System builder

Other items to complement this model…

PASSENGER STOCK Bachmann Mk 1s Price: £48.95 each Availability: Bachmann stockists

Having unclipped the bodyshell, a 21-pin DCC socket looms into view atop the main circuit board, with plenty of space provided for a large speaker. Power collection is via the axle bearings and the central motor is linked to the axles via twin cardan shafts. Operation is commendably smooth and quiet, with plenty of haulage power on tap, allowing the model to cope with any realistic demands placed upon it.

The only performance hiccup noted involved the moulded sanding pipes and brackets at the outer end of each bogie.

While they look prototypical, they also hang just a fraction of a millimetre above the top of the rails. As a result, when encountering a slightly lessthan-perfect track joint – or especially a misaligned baseboard joint – the locomotive is prone to stalling or derailing.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

After such a long wait for a model to appear, it’s inevitable that expectations will be high, so the various quality control issues found on our sample couldn’t help but create a little disappointment. Maybe it’s fitting that a model of such a troubled prototype should also have its flaws? Indeed, even the model’s packaging has a problem: the Class 21 is described as a diesel-hydraulic locomotive, rather than a diesel-electric!

Despite the issues outlined here, this is still a very goodlooking model, with some impressive detail features and it certainly fills a gap in the Pilot Scheme fleet. It will certainly appeal to modellers of the 1960s Scottish Region, as well as those interested in the Eastern Region of the late 1950s. (GD)