Stuart – points made. Though the MTH L1s tender has an angled slope sheet, it appears from photos that it shares the same side body details (size, rivet pattern, vertical coal bunker sides) as the MTH I1s tender. If so it is likely MTH tool makers started with what they had from their I1s tender and modified it with several L1s tender features.
Many changes were made to PRR tender classes over the years such as mid life addition of dog houses and stoker equipment which changed their appreance. And as noted the PRR was known for swapping tenders. Sole surviving L1s 620 at Strasburg trails a recycled 110F75a tender off an M1 or K4s. I've studed over a hundred L1s photos (books, internet, videos) and have not found an L1s tender with the same spotting features (straight sides, no angled coal board extension, and exposed angled slope sheet without a matching line of rivets on the tank side) as found on the MTH model. With 574 L1s locomotives perhaps a photo exists of a prototype for the MTH tender – but at the very least it would be atypical of the class. Based on photos the angled coal board extention 90F75 tender being modeled by Sunset is the most common tender trailed by PRR L1s' in their decades of service.
The original question was “I’d like to hear comments about this model from the perspective of scale fidelity and accuracy to the prototype”. IMO the MTH tender doesn’t look like the ones I see in L1s photos and film. We all accept some prototype compromises in the models we buy for reason of price or operation. Fortunately if one wants a model of a PRR L1s we'll have several to choose from in the near future. If DCS is not a driving factor I’d wait for the Forum member reviews/photos of the production models and then buy the one which best meets your value preferences.
Ed Rappe
