A question to the European modelers out there. How well does the Hornby OO/HO units run? Are they in the same league as Atlas, Athern, Model Power or Bachmann? And as a side question, what is the
status of Model Power? With most of their trains being produced in Yugoslavia are they now effectively out of business or have they shifted their
I have just begun dabbling in British models. Although it's difficult to make the comparisons you've asked, because some manufacturer's only make diesels, while hornby makes predominantly steam, and
each type of model has its own idiosyncracies because of wheel size and drive mechanism, I would say that Hornby is about equivalent to Athearn, a fairly decent running model, with about the same
level of detail. The only drawback I have seen re: Hornby vs. American HO is that the check gauge - distance between driving wheel flanges, back to back, is fairly narrow. This does not seem to
affect them on Atlas Custom-line turnouts, but makes for rocky running through Atlas snap-switches. The tread is also a bit wide and can short out the rails close to the tip of the frog. Again, this
seem to happen mostly with snap switches, which I bought for the kiddies to play with. I'll probably widen the frogs with a razor saw, leaving the guard rail alone so it will still keep the flange
away from the tip of the frog. A little nail polish on the rails near the from will help a bit also.
By reputation, Bachman Branchlines from England are very decent runners, better than their American line. Same for Dapol. If you would compare Hornby to American HO steam, they would probably rank at
least with Mantua, and lots better than Bachman or Model Power. For the money, they are a good deal. I would like to note that I have seen an improvement in American inexpensive steam, such as
Bachman Plus and it looks like IHC is beginning to produce some decent running steam which I plan on using as the basis for a kitbashing project.