Jeff_the_Coaster_Guy posted:Why wouldn't Lionel offer a "basic" set, using the same molds but configured for operation same as any other diesel set? I imagine some folks really are willing to pay extra for automatic opening doors, but it just seems like there's a much larger subset of folks (like me) who would LOVE to have an Acela or a Euro-style bullet train just to run around the track with our other trains at a price point much closer to "normal" sets. I'd spring a few hundred bucks for a 5 car set with a powered unit, a dummy and plain old lighted passenger cars. But not >$1500 for all that fancy gadgetry that generally won't work.
Does such a thing exist? Like a TGV, or ICE train?
MTH made the Turbo train. If you are not fixated on the Lionel brand as so many are, that could be an alternative.
