Traditional Sized Mikado

I can't see any difference in them.  The one in the photo is a LC+ that started out as a PRR.  I like it a lot, however for some reason it doesn't smoke as well as my LC+ CNR Hudson. 

Most of the LC+ stuff has decent detail, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I'd stay away from the LC+ Mikado. There is a design flaw that causes the screws holding the rods on the first set of drive wheels to get tangled with the crossheads sliding back and forth when going around curves. I had the problem on a couple of LC+ Mikados and my dealer has also had the same issue both on customer engines and his personal LC+ unit. I believe the TMCC 2000s Mikados used a different sized screw (or similar) and didn't have this problem. 

My LC+ has been running fine.  As far as paint goes, it was not in issue with me.  I had my Mikado custom painted.  The paint that it came with didn't look right to me for a PRR locomotive.  The bright silver that Lionel used doesn't look like any PRR loco I have seen.  

I would recommend the TMCC version.  The sound is better than Lionchief Plus and it's really reliable.  I've had my PRR 9639 since 2007 and it's still one of my best runners, and probably my favorite engine.  It came equipped with RS 5.0, so the sounds are just about Legacy quality.

Thanks everyone.  Appreciate the idea of getting the TMCC version, but I'm more set on getting a Chessie engine and I don't think that was available back then.  But, I might re-think things and "trade up" for a PRR Mike and dump my Jr. Berk.  We'll see.