Was hesitant buying Lionel's Harry Potter RTR starter set fearing it's loco would be an anemic smoker akin to both my Polar Express and Strasburg RR starter set engines. I was pleasantly surprised that the HP loco smokes much better than the either the PE or St\rasburg locos. Since all three engines are low end conventional steamers with plunger type puffing smoke units, what in the design accounts for the Harry Potter loco outperforming smokewise the PE and SRR engines? If you have both the HP and either SRR or PE, have you also noticed this? Have you taken the shells off and discovered any differences which would account for the Potter loco outsmoking the PE or SRR locos?
Being RTR sets, all three have similar price points and are meant for children so why does the HP set locvo outperform the PE and SRR locos as a fairly decent smoker (albeit not as good as my MTH engines but certainly not as anemic as both the PE and Strasburg 0-8-0 locos?)