K-line

K-Line Electric Trains is a brand name of O gauge and S gauge model railway locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings.

Its parent company, MDK Inc., based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was founded by Maury D. Klein. Like competitor MTH Electric Trains, MDK was a large Lionel dealer, and its mail-order ads appeared in magazines such as Model Railroader in the late 1970s.

When Louis Marx and Company folded in 1978, MDK purchased the tooling for many of Marx's O gauge locomotives, cars, buildings, 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 changing--for example, "Marxville" plastic buildings became "K-Lineville". The Marx designs on train cars were also retained, with K-Line changing the couplers 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 started introducing 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 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 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 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 are almost unchanged from the old Marx designs, Marx collectors sometimes source spare parts from K-Line.