This is my most modern locomotive and it is a great performer. Some have said it doesn’t have much pulling power, but on my layout it pulled eight 55-foot hoppers and a caboose up a 3% grade around a 15-inch turn back curve, which is adequate for my operations.
It’s smoother than my Bachman spectrum 2-8-0 and the detailing is great, especially when enhanced by a dusting of dust colored paint. The bell fell off when it dropped on the carpet and the draw bar broke, but that was easily fixed.
Slow speed operation for switching is excellent and it doesn’t stall on atlas insulfrog snap switches (as long as they are clean!). My only complaint, if it could be called that, is that it’s absolutely silent! When it goes into a tunnel, I can’t hear it and I get nervous. I’ll eventually add DCC and hope that I can fit a speaker in it.
