Questions on S Scale

I got into S scale a little and know a few companies that make stuff in S scale.

There is; S Helper, Gargraves, and K-Line(if you can find it) for S scale track & switches. K-Line made some S scale items but they are mainly undersized O gauge stuff mounted on S scale trucks.

MTH makes S scale items but I don't have anything current in S scale trains, just post-war A.F. From what I have seen with MTH prices for H.O. scale I am staying away from them.

Not sure but I think the other company making S scale stuff is AMerican Models.

 

Now about the size factor, I really don't see any advantage to doing S scale because most of the curves that I have found are 42 inch and above. That is even larger than the 036 Fastrac curves by Lionel. Also another factor in S scale is the voltage; A.C. or D.C.

 

Lee F.

Thanks for the reply Lee. Yes, before making a final decision I want to see what MTH will be charging for locomotives, cars, etc. I agree their HO stuff is pricey but it certainly looks good and from what I hear it runs good too. Still HO is cheaper than O.

 

So everything in S scale is made to run on a 21" radius? That would be a big space savings over O scale (2R) which is what I have. I was planning a layout with 54" radius curves (O108) as a minimum. With S I would surely go larger than 21" radius. Just a guess but I would think 36" (O72) or 40" (O80) minimum radius would look good for running S scale equipment.

 

I apologize for not making it obvious that I am a 2 railer.

Phil,

 

I made the same decision you did a little over a year ago.  I was to the point that I really wanted to shift towards 2 rail O, but found that for my personal preferences, it simply consumed too much space.  I've found that S is just about 30% - 33% smaller and scales down pretty well.  For me, this meant I could use a #8 in S, where I could only squeeze in a # 6 in O.  I found this very handy for crossovers. I'm not sure everything you want to run, but I've found that about 45" - 50" radius is very comfortable for 4-8-2's and 2-10-2's with all their drivers flanged.  Depending on what you want to run, I think 40" radius is about right.  Keep in mind, I like broad curves also. 

 

Here is what I can say to your questions:

 

1. I do not know of anyone that currently makes a TT or transfer table in S.

 

2. S Helper Service Freight Cars are as good or better that Atlas O, IMO.

 

3. Kadee couplers are available in S

 

4. American Models makes a Trainmaster, but I am not sure how correct it is for what

    you want.

 

5. Shinohara makes code 100 flex track along with #6 and # 8 TO's.  You can also get

    just about any type of TO available from Tomalco.

 

Lastly, with MTH, they have pretty much said that you will not even see production samples of newly tooled SD70ACE's until late next year.  IMO, sometime around spring York, you will probable see an MTH catalog with SHS F-units that have PS3 and DCC compatability.  

Port Lines is advertising a new turntable (scroll down about 1/4 of the web page for photos)

 

I returned to S after 25 years in three-rail O. There are fewer offerings in S but I think it's fair to say the basics are covered. For me, less rolling product is an opportunity to focus on other aspects of layout building, such as buildings from Clever Models.  I'm also spending much less on train stuff.  

 

 

 

Brady

Thank you very much Rusty and Troy for answering my questions. I sincerely appreciate it. It seems Lee is correct in stating that there really isn't a large space savings in S scale when it comes to the curves (if one likes broad curves). Troy mentioned 45-50"R curves and I was going to use 54"R for my 2R O scale layout. Yes I could fit 2-10-2s on the S scale side and not fit them on the O scale side. Yes, it is a lot to think about. Thanks again for your help.

 

I thought the AM Trainmaster was awesome. Definitely good enough for me. As I said I am no rivet counter. If I go to S scale I hope I can find one.

 

I've never heard of Tomalco. I will have to check them out. I hope they have a website.

 

BTW, I was checking the website for AAA Turntables and I found out that they do list a S scale TT. The website shows a price of around $1K which is slightly less than what I paid for my 32" Millhouse River TT. However, I am not sure if other add on items are needed which are not included in that price. Anyway, just wanted to mention that there is at least one TT available for S scale. Thanks again guys. [Just now saw Bradys reply.] Thank you Brady for the link to the TT.

 

 

#4)I’ve always wanted a scale Trainmaster but don’t have one because I don’t like most of the Trainmasters that were done in O scale. I know these were done very well in S scale but what about other diesels? Are E7, E8, Fs, FAs, PAs, and GP7-9s done well in S scale?

