The Pendolino aside (and this was declared to be a special case when Hornby announced it) all new 21st century tooling 4mm RTR from Bachmann , Hornby and Heljan , as well as some late 90s stuff has decent mechanisms. There are very few 4mm items now that aren't DCC Ready with socket
Centre motor/dual bogie drives and a minimum of 8 wheel pick up would be a an minimum spec for a diesel loco, and a loco mounted motor, with decent pick up , standard for a kettle. Hornby use 5 pole as standard for all new generation kettles , and frequently fit tender pickup. Bachmann may not be quite so generous but do use a decent 3 pole loco mounted can . Not all new generation diesels have lights , but I'd be surprised if we saw another diesel or electric released without them
It's striking the way the huge mechanical improvement in OO RTR (includsing the fitting of wheels to a decent wheel standard)n has been largely passed over in silence. Especially by some of the more aggressive critics who have been very ready to bawl out a manufacturer over the exact profile of a cab roof or the precise radius of the corner of a cab window ("Retool it!!") but quietly ignore the vast difference between the running of a Lima pancake with limited pickup and a Bachmann or Heljan centre drive mechanism.
It's been a big boost to the hobby yet credit hasn't been given where credit is due. I almost wonder if some folk take the line "if you can't slag it off , don't mention it"
The 108 , as noted , has a single driven bogie with a proper motor built into the chassis (big solid metal block - no pancakes here) and all wheel pick up on the powered vehicle, and is DCC Ready . It runs beautifully : I've not attempted haulage trials since a DMU need only move itself
The Bachmann 2-6-0 is presumably either the 43xx or the N ? The 43xx is inherited tooling I think , the N is about 10 years old now , though still very nice
I know the old Farish N gauge models were probably the weakest British RTR , mechanically, and some of them are still out there , but in 4mm we have indeed "never had it so good" mechanically.
Its just a question of when the manufacturers get round to sorting out/replacing the older models in their ranges. Hence in assessing a model , one of the first questions would be how long has it been in production ? If it came out in the last 8 years (a bit longer with Bachmann) you should be fine. But if it was first released in 1962 , like the Hornby B12, or 1979 like the Hornby Cl29........
Centre motor/dual bogie drives and a minimum of 8 wheel pick up would be a an minimum spec for a diesel loco, and a loco mounted motor, with decent pick up , standard for a kettle. Hornby use 5 pole as standard for all new generation kettles , and frequently fit tender pickup. Bachmann may not be quite so generous but do use a decent 3 pole loco mounted can . Not all new generation diesels have lights , but I'd be surprised if we saw another diesel or electric released without them
It's striking the way the huge mechanical improvement in OO RTR (includsing the fitting of wheels to a decent wheel standard)n has been largely passed over in silence. Especially by some of the more aggressive critics who have been very ready to bawl out a manufacturer over the exact profile of a cab roof or the precise radius of the corner of a cab window ("Retool it!!") but quietly ignore the vast difference between the running of a Lima pancake with limited pickup and a Bachmann or Heljan centre drive mechanism.
It's been a big boost to the hobby yet credit hasn't been given where credit is due. I almost wonder if some folk take the line "if you can't slag it off , don't mention it"
The 108 , as noted , has a single driven bogie with a proper motor built into the chassis (big solid metal block - no pancakes here) and all wheel pick up on the powered vehicle, and is DCC Ready . It runs beautifully : I've not attempted haulage trials since a DMU need only move itself
The Bachmann 2-6-0 is presumably either the 43xx or the N ? The 43xx is inherited tooling I think , the N is about 10 years old now , though still very nice
I know the old Farish N gauge models were probably the weakest British RTR , mechanically, and some of them are still out there , but in 4mm we have indeed "never had it so good" mechanically.
Its just a question of when the manufacturers get round to sorting out/replacing the older models in their ranges. Hence in assessing a model , one of the first questions would be how long has it been in production ? If it came out in the last 8 years (a bit longer with Bachmann) you should be fine. But if it was first released in 1962 , like the Hornby B12, or 1979 like the Hornby Cl29........
