K Line K3270-5343S Hudson

@William B Davis posted:

Tried a search first. No luck, unless I did something wrong. And from everything I’ve been able to gather, unlike most K-Line engines, this one is full O scale measuring 24” long.

William,

This is a very popular model here.  I get 76 hits when K3270 is entered as I described.  Specifically:

There are so many postings because many people have noticed how nice these are, and while some insist that the motor is too small to handle larger trains, most are happy with them, specifically because of the size and detail level.

Mike

The K-Line Hudson is a clone of the Lionel 1-700 Hudson, with improved tooling.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Odd Mike, I see no results from your search.

You get nothing?  What browser?  I'm using chrome on a windows 10 laptop.

You'll notice that mine said "No Results" too, but that was before I hit the Search button.  Here's Page 1 of 2 that comes up after I hit search:

Mike

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Mike, look at the picture.  Your search at the bottom of the screen says it returned no results!

Agreed, but that was before I hit the Search button.

I must be hallucinating because here's an abbreviated version of my previous screenshot that's still somewhat hard to make out but is there nonetheless:

Unfortunately I can't upload the whole screenshot at a resolution that's sharp.  It's apparently too large for CrowdStack to accept.

M.H.M.

If you've studied and read up on it, you probably know that it doesn't have speed control.  You know that it's scale-sized.  It will have a lot more overhang than your Mikado, especially if your curves are O42 or tighter.

Personally, if I were in the market for a modern-era scale Hudson, I would keep saving my money for the Lionel 6-11209 with Legacy.  If you can wait, sooner or later Lionel will want to milk that cash cow.  When they offer it again, prices will come down.  If you can live with a traditionally-sized Hudson, the latest RailKing ones run smoothly, and are a reasonable representation of a J-1e.  My $.02.

Forget the naysayers. Buy the engine. Its the best detailed diecast J1e out there. The nits about the small motor and lack of cruise are easily rectified. Here is mine bought new with upgrades less than $430 total investment. Its pulled as many as 13 cars but lack of room limited this run to only ten.

Pete

Legacy Schmegacy

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Agreed, but that was before I hit the Search button.

But that was my whole point! 

You were posting an example of a search for a new user that showed there was no results.  Obviously I know and you know that's before you performed the search, but that wasn't obvious from your post.  If I do a search for something that clearly isn't found, your example is exactly what the screen looks like!

Yes, this is after hitting the Search button.

I was really just pointing out your example wasn't clear.

I have the 5430 and it's a great candidate for adding additional scale detail.

The point Mike is trying to make is that an advanced search function using the stock keyword in the right place will result in plenty of information. I have noticed many new forum members seem to be totally unaware of the basic or advanced search functions, so he was trying to help.

I also have one of these K-Line scale diecast J1e Hudsons. I recommend it as a low-cost option for its category, which includes very costly Lionel and MTH versions. I’m thinking about @harmonyards upgrade for mine, but, as is, I already love it.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

But that was my whole point! 

You were posting an example of a search for a new user that showed there was no results.  Obviously I know and you know that's before you performed the search, but that wasn't obvious from your post.  If I do a search for something that clearly isn't found, your example is exactly what the screen looks like!

Yes, this is after hitting the Search button.

I was really just pointing out your example wasn't clear.

Agreed, but not intentional.  I think that site has more problems than I do.  It's clear that search doesn't work the same way for everyone, and, your point is well taken, the interface shows "no results" even before a search is ever spawned.

If we know results are there (and K3270 is definitely in umpteen posts here on the forum), and I get them but you don't it's a big problem.

Neither of these is user friendly at all, especially for newbies.

Mike

Here is a video of a brass hudson and the K-line hudson pulling a 15 car passenger train at speed. Forgive me if you have seen this video before.

@Norton posted:

Forget the naysayers. Buy the engine. Its the best detailed diecast J1e out there. The nits about the small motor and lack of cruise are easily rectified. Here is mine bought new with upgrades less than $430 total investment. Its pulled as many as 13 cars but lack of room limited this run to only ten.

Pete

Legacy Schmegacy

Thanks, Pete! I have five loops: O72, O60, O48, O36, O27 tube track. I also have a 1950 Lionel 773 and a 1937-ish Scale Craft 2-rail Hudson. I like the K-Line Hudson. What upgrades were performed?

@cbq9911a posted:

The K-Line Hudson is a clone of the Lionel 1-700 Hudson, with improved tooling.

No, it is not. What it is is a model of the same prototype (a NYC J1 Hudson). The detailing is better than on the Lionel (no cut to the Lionel), and it may capture the J1 better than any other 3RO loco (the boiler casting at bottom could have been doe better, but it is not a glaring issue).

A "clone" of the basic Lionel tooling is the scale Williams die-cast J1 - some parts are even interchangeable. The Williams is a "model of a model", not a model of a J1, in a sense.

@William B Davis posted:

Thanks, Pete! I have five loops: O72, O60, O48, O36, O27 tube track. I also have a 1950 Lionel 773 and a 1937-ish Scale Craft 2-rail Hudson. I like the K-Line Hudson. What upgrades were performed?

