Questions about the 2009 Lionel/K-Line Circus Train 6-22121

The loco does have traction tires and is a good puller.  It has a larger can motor like in the one step up from the lower end Lionel Steamers.  Its based on the former Marx tooling (which is why I got it) but the drive train is a solid re-work.  

Mike is correct and I'm pretty sure it would pull your consist.  However this loco has NO flywheel, and does NOT coast at all.  (One drawback of traction tires is they also prevent the loco from skidding.)  I've had these apart and there's no easy way to add a flywheel.  A shame really, because they're geared low and good runners otherwise.  The lack of a flywheel also prevents upgrading to PS2 / PS3 

You could maybe try to gain coasting distance by removing the whistle, and adding a large non-polarized capacitor to the tender.  Pickup rollers on the tender might help too.  I love the nostalgic looks of the K-Line / Marx pacific, but due to the lack of a flywheel, it'll never match the smoothness or forgiveness of Railking USRA Pacific with PS2, or LionChief Plus.  It's all fun and games until a kid pushes the "direction" button, then whoa Nellie! 

Ted:

Thanks very much for this info.

With one exception, I'm a postwar and MPC-era operator only so this loco not having a flywheel is not an issue for me.  I myself am the kid who pushes the direction button.  

SJS

Steven, I have the K-Line original of this loco, before this K-Line by Lionel version. But as to my knowledge, there were no engineering changes made to the locomotive.

For a reasonably priced starter set, this steam engine is not only a good puller, but is also very smooth running... more so than typical Lionel starter set steam engine especially on 027 curves.  Yes, if you hit the direction button, it will stop on a dime. But I don't use the direction button, so this is a non-issue for me. As noted, the motor is larger than that in Lionel starter steam sets. But it is also a worm gear drive, so you cannot push the engine on the track with power off, the way you can with a Lionel 2-4-2 or 4-4-2 starter steam engine.

As Mike W. mentioned, K-Line put a lot of effort into the refurbishing of the MARX dies as well re-engineering the drive mechanism of this 4-6-2 steamer. Yet, there are two weak points to this steam and one inconvenience.

The two weak points are the Seuthe Smoke Unit, which doesn't work that well to begin with, and is prone to failure. In this case, the smoke unit is the starter Lionel steamers is superior. And then there is the plastic eccentric crank (part 3000-03-04).... I have not had one break in operation, but I have received them broken from shipment. 

The inconvenience is that the whistle will not operate without the special whistle controller that K-Line made for their own whistle. It is possible that under the K-Line by Lionel banner, the whistle assembly was changed to the Lionel type, but that I do not know for certain.

For the typical price, this is a decent starter steam engine that should certainly pull 20-25 cars with fast-angle wheels on level track.

It is also worth noting that the original K-Line also did a circus set with this style steam engine, BUT that engine comes with a plastic instead of die cast shell. It was the only plastic bodied version of this steamer K-Line made. K-Line did this to reduce cost, but afterwards realized it had been a mistake, as I had been told from people at K-Line.