Ted Hikel: To answer your question (from December!)... The Hudson and Lima berk were redesigned to have their motors in the firebox, where it belongs. 1,000,000 scale railroaders can't be wrong! Lionel made three colorful Pacifics (C&A, Crescent, and Blue Comet) which also had the motor in the firebox. The Crescent might have been based on K-Line tooling.
The K-4 is a tough call... the firebox of Lionel's Odyssey K-4 was much too long. The K-Line model had nice proportions, but the goofy motor arrangement. And MTH's was an early effort with undersized driving wheels (perhaps a nod to operation on sharp curves, since hi-rail layouts were still uncommon in 1995.)
Unfortunately Lionel's reissue of the USRA light Mikado is still saddled with the small, cheap motor leaning forward in the boiler. Lionel showed their new heavy Mikado at York. I loved the appearance, but when I found out it had the small motor in the boiler, I decided not to order. No way will I pay $1200 for a loco with a $5 motor!
