A couple of loco's

Just got these, just thought I'd share with you.  I know that I hate the new Trackmaster models, but as these were freebies who am I to turn them down?

Firstly Merlin (equivalent of what used to be Take n Play) quite a nice model with a die-cast metal body, however unlike the earlier take n' play the tender is all plastic ;





Then Gina from the trackmaster range;

I wonder if you can swap out the couplers on the new take n play in the event they break.

No not really, the hook is a separate moulding, but the base is held onto the body with a rivet rather than a screw so you wouldn't be able to get them apart to replace it without drilling out the rivet. The 'eye' is a loop moulded into the base, so to replace that if broken you'd have to replace the entire base plate, again after having drilled out the rivets to separate it from the body. Overall a rubbish design from a functional perspective...