Well it boils down to "Do you feel lucky punk??" because you're taking a chance when you preorder from Lionel.
Lionel has recently delivered some engines that were so-so in the catalog, but when they hit the stores were real knockouts - the Y6B and the most recent Legacy Nickel Plate 765 come to mind. 2 models I passed up on initially and will now be hunting down.I have a feeling that Lionel will do the same on this model.
If we all let Lionel know that they need to do a better job on this model then perhaps they'll listen, especially if they don't get that many orders of a very popular locomotive, which the 630 is.
As mentioned here, all they have to do is change the tender, headlight and some other details to make a good representation.
I'm with most of you, I'm not paying $1000 for a locomotive that doesn't look anything like the prototype.
Unless Lionel comes out with a statement or addendum stating they will make the 630 more accurate, I'm going to wait until the MTH catalog comes out and then decide which way I want to go.
