Bob2,
excellent view... Just look at the investments Lionel, MTH, and Atlas have made in the industry over the last 10 years alone. Think about the last 3 years with MTH and Lionel. Look at their new products in their first 2016 catalogs, tell me further investments in tooling, technology and experiences aren't being made... Definitely not true.
With as much fragmentation as we have in O Scale, I think the primary suppliers have given us a lot of new products. Not as much innovation as other scales, but certainly noteworthy.
If I was Lionel, MTH and Atlas, I would be planning how do I grow my business knowing a large percentage if their existing O scale customer base is aging, collectors, modelers, doesn't matter. Also how can they capitalize on the transition of modelers from smaller scales, needing to work with larger products? And lastly, how do they attract new enthusiasts to O Scale, certainly not by creating low fidelity products from years past and minimal customer experience..
Originally Posted by bob2:
I think I would opt for the opinion that O Scale 2-rail is as healthy as it has ever been, and maybe so even taking into account the doubling of the population since 1960. O Scale has surely more than tripled since 1960?
