I wound up going with the reactor. Picked one up at my local train shop (Eastside Trains in Kirkland, WA) for $200. Installation was a bit tricky - this item was definitely not made for FasTrack. I had to trim off one side of my FasTrack in order to get it close enough for the boom arm to reach into the gondola. All in all, it's a pretty impressive addition to the train set and let's face it, having a nuclear reactor is just plain FUN!
I also picked up an AEC gondola. The gondola needs some work to really work well. The bottom of the gondola is flat with a pronounced raised center strip that causes the ore pellets to roll off to the sides and away from the magnetic boom arm. I'll probably make a small V shaped tray to put in the gondola bed to make the feeding of the reactor run more smoothly.
I also ordered a RMT water tower painted in AEC colors to go with the reactor. They're currently on sale for only $25. Now if I can just find a little Homer Simpson figure to go with the reactor....that or a Godzilla figure.
