monie, I've been meaning for a while to start a thread about 26in frame suggestions as well as I've been mulling over the Troll idea for a while now.
I'm 5'10" so the 26in thing is more for the practical side of travelling in countries where 26 stuff is more available, I've been thinking of a Latin America trip for a long time, but family stuff in my life has been a priority lately.

Like you, I am pretty much convinced to go drop bars. I ride both a mtn bike with riser bars with a slight back angle to the grips area, and a drop bar bike (have toured on dropbar bikes for over 25 years) and its pretty clear to me that a drop bar bike that fits me properly is the way to go for overall riding comfort.
The Salsa Cowbell drops are very appealing to me, less angled out than the Woodchippers, but with a bit of flare compared to reg drops, which I see as an advantage on rougher roads.

So, on the drop bar note, I also have concerns about the top tube length of the Troll (and even the LHT) compared to my dropbar bike (a Specialized Tricross) which really fits me well--and which numbers I basically want to emulate on another frame (especially seat to hoods distance).

concerning the chainstay lengths. While the short stays on the Troll of 42cm are short, numerous people have successfully used rear racks like the Tubus Logo on Trolls (that put the rack back a bit), so this is an issue that is workable.

oddly enough, my reason for being interested in the Troll vs a LHT is looking for a frame that is more nimbe, less sluggish, and although I havent ridden either, I've read enough reports that the LHT is sluggish unloaded.

I look forward to looking at suggestions here. I may in the future start a new thread specifically asking about general 26in frame options out there, maybe to get more feedback, but will follow this to see what comes up.

cheers