The AM Trainmaster is a good looking unit.  Better than Lionel’s or William’s O gauge offering up to the Lionel collector series.  Having said that, there are some short cuts taken on it so I’d say it’s better than Athearn’s Blue Box offering of their Trainmaster but not up to their Genesis line.  AM offers an E8 that is pretty darn good looking.  The Fs, FA’s, GP9/18 and PAs are basic models of the Athearn Blue Box style.  Detail them to the level you want.  There are detail parts available out there.  Running qualities are generally very good.  For SHS units, you are getting Kato/Atlas quality units in detail and running qualities. 

 

Greg

One new question guys and I won't bother you guys anymore!

 

If buy a new Lionel boxcar or some other company's rolling stock with the bear claw (I gather from what I've read above I won't have this problem with SHS) will it have the KD mounting pad on it so putting KDs on it are easy like MTH does with their scale rolling stock? Or will be like what Lionel does with their scale rolling stock and not have any type of pad at all and the user has to fabricate something to put on KD couplers?

 

It's not that I am against doing this type of work, usually I can do it but it just isn't fun to me. I can understand why it wasn't done back in the day but for Lionel to still be selling scale rolling stock at the prices they charge and not give the user the option and benefit of a KD coupler pad is IMHO a real kick in the pants.

Phil, keep on asking those questions, we're glad to answer them if we can.  (Besides, we like to show off how smart we are!)

 

S Scale America and the former SHS are drilled to accept the Kadee 805.  They also include scale wheelsets.  (MTH may change that and have a separate stock number for scale wheel cars.  We don't know yet.)

 

The Flyer compatible coupler on SHS and SSA is on a talgo arm going back to the bolster.  Unscrew the truck, remove the coupler, mount the Kadee on the pad, install the included spacer on the bolster, remount the truck.

 

American Models stocks and sells Scale and HiRail cars and locomotives separately, but they have a similar set up on their HiRail freight cars.  The older cars are set up for the #5 HO coupler, so it's up to the user to drill for the 805.  The 805 wasn't out when AM started up.  There is no spacer for the AM cars, the HiRail versions just ride a tad higher because of the compatible coupler arm.

 

Currently. AM scale wheeled cars have their dummy "snap lock" coupler installed.  Scale wheeled locomotives usually have a package of Kadee 805's thrown in. 

 

Lionel's method is unknown until the cylindrical hopper comes out.  The catalog description is a little confusing on how they're going to be set up.  I've heard rumblings that there will be a Kadee mounting pad, but nothing official.  Stay tuned...

 

It's also somewhat unclear if scale wheels will be included or available separately with the new scale detailed freight cars.  The U33C's were originally supposed to have scale wheels included, but Lionel changed their mind on that.  There is a bracket and screws included for mouting 805's on the U33C's, however.

 

Any suitable taditional Flyer has a sheet metal or plastic frame with trucks rivited on and no provisions for mounting a Kadee.

 

Rusty

Phil, I've been finding out that everything just seems to "fit" with S that used to really make me struggle in O.  Granted I like pullmans and big steam, but really, for those models, I find that 54R is just your minimum.  When you make a change to S, now, your minimum is about 40R-42R and that 54R makes everything spread out nicely.

 

Also, I'm just now finnishing up selling off my O scale and so far, it has gone better than I thought it would.  All I can say is be patient and be willing to answer ALOT of basic questions like: "Will the Lionel train you are selling run on Gar Graves track?" and I think you will be happy with the return you get on your stuff.  I've found that there are manny more people out there bying trains than I was aware of and if you help them, they will buy your stuff and generally pay your price.

AM still has them in stock.

 

Rusty

Larry Morton is the go to guy at Tomalco Track, google them.  He sells S scale Microengineering, flex or rail, and sells turnouts.  A 3 ft stick of flex is about $6.80, compare that to Atlas O at about $16 a stick.
Customtraxx of Indianola Iowa has turnouts you won't believe (they're beautiful!) and around $42.  Compare that to an Atlas #5 or 7 in O at around $90 - $95 bucks!
And...S is 4ft 8 1/2 in. Between the railhead as God ordained, not 5ft, as in O!
Welcome aboard, should you decide to come our way!

Hi Phil,

 

Haven't communicated with you on a forum for a couple of years because I've been hanging out mostly on the "S" forums instead of O. Still have some O display pieces but sold off the O and replaced it with S. This is my 2nd venture into S as I did it once before around 2000/2001 but it didn't take. Don't get me wrong, O Scale 2R is great, but I wanted more than a switching layout and S allows me to do that. It is also large enough to build in for aging eyes and none of the smaller gauges are for me.  

