@SANTIAGOP23 posted:The availability argument is so immature. I mean is 3 rail equipment readily available? Yes, but so are PEZ dispensers.
@rplst8 posted:This I agree with. I don’t know exact numbers, but I’d venture a guess that over 90% of O 3-rail is semi-scale or older postwar in which I have no interest.
@New Haven Joe posted:Take a look at Lionel's 2022 catalog. There are plenty of scale offerings in their Legacy Line. Except for the couplers and wheel flanges, most items are scale. The models are also well detailed.
Lionel also has a traditional train line that is more toy like. NH Joe
So in the 2022 catalog, Lionel dedicated 76 pages to "Scale" or "Standard O" offerings and 96 pages to Traditional items. That is definitely a better ratio than in the past, and I have no problem with this balance. However, I'm looking at the whole market including the secondhand segment of the hobby. If you go to York or just look through pages of items on popular auction sites, the vast majority of things being sold are post-war, MPC era, or even modern traditional or "semi-scale" items.
I think Santiago's point (and mine in agreeing with him) is this: The total market for 3-rail dwarfs 2-rail, definitely on the supply side, and maybe on the demand side too (I'm less certain of this). But just prior to MTH's restructuring, I'd say that the 2-rail and "3-rail scale" markets were probably about the same size. I think Santiago's sentiment (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that if all the people interested in 3-rail scale switched to 2-rail, and the manufacturers focused on that market, we'd all be happier.
This is why MTH's Proto-Scale 3-2 system was so promising IMHO. I think had they made fixed pilot conversions part of the products in the box (including wheels etc.) they would have had a REAL winner. The 2-rail guys aren't afraid of a little "tinkering" to convert them anyway.
