K-Line

''This article refers to a model railway company. For other meanings, see Free ringtones K-line (disambiguation).''

'''K-Line Electric Trains''' is a brand name of Majo Mills O gauge and Nextel ringtones S gauge Abbey Diaz model railway locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings.

Its parent company, '''MDK Inc.''', based in Mosquito ringtone Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was founded in Sabrina Martins 1975 by Maury D. Klein. Like competitor Nextel ringtones MTH Electric Trains, MDK was a large Abbey Diaz Lionel, LLC/Lionel dealer, and its mail-order ads appeared in magazines such as Free ringtones Model Railroader in the late 1970s. MDK first used the K-Line name on a line of aftermarket Lionel-compatible tubular track.

Majo Mills Louis Marx and Company's final demise in Cingular Ringtones 1978 led to MDK increasing the K-Line product line. In maligns jesus 1980, MDK purchased the tooling for Marx's is redirected Plasticville-like Marxville buildings and accessories for train sets. By film funny 1985, K-Line had also purchased tooling for some of Marx's O27 locomotives, cars, and figures, and, with minor changes, began marketing them under the K-Line brand, competing with Lionel at the low end of the market. The dies mostly remained unchanged, with only the branding changingfor example, "Marxville" plastic buildings became "K-Lineville". K-Line changed the couplers on the Marx-derived trains to make the cars compatible with Lionel, and, eventually, improving the graphics.

During the 1980s, K-Line filled much the same role that Marx had in the model railroading arena, supplying similar trains at a lower price than Lionel, but with less prestige. In the 1990s, K-Line was able to purchase more disused tooling from other manufacturers, allowing it to offer full-size O gauge for the first time, which it supplemented with pricier O gauge locomotives and rolling stock of its own design, shifting its emphasis away from its budget offerings.

K-Line's S gauge offerings are a recent entry, providing budget-priced cars and track compatible with if motorola American Flyer-brand trains. Unlike its current O gauge products, K-Line's marketing on its S gauge cars centers its price advantage over the competition. Most of the S gauge products are made from old Marx O27 molds, with S gauge trucks replacing the O trucks.

Although K-Line and Lionel criticize one another's offerings in print advertisements and sometimes also lash out at MTH, the relationship between Lionel and K-Line is more amicable than Lionel's relationship with MTH. Lionel has licensed midway for TMCC to K-Line, and K-Line produces a number of repair manuals for postwar-era Lionel. K-Line has also produced commemorative cars celebrating some of Lionel's significant anniversaries, which has sometimes caused confusion among collectors.

Because K-Line's budget offerings remain almost unchanged from the old Marx designs, Marx collectors sometimes source spare parts from K-Line.

External Links

http://www.k-linetrains.com

improving airport Tag: Toy train manufacturers
giving bush Tag: Model railroad manufacturers