I think if the Whale had a 5000 hold, people would use it. It's slow, not very maneuverable, and has no weapons, but people would use it. No one bothers with it now because the L-Train and C-Tran both have or nearly have 1000 more hold size, plus they're tougher and get weapons. A 2nd generation Whale ('Leviathan') would work well, I think, and be balanced against the transports that can actually fight back.