As much as I admire the EBT 2-8-2's, a more useful loco would be a Baldwin 2-8-0 (C-19, maybe, so as not to compete with the Accucraft C-16 at $600-$700). And also a 4-4-0.
Bachmann did a fine job with the Tweetsie 4-6-0 and I'm sure that a C-19 would be a surefire winner.