Hobbytrain 26.4m coaches
I just received these models and confirm that the moulds are virtually identical to the ones announced/recently released by LS Models - to the extent that the mouldings have both the Modern Gala and LS logos on the chassis moulding... and I believe these moulds originated with Alphatrains.... they retail in two sets of 2, each containing a second class coach and eithe a first (in blue) or a 1st/2nd.. in era 3 livery and markings.... there's also an additional second available seperately. They differ slightly from the Alphatrains models in that they have sprung buffers, but not much else has changed; I haven't yet obtasined one of the LS releases, so don't know whether they have the sprung buffers or not... The Hobbytrain releases are 5-10 euros more expensive than the old Alphatrains models, and appear to be about the same amount more expensive than the announced LS releases. I'd place them as slightly better than the Roco Exclusiv models but still not up to ADE, which I guess is a little disappointing since I bought my first ADE rake in 1980! Still, a good quality product - whether it's woth 5-10 euros more than the LS/Alphatrains offering is down to personal choice - the sprung buffers are nice, I suppose, but they're hardly something that'd sway my decision to buy one model in favour of another, although a nice touch with the Hobbytrain version is the inclusion of spare handrails.....

I had high hopes these would be as good as Ade! :( Shame. :cry: David

I'm trying to stick with early era IV anyway, so the era III models Hobbytrain advertised never really tempted me. The higher price doesn't seem justified, but that seems to be par for the course with them. The LS Models release are certainly of more interest, but I have the Roco Gruppe 53 coaches on order already so I have think things over. One can have too much of a good thing. (Can't one?) Thanks for the review of the Hobbytrain models; that was quite helpful. Jurgen