K-Line Hopper...

K-Line offered reefers and hoppers which easily match or surpass models by Atlas, Lionel and MTH.  Their die cast hoppers are some of the best available. Many are listed on    www.legacykline.com   Generally, the freight cars in black product boxes have sprung trucks, die cast frames and good details.   John in Lansing, ILL

Thank you; that helps greatly... 

Question: are the couplers molded into the truck frame or a separate piece?

Mark in Oregon 

K-Line produced some really detailed products .

I for one wish they was still around.

Strummer posted:

Thank you; that helps greatly... 

Question: are the couplers molded into the truck frame or a separate piece?

Mark in Oregon 

Based on some used (but REALLY nice) K-Line stuff I have picked up at some train meets, I wanna' say that the couplers are part of the truck frames.

But as an O-gauge/O-scale relative newbie, I'm no expert.

In 2000 K-Line unveiled a new logo to "more accurately represent the exceptional quality and realism of the current product line".  K-Line announced that "to simplify identification of products, K-Line will now be divided into three color-coded categories.  Gold will indicate Scale, or other top-of-the-line products. ... Updated packaging will coincide with the release of K-Line's product offerings".

Look for the "gold" (actually yellow) boxes.  The reefers are especially stunning!

Don

I have the press release article about the construction of these hoppers and it is pretty neat. I probably have 40 of these they’re such great quality. You’ll learn to navigate k-line by the color of the box and by the item number prefix. I enjoy shopping for k-line at the train shows. 

Am I correct in warning to read the fine print on the gold \black boxes? I think I bought one a year ago with "kline by lionel" on it and it was a low end car. Also watch the boxes with 0\027 or similar marking, not scale obviously.

Beginning with the acquisition of old Marx tooling in 1978 and prior to 1999, Maury Klein did focus on the low-cost end of the toy train market, such as with K-Line’s S-2 switcher. It gave hobbyists an option.

Then, when he started offering scale locomotives and improved scale rolling stock in 2000, the prices still represented a relative bargain. The $500 scale Hudson by K-Line was introduced at the same time Lionel and MTH were selling them for $1,000.

His low-pricing may have contributed to his financial struggle and bankruptcy later, after Lionel sued his company for industrial espionage, but for nearly a half-decade Klein was a major player in the O gauge toy train world.

I have a nice mix of K-Line stuff, but I wish I had obtained more during that period. I, too, wish K-Line was still around.

Much of its tooling remains in the hands of Kader, which ended up with the equipment as a result of its acquisition of Sanda Kan (which produced trains for K-Line and was a secured creditor at the time of K-Line’s bankruptcy in 2005 and subsequently was largely paid off with the tooling and unsold inventory).

I too like the die cast hoppers (and indeed the ground-breaking 21" aluminum passenger cars).  I am into 2-rail scale, but greatly admire the Lionel 700-series models.  The K-Line die cast hopper is very close to the Lionel 716, and at least one supplier has cast some scale end beams.

But all 3-rail equipment is set up for truck-mounted couplers, including the 700 stuff.  A modeler typically must fabricate a mount to have body mounted couplers.

K-Line did some really great work, and messed up some as well.  Their steam models were, in my opinion, a combination of really good detail work and grotesque mechanical setup, requiring "unwrapped" boiler castings.  The die cast boxcars and reefers left something to be desired, at least for a 2-railer.

Opinion.

Since the K-line tooling is mentioned above, I was wondering if anyone knew who had the tooling for the 4-6-6t engines. I would love to see these return with Legacy if Lionel in fact has it. Sorry to hi-jack the thread and I'm also a big fan of K-line's scale equipment but was not active in the hobby at that time.

Strummer, nice avatar. Gold top LP type happy  strumming?

cool.

The diecast standard size K line hoppers are spectacular! I once had At least five of them.  down to one right now. Freewheeling, excellent details and hatches below that work, great paint. All good.

Agree with everything above.  K-line did offer many high quality items at reasonable prices.   I too love their die- cast hoppers.  The one in the photo in the original post would have mounts for Kadees, if I'm not mistaken.  I'm not sure if the coupler arm can be removed from the truck frame which I think is one thing that was in the original question.  Since MTH redesigned their trucks I have stopped buying their cars because the trucks have to be butchered in order to  mount scale couplers. 

I also keep my eyes open for K-line at the train shows.

Phil McCaig posted:

Agree with everything above.  K-line did offer many high quality items at reasonable prices.   I too love their die- cast hoppers.  The one in the photo in the original post would have mounts for Kadees, if I'm not mistaken.  I'm not sure if the coupler arm can be removed from the truck frame which I think is one thing that was in the original question.  Since MTH redesigned their trucks I have stopped buying their cars because the trucks have to be butchered in order to  mount scale couplers. 

