Hmm...first off, the "clunky" details on the engine are awful; I can't imagine any "serious" HO guy being interested. A model like that is only going to appeal to the "train set" crowd. Heck, AHM offered a Berkshire back in the 1960s that was much better looking than this thing.
Here's my beat-up old example from 1971...looks weary, but still runs very well.
Secondly, as far as roadbed-type track is concerned, Kato's "Unitrack", along with Atlas ("True Track") and Bachmann ("EZ Track") pretty much have that market covered , so I don't see this "Magne-Track" as being the new "gold standard", even for the train set crowd. Plus, I bet you'd find a good deal of HOers are using brands like Micro Engineering and Shinohara, particularly if they like the look of smaller rail size (code 70, etc.)...so to say that this new track "is probably the best thing to happen to HO in a century"...really? 
I'm inclined to agree with Rusty's assessment...FWIW.
Mark in Oregon
