John... i agree about the 2nd brass hybrid engine... i didnt have the urge to get one.
My point is the production volumes in HO are so much larger, a company can do specialized scale brass items. In O they just cant.
So you can't hold the O scale companies, to the HO standard...
The NP Em1 was also intended for the few customers who just wanted a EM1 in NP... i have one and love it. There was at least 25 of us who got that NP EM1. The few fantasy schemes help to fill out the production run.