capri_sam

Yes, and a steam one - on the n gauge forum Ben A from Revolution said (quote - emphasis mine): "Sonic's second powered model in N is fully tooled and samples are undergoing testing. This model is being unveiled at the weekend. The choice of the model was down to Sam and Colin Allbright, who many will know, and while I am not really a steam enthusiast I think it is a great choice and a great looking model."

Hi Mike, my mistake, I took from the newsletter that this was the arrival date in the UK. That's good to know!

Per the Revolution newsletter, it looks like these are now due into the UK in July/August. Factor in a couple of weeks for unloading and distribution, and I suspect we'll be looking at mid August / early September for delivery.

Apparently there's no mechanical or design changes, so it'll be a 6 pin.

I reckon a 377 or electrostar derivative. Alternatively, let's go wild, class 455!

Not quite - because scale weight isn't linear, you have to divide by the scale cubed. It actually comes out around 38 grams! Bit of an anticlimax I'm afraid... 686kg would give you a 47 which ran on N gauge track but was the height and length of the original! Might cause some stability issues and you'd have to use Kato track, I don't think Peco would handle it...

Oof, that does look and sound the part!

Good news about the 658 - for those in the know would it be worth me seeing if yoochoos will swap the smaller 659 for a 658? Are the stay alive/ other running characteristics different enough to make it worthwhile paying for return postage? My gut feeling is just to fit it now that I've got it...

Does look lovely, glad I ordered both! Annoyingly that does look like quite a spacious tender - I pre-purchased a Zimo mx659 with the yoochoos sound file on it thinking space would be tight, but could have gone for the larger 658 with the better stay alive by the looks of it!