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A stunning-looking coach with great detail and finish - visually awesome. What lets it (and a number of other recent coaches) down are these 'self-centring cam-coupling' arrangements. Shunting/propelling through reverse curves (e.g. crossovers) can result in buffer-lock & derailment, as can running loco-first down inclined track. Also coupling/uncoupling is not easy unless on straight track, so collecting/putting together a rake or adding a CCT 'hands-free' may not be possible in curved sidings and stations (usually a major positive of tension-lock over e.g. Kaydees). The alternative oddly-called 'close couplers' keep the coaches further apart on curves and prevent buffer lock, but you can't then easily uncouple them. However, using these seems to give higher friction between the flanges and rails (restricting the cam seems to limit the rotation of the bogie), and the resulting rigidity can mean that they don't handle transition to 'cant'/superelevation well, with wheels sometimes riding into the air. Cam-couplings seem to be designed for running fixed rakes (including the loco) on flat (or uphill), wide radius track in only a forward direction, so they will be fine for a certain type of circular processional layout. For those of us who try to do something more operationally interesting, it seems like a combination of the downsides of tension-lock couplings, plus the main downside of Kaydees, without the advantages of either. I saw a web-article on disabling the cam somewhere - will try to find that again.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Fantastically detailed model
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New