Saw this on another forum...apparently no joint venture standard gauge or tinplate...at least it's not mentioned here

"From the New York Daily News, and I might add the kind of exposure our hobby needs. All aboard! Lionel, the iconic model train maker, is opening a shop for the first time in its century-long existence. The popup store will have a home across from Radio City Music Hall in equally iconic Rockefeller Center, just in time for the busy holiday tourist season. "We want to be at the epicenter of Christmas in New York City," CEO Jerry Calabrese said yesterday at Lionel's Madison Ave. corporate headquarters. The store, open Nov. 1 through Jan. 4, will show off new, kid-friendly products. If it performs well, a permanent Manhattan store might be next. Its window display will have three trains running through mountain scenery. The trains are "O gauge," built to scale at 1/48th the size of real trains. Last year, the nation's retailers had the worst Christmas holiday slump in four decades, but Lionel's sales were strong because of a surge in purchases of trains for kids. "Christmas is our thing," said Calabrese, 61. "Lionel conjures up all the memories of a time when we loved our country, our families and ourselves better." The shop will auction off trains autographed by celebrities, like rock star Neil Young - a part owner of Lionel - and give the proceeds to charity. For years, the company's chief customers were adults who collect model trains as a hobby. Now it's courting families with more affordably priced kids' toys. Battery-operated train sets are $120 and up. (Lionel trains are traditionally electric-powered.) A new 49-piece plastic train set for kids ages 2 to 5 is $60. Besides the shop, which the company leased with Newmark broker Jay Gilbert's help, Lionel will have holiday train displays at Grand Central Terminal and Macy's. These big displays are often what get kids - especially boys - hooked on model trains. "Boys and men love this stuff because it's about creating worlds," Calabrese said."

Thanks, Jim!