Well Bill, 5 years ago Lionel was absolutely committed to doing models of interest to the S scale crowd. Perhaps we just need to wait for this mgmt. team to get fired and hope the next is scale friendly? Their catalog literally promised S wouldn't be ignored anymore (paraphrasing). Really? Yes, mgmt. change, different priorities, etc... got it.
In my opinion, between S Flyer and S Scale only S Scale had a CHANCE of remaining relevant in the future. Why? Because new hobbyists are not interested in toy trains. By a wide margin they want scale models. Once the crowd that grew up with Flyer and has that nostalgia passes on who is going to want it? Lionel has decided to make product for a declining market and squeeze it for what it's worth. At some point it won't make financial sense I'm sure.
As much as it pains me I think S is going to be the next OO. If you are happy with what has been made and don't mind networking with people to find the products you want then you might be ok. If you have a desire for something that hasn't been done your only option is probably going to be scratch building.
I love the scale, but I don't love it that much. I've pretty much relegated myself to build a small switching layout or diorama to display my S scale and Hi-Rail collection.