 

I think you'd like "S" and there is a lot more available than what you see on the surface. Most regular hobby shops don't carry much in the way of "S", but there are a lot that do and some who specialize in "S".  You have to change your mindset from O to S. You'll find it on eBay or on the S gauge yardsale forum or just by asking for something on any of the S forums. I've seen S for sale on the OGR "For Sale" and "Wanted" forums too.

 

I don't agree with the statement above that there really isn't any size advantage modeling in S because there sure is. As you pointed out S is about 33% smaller than O so in any given space you will have more modeling and space to run trains in S......just like if you modeled in N or HO you'd have more space for running trains than in S. The beauty of S is you gain the operating space but can still see all the detail from a distance. And because the trains are smaller the same radius curve in S appears to be larger than O because the trains are smaller.

 

The smallest commercially available radius in S that I'm aware of is 15", then 18" and then 21" (SHS sectional track with roadbed). Using flex track I suppose you could go smaller, but why?  The beauty of S or any smaller scale is you can have larger appearing curves which makes your equipment look better while running.

 

You can learn a great deal about S (at least S scale) on the S Sig Forum @ sscale.org. Lots of history covering AF up to present day, but mostly geared towards S scale rather than Hi-Rail. There is also a list of S suppliers which will give you a good idea what's available. And with Lionel and MTH jumping into S it will only get better.

 

All opinion of course but check it out.

 

Butch

 

 

One minor correction that I want to add into the discussion is that the Kadee couplers for S scale are #802 and #808. The only difference between the two is the 802 is cast in black plastic while the 808 is cast in brown. The 805 is the older style all-metal O scale coupler.

 

I also wanted to add that there are a few sites on the net that can help you answer your questions on S scale.

 

www.nasg.org (National Association Of S Gaugers)

www.sscale.org (S scale Special Interest Group, NMRA)

http://trainweb.org/crocon/sscale.html (Craig O'Connell's S scale website)

www.sscalenews.com (S scale site with some tips and older catalogs)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Robyn (CarolinaRail)

 

Thank you very much for all your help and answers. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry that I can't give you guys an answer right away. It took me almost a year to decide to switch to 2 rail O from 3 rail. However, my train room should be done by the end of the year and then I want to start building a layout in 2013. One minute I think I should switch to S and then the next minute I think the opposite. It's a tough decision. I have to agree with Troy that going to S scale does solve many of the struggles or things that I don't like with O scale. I think the biggest negatives for me are, number one that I have so much invested in O scale especially with conversions and number two I would be going from a small niche scale to an even smaller one.

 

Recently, I got into digital slot cars and set up a track in the basement for me and the grandkids. The cool thing about slot cars is they are way cheaper than trains and they can be set up very easily. Anyway, I asked the guy at the slot car store what was the most popular scale and he said 1/32 which is what I have. It was certainly nice being in the most popular scale for a change. Did you guys know that HO slot cars are actually 1/64 models. They have incorrectly called them HO since the '50s! I never knew that until recently.

 

I was looking at some S scale videos on you tube yesterday and wow there are some really nice layouts out there. I saw a SP Daylight passenger train that just looked great. The spacing between cars really captured the prototype.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

Phil,

 

It was a pretty tough decision when I switched from HO back in '85, I had a pretty sizable investment there, even thought of going back from time to time. 

 

I like to say S Scale is an aquired taste.  Take your time, there's no need to rush.

 

Here's a couple of places you might like to poke around in.

 

The S Scale SIG:

http://sscale.org/

 

The National Association of S Scalers:

http://www.nasg.org/

 

Rusty

 

Butch, it's nice to hear from you. I don't think we talked since the old Atlas forum. I hope all is well.

 

Thank you very much Rusty. I will check out those sites. And since you said I could keep asking questions I thought of two more:

 

#1) Is there an S scale layout somewhere near me (NJ) that my wife and I can visit and see S scale in action?

 

#2) I know Lionel sells steam locomotives with TMCC and Railsounds but is there anyone out there that sells steam locomotives with factory installed DCC and Sound in S scale? I've done TMCC/DCS/DCC convrsions and I don't find it to be a fun part of the hobby.

 

Thanks in advance.

