Peco have announced an N gauge model of the GWR 2251 Class 0-6-0, see Peco's website for further details. Of particular note is the fact that it's supplied DCC-equipped as standard (not merely DCC-ready as incorrectly reported elsewhere) which is a first for UK N. Pretty much a first for the UK RTR full stop, in actual fact, unless you count things like Bachmann's DCC starter set releases.
Pre-production photos should always be approached with extreme caution, but nevertheless the Peco shots suggest a loco that shares little with the rest of the UK N steam market other than the track gauge. I've never been able to take RTR steam in N seriously in the past, with models being exceptionally crude and toy-like. The whole Graham Farish steam range looks laughable to my eyes (that should upset a few boiler bunnies!) and only the recent involvement of Dapol has offered a ray of hope in this forgotten backwater.
If the Peco Collett looks as good as the photo suggests, then it could quite easily stand the N steam market on it's head. I'd certainly buy some, although what else I could run alongside them is open to debate. The ancient Farish range needs chucking in the skip and replacing wholesale as far as I'm concerned, and, while the Dapol challenger shows promise, I'd need DCC compatability and wheels that don't look like wine gums before I part with any cash. This is 2005, not 1965.
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