Rusty
Your comment about model railroaders having to "live with" certain compromises resonates with me, Rusty. As a former Lionel O train guy, I overlooked- -for decades- -oversized couplers; excessive-depth and blind wheel flanges; embarrassingly unrealistic, toy-like 3-rail tubular track; foreshortened locomotives and rolling stock; yada, yada, yada. Thirteen years ago I could no longer do that; I began the slow process of selling my extensive collection (most of it is now gone).
About three years ago I became intrigued by the huge selection of realistic HO trains available, and slowly began collecting this stuff (no layout per se, however). Unfortunately, HO is a big pain in the butt- -too small, light, and delicate; very finicky; and extremely difficult for a "senior" like me to work with. That said, the S hi-rail features that I had found unacceptable are no longer a problem.
One more question. What are the pros and cons of AC hi-rail and DC hi-rail?
