I might go for an SP Mikado. It's a good looking engine. I like the SP, and there's a lack of variety in scale Mikados. The Big Two offer USRA light and heavy, a pre-WWI Southern Railway prototype, and a Pennsy engine with a Belpaire firebox. 3rd Rail has made a decent assortment of Mikados. They did an SP Mikado back in the 90's, but of course it has crummy QSI OEM electronics. Nice looking model, though, and plenty of detail. 3rd Rail also did an SP 2-8-0. Same time frame, same electronics. I don't have one of those, but I've seen it running on our museum layout and it is a nice looking engine.
Lionel does have the tooling for an SP 2-8-0. which they made around 2001. I don't know how correct it is, but it differs in some details from their UP version, so they did make an effort. I have one; it's not a great runner with its early version of TMCC and a piston smoke unit, but I would think Lionel could add some detail and reissue it with Legacy, assuming there's enough room inside.
As much as I would also like a CORRECT SP 2-8-2, there isn't much chance of either Lionel nor MTH ever making one of these, because it is an exclusive locomotive to ONLY the SP. Thus, Lionel or MTH could not use the model to offer any other railroad names.
Hot Water: Since when has that stopped either Lionel or MTH from decorating a locomotive for any railroad they felt like?
Here's the 3rd Rail SP Mikado. Not a great photo, unfortunately - taken with a pocket digital camera.
And here's a 3rd Rail SP 2-6-0. This is a great little engine - one of my favorites. Good runner, lots of smoke, decent sound. Perfect for my small layout.