The east coast boys are going to have to answer you about NJ S scale railroads, I'm in the midwest and don't travel much anymore.

 

The SHS 2-8-0 was the only mass produced S steam locomotive available with DCC or DCC w/sound installed.  I believe some of the installations were done at SHS.

 

As Brady stated, MTH plans to install their DCS/DCC system in the former SHS loco's.

 

AM steam is available as DC, AC or AC with the extremely mediocre Ott sound sound board. 

 

The good thing about AM steam is their simple construction, think Mantua/Tyco HO of the 1960's.  The Pacific's are pretty basic, but there ESE Hudson and Santa Fe Northern have fairly nice detail for being cast in.

 

After I removed the smoke unit and chugger assembly, I did a test install of an MRC DCC/sound decoder in the boiler on one of their Pacific's and was able to fit the supplied spreaker in the smokebox.  I'm hardly a DCC wizard, but the installation wasn't at all difficult.

 

Another defense about AM steam is their drive.  Each driving axle is geared and the mechanism is like a big diesel truck.  The rods are only along for the ride so there's no potential for binding.

 

Rusty

Rusty, I was just looking at the AM website and their diesels look pretty good but most of the steamers look more on the toy side of things. Kind of like how Lionel was 15 years ago. I don't mean to knock them just my opinion. The Hudson and the SF Northern look pretty good though. More importantly how does their stuff run? Smooth start ups? Can they crawl at low speed? Quiet mechanisms?

 

I am considering buying the TM. I've always wanted one and even if I don't choose S scale I can always use it for display. Thanks.

Phil,

 

AM steam runs pretty smoothly and you can get decent slow speed response out of them.  They all have a Flyer-like piston and smoke unit, which I'll admit is toylike, but there's a switch to turn off the smoke and the whole thing comes out easily.

 

The drives are bullet-proof.  There is a little noise amplified somewhat by the resonance of the boiler, but nothing I find objectionable.  We ran a Pacific at an open house for 6 hours straight with no problems.

 

The USRA Pacifc is a very basic locomotive with solid performance and was AM's first steam locomotive.  It doesn't take much to improve their looks.  Each succesive steam locomotive became better detailed, although as I mentioned earlier, most of the detail is cast in.

 

I can post some pictures of a reworked Pacific tonight, but here's a picture of the Northern, also slightly reworked with an MV lens, graphite paint, numberboard decals and crew figures:

 

 

There's also a little pixel magic with the sky...  This appeared on the cover of the NASG Dispatch a year or two ago.

 

Rusty

Rusty, once again thanks for the information. Do the AM steamers have a flywheel? In other words can one install PS 3.0 in them? I realize PS 3.0 kits are not available yet but I'm sure they will be someday.

 

If no flywheel will HO decoders handle the amperage of S scale?

Yep, AM steam has Flywheels, so do the diesels, as did the SHS loco's.

 

The few decoders I've installed in AM and SHS diesels are the Jenz JST Gold decoders (1 amp) and they seem to do fine.  Haven't lost one yet. 

 

The decoder I installed in my test AM Pacific is an MRC "Brilliance" steam decorder (rated at 1.5amps if I recall correctly) that I blew out the headlight circuts on, due to my own inexperience at the time.

 

I know some guys have installed the HO Tsunami's in the AM Northern.  I kinda plan to do that one of these years.

 

Rusty

A couple of years ago I went on a layout tour with a club in Hendersonville NC (South of Asheville) and may have met Larry mentioned here. If memory serves correctly (?) this guy manufactured Tomalco Track and had a really nice large S scale layout. His home was beautiful and perched up a mountain. Nice guy too!

I've checked out the Tomalco website and it is very encouraging. The track is less than half the price of 2 rail O. In fact everything I have seen in the last 2 days about S scale is very encouraging. It's amazing to me that more people aren't in this scale. It does have a lot of good points and advantages. The only disadvantage I have found is that brass steam engines actually cost more in S scale than O scale. I saw 0-6-0s for $1400. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because I have also seen some HO brass steam engines cost more than O scale brass. I'm not sure why this is. I always thought that the less people you have in the scale the higher price. Maybe there aren't many HO guys into brass. At my LHS there is a super nice HO Erie steam engine (I forget the exact model--might be a Northern) and it is $1,800. This kind of stuff is out of my price range. I wonder if anyone will ever make a die cast steam engine like the Atlas 0-6-0 in S scale for around the same price?

