Cannonball, yeah, some of us really do get into it. I was raised around trains...and I have a set of rivarossi passenger cars that logged 1000s of hours on my train layout as a kid.
I was absolutely amazed the first time I saw one of those Spectrum 2-8-0s running on a display track at my local hobby shop. I've since kept an eye out to see what's available on the market. Further, I was specifically raised around a NKP 2-8-4...the very engine the Life Like has built models of in HO and N scale.
I figure that if you're making the effort to come on here to do your research, I'll try to offer whatever advice I can to help you maximize your hobby dollar. If your interest was in a race car set...only with trains, then I'd steer you away from Spectrum's 2-6-6-2.
Since I actually spend more time reading and discussing real trains than models, I have 24 years of knowledge about different types of locomotives and rolling stock. For me, the joy is in recreating these old trains rather than running them. Other people just enjoy running their trains, but most are a combination of the two. Take a look at the scratch building forum if you want to see some interesting projects. I've been fortunate enough to get some wonderful advice in my quest to build a steam locomotiven that is not commercially available.