Wish I had known that. I saw an ABBA set in Idaho in the 1980s for $200. I passed, realizing that the All Nations were better in many ways.
These Mexican Diesels were die cast in metal, and surely pretty good for when they were made. Five grand seems a tad excessive, but every now and then a truly wealthy person just has to have a new toy. Just grin and go about enjoying your end of the hobby.
I cannot wait for high quality die cast Diesel models from Lionel and MTH. They both have figured out how to make extremely accurate models in (ugh) plastic.