Some recent additions to the collection are these Roco locos. For many of us who've actually been resident on planet earth for a decade or two, models of this minimum standard have long been not a pipedream but a reality, something taken for granted. It's against this background that it's often difficult to understand why the NeverHadItSoGooders continually drone on about the great quality of UK RTR. It's against products such as these that the average Bachmann loco looks, frankly, ridiculous. So far behind in terms of standards that it's beyond the pale.
Although the typical modern Euro loco has fairly spartan lines, the typical model still manages to sport an awful lot of detail - to the extent that many of us can't see anything special about the recent Hornby Class 31 that the press are currently praising to the hilt. This BR 189 electric is a classic example, there's far more to it than any UK release. Four decent pantographs for a start - how many UK electrics have even one?
This OBB 2016 (commonly known as a 'Hercules') is plainer still, being a typical modern diesel without all the gizmos found on top of electrics. But it still exudes an air of quality. Even where Roco have used printed lines (the rubber seals on the prototype being almost completely flush) they're a world apart from those used on the infamous Bachmann Deltic. The model is not just DCC-Ready but sound-ready, too, and retails for around the recommended price of a Heljan's Western. Yet the two European-made products are like chalk and cheese.
Also recently acquired is yet another Kato SD70MAC, dependable performers in both prototype and model form. This one looks a little bare as I've around six million detail parts yet to add.
Every home should have at least one SD70MAC, in fact in some areas of Cornwall it's believed that local bye-laws require you to own a couple of dozen...
Currently On My Stereo: Jethro Tull - Crest of a Knave