TM Terry posted:It does make sense that Lionel and/or MTH would be offering the latest locomotives, since these are the ones seen by the public. These products have the potential to increase market share.
On the other hand, the esoteric desires of model railroad enthusiasts, for the most part, only reach those who are already deeply invested in the hobby. I, by no means, am suggesting this is a bad move. It is a good strategy, but only as a secondary vision. Also, esoteric is not a negative label. It is just the reality of the view of those prospective new hobbiests.
Every Lionel/MTH catalog should include an offering of an oft seen locomotive by today’s public. Doing so, Lionel/MTH are allowing Amtrak and railroads to do the advertising for Lionel/MTH. Free advertising, a novel concept.
The problem with my opinion is that I have not considered the copyright rights that the railroads may charge. Those smarter than me should comment if pertinent.
Outside of the risk of investing in new tooling, I think doing modern passenger rail equipment, light rail equipment, and subway equipment that people ride on everyday would be a safe bet. A cool starter set idea might be a model of the Downeaster which runs between Boston and Brunswick, Maine. MTH already has the tooling for the P42DC and Amfleet cars, all they would have to do is modify the F40PH tooling to be able to make a cabbage version. 
It reminds me of when K-line did the Greenport Scoot starter set which was pretty cool to have a realistic push pull set up on a starter-set.
