After discovering the Lionel shipping schedule a few months back, I've regularly checked the status of the one piece of new stock I'm planning to purchase this year, and watched its shipping date get pushed out month after month... most recently to November. When we reached November 1 and it hadn't yet been postponed further, it seemed imminent that I'd be railing it on my layout in a matter of days or weeks. A bit heartbroken today to see that my eagerly-anticipated item--the gorgeous 6-27489 CSX/Chessie Heritage 3-bay offset hopper--now has the dreaded "this item has been dropped" notification on the shipping schedule. So disappointed and surprised to see a popular livery and creative deco getting dropped.
For those more familiar with this process... based on your experience over the years, what is the actual dispensation of these "dropped" items? Will they at some point see production? Pushed to next year? Will they include it in a 3-pack or some other set at a later date?
Basically, is there any reason to hold out hope this will appear at somepoint?
