--- In [email protected], "Ed" wrote:
> Fred's AF-conversion-to-scale project can be a remarkable success if handled
> right. There are ways to design future locos to facilitate the process.
> There are ways to design future locos to frustrate the process. There are
> models that will sell well in S. There are models that will not sell well in
> S regardless of the flange size. Do we really want smoke, crew talk, Legacy,
> remote control scale couplers, DCC via Lionel decoders, factory weathering,
> factory-provided scale wheelsets, highly detailed realism, no wires between
> loco and tender, etc., etc?? There are dozens and dozens of various paths
> that Lionel can take with regard to S products. Who of us is really talking
> to Lionel seriously about what makes the most sense?
I'd rather not have to send a loco out to a third party to be scalified, but
this seems to be a good solution for the present. Considering SSL&S is doing
all the heavy lifting the cost of conversion doesn't seem so bad. Besides, a
River Raisin Y3, if they were to do one, would probably run $2500-$3000
nowadays.
I'm willing to accept that Lionel isn't going to become like the former SHS, AM
or anyone else in catering to us scale guys. Lionel will be Lionel.
The fact that DCC compatibility happened is somewhat short of a miracle. When
the first rumblings of DCC happened on the OGR board, I mentioned something to
the effect of adding "scale wheels, fixed pilots and an 8-pin DCC plug and the
scale guys will love you."
Well, I was given to understand the 8-pin plug got shot down. It appears
Lionel's business model is built around their proprietary electronics. Jon has
managed to sneak DCC in through the back door, adding value to the Flyer line
for Lionel, but apparently with limits. For the immediate future, it is
something we're going to have to deal with.
We can always choose not to buy a Lionel-Flyer product. Perhaps more changes
by Lionel will be in the offering after MTH begins production and the battle
for the S Scale buck is joined, but I'm sure there's going to be complaints
about MTH also.
> Here is an interesting comment from someone attending O SCALE WEST this past
> weekend. I will quote him as best I can recall:
>
> "Lionel's cooperation with Fred's AF-to-scale conversion project is doing
> more for S scale than Lionel has ever done for the 2-rail O scale crowd."
>
That's pretty much the same observation I've made over the past few months.
It's interesting some O Scalers have been pushing for Kadee mounting pads and
scale wheels on freight cars with no success. I don't know what magic happened
with the Flyer line in becoming scale compatible, but I'm glad it's happening.
Rich G(ajnak)
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