@Racetrack Route Joe posted:You're absolutely right, Will. I got into the hobby after the Atlas ones had been released, and were exorbitant then and still are as secondhand items, let alone are rarer than hens' teeth. While this isn't an Atlas or an MTH thread, Lionel's 21" Passenger cars are former K-Line tooling, and made of aluminum and not plastic like Atlas. Lionel's California Zephyr cars, however, done thus far (last ones being the 18" cars) are arguably not as detailed as the Atlas cars, but the 21" cars, that they have not *yet* ran in CZ, ones are still solid cars IMO. With the Station Sounds Diners, those are what does it for me. I would like to see their version of it though, not to mention, K-Line had a PRR thru-way sleeper done up in 21" Stainless Steel CZ livery just as the CB&Q, D&RGW, and WP. No, that sleeper wasn't quite accurate to the prototype but this is O-Scale. IF these can be re-released, it will give Atlas a run for their money assuming they do in fact re-release their CZ. This is also wishful thinking on my part, but if Lionel can make the CZ "all new tooling" just like they are doing for the 20th Century Limited from 2023 Volume I, let's just say that competition is great for the consumer, their wallet on the other hand, not so much.
The Lionel cars are not K Line tooling as those cars were made of aluminum. The Lionel cars would look a lot better if they had done the proper round windows on the dome cars instead of the flat windows. I see no reason for Lionel to do new tooling for a set that has already been done to near perfection. It's just time for Atlas to run theirs again...
