@Jeff_the_Coaster_Guy, the smoke coming from that loco is the material used in stuffing pillows, which I think looks much better than the older method of cotton. I've since taken to using some grey and black spray paint and misting the pillow batting to make it look more like steam engine smoke.
At one time I did remake the smoke stack on those model locos out of metal, and put a Seuthe 6 volt smoke unit in them with heat insulation around them. They did put out smoke, but never lasted. The Seuthe smoke units just don't have a long life. And the 12 volt versions didn't put out enough smoke as 12 volts will make those train engines run like race cars. So I decided for me, it wasn't worth the aggravation to bother.
Yes, it certainly was a low end engine, though the worst thing about those early Lionel DC only sets was the TYCO based power pack put in those sets, which delivered a minimal 6 volts to the track. There's no way the engine could ever run slowly. With a better more sensitive DC power source, you can make those engines crawl.
Part of the challenge also is the bigger department store retailers want to retail electric train sets at a certain price point, say $75.00. I've heard various train companies comment on this. They can't meet that price without cutting every corner or accepting it as a loss leader, hoping that it will bring in new customers.
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As a final thought, this whole world has gotten more opinionated. Opinions are not always factual and differ substantially. Of the whole model train market, HO makes up roughly 65% followed by N scale. 3-rail 0 is a distant third, and far more divided into subcategories than HO and N because of the long established history as mostly "toy" trains, albeit some less than others.
SO, the more the merrier. Starter sets still make up the majority of Lionel's sales and profits. That in turn helps make it possible to have the higher end models.
For me, what is an unnecessary aggravation makes the hobby more enjoyable, as Gunrunnerjohn has said on other occasions. Were it not for the new advances, he wouldn't be in the hobby... him and others. As Lionel has said, they can't focus on just one area of the market: They need everyone from toy enthusiast to scale modeler.
And as a curiosity, don't know if you care to answer @gunrunnerjohn, but you have circuit boards made for you. What percentage of them are defective? I only ask because it seems to be a problem the actual train makers have... or maybe it is the installation of them (ie: wiring). Not trying to be intrusive or put you on the spot, but was wondering if your defect rate (if you have one) is reflective of the defect rates the train makers appear to be having, as least from reading here... whatever those rates actually are?
