The real thing seems to have had a rather shaky start with TPE due to initial technical issues and staff shortages meaning that half the fleet are now in semi-permanent storage and those that are rostered rarely turn up. “Shaky” also best describes the ride quality, which falls far short of the quality achieved by BR with the Mk2 and Mk3 coaches. This aside, they look stunning in service and being able to sit behind a class 68 at full thrash brings back memories of loco hauled trains of the 80s.
Fortunately, the models don’t seem to have succumbed to any Technical issues and really capture the character of these trains. The level of detail and standard of decoration is superb and the close coupling between the coaches is the best I’ve seen. Unfortunately I haven’t yet found a way to satisfactorily couple to a class 68 without resorting to the supplied tension lock couplings as the couplings used between coaches are just slightly too short. Otherwise, I haven’t experienced any problems with running quality and the lighting is sublime. If I had to be critical, there is a slight gap between the glazing units and the carriage body which can lead to some light bleed. However, due to the prototypical lighting levels, this is barely noticeable. All in all a stunning package at an affordable price.