K Line Toy Train Museum Passenger set Engine search


R

Run Amuck Chuck

New Member
Hello,
Having just put together the 7 car set, I have not been able to find a K Line companion engine anywhere let alone mention of one. Am I on a snipe hunt?
Thanks,
Charles
 
Iron Horseman said:
Do you have a photo of one of the cars? Why do you say Museum Passenger set?
Click to expand...
IH,
Hello and thanks for the reply. Unfortunately no photos as one car was just purchased on Ebay and the other six are on hold at the local hobby shop where I first saw/learned of the set.

Each car is a heavyweight style with colorful paint schemes. The cars names are those of individuals key to the history of toy trains such as Ives, Cowan, Gilbert etc.
One example is # K85-1884 for AC Gilbert @ NY Electric Trains. There are several other cars from the set listed on Ebay now.

The car box end cap of the box indicates Toy Train Museum.
 
The Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA, might be a good place to contact and ask questions on these cars. Somehow I have a sneaking suspicion that they might know something about them.

And it's also possible there never were any companion locos made, just put the cars behind whatever loco you already have. But this is just a semi-edumicated guess, subject to correction.
 
Run Amuck Chuck said:
Hello,
Having just put together the 7 car set, I have not been able to find a K Line companion engine anywhere let alone mention of one. Am I on a snipe hunt?
Thanks,
Charles
Click to expand...
A saved search on eBay may help you find what you are looking for, eventually.

You can set it up so that eBay will email you when one turns up.
 
Mixed Freight said:
The Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA, might be a good place to contact and ask questions on these cars. Somehow I have a sneaking suspicion that they might know something about them.

And it's also possible there never were any companion locos made, just put the cars behind whatever loco you already have. But this is just a semi-edumicated guess, subject to correction.
Click to expand...
Paul,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
The TTM folks had no idea what I was asking about.
Your conjecture about pulling the cars with whatever I have seems to be the most likely explanation. Since they are affiliated, I am considering using the one of the TCA anniversary engines by Lionel. MTH, or K Line. That burnt orange color may fit right in to the crazy quilt color schemes of the various cars.
 
Well, the plot thickens. It's possible that whatever TTM folks you talked to, may (or may not) have been dyed-in-the-wool toy train enthusiasts and historians, but rather some employees that merely direct traffic in and around the museum, run the cash register, etc., etc.

For right now, I'm just guessing that these were most likely a special run of passenger cars done at some point in time exclusively for the TTM by K-Line trains. I know that K-Line did quite a few small special runs of cars for all kinds of folks and events over the years. For instance, I have a couple of K-Line O-gauge cabooses decorated for the Topeka Railroad Days, Labor Day Weekend 1987. I imagine these cars were supplied to the show organizers to sell at the show as collectible money raisers for the event. I seriously doubt if any special run cars were ever cataloged by K-Line, which would also explain why info. is fairly sparse to almost non-existent on them.

In any case, maybe the TCA (Train Collector's Association), TTOS (Toy Train Operating Society) or Roger Carp @ CTT (Classic Toy Trains magazine) could be other good sources to contact and see if they know something about these passenger cars.

And as a last resort, when you manage to obtain the entire set, take some good, clear pictures of everything and post them here to see if something doesn't ring a bell with anyone.

Hope this helps a little more. Kinda' got my curiosity up a little now, too. :)👍
 
Mixed Freight said:
Well, the plot thickens. It's possible that whatever TTM folks you talked to, may (or may not) have been dyed-in-the-wool toy train enthusiasts and historians, but rather some employees that merely direct traffic in and around the museum, run the cash register, etc., etc.

For right now, I'm just guessing that these were most likely a special run of passenger cars done at some point in time exclusively for the TTM by K-Line trains. I know that K-Line did quite a few small special runs of cars for all kinds of folks and events over the years. For instance, I have a couple of K-Line O-gauge cabooses decorated for the Topeka Railroad Days, Labor Day Weekend 1987. I imagine these cars were supplied to the show organizers to sell at the show as collectible money raisers for the event. I seriously doubt if any special run cars were ever cataloged by K-Line, which would also explain why info. is fairly sparse to almost non-existent on them.

In any case, maybe the TCA (Train Collector's Association), TTOS (Toy Train Operating Society) or Roger Carp @ CTT (Classic Toy Trains magazine) could be other good sources to contact and see if they know something about these passenger cars.

And as a last resort, when you manage to obtain the entire set, take some good, clear pictures of everything and post them here to see if something doesn't ring a bell with anyone.

Hope this helps a little more. Kinda' got my curiosity up a little now, too. :)👍
Click to expand...
Paul,
Thanks for your idea packed reply. This is not surprisingly a 7 car set. The JL Cowen Observation car is the most elusive. I had the other six cars on hold at a local hobby shop while I tried to find the JLC car; which I did yesterday.
In addition I went ahead and purchased the K Line J Class TCA engine which I found by accident yesterday. Since the TCA and TTM are affiliated it seemed at least a logical pairing which I am not often accused of.

I will be glad to post photos when all the cars are in my possession as they are quite colorful, almost circus like in their paint scheme. I usually shy away from window silhouettes but as I expect this set to never be produced again, I went for it.
 
Run Amuck Chuck said:
Hello and thanks for the reply. Unfortunately no photos as one car was just purchased on Ebay and the other six are on hold at the local hobby shop where I first saw/learned of the set.

Each car is a heavyweight style with colorful paint schemes. The cars names are those of individuals key to the history of toy trains such as Ives, Cowan, Gilbert etc.
One example is # K85-1884 for AC Gilbert @ NY Electric Trains. There are several other cars from the set listed on Ebay now.

The car box end cap of the box indicates Toy Train Museum.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I had never heard of such things. Researching around I've come to believe these were commissioned by the TCA and their associated museum. Notice the prominence of the TCA logo on all of these also marked toy train museum.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165473635048
As such, I've sent messages to my friends in the TCA to see if they know anything about them. My guess is there is no locomotive, but as an idea that I just saw you are already considering, which is to use one of the TCA commemorative locomotives.

Such as this locomotive one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/334894158222
 
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