Railking Engine Recommendations Needed

Can you provide any additional detail to narrow down your search?  I've owned plenty of Railking locomotives and they all have performed with no issue.  I think it really will depend on what you like.  I do have a Railking Challenger for sale if you are interested.

Are you running DCS or conventional. I have a Santa Fe diesel engine that will run convential. Here's a link to the MTH page. The engine is Proto 1 and runs conventionally only. Asking $75.00 + shipping. SOLD

https://mthtrains.com/30-2115-1

Charlie

Any will be good.......The MTH RK F3 units are nice in that they have very few small parts to break, easy for small hands to handle and will even run well on O-27 tubular track. With the limited info you gave that's me best advise. 

Jeff,

Let him decide for himself. Take him to a local train store and let him pick out what appeals to him steam, diesel, color etc.

Joe B.

Personally, I would recommend sticking with PS3 versions (either steam or diesel). I would also let him browse through the last three or so MTH catalogs (available on their website) and let him pick what HE would like.

Didnt mention your sons age. My son has been running with my mth dcs remote since he was 3 and also likes the ipad app. I think new mth starter sets let you run with the mth ipad or iphone app. I think it does add to the coolness factor for kids.

I'm going to say this. My all-time favorite RailKing engine is the N&W Y6b 30-1163-1. Smokes like a pig, pulls like a bear. I had one and sold it only because I had decided to go all-scale. It is one of the few that I regret selling.

Thanks for the replies.  I’m going with PS3 engines. 

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

 I would consider a MTH Ready-To-Run Set with PS3 (one that comes with the DCS Explorer). Let him decide which type and railroad he would like. If you are way into the hobby already, then I would do a diesel or  Imperial Steamer with PS3 just by itself. Honestly, you cannot go wrong. If he wants a steam engine, then I would recommend the Imperial Berkshires. They are a good medium size and well built. The just released Southern Berkshire 30-1765-1 is beautiful and I would pick one up if I had some extra money. 

 Anyone of the recent PS3 Alco RS1's. They have smoke and that great Alco sound. Can negotiate small curves. Are full scale and they just look to be a more higher end priced engine than they are.  For a shade over 300. A real bargain.

Absolutely any RK PS-3.  Great features, great price & they run all day long.  I get them on the secondary market at fantastic prices. 

I had my introduction to the Railking line back in 2013 with the BNSF SD70Ace freight set.  It was a great set which was feature rich being that it is considered entry level.  I would highly recommend going with a Railking starter set.  The only issue I encountered was that I needed to do a feature reset on my locomotive, and was unable to do so with the DCS commander remote which came with the set.  I didn't own a Z controller, so I wound up buying the full DCS system to perform the reset with no regrets.  MTH no longer includes the DCS commander with their starter sets, so that may no longer be an issue.

 I real like the PS3 Alco RS1's.  I have two of them.  Smoke and a great sound.  They are run great.