I'm actually surprised that Lionel or MTH don't seem to see an opportunity here...most of you know the S market better than I do--am I missing something?
NYC Hudsons (many of the different iterations, at least) would seem to be models that would be a guaranteed success story in S scale, given the NYC Hudson's place in toy train history.
Perhaps the reluctance on Lionel and MTH's part is a worry that an S model would bleed sales away from future O scale releases? If that is their concern, I think they are dead wrong. I seriously doubt that an S Polar Express model hurt the O scale offerings.
Jeff C