Hi Ray, (Silver Sidelines),
I'm glad I'm not the only one to be a little disappointed by the start & stop characteristics of the Manor. Mine does exactly the same (DC) - a sudden start, rather than a gradual, slow respionse (ditto sudden stop-in reverse obviously!), and that is after carefully running in using Gaugemaster controllers. I have mentioned this previously and confess to still feeling let down slightly. I may be fussy, but after paying a high price for a newly designed loco, it should be possible - and expected - that the performance should be faultless - or as near as is possible to achieve. I have other steam models from both Hornby & Bachmann, which are much older and they display excellent performance throughout their range.