Phil:

 

Check out the NASG web site and click on the Clubs toggle.  There are two clubs in New Jersey listed.  These are very active and will be more than happy to point you in the direction of layouts you might visit. 

 

SHS will be at York (think it is this weekend).

 

Steamtown will be the 2013 NASG national convention.  Something to look forward to!

 

Roger

Phil,

 

As promised, here's a couple of photo's of an American Models USRA 4-6-2 dressed up a little:

 

 

I'm not Joe Uber-modeler, but I do like to improve things.  The model is straight DC.  DCC will come one of these days.

 

Parts came from a variety of sources, including from some companies unfortunately no longer with us and a couple of scratch items.  I tend to buy steam locomotive parts when I see them, whether I need them or not.

 

I can tell you, that if the loco wasn't a good runner, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble.

 

I've found that even with the basic model, painting the rims and driver axle ends black immediately improves the looks.

 

You mentioned moderate price, well detailed steam.  The scale wheeled SHS 2-8-0 with DCC/sound MSRP'd for $525.00.  They occasionally show up on the secondary market and MTH will likely re-release it:

 

It's based on a B&O consol and is a good runner also. My only real complaint with it is SHS used a dark gray/grimy black finish instead of black.  But that's just my opinion.

 

Rusty.

Phil,

I manufacture both the E-Z Engine Turntable and Transfer table in "S" gauge.

The TT come in several sizes from 16 inch to 33 inch diameters (1 inch increments) 

and is offered in pit depths of 1-1/2 inch to 2-1/2 inch (1/4 inch increments).

Transfer Tables pits are 26 inches long (bridge length) and are 16 inches wide. Pit

depth is 1-1/2 inch.

Both units are DC motor driven and can be manually eye-balled to stop or have

an optional indexing system.

I will be at the YORK PA train meet October 18-19-20 with both units. My tables are in the SILVER Hall on the END WALL, row Z, tables 1 & 2 near the registration desk.

I can EMAIL pictures of the Turntable.

I will have a 20 inch, 25 inch and 33 inch diameter Turntable at York as well as a Transfer Table.

Hope to see you at York PA!

Have a great day and an even better tomorrow!

 

Dave

 

Butch, yes it was the RRM models I was looking at. Thanks for the explanation of S scale brass.

 

Roger, I will check out those links. Thank you. I've looked at the NASG Convention and it really sounds great but the problem for me is on that exact weekend I always go to this one car show. It is my favorite show and I never miss it. Unfortunately, it would seem that the NASG Convention is on the same weekend every year. Bummer.

 

Rusty, those engines do look very good. You did a nice job on detailing them.

 

Dave, I usually speed through the Silver Hall because most of the stuff there I am not interested in but I will stop by your booth. Still not sure which day I am going this year but I should be there either Thur or Fri.

 

Thanks for the suggestions Greg but I really can't stand that Yahoo format. I am one list there and I plan on deleting myself. 

 

Thanks to everyone you all have been very helpful.

One other observation about S (not a complaint) is that I checked Ebay and and both SHS and AM have only 25 auctions each on there. Of those 50 auctions only 3 of them are locomotives. Three diesels and no steam. Where do you guys buy S scale on the secondary market?

 

Last night I went to my friend Steve's house (corsair29 here on the forum) to see his layout and run trains. We all had a good time. Steve has a really nice 3 rail layout with all scale equipment. He has a bunch of locomotives many of which are weathered. The weathering really makes the details pop out and I was saying to myself could I achieve similar results with S scale? The first thought that comes to mind is I don't think so. I'm not saying I've made a decision. I did decide that I am going to wait until April York of next year to see what MTH has to say then. At that point I am going to start building a layout. I am not like most 2 railers who build a bunch of nice models at their work bench and don't get around to building a layout until they are well into the retirement years or never. I have been wanting a layout for 10 years now. I want to have the track done and trains running with a year or two after I start it.

 

I looked at an older Lionel catalog yesterday and if they only made their steam engines DCC compatible that would be a huge help because the engines are already 2 rail so there would be no machining costs to run in on my railroad. In the one catalog I looked at the only scale piece Lionel offered was a steam engine. It was the Challenger and not that bad of a price for $1K. Unfortunately, all of Lionel's other offerings looked like they were still using the old A.C. Gilbert tooling from '50s. Not my cup of tea.

