Greg Procter wrote: [...]
I have a Lionel Thomas, it's a very well done toy -- robust, as close to the Awdry dimensions as one can get based on his artwork, etc. The roofs come off Annie and Clarabelle, which delights young children, who can stuff teddy bears and such into the carriages. The power pack is more than adequate. Thomas comes apart enough to service the gears and bearings. I used Teflon-loaded grease, which has lasted better than the original stuff. We ran Thomas regularly at the club last year when we had a large loop of G gauge with several sidings to store the trains. Very popular. His eyes move, too. It's standard 2-rail DC, BTW.
I'm a Thomas fan, so I would be pleased with any large scale version, but this one is excellent IMO. My grandchildren are past the Thomas stage, but I'm not. :-)
I have mixed feelings about Lionel. The original company made very good toys, and a few scale items as well. Then they went broke, because they refused to conform to NMRA standards, which meant they lost the only market that mattered in the long run, the adults who wanted scale trains of Lionel quality. The current owners cater mostly to the nostalgia market, I think.