Why does MTH flatten off their steam boilers?

Ease of assembly.

 

Rusty

Three rail modelers do not care what the boiler looks like under the running boards, and it is less expensive to not make them like the real ones under there.  Try Sunset if you like round boilers.  K-Line got away with the most offensive setup - unwrapping the boiler into a U shape.

Fixed that for you.

 

And no, it wasn't just K-Line--the OP mentions the MTH General, in which the inverted "U" shaped boiler is glaringly apparent.

I'm going to add this one to my 'pickers-of-nit' file.

 

Good grief.

 

 

Well, except for some Swiss conversions, steam engines got their power from burning COAL or OIL.......

Super O Man,

You are comparing two different model 'lines'. Lionel Legacy scale vs Rail King Imperial traditional size. I had the same question when I first reentered the hobby.

Rounded more accurate boilers are more expensive to make and are usually standard on more expensive scale models.  The 'flattened' or inverted 'U' shaped boilers are easier to manufacture.  The railking and railking Imperial steamers use this in their less expensive and traditional sized locomotives. Their more expensive scale Premier steamers have a more prototypical round/complete boiler.

  Lionel does the same thing...my Lionmaster 'compressed size' Challenger has a U shaped boiler while my JLC scale Big Boy has the prototypical round/complete one.

Check out the MTH website for a railKing model vs. A premier model of the same locomtive to get a better idea of what I'm describing.

hello guys and gals........

 

I had a lionel Pennsy  J-1 2-10-4 # 6-28078 that has a "U" shaped boiler "flat" on the bottom too.  It is the Sunset brass models that has a full rounded  boiler, not sure of the K-line.

 

the woman who loves the S.F.#5021

Tiffany