From Evernote:

New New Rolling Stock Clipped from: http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmodel-railroad-hobbyist.com%2Fnode%2F7169

So, while it may not be to everyone's taste, the first 'new' (shop bought) rolling stock has been chosen by the five year old* ... and a fine model Bachmann's Class 220 'Cross Country Voyager' is to.

Not having experience of 'shop bought' models before (have bought a 57XX and a Class 57 from eBay, both of which failed on me and need repair), I wasn't completely sure what at expect.  I was immediately really impressed with the level of detail, right down to tiny decals (I'm easily pleased) but was actually shocked at the performance.  Using a 'bog standard' Hornby train-set controller (the type you get with entry level sets) and on track in the Summer House which hasn't seen the rough side of a Peco rubber for weeks, the pull away was liquid-smooth.  Wonderful.  Only regret is that full use of the head / tail lights is not achieved with DC control (they, of course, vary with speed).

This new rolling-stock has also exposed a 'gremlin' on the layout.  (And not the lifting bridge, which continues to work but be troublesome.)  On Sunday, the second day of owning it, I went to run it round the layout and performance was notably sluggish compared to yesterday.  Quick checks of obvious causes revealed a significant amount of dirty gunk on the power car wheels.  The bogies on this model are clearly more closely machined than any other older locos I have and have been scraping up excess No-Ox [http://tinyurl.com/d8m7oc4] on the turn behind the back scene.  It was so thick, I had to scrap it off before cleaning the wheels.  The loco now runs as before, though it also had a good clean before returning to its box.

All round, much excitement.  And a big thanks to Alton Model Centre [http://altonmodelcentre.co.uk/] ... this model is, apparently, RRP £145, but AMC discounted down to £90 ... exactly the amount I had after putting money away since Christmas.  There was one excited five year old (and forty-one year old).

*Why the Cross Country Voyager?  After a day out on the Paignton to Dartmouth heritage line last week, T was extremely exited to see a XC in Paington station and has been scouring YouTube for them since.  It's clearly still all about sliding doors ...