Atomic Systems

Bit of a newbie question here.

Had my first trip out to a preserved railway in years a couple of weeks back. Went to see Tornado on the GCR and it seems to have rekindled my interest. I fancy reclaiming the loft for my long abandoned layout.

My old Hornby Mallard is a bit of a sight for sore eyes. Is there a consensus on who make the best off the shelf 00 A4s? I've been out of the loops for a while i.e. the last locomotive I bought was a Lima class 47/6.

You will probably need to look around the second hand market.
The Bachmann A4 in various guises over the last 10 years is a good solid runner.
I have 4 of them. No problems with any of them.
Hornby have also produced them, but not to the same standard IMHO. I have just 1 of these.

The new Hornby A4 is the definitive ready to run model at the moment in terms of body shape. I expect the Bachmann split chassis model can haul a bit more, but the new Hornby one can haul 17 coaches around my loft layout (straddling three third radius curves!) with slipping.

Regards,

Dan