What's up Thomas guys? I am in to large scale, and happened across this thread..
In my experience with Lionel large scale, it is mostly junk. That's why it didn't sell in large scale. Not because there's no market for it. I think there is a large market for large scale Thomas the tank engine trains. The problem is that Lionel treats large scale as a 'niche' market. When I was 12, I saved my birthday and christmas $$ and bought the then-new Lionel large scale Atlantic 4-4-2. It was a dog from the day I first set it on the tracks, had a lot of problems and it was subsequently returned after having it repaired twice in six months. That was in 1990, and it was the last piece of Lionel large scale I ever ran. Lionel eventually pulled out of the large scale market, with the exception of the Christmas starter sets and the Thomas and James sets made in the late 90s early 00s. It is too bad that Lionel doesn't put the same effort in to their large scale offerings as they do their O-27 line.
We are expecting our first child in a few days, and I will likely be buying him all sorts of Thomas the Tank stuff in the coming years. It would be nice to have a Thomas to run on my garden rr, but given the past experience, I know I will have my work cut out for me if I can even find a working Thomas.
Mark
In my experience with Lionel large scale, it is mostly junk. That's why it didn't sell in large scale. Not because there's no market for it. I think there is a large market for large scale Thomas the tank engine trains. The problem is that Lionel treats large scale as a 'niche' market. When I was 12, I saved my birthday and christmas $$ and bought the then-new Lionel large scale Atlantic 4-4-2. It was a dog from the day I first set it on the tracks, had a lot of problems and it was subsequently returned after having it repaired twice in six months. That was in 1990, and it was the last piece of Lionel large scale I ever ran. Lionel eventually pulled out of the large scale market, with the exception of the Christmas starter sets and the Thomas and James sets made in the late 90s early 00s. It is too bad that Lionel doesn't put the same effort in to their large scale offerings as they do their O-27 line.
We are expecting our first child in a few days, and I will likely be buying him all sorts of Thomas the Tank stuff in the coming years. It would be nice to have a Thomas to run on my garden rr, but given the past experience, I know I will have my work cut out for me if I can even find a working Thomas.
Mark