Lionchief plus 2 PRR Baby K4 vs Lionel 6-38025 K4

I think the 6-38025 is a scale sized engine

@Bob is cool! posted:

I think the 6-38025 is a scale sized engine

Yes, that's a full scale engine. Bob, you can Google stuff like this and answer your question. If you can live with a Mikado instead of a K4, you should look at a Lionel LionChief Plus2 2332090 Pennsylvania Mikado. These are a somewhat larger size engine, I think perfect for what you need. They have nice looking running gear, and look great. The Pennsylvania RR had a lot of Mikados, and they were used for passenger service as well as freight.

What passenger cars are you pulling?

@Bob is cool! posted:

I am not happy with the LC baby hudsons size  however a full sized scale K4 is too big for the Madison cars I run with an engine. MY question is the 6-38025 a full sized engine? Or is it smaller than scale but not as small as the LC engine

Bob,

     You have me confused. You say you don’t like the size of the LC Baby Hudsons but your title mentions LC 2.0 Baby K4s. What do you want a K4 or a Hudson? I would think the Baby K4s would look fine with PRR passenger cars 15” or less. The 6-38025 is a scale size engine however it has the wrong boiler. I believe it uses a M1a boiler thus it is too large and this engine was not received well when introduced. Also that explains the relatively lower prices than a scale K4 such as the Kline/Lionel Legacy K4s.

JohnB

I mistakenly said Hudson  I meant K4

I'm pulling MTH Railing 60' Madisons .They're just right for my small layout. Maybe the LC Mikado would look a bit beefier than the  LC K4

Bob,

      Both the K4 PRR Pacific and the L1 PRR Mikado used the same boiler so they are both the same beefier appearance. I’m sure the LC K4 would look fine pulling 15 inch (60Ft) passenger cars. Mikados were basically a freight engine maybe pulled a passenger train some time in the history of the PRR but it did not happen often. The K4 was definitely PRR’s standard passenger engine (rarely pulled freight) but it could have once or twice in their lifetime.

       When I first got back into the hobby I had a Railking K4 and pulled if I remember correctly 15 inch Railking passenger cars. The LC K4 is about the same size as the Railking K4 so it will be fine. Pulling passenger cars with a K4 is a lot more prototypical anyway.

JohnB