 

One of the guys at Steve's last night told me that MTH did not buy the remaining inventory from SHS and that SHS only has a limited time to get rid of it so they may have some good prices at York on rolling stock. If yes, I plan on picking up a couple of boxcars.

 

Sorry to ramble on. Thanks again guys.

SHS has a heck of a sale going on at the moment, something like 4 hoppers and a caboose for $100!

Well, Phil, I'll admit the secondary market is a bit slim, my usual exposure is the Fall S Fest held in Milwaukee, Chicago, Rockford-Beloit and St. Louis on a rotating basis, usually in November.

 

There's also the Spring S Spree held in Ohio and the various NASG Conventions.

 

I think the Central New Jersey folks also hold an annual event.

 

All these events are open to everyone, no memebership required.

 

Lionel also made a very nice USRA light Pacific and Mikado, along with the recent Challenger and the soon to be released Y3a.  Admittedly, these are all deep flange and AC/TMCC or Legacy. 

 

We keep plugging away for scale flanges and DCC steam on the new Flyer, hopefully we might get it one day.  It was a major surprise to us that Lionel's doing scale flanged diesels with the U33C and SD70.  Plus DCC compatibility for the diesels is in the works.  I think Lionel's waiting to see how well both the DCC and scale wheel diesels are accepted by the scale crowd before commiting to steam.

 

Some of the boys on the S Scale Yahoo board have been rather critical about Lionel's recent offerings.  It's usually a pretty good group over there but there are a couple of boisterous uber-modelers over there that refuse to accept today's reality.  And yeah, the format is clumsy compared to here.  But my evil twin sticks around over there anyways.

 

Rusty

Plus DCC compatibility for the diesels is in the works.  I think Lionel's waiting to see how well both the DCC and scale wheel diesels are accepted by the scale crowd before commiting to steam.

Are you kidding me? Wow! I never thought in a million years that Lionel would ever make any their locomotives more compatible with other operating systems. But I don't understand if DCC is in the works (if I understand you correctly that would mean it is not in the locomotive now) then how could Lionel be waiting to see how something is accepted if it isn't out there for people to try?

 

Yes, I realize that to change one's electronics costs money but once the R&D is done I don't think it is hard to make a board that will run off of TMCC or DCC with the flip of a switch like MTH does. I also don't believe their is a significant cost increase by making a board run off of TMCC or DCC as compared to a board that solely runs off of TMCC. I do have one PS3 locomotive and it runs great under DCC which is usually how I run it. If memory serves the original TMCC digital instructions were based off of DCC instructions. Or so I was told.

 

I remember the Pacific and Mikado, despite the Flyer flanges they looked like really nice engines.

 

Let's say I want to order the U33 would the major Lionel retailers stock it or take an order for it? Or can my LHS get it? Provided if it has DCC. I'm sick and tired of paying $150 or more to add CC and sound.

 

Where is the sale? (4 cars and a caboose for $100) That sounds like a good deal.

 

Rusty, you are right about the annual event in NJ. I believe it was in July or August. I saw some pics of it and it looked pretty cool. If I get into S scale I will attend next year and join the NASG. I've been reading back issues of the NASG magazine. You probably know this but you can download older issues for free from their website.

Rusty, I found the SHS website and they have 3 left of the 2-8-0 at 30% off. I was almost going to buy one to try out S scale. I figure I could always sell it if I don't convert over. Unfortunately, all that are left are AF compatible. Darn! I saw the sale John mentioned. Thanks John.

The S-HELPER-SERVICE Website is where the big $100.00 sale is..

Well, if something is in the works, that means it's under development and not ready for prime time.

 

You are correct that it's not in the U33C's, or anything currently released.  I would imagine that once a working DCC decoder is developed to Lionel's satifaction, it would become available in all the diesels released afterwards.

 

As I mentioned before, there has been some vocal resistance on Yahoo about Lionel entering the scale side of the market.  There's is the feeling that among some that S Scale will be "toyified" and no longer be the last gallant stand of true scale model railroading.  (OK, I'm being a little overly dramatic, but when my evil twin showed off the Challenger over there, it was a bloodly weekend that wound up with everybody being on moderation...)

 

You weren't the only person suprised.  I never thought Lionel would make any ovetures to the S scale market. 

 

Back in 2003 I talked with a rep who hinted at duplicating the Scale O stuff in S with scale wheels and Kadee pads, but that was several managment changes ago and I figured the Pacific's and Mikado's would be the only thing close to scale S from Lionel.

