This bring up the conundrum (today's $5.00 word) with manufacturing trains for S. Design for scale and adapt for Flyer or design for Flyer and adapt for scale.
HO and N have it easy. DC or DCC.
SHS, AM and very likely, the SSA SD45 were/will be designed for scale with the Flyer adaptation. The new Lionel/Flyer is the opposite. Both design philosophies require a different approach and I don't see any of these companies changing their approach drastically.
We've seen in CTO Jon's posting on the dual motor SD70 tread that this is no easy task by the attempt with the U33C. And frankly, if and until Lionel can sufficiently miniaturize the Legacy electronics, (or a different system come to take its place) this will always be the case.
Life was a lot simpler when all you had to worry about was designing for straight DC or three-position reverse unit.
At least we don't have to worry about that middle rail!
Rusty
I did not know you could use the word conundrum on a family forum!! It will be interesting to see how Lionel navigates this situation. Traditionally, they have not moved to accomodate the DCC crowd with their O scale product. However, I do get the impression that this may be a consideration for S. I like having options for manufacturers, but I'm also worn out from the compapability wars during my 3 rail days. To this point, I only know that for me, I'm only using one control system from here on out and it will either be conventional AC or Legacy. With the stuff comming from the big L these days, I just may be compelled go back to Legacy. The additional motivator for me may be in using Legacy and SC-2's to run the entire layout with the remote.
Lastly, Mr. Swafford......any more crazy ideas like Erie F-units from you and I may just nominate you for: Director - Product Development at Lionel. You have a real eye for color and how paint schemes apply to various diesels.
