There are some streamlined K4 Pacific models out there, by Lionel and MTH. I'm speaking of the semi-scale variety. I've noticed the locomotive is wider than the tender. To my eyes it doesn't look right. I've seen quite a few photos of the real deal and the tender looks to be as wide as the locomotive cab. In other words, the body flows nicely from the cab to the tender.
Am I being too anal or are there others who agree ?
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Too bad we still can't escape Freudian metaphysics. I would guess that both the locomotive and its tender filled out PRR's loading gauge and were, therefore, the same width.
You've just about answered your own question. They are semi-scale. Both modes use a recreation of a tender used on the postwar turbines, 646's, J's etc.
Rusty
Yes, but why didn't Lionel make a new version of the streamlined tender to match the width of the loco ? Cost, I know, is the short answer. So did any manufacturers make a streamlined semi-scale K4 pacific with a tender that was as wide as the loco ?
I'm no expert on these, but seeing that no one else has chimed in, here is what I know about the Lionels. Like many things Lionel, the explanation is in Lionel history, not railroad history.
During the prewar years, Lionel made their traditional-sized, streamlined K4s in both O and O-27 versions. It is not obvious in photographs, but it is easy to see in person that the O version is larger overall, and significantly wider than the O-27 one. Both versions used a box-shaped sheet metal tender, but again, the tender for the O locomotive is larger and wider than the tender for the O-27 loco. The streamlined K4 did not return after the war, though the O-27 tender was found behind the 221 and some of the early Scout engines.
In the 1990s, when Lionel re-issued the traditional sized streamlined K4, they used the casting from the larger O gauge engine. But rather than pair it with the prewar box-shaped tender, they chose the streamlined tender, which had originally been made for the 671 turbine. This tender is longer and better looking. The choice might also have been economic: I suspect that Lionel would have had to outsource a sheet metal tender (as they were doing with their Classics line), when they were already making the 671 tender for other locomotives. So the engine-tender pairing was a compromise; speaking for myself, I feel like it works.
What MTH's excuse is, I have no idea!
Dan Padova posted:Yes, but why didn't Lionel make a new version of the streamlined tender to match the width of the loco ? Cost, I know, is the short answer. So did any manufacturers make a streamlined semi-scale K4 pacific with a tender that was as wide as the loco ?
Don't know about O, but American Models made them properly in full scale in S.
Rusty
K-Line did make a semi-scale version with more realistic tender..
That's nice looking, Gerry. I'll have to keep my eyes open for one on Evilbay.
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