Hi Dan,...I did see the look-a-like Hatteras in a Lionel catalogue but I hadn't seen the Hatteras/Assateague offering before.

I owned a rather large layout of trains prior to becoming a teenager. Some were Lionel while others were a Sears & Roebuck offering who's brand name escapes me. I had two 4'x 8' tables covered with tracks, trains, switches, imitation landscaping, Plasticville buildings etc. It was easy to toy shop for me when I was a kid. All the folks had to do was buy another train related item for my layout.

I grew out of the model train desire around thirteen years of age. My parents, subsequently, and without consulting with me, gave all my trains to my cousin. He kept them for about a year and then his mother gave them away to someone I didn't know. I only wished I had them today. There were a lot of memories that went with those trains.

A couple of years ago my collective juices were flowing and I had no HL's to purchase at that time so I started buying Lionel trains. I think I spent about three grand on "new old stock" plus buying accessories from the world's largest Lionel Dealer, Charles Rowe Supply (I think that's the name) up in Malden, Mass. I set up the trains with all the goodies with the hope the grandsons would show interest. They did for a short time, but my retro trains just couldn't compete with today's video games. Therefore, I disassembled the layout and put it in storage with the 300 or so HL's in my basement.

My youngest grandson, he'll be 2 in January, seems to have a passion for toy trains. Maybe the layout will be resurrected in a couple of years. Yet again, it will be hard to compete with the high-tech toys of today.

Bob