I like the K-Line J1 myself. I have not upgraded mine in any way, as the small motor has all the horsepower I need and does not struggle with my 4 - 5 car passenger trains and 12+-car freights. If your needs are modest like mine, the K-Line "small-motor" scale locos are more than adequate. If you have a "long-train Empire", you'll want more.

@D500 posted:

I like the K-Line J1 myself. I have not upgraded mine in any way, as the small motor has all the horsepower I need and does not struggle with my 4 - 5 car passenger trains and 12+-car freights. If your needs are modest like mine, the K-Line "small-motor" scale locos are more than adequate. If you have a "long-train Empire", you'll want more.

Thanks!

Assuming it fits, all this motor needs is a Super Chuffer or something equivalent....IMHO.

Mine is still stock....20 years later.

@Berkshire President posted:

Assuming it fits, all this motor needs is a Super Chuffer or something equivalent....IMHO.

Mine is still stock....20 years later.

Along with a fan smoke unit if you want 4 puffs. The puffer unit is cam driven and will only give two puffs regardless of the number of chuff sounds.

Pete

Yep, for the "full" smoke and sound effect, I upgrade to a fan driven smoke unit, the Chuff-Generator for 4-chuff/rev, and the Super-Chuffer II for full control of the smoke chuffing and smoke at idle.  With the Super-Chuffer, you can also add the Rule-17 LED headlight as an option as well as the automatic cab light control.  If you really want to get fancy, the Chuff-Generator has an optional output that controls automatic ground lights.

Here's a quick fly-by video of my C&O Yellowbelly that got the full upgrade package.

@Norton posted:

Forget the naysayers. Buy the engine. Its the best detailed diecast J1e out there. The nits about the small motor and lack of cruise are easily rectified. Here is mine bought new with upgrades less than $430 total investment. Its pulled as many as 13 cars but lack of room limited this run to only ten.

Pete

Legacy Schmegacy

What upgrades are in this? This get the Harmonyards treatment?

Here's mine that I recently purchased, I really enjoy it on command control, though I do have a plan to potentially remotor it myself at some point

@NYCBuffalo posted:

What upgrades are in this? This get the Harmonyards treatment?

No, Pete ( West Albany Shops ) does their own rebuilds. West Albany is the Premier Shops operating with in the oval,….😉

Pat

@NYCBuffalo posted:

What upgrades are in this? This get the Harmonyards treatment?

Harmonyards builds their engines for the crack name trains. This one was built for the regional runs. The motor was replaced with one larger than the Mabuchi 385 but no where near as large as the 9xxx Pittmans. Still the torque rating is double the Mabuchi.

I ended up with the 31ZY pictured. Had the Pittman 8600 been available in a 12v I likely would have used it.

Here it is after the motor and smoke unit swap. Some material had to be removed from the motion hanger mount, new holes drilled in the motor mount, and gear swapped. Given the larger diameter of the shaft the gear has to drilled out so there is no going back and I am not aware of another source for that gear.

Four chuffs achieved with a simple cam swap.

And the result.

Pete

Looks like a new smoke unit as well.

I’m hoping this question was not already answered. I’ve watched video of the lionel 1-700 18005 Hudson from 1990. The valve motion seems unique compared to kline and mth Hudson’s in that I can see more counter motion of the valve slide where the other Hudson’s seem like they are essentially in neutral. Is that just an optical illusion or is the a lionel model unique?

@NYCBuffalo posted:

I’m hoping this question was not already answered. I’ve watched video of the lionel 1-700 18005 Hudson from 1990. The valve motion seems unique compared to kline and mth Hudson’s in that I can see more counter motion of the valve slide where the other Hudson’s seem like they are essentially in neutral. Is that just an optical illusion or is the a lionel model unique?

Actually, the prewar700E, the 1990 700E ( 18005 ) & the 1997 763E ( 18056 ) have the most accurate valve train parts ( IMO ) the valve stem is actually on slides or the “shuttle “ if you will, and actually slides back and forth via the combination lever,…….all the other models have a simulated “shuttle” that’s represented only as the stem of the valve itself.  Very little actual motion, ……

probably the next evolution of the ever growing Kline Hudson swaps, would be to incorporate the 700E parts, ….that would be the pinnacle of a 3 rail die cast Hudson,…

Pat

edit * ….I forgot to add the VL 700E Hudson ….it also uses the same valve parts as the above mentioned engines,….

Minor point, but the 1990 Hudson is the 1-700E, not 1-700. I’m not sure which video you viewed, but Lionel produced a video on the making of that locomotive. It was available on VHS at the time and reissued on DVD. “The Making of the Lionel Scale Hudson.”

So Pat now that you threw that out there I'm sure some of those swaps you've done previously will be on their way back to Harmon Yards for just such an upgrade.

Those valve gear parts are in short supply with Lionel. I got a vision hudson set at last sale for a loco I am working on. Prob 10 of each left.

@coach joe posted:

So Pat now that you threw that out there I'm sure some of those swaps you've done previously will be on their way back to Harmon Yards for just such an upgrade.

@NYCBuffalo posted:

Those valve gear parts are in short supply with Lionel. I got a vision hudson set at last sale for a loco I am working on. Prob 10 of each left.

The most important parts are available reproduction from the aftermarket guys,

Pat