Editing K-Line (section)

==Establishment==

MDK was founded in 1975 by Maury D. Klein. Like competitor [[MTH Electric Trains]], MDK was a large [[Lionel, LLC|Lionel]] dealer, and its mail-order ads appeared in magazines such as [[Model Railroader]] in the late 1970s. MDK first used the K-Line name on a line of aftermarket Lionel-compatible tubular track as well as a copy of the A.C. Gilbert American Flyer line of two-rail S-Gauge track which Maury Klein acquired at Gilbert's demise.

[[Louis Marx and Company]]'s final demise in 1978 led to MDK increasing the K-Line product line. In 1980, MDK purchased the tooling for Marx's [[Plasticville]]-like Marxville buildings and accessories for train sets at bankruptcy. K-Line was able to recover additional Marx tooling by scavenging through old factories and warehouses. In an oft-repeated story, Maury Klein and his plant manager, Brent Chambers, found the molds for the Marx model 333 and 1829 4-6-2 locomotives in a dilapidated [[Fisher-Price]] warehouse near [[Buffalo, New York]] in 1984. The warehouse was unlighted, unheated, and was missing part of its roof.

By 1985, K-Line was producing O27 locomotives, cars, and figures from former Marx and Kusan tooling, 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". K-Line changed the couplers on the Marx-derived trains to make the cars compatible with Lionel, and, eventually, improved 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.