I also keep my eyes open for K-line at the train shows.

Well, we shall soon see; I just purchased one on eBay in CB&Q lettering.

Will let you know what I find upon its arrival...

Mark in Oregon

Comes off easily.  Mounting Kadees on the body requires a multi-level spacer.

I never cared for the bolster appearance, but otherwise the K-Line truck was an accurate scale Bettendorf, and easy to 2-rail.

Thanks Bob. 

Mark in Oregon

Strummer posted:

In my ignorance of all things 3-rail, I've always been under the assumption that K-Line was more or less "low end" as far as quality goes, yet I found this on eBay:

As you can see, it looks REALLY nice. I didn't know K-Line had several levels of offerings, kinda like Atlas' "Industrial" and "Classic" lines.

So my question is; how does one go about telling the difference between their entry-level "cheap" (sorry!) stuff, and items like this? Does K-Line label their different levels differently?

Mark in Oregon 

K-line produced some of the nicest 1:48 3RO equipment - cars and locos - ever offered to us. In most ways, their J1e NYC Hudson was/is the standard by which die-cast models of that locomotive are judged. It has few - but some - flaws. It captures the general look better than any of them.

Then there were the 21" aluminum passenger cars....the Berks....the USRA Pacifics...Trainmasters...die-cast rolling stock...

K-line suffered from a public-relations affliction that Lionel still deals with: K-Line offered an essentially full-range line of equipment, ranging from partially-Marx-based (nothing wrong with that) nice toys to big-buck, high-end items, and if all you ever ran into were the bottom-feeders you might think that was the whole story.

3 great losses of the 3RO world: Right-of-Way Industries (early, large and interesting Hi-Rail product line; never given the credit it deserved), K-Line and Weaver. It's only going to get worse. 

Strummer posted:

In my ignorance of all things 3-rail, I've always been under the assumption that K-Line was more or less "low end" as far as quality goes, yet I found this on eBay:

As you can see, it looks REALLY nice. I didn't know K-Line had several levels of offerings, kinda like Atlas' "Industrial" and "Classic" lines.

So my question is; how does one go about telling the difference between their entry-level "cheap" (sorry!) stuff, and items like this? Does K-Line label their different levels differently?

Mark in Oregon 

I have numerous ones of these Hoppers.  I think it was Train World selling them at the incredible price of $19.99.  At that price I don't care if the nail head count is off.  No I am not a rivet counter, just using a little levity.  They are beautiful as was any of their Reefers.  I bought so many of them most are boxed up in the original shipping box as I can't fit them all on my layout.  I guess that means I need a bigger layout.  Oh Honey......

Strummer posted:

Phil McCaig posted:

Agree with everything above.  K-line did offer many high quality items at reasonable prices.   I too love their die- cast hoppers.  The one in the photo in the original post would have mounts for Kadees, if I'm not mistaken.  I'm not sure if the coupler arm can be removed from the truck frame which I think is one thing that was in the original question.  Since MTH redesigned their trucks I have stopped buying their cars because the trucks have to be butchered in order to  mount scale couplers. 

I also keep my eyes open for K-line at the train shows.

Well, we shall soon see; I just purchased one on eBay in CB&Q lettering.

Will let you know what I find upon its arrival...

Mark in Oregon

Just as a bit of a follow up: this CB&Q 2-bay hopper arrived today. The paint is a little thick, but over all is a very nice car. It came with screws and mounting pads for Kadees. Unfortunately, the couplers are part of the truck casting, so they'll have to go. It's a shame, as those trucks look great and are very free-rolling...

Mark in Oregon

CArolina Shagger posted:

In 2000 K-Line unveiled a new logo to "more accurately represent the exceptional quality and realism of the current product line".  K-Line announced that "to simplify identification of products, K-Line will now be divided into three color-coded categories.  Gold will indicate Scale, or other top-of-the-line products. ... Updated packaging will coincide with the release of K-Line's product offerings".

Look for the "gold" (actually yellow) boxes.  The reefers are especially stunning!

 

Don

As with many who wondered about MDK, the yellow box was not always a true key to those who wanted scale items. Many times it was and Mikados and Hudsons kind of lead that list. But the Allegheny and (I believe) the Big Boy were anything but yet earned the yellow box, as well as the ESE which was clearly post war (or maybe Rail King) sized but the box was marked O Scale. As with anything out there, it's always good to ask a lot of questions. 

I'm certainly not saying stay away from them but ask your friends, or this forum, to find out quickly whether the item you're eyeing will be what you expect.

Charlie

Let me add that the die cast hoppers are stunning. I have 8 of them as well as 6 of the Atlas ones. Heavy suckers, but great. And I can burn off tires in minutes with that 14 car consist!