Thanks for the reply Bill. The reason I was hoping for a video or actual measurement is because I am not happy with the Legacy diesel's performance. I was hoping MTH would be better out of the box. I'll just have to order one and make my own evaluation.
Let's also agree that the terms we use in S are a bit ambiguous and don't necessarily align with other scales.
For example, the term Hirail was coined to describe the practice of running 3 rail toy trains on layouts that were highly detailed and realistic looking. This term described the layout, not the models. In S we use it to describe the models and the track. It is the middle ground between Scale and Flyer that allows people to run old and new. But it is very difficult to nail down what it really means.
On one extreme you have tubular flyer track, AF equipment, AM, and SHS all running together with Hirail wheels and lobster claw couplers. The other extreme would be something like what Brooks Stover has done - AM track, Hirail wheels, scale couplers, and finely detailed scenery. Are they both Hirail? I suppose so. I have also seen hand-laid code 125 track with "Hirail" models that looks as good as any "Scale" layout. It can all be a bit confusing.
Even "scale" isn't really scale... code 110 wheels and Kadee couplers are both larger than true 1:64 scale. That's where Proto:64 comes in.
I'm guilty of using terms incorrectly too. A lot of times when I refer to "scale" I mean dimensions and details. The size of the flanges doesn't bother me so much. In fact I've even considered hand-laying my own code 125 track and using "HiRail" equipment just because I like the Flyonel 2-8-2 and 4-6-2 so much.
Speaking of which... Somebody on here once said that SHS/MTH code 138 rail could be used in Fast Tracks fixtures. Can anyone verify that?
Thanks
