I think you're right about MTH pricing. Just look at the tinplate line. "Traditional" or "PS2.0" doesn't have any bearing on the price of a 400E. It used to, but not any more. Lionel O is different, they've always had low-end locos and sets and they brought back the scout. So you don't have to spend a spleen and half a kidney to buy your kid a train. I like the scouts. They look like a big locomotive rather than a yard switcher, albeit a few axles short. I own an Atlas O 4-4-2 C&O Atlantic that's really nice. But again it's a bit small, even next to a scout 2-4-2. And what was up with those tiny K-Line tank engines from a few years back? We're they accurately sized? (Seriously, I'm asking because I don't know)
Over on the MR forum there's a thread about what you would do if you had unlimited funds and a large space to build the layout of your dreams. I've been surprised by the number of posters that say they'd consider switching to O or S gauge instead of building huge HO or N gauge empires. It proves that big trains still have a place because you can do more details per square inch. So I think the answer to the question of why scale has become such a big selling point in O gauge in recent years lies in the HO market. But I believe it's also because boomer operators aren't dominating the O gauge market of today. And I say "operators" very specifically because boomer "collectors" still dominate that side of the hobby. But a lot of those guys that switched from post-war sets to HO because of realism are starting to come back to O. Trains are big and heavy and a Lionel 700E Hudson lets you "feel" railroading in a way a HO Hudson doesn't.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
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