@Mike DeBerg I agree Mike.
One thing I really hope they do, and judging from everything I read on their website they will do it, is use trucks that are realistic in nature. What I mean by that is in O scale 2 rail the trucks used on models traditionally have looked like the prototype. Of all the companies that also make 3 rail trains only Weaver had trucks that were made this way where the bolster is on the car body and not on the truck. I have always felt that when Atlas O got back into O in the late '90s they should have developed a truck/bolster system similar to the Weaver. Weaver had an add on Lionel type coupler for 3 rail operations that went between the truck and the body. It gave the car the extra height needed for the 3 rail coupler. Atlas could have done something like that maybe improving on the idea but instead they used a truck that has a bolster built into it which has in my opinion has its roots from the toy train world. Not only was this less realistic but it was sort of proprietary. Yes, you can put Atlas trucks under other manufacturers cars and sometimes they work with little or no effort and sometimes they require more effort. When using the correct truck design like what was always used in 2 rail you can pretty much put any truck under any car. It is pretty much a Standard. This is why whenever I convert a 3 rail car to 2 rail I try to use the that manufacturers trucks because if I don't there might be problems.
@mwb Well, it is happening right here. We have a high end HO caboose costing $115 while a Lionel or Atlas O caboose retails for $90 (approximately). One thing that might help is if Tangent does a car they have already done in HO they won't have to do the research. Maybe that will lower the costs a little? They just have to scale it up. At the point where I am in the hobby I don't need a high number of trains. It would be better to spend more and get a high quality model than spend less for two lower quality models.
