - and the 666 has some

husky O-like dimensions, more so than the S-scale 333. So I grafted two 666 shells together and mounted them on a K-line 3000 4-6-2...worked well. Photos, eventually. 

The point is, "K-Marx" can be great stuff; you can get your Marx looks with your

K-line performance. Someone needs to offer the Marx E-7 A/B on updated (internally)

trucks; same look, better performance. 

Thanks you gents!  This forum is a gold mine of information.  I may looking into acquiring one of these 3000 series locomotives.  I would assume the whistle button and other parts are still available?

YJ

By the way, what exactly does the term "hi-railer" refer to?  Told you I was new!  LOL

Even though East Aurora, NY is considerably west of Aurora, NY, neither is anywhere near Albany. 

The tooling was located in a dilapidated Fisher-Price factory in East Aurora, NY, outside of Buffalo.

I don't think they died from lack of support, but rather not handling the business like a business.

Just to expand a bit, as I was running ot catch a real train just before I made the post this morning.

Yes the Fisher-Price factory was outside of Buffalo, not Albany, the K-Line Guide lists the locality as Albion.

The molds they found there (besides the 333 & 1829) included the S-2 switcher,

and the GE-70 (K-Line made use of the S-2, but not the Ge 70 Ton) ).

For the 3000 series engines the modified Marx mold was used until 1993, when the new K-Line mold went into use.  The K-Line smoke unit was very different from the Marx unit in that the Marx smoke unit chuffed (and they smoke like beasts), the K-Line smoke unit was passive, and improved Seuthe smoke unit was placed in these engines in mid-1996 (a band around the top of the stack indicates the newer smoke unit).

The tender derived from Marx tolling remained in use with these engines until 1999, when the new, longer tender, started to be used.

As for the whistle, I have (3) of the earlier 3000 engines and the whistles all work with the whistle button on my Z-4000 transformer. That said, I know that activating these whistles can be a challenge, email me off-list, and I'll send you a K-Line whistle controller.

As for parts, here is the link for the company that bought out the K-Line parts department.

http://www.brasseurelectrictra...vice/kline/kline.php

Ken

K-Line had great support and everyone purchased the products.  Those of us who knew MK will agree that lack of support was not a problem.  Every York, I was always on the hunt for K Line passenger cars.  I managed to pick up a few.  I picked them over MTH or Lionel because they were the best. MK was a player in the hobby.

Ken

Thanks for posting that link for K-Line parts our local train dealer here in PA was not very helpful when I need parts for K-line trains

Howard

Ken, Thanks for the information and your generous offer.  I bit the bullet on one of these Locomotives.  Now I am excited! 

I really like my K-line GG1, no. 4912.  It is great running and looking engine and was much lower in cost ($99) than the Lionel GG1 that goes for several hundred.

Of the Marx / K-line 333, 666 and 999 I find the 999 to be the best runner and the 333 the best looker.

Charlie

I agree.  The 999 is a great runner, and should get more respect than it does.  The 333 is a classic.  The 666 seems to get a lot of love, while the 1666 gets little.  Interesting.....

I have two k-line k-1925 engines with realsounds which run great with the mth 1000 watt transformer but the bell and whistle do not work on either one off the bell and whistle buttons. After reading some of these posts and because these engines were made in 1999 or 2000 do I need a k-line whistle button and can I use it with the mth transformer . Any help would be appreciated.

       Norm

I presume you mean the 100W transformer, MTH doesn't make a 1000W transformer.

I'd start by trying a different transformer before I blamed the transformer.  If it is the transformer, you can roll your own whistle/bell button fairly easily that will solve the issue.

Thanks for your reply John. Your right it is a 100 w transformer. I have a spare CW-80 Lionel which I will try next. I wonder if a K-line transformer and a whistle button would work. Looking at the photo you posted, what are the blue things between the red buttons.

        Norm

Norm,

The blue things (actually black) are 3A diodes,  The pushbuttons could have been SPST models, but this was a junkbox build and that's what I had available.   This box does both the whistle and bell functions. I have never had any issue with this box triggering any modern or post-war whistle or bell.

I don't really use this box much nowadays as I have a Z4000 and the MRC 270W transformer for bench testing.  My actually running is 99% command using Lionel PH180 bricks through the MTH TIU.

Gentlemen,

   Got to agree with Marty lack of support was not K-Lines problem, one of my nicest Switchers, our old Sea Board is still run on our Christmas layout each year, a smooth old Switcher Engine for sure.  Their SS Switches were some of the very best switches ever made, accommodated all different kinds of trains including Tin, and worked perfectly.  K-Line had darn good products.

PCRR/Dave

Yukon Jack:  You're right 1666 "don't get no respect".  IMHO it may be because the plastic shell doesn't provide enough weight for good traction.  My 666 easily pulls a Lionel tender and three 2400 series passenger cars, but I'll bet my 1666, if coupled to them,  would just spin its wheels and show how efficient the smoke unit is!

+1 I agree.   Another problem with the 1666 plastic shell on many of them is often surprisingly brittle from age.  

I have a 1666 that pulls like the devil, but it has a weight (factory installed) inside the cab.  First one I have found that way. 

YK

Some 1666's came with a traction tire. Unlike the ones used these days, they are still good on 40-50 year old loco's.

Steve

+1 

By the way, I received my K-Line Locomotive yesterday.  What a great little engine!  Very smooth and quiet.  The smoker works much better than I had thought it would!  Not like a Marx, however!