OK, this response is only meant with the best intentions, as some of you I respect very much.
However… some of the responses seem to think “fantasy” or non-scale is relegated only to the 3 rail, O gauge market. Me seems to think you have NOT walked the halls of the O scale March Meet in Chicago.
Walking the isles at the March meet and will see “fantasy” non-scale or hideously detailed “models”. Yes, they do operate on two rails, but please, this is NOT a true scale show or gauge by any means.
Some of you have mentioned (in other threads) that the HO guys seem to be free from the fantasy issue; again, I would say you are sorely mistaken. Yes, there are a few manufactures that are only scale, but the vast majority rebadge (as close as possible) existing models to feed a larger market and get more out of the tooling/project.
Escaperocks alluded to this earlier, Scott is not trying to market a bait-and-switch situation, but rather an alternative to other options where he thinks the market is lacking.
In my opinion, there are many engines that are sitting without a passenger train to pull and why should Scott not try to capture part of that market?
My one concern for success for this program, is that I suspect enough people will balk at the price… not because of the dollar amount, but because it will be too close to the price of the scale counterpart. Since the cars could be construed as non-scale or “lesser” then scale, some people will feel the price should also be less.
Maybe the answer is to raise the price of the scale cars to create a tiered pricing structure. 
If a 1938 20th Century with blue stripes is ever in the works I would be a customer. I have a nice Dreyfuss Hudson sitting in a box with nothing to pull.
Charlie
