A popular sub-hobby amongst model railway enthusiasts, and I'm certainly not immune to it's attractions, is a quick game of "I think the manufacturers should produce a model of such-and-such" - a round of which I've recently been roped into online.
Now what I'd really like to see (and I'd trade even my collection of TV21 annuals for this) is a decent RTR track system. Although it'll never be as accurate as P4 or EM, the UK's OO gauge is what the mass-market is stuck with, for better or for worse - and let's face it, it could be an awful lot better. It'd be nice if we could have something with 4mm scale sleepers and spacing, rather than 3.5mm cast-offs. It'd be nice if we could have selection of larger radius pointwork without dog-legs in them. It'd be nice if it was all designed to go together in typical layout formations, so, for example, a fiddle-yard coming off a double track curve would use space efficiently yet still flow nicely, rather than looking like a bag of broken chisels...
"Stop right there!" I was told, that's not in the spirit of the game. Go away and think of a loco, and it'd better be a pacific unless you bring a note from your mother!
Well, I avoided the temptation to suggest any diesels or electrics, not because I don't think manufacturers are listening, but because I'm worried that one in particular is. I've seen enough bent and mis-shapen horrors for one lifetime, thank you very much. I looked instead to the boiler-bunny end of the market, where the manufacturers have a far better track record and the simpler shapes seem well within the capabilities of even the most challenged.
The most obvious gap in the market, from where I'm sitting, is the ex-LMS Jubilee. There never has been even a half-decent RTR model of this ubiquitous loco (don't even think about the Mainline offering!) plus the chassis would have a fair bit of commonality with the sibling Stanier rebuilds of the Scots and Pats. I'm sure a Jubilee to the standard of Hornby's 8F would shift serious units - it'd certainly find a home on any transition-era layout I'm ever likely to come up with.
Apologies for the poor quality of this shot of 5714 "Revenge", by the way, but it's the only one I've got of a loco in LMS livery with a Fowler tender.
Driven more by the heart than the mind, the kettle I personally would most like to see as a RTR offering would be the ex-LNWR Super D, a type that was swarming all over the Black Country during the twilight of steam. If I had to pick a "signature" loco for the geographical area that interests me, this work-horse 0-8-0 would be the only contender...