Hard to think it took me this long to realize what was made 80 years ago this year...
It's fair to say that the Hudson has been an important part of railroad history, real or toy. Just as much as the real New York Central locomotive changed the face of American railroads, the Lionel scale model of 1937 changed the face of toy trains and model railroading. Without the success of the Hudson, we wouldn't have any of the die cast steam engines of the postwar era like the Turbine and the Berkshire, and we certainly wouldn't have any of the hi-rail scale locomotives of the late 80's and early 90's from all the O gauge manufacturers to follow in its footsteps.
The Hudson is arguably the locomotive that got me into Lionel at all. I grew up with an MTH starter set, and I did receive quite a few MTH pieces and loved them, but when I learned about the Hudson Lionel made thanks to TM Books & Video's VHS The Making of the Lionel Scale Hudson in 2005, it instantly became my favorite train. The details, shape, proportions, and overall feel were simply unrivaled. Now my personal hobby goal is to acquire all of the Lionel Hudsons...which is now 46 and counting.
And now in 2017, the Hudson is as popular as ever. From the very first 700E of 1937 to the most recent Vision Line rendition, and all the others of different shapes and sizes from Lionel (and their competitors), the O gauge world just can't escape the aura of the Hudson.
Still awaiting on that Legacy unstreamlined J3A Lionel, BTW... 
