I have wondered why, given that they have the docksider mechanism, Lionel did not add a Thomas the Tank Engine body and test the demand for the product. Since they already have tooling for Thomas in O, a computer could scale it down at a lesser cost than starting from "scratch"
I am at a loss at many of the decisions that Lionel makes, but the current mix of American Flyer rolling stock has more items that I want than I can afford to buy. I guess they are marketing to folks like me.
LittleTommy