Preference for East Coast and West Coast trains is too apparent.  Again, it's a case of ignoring that mysterious and useless area in between referred to as the "Midwest."

I get it.  But it's a shame nevertheless.  I've participated in other hobbies such as high powered rocketry and airplanes, both flying and static and it always seems to come down to models of the same 'ol rockets and the same 'ol airplanes.  There seems to be a lack of imagination and sense of history.  But then, its all about business and what sells, isn't it?  The Chrysler Corporation found that out when they tried to step ahead with the Airflows.  They stayed with the idea for three years until they finally got the message: the general public almost always goes with the common denominator or with what is familiar.  However, that said, if Burlington and UP hadn't stepped up with the Zephyr and the M-10000 streamliners, passenger rail service would have died back in the Great Depression years.  Hooray for them!  They had the guts and the imagination. So, I'll sit here and hope to find the Green Diamond on eBay or a used-train company. It won't go cheaply and that's the irony of it all.  There's a market out there for "the different."  But, are there companies out there willing to take a chance with imagination?

I would love to persuade someone in the model train industry to bring back a model of the Illinois Central Green Diamond.  I have fond memories of going with my parents to downtown St. Louis to watch the Green Diamond roll in from Chicago.  I don't understand why this train has been ignored by the model train industry.  It was the last of its breed: independently designed streamliners.  I think Bachmann should lead the way.  The two companies who ventured to make it were Pride Lines and Ajin/Overland Trains.  Their versions are collector items now.  The market is wide open for a company to give the Green Diamond a shot!