bearcat

The side rods are indeed plastic but they look pretty good to me. Like you said the boxcars match up really well to MTH or Aristo but are a bit of a stretch for LGB. I suppose if you had an LGB engine and a freight set of just Piko cars it wouldn't be so bad but mixing and matching would definitely show the difference. Im pretty happy with this BR 64 so far , I just happened to have 5 LGB streamline cars on my track when it arrived so i hooked it up to see how it would pull. It had no problem with those heavy cars so Im confident Ill have no problem towing three or four of the Piko passenger cars that go with this. The shop I purchased this from has a sale today so Im seriously considering buying the Krocodile next. If so Ill take a few pictures of that also.

It will take R1 no problem. As far as scale is concerned I have some piko boxcars and they are definitely not 1.22, they look to be more like a 1:29. The engines on the other hand do appear to be closer to the 1:22 range. Piko seems to be all over the place as far as scale is concerned. I have not taken any videos yet but there are some very good ones on you tube. Watching those videos is what convinced me to order one.

I just picked up one I ordered from a dealer in Northern KY. Wow what a huge step up from the older Piko engines. These are very nicely detailed and unlike the mogul lineup, all of the side rods actually move and have a purpose. The led lights that shine down onto the side rods and wheels are a cool touch. Only thing I can find that I dislike is the motor is noisier than the LGB Buhlers but thats about it. Id post pictures of mine but Im not sure how to. I bought mine for $525 which is cheaper than I could find anywhere online. Shops name is Rhineland Trains. If someone can help me with posting pics Ill do so.