It is interesting to revisit this thread after two years. Unfortunately not a lot has changed. Lionel seems reluctant to invest in new tooling at this time and MTH is just starting to deliver SHS remakes. I still hold out hope that things will pick up by the time I'm ready to start construction of the next layout. Just in case I went ahead and purchased a Flyonel Mikado and Pacific. I will be gutting them and installing TCS WowSound DCC decoders soon. If anyone wants the electronics let me know and I'll make you a good deal 
Interesting side note- The Pacific will run on Tomalco code 100 flex while barely bumping at all. The Mike is another story. If you look at the flanges they are totally different which surprised me. Obviously they aren't designed for code 100, but I thought the Pacific did quite well.
