You got it Bill. Jim could see, even with Atlas's reputation in HO, that just copying Lionel wasn't going to win them much, he remembered the confusing message from the Roco-made offerings of the 70s. Offering full 2-rail quality to 3-railers in the 90s worked a treat for Atlas.
Mike Wulf's fallout with Lionel and his extensive offerings came from his knowledge of 3-rail quality and he expected to carry 2-railers along easily. I imported one of the 2-rail MTH Big Boys in the 90s and there was an extra bit between the 8-coupled frames because it used 3-rail curve geometry in the design I suppose. Those early MTH GP30s were perched up on foreshortened Blombergs trucks. Atlas's quality showed Mike how to outshine Lionel.
Mustn't forget Weaver. Super stuff, originally good price, got me going seriously in 2-rail, used their mechanisms in early Gilmaur kits when CLW's supply stopped. Joe Hayter saw a bigger market with China-made 3-rail. Having nice to assemble, easy-to-mount freight car trucks with easy to swap 2- or 3-rail wheelsets and a simple king-pin spacer for the 3-rail height - no over-complicated metal brackets, etc.
Ah well, each to his own. Wow, did I write all that?
Jason
Beth : CP Action Red
