I read the thread a week or two ago that started out with a lament about the loss of the once Kingly status of O.
After seeing some of the fine comments and appreciating the historical roots of that slogan I kept coming back to Mike Pitogo's statement.
I am the King and O is my Kingdom. Every other scale to me is for peasants except for G, they are for giants.
While HO may be the king of sales, O is very much the King of Scales in the 21st century.
The King is leader. There may be many others but there is only one King and his presence is commanding. That was true of O scale trains in years past and it is still true today.
Seventy-five years ago the Kings of model train manufacturing and model railroading were working in O scale. They set trends the effects of which can still be seen today. Today's O scale modelers and manufacturers are still setting trends.
Today we have fine clubs and individual modelers in O scale. Looking at Eric Lindgren's spectacular passenger trains on the Denver layout, the modern diesels of Mike Pitogo on the NYSME layout or the work of Rich Battista or Norm Charbonneau on their home layouts. I can't help but see their photos and think that I am seeing some of the finest modeling done anywhere in any scale. They are Kings of Model Railroading working in the King of Scales.
Command and sound are an increasing element of realistic operation for many modelers in multiple scales. Again, O is the king. Part of this is due to pure physics. Large models lend themselves to the installation of electronics and larger, higher fidelity speakers. Part of it is an O scale market that has rewarded innovation. In about the same time it took a manufacturer to get standard committee approval for for a Recommended Practice allowing an implementation of two way communication for DCC we in O Scale had two manufacturers develop and market command systems with integrated sound, smoke, speed and command control systems with two way communication capability. While modelers in other scales have to put up with out of sync steam sound and smoke or suffer the complexity of electromechanical synchronization we have fully electronic, fully synchronized, fully integrated systems. And they often cost less than the other systems while offering richer features and performance.
Try finding a tethered remote from an O scale command control manufacturer!
And we have a bounty of models to choose from. Want modern Diesels? Would you like GE or EMD? In fact, we had SD70ACes before they were available in HO. Want steam? Would you like it in Brass or diecast with brass details? First or second generation diesels, do you prefer your Alcos, EMDs, F-Ms or Baldwins from Atlas, MTH or Weaver? Wait, now add Sunset. The choice is yours. If you have friends that run with conventional AC, conventional DC, DCC and DCS you can take your one model to all their layouts and run it without even having to flick a switch thanks to Proto3. Try that in another scale.
While their are as yet unavailable locomotives or cars that we would all like to see produced I am amazed at the choices we have available to us. There are over 100 differently tooled plastic O scale freight cars that have been produced by Atlas, Lionel, MTH and Weaver since 2000. Find that hard to believe? Just go through the box cars alone. Those four manufactures have produced over 40 different box car models since the start of this century. Then look at the different reefers, covered hoppers, open hoppers, gondolas, flat cars, coil cars, well cars, tank cars and cabooses. When considering paint schemes the choices are in the thousands with several car numbers available in most schemes. The totals are staggering.
What ever era you model from WW I to the present, what ever industries or bridge traffic are on your layout there are freight cars cars currently available in O scale to accurately meet your shippers needs.
The King is alive and his Kingdom is wealthy.
Long Live the King! 
