@Jason Dickie posted:2-rail and 3-rail are different hobbies. Beth is doing an amazing job even thinking about a 2-rail offering as first choice. For committed O-scalers (dedicated that is, not 'committed' as in institutions) look at what Heljan is achieving in the British market ... and luckily Lionel is not a household name over here.
The D&H never had SW1s, but I'd look for a local shortline to justify buying one, I promise Beth. The OO/HO modellers over here love the heft of O-scale (2-rail of course) and are setting up tiny layouts for O-satisfaction. It's not good enough to say "fix your problem Beth by doing 3-rail as well." Different wheels, frame/pilots, 3/2 trucks, innards - electronics and tower-power, all contributing to 3-rail extra cost. No, no Jason don't mention rotating bearing caps on 2-rail diesel axle ends ... oh, too late.
There are many 3-rail models that could be worth buying if they could be yanked off the production line before the 3-rail chassis was screwed on. I know, I know, it's been tried by Atlas.
Anyway, good luck Beth, the rumour that a new version of the mythological tale of Pandora's Box is being released as Beth's Box by Hollywood must be something somebody made up, eh?
I want to see fixed pilots as much as the 2-rail folks, but I'm already heavily invested in 3-rail. I disagree with your assertion that "2-rail and 3-rail are different hobbies". Realism and accuracy are a sliding scale, and I've seen some downright awful 2-rail layouts and some amazingly realistic 3-rail ones.
I know this is the 2-rail forum, but I think there is a market for fixed-pilot diesels with hi-rail wheels and center rail pick-up rollers. If there can be some manufacturing overlap, we all win. If that means the 3-rail variants have Kadee couplers and are straight DC (with a NMRA DCC plug) to get to a reasonably priced and easier to manufacture model - I'm all for it. If I want a command system that is compatible with my existing stuff I can throw in an ERR or DCS board at my leisure - just make sure the motors have flywheels!
I'm all for compromise if it helps the hobby along and I think the first company to realize this 3-rail O-scale market will have a success on their hands, and be positioned for the future of O-scale as it progresses toward more and more scale modelers.