Ahh, the Gottardo, yes well where to begin.........
I love it to bits, it is a superb metal casting, wonderfully decorated and runs superbly with very good lighting and a few sound effects.
However it is possibly one of the most controversial models ever to be released by Marklin. It is a long story, best understood by reading a very long thread on the marklin-users.net forum.
The basic issue is that Marklin have not provided any flexible corridor connections between the coaches, so on sharp curves, as the coaches swing apart, you see an exposed circuit board connector on one side of the link, and a black plastic lug on the other. follow some of the links from the thread to see some pictures on the Swiss forums.
Basically, because of this people seem to either love it or hate it. To me it is the engineering that is important, and I feel sure it will not be too long before an after market solution appears. All it is going to take is some flexible rubber connectors. Maybe Marklin will even release them themselves, as apparently they are currently receiving a barage of criticism over the model. Looking at it from an engineering point of view, I can see how it has turned out like it has, but I think some latex or material connectors should have been included as sold.
I might be tempted to put a review up on this shortly if there is enough interest.
Ashley