The 3rd Rail AC4400CW came out around 1998 or early 1999. They show up on Ebay from time to time. They are nice locomotives. Now that Scott is doing a new run with the latest improvements in the drive, ball bearings on all axles, no swinging pilot and in higher resolution plastic, it will be the best one on the market for scale operators.
My opinion it that MTH did bring the benefit of competition to the market for both reasonably priced products and technology. They make some excellent products. As for a loss of variety, I don't see it. Steam locomotives may come back from different manufacturer's in either full brass or brass hybrid and the pricing which be not a whole lot more than what we are seeing in die cast. The diesels might be more difficult for some of the "what used to be modern" locos like an SD60 or SD80MAC. If there is demand for a specific locomotive that can generate enough interest to do it in numbers, it will be made.
