Actually, the SHS E7 was put on hold because of the 2-8-0 project "sucking up all air" so to speak, then Sanda Kan happened.
Last I heard was AM has their tooling back in Michigan and SHS has theirs finally at another builder. SSA is still progressing on their SD45, although slowly. All three have been hurt by the Sanda Kan shuffle. It will still take time.
I'm pretty sure all are motivated to bring out new product, but it ain't easy makin' trains. We must remember AM SHS or SSA have the resources of Lionel. All three are practically "cottage industries" by comparison.
I think our patience will be rewarded.
Rusty
Rusty, yes I was refering to the bloodbath on Yahoo last week. My condolences for enduring that debacle and if it is any consolation, I think you came out better than Jonnyspeed, who required a blood donor and a transfusion, just to maintain consciousness. I appreciate your optimistic outlook and I also believe you know the guys at SHS, AM and SSA much better than I do. It seems to me that as difficult as the Sanda Kan issue is, I truly do not see an imperative from these manufactures to make a come back. You make a good point that AM, SSA and SHS are exponentialy smaller than Lionel, but economies aside, I think Lionel has a greater zeal to enter this market than they do to maintain it. To be fair,I am not criticizing any of them for the choices they have made, as we all have a great many priorities in life and are free to act on them as each of us deems important, but I think SHS, AM and SCA could "take-it" or "leave-it" at this point.
