I was at the Rocky Mountain Train show today and didn't chat as much as years past but I did stop by MEs both for a bit and talked about the N scale track line.
I think it's known that they are looking at doing a #8 turnout, he also told me that a single crossover and yard ladder with the#6 geometry are on the table right now.
Kind of a funny thing that happened, I was telling him about the old Shinohara turnout line (I mistakenly said Rivorossi) that had a yard ladder in it's line up. A short while after leaving the booth someone had on the table the Shinohara yard ladder, double crossover, curved turnouts and the three way turnout. Haven't seen those in a long time. I went back and told him and he left to go check them out.
I also mentioned about offering turnouts without the spring mechanism to save some money. He confirmed in his own poll that 70% of users take the spring out. He didn't see it as something they they would do anytime soon.
Jason