Originally Posted by RD:
btw: David I'm starting to thing Matt & Marty are right ..
...
I think it's safe to say Scott is navigating the waters of overseas model train manufacturing as best as possible, and his communication with consumers ranks right up there with the best we can ask for.
While other importers have tried to keep the sordid details hidden from the consumers -- and that's somewhat understandable -- I applaud Scott for his sincerity and frankness on these matters here on the forum.
I asked what I did because there was word on the street that the original manufacturer of the El Capitan wanted more dollars for the follow-on run, and that another manufacturer might be evaluated for future production.
If you look at the history of this thread, I think you'll see the timeline for this project has skewed slightly. And quite frankly, that's fine with me. There's only so many $1K and $2K items that we can have "on pre-order" at any point in time. Perhaps for some folks in this hobby, that's a drop in the bucket... but I still like to budget my $$$$ accordingly so I know the funds are readily available when it's time to write the check. 
David