There's been a very intensive US operating session here over the weekend, the stars of which, for my money at least, were my Kato SD45 fleet. Somewhat aged now, these models have been eclipsed in the detail stakes by virtually everything that's been released since - they're not exactly state of the art. But from a mechanism point of view, these beasts are second to none.
My party trick with the SD45s is to put two (any two will do) on adjacent tracks, rest a biro across the knuckle couplers, and drive both locos the length of the layout. The mechanisms are so perfectly matched that, barring dirty track or other mishap, the locos arrive at the other end of the layout with the biro still perfectly in place. This makes US style multiple loco lash-ups a pleasure to run - contrast this with my Bachmann Class 20s where I've yet to find two that match well enough to be assigned as a double act.
A great shame, then, that Kato fouled up the mechanism in the subsequent SD40-2 so badly. The electrical system is an unreliable nightmare, best stripped out and completely replaced.
Currently On My Stereo: Pearl Jam - Ten