I think Lionel's off to a good, if not slow, start.  Even if they decide the scale market isn't worth the bother (I hope not,) an expanded, well detailed Flyer line is good for S in general.

 

S Scale had a renaissance in the 1980's and 1990's.  Hopefully, it will have a second renaissance in the 20-teens.

 

Rusty

OK, Rusty I understand now. Has Lionel actually come out and said that a TMCC/DCC decoder is in the future?

 

There's is the feeling that among some that S Scale will be "toyified" and no longer be the last gallant stand of true scale model railroading.

 

Once again you've got to be kidding me! Isn't S scale 90% toys right now? How could Lionel getting into the scale side of S change that? I don't know what those guys are thinking but I totally disagree. IMHO, Lionel has the best sound in O scale (by far), and some of the best rolling stock if not the best in O scale. Their engines are hit and miss. Some I like and some I don't. If they come out with a scale line that's comparable to what they've done on the Standard O side I can see no reason why that would be bad. Will everything they put out be a big hit? No, but anytime a big company makes something for a niche scale it has got to help someone in that scale. I totally agree with you they are off to a slow start. 2003? Wow that was 9 years ago. I wonder if MTH will get them in gear? I agree with you I hope S has a renaissance.

There has been no "official" announcement.  There was some discussion back in March:

 

"I have a question for the folks here on this thread... I am toying with a DCC decoder (derived from a design I created 8 years ago!) as a swap for our TMCC radio board.  If successful, a one board swap out without any wiring changes would allow DCC support with our current motor, smoke, and light controller; and also link to the RailSounds system.  Would folks be willing to purchase the "DCC adapter" to plug and play upgrade locos such as the SD-70, Y3, U33?  Figure costs at $50/board for evaluation of the concept.  No promises, just exploratory feedback - as I may run into some technical issues in the current board set that prevent this concept from working out...

 

Oh, I see. I met Jon once at York many years ago and he told me it would be no problem to have DCC control or work with railsounds. He even emailed me a picture of a circuit that would do it. Jon's a great guy and very smart too. I've been a 2 railer for about 10 years and back then what I wanted to do was have a DCC motor driver board that would hook up to RS. It would have been great to have DCC with that awesome Lionel sound. I have a couple of Lionel engines that I had 2 railed and I wanted to do this to those engines. However, the circuit board never materialized and I couldn't build just from a picture and no specifications. I'm no electrical engineer.

 

I hate to be negative but I seriously doubt the powers that be at Lionel will allow it. Their message to me is get hooked on our product and don't buy anything from anyone else. I realize it is business and they are out to make as much $$$ as possible but I just don't care all that much for TMCC/Legacy or DCS. I know TMCC/Legacy can do a lot of things that DCC can't and I know all about how they have so much more bandwidth and how they are so much better than DCC. It has been told to me time and time again on this forum. I don't begrudge anyone else's opinion. They are certainly entitled to it as I am entitled to mine. And I am not saying that the 3 rail systems are bad systems. When they work they are awesome! No doubt about it. What I like about DCC is #1) that the non-proprietary feature of it was created by model railroaders for model railroaders and #2)is that whenever I give any command to a locomotive 99.99999999 times out of a 100 that command is obeyed by the locomotive. With DCC you can forget that there even is CC system. It almost like you still have the ZW throttle in your hand. Just last night I was at Steve's house and I was talking to a guy who is called HO Bob (for the obvious reasons) and he said the same thing as me. It's not that there is anything wrong with Steve's layout it is just that once in a while you push a button on the remote and for whatever reason the command doesn't get to the locomotive. I never owned Legacy but I have seen this happen with both DCS and TMCC and I have seen it happen on every 3 rail layout I have ever operated on. I don't mean to say that it happens all that often, it usually is just once in a while but for me when I was in 3 rail it usually happened just before a collision! Seriously, when I first got TMCC in the late '90s it was so frustrating that I almost smashed it against the wall but as I later found out this was probably because of grounding issues. If only there was a forum back then I probably would have had a lot more fun with the trains. Anyway, sorry about rambling on.... At least MTH will have DCC compatibility that's a guarantee!

 

Looks like I won't be buying Lionel in O gauge or S scale! It's been about 12 years since I bought a Lionel locomotive. I think the last one I got was the Postwar Celebration Texas Special F3. Oh well.....

Rusty, one last question: If you were just starting a S scale layout today (not AF) what code rail would you choose?