Mixing Railking and Premier

I mix them all the time. I have several Railking Scale diesels that I MU with Premier. Some of the Railking freight is so close to scale that it is hard to tell the difference, the Premier just has a little more detail. Some, like the cabooses, are the same car in a different box. Real freight cars come in all different sizes so running them together is not that big a deal to me. 

SouthernMike posted:

I mix them all the time. I have several Railking Scale diesels that I MU with Premier. Some of the Railking freight is so close to scale that it is hard to tell the difference, the Premier just has a little more detail. Some, like the cabooses, are the same car in a different box. Real freight cars come in all different sizes so running them together is not that big a deal to me. 

I also run a mix of both I don't believe there much difference as SouthernMike stated

If you like it, that's all that counts. Happy Thanksgiving.

I think it can work - you'll know if a combo doesn't look quite right.

Pretty sure some of the Premier stuff is traditional sized - like the F3s and Train Masters

And I can't tell the difference between some of it - like the Premier and Rail King bobber cabooses.

Locos - I guess you wouldn't want to mix scale and semi scale of the same model.

I don't know of any traditional sized Premier models, and the F3's and Trainmaster are both scale sized. 

The bobber cabooses appear identical to me, I have several RK and Premier models and I see no difference in the detailing or size.

I have a pretty even mix of both and run them together, I have not MU'd Railing with Premier but run them side by side on separate tracks and I think they look great. I have even upgraded  some of my Railing to Imperial just for the added detail with out the expence of Premier. I also mix rolling stock together both behind Premier and Railing power. It all looks great, even throw some Lionel rolling stock in the mix without seeing and differences.

I run Premier Diesels and Imperial Steam and they both fit perfectly together.

I have mostly premier items but a few railking items as well. I try to keep them separate however some railking items are no different than their premier counterparts like mentioned above. I also have a railking scale New Haven RS-1 that to me looks no different in size and detail than a premier model as it has added grab irons, smoke, lit marker lights, and other added details. Also keep in mind what type of curves you will have on your layout since many premier models require larger radius curves where railking items I believe all run on 0-31. The most important rule that even I forget to follow at times is do what makes you happy. 

I run my Railking ES44 with my Premier SD35

MTH advertises some of their Railking diesels as Railking Scale.  They have the same internal components as the Premier i.e.: Proto 1,2, 3.   The difference being ( as others have already said earlier in this thread ) that the Premier model has more separately applied detail parts.   

As far as freight cars go agree that the bobber cabooses are identical in size.  I own two RailKing bobbers.  Perhaps the Premier bobber has marker lights??

The Rail King reffers can pass as scale for some scale reffers are about the same size.   The 40 ft. boxcars in Rail King, for my taste ( keep in mind that my taste and a buck seventy five  will get you a tall coffee at Starbucks ), does not work next to Premier scale 40 ft. boxcars, however, can work next to Premier scale two bay hoppers. 

Personally I run Premier scale two bay hoppers with Rail King four bay hoppers, when making up long coal trains, and it does not bother me.  I just like the look of a long loaded coal train.  which is usually pulled with my Rail King Y6b mallet and at other times pulled by my Rail King Scale B&O Geeps, Premier WM BL2, or a variety of Rail King Scale end cab switchers. 

As tank cars go, mixing and matching Rail King with Premier works.  I've seen prototypical photos of tank trains made up of cars of all sizes.  

In the end, again as others have said, do what YOU like.  After all its your railroad.  Enjoy it to the max!!