Anyways bought this little devil of a loco few hours ago and I have to say this is another excellent release from Meshtools. It really does capture the spirit of these working small tank locos and I intend to elaborate on this as I type.
Firstly this is the LMS docktank which some folks can get easily confused with the USA docktank, they are quite similar in wheel arrangement and generalised shape but notability differences comes to boiler domes, firebox and water tank shapes.
How is it to drive?
Really quite pleasant even in advanced mode. It has a noticable amount of UMPH to its regulator settings and it can catch you off guard on shunting e.g. applying 20-30% on regulator ended up me slamming two BR Vans straight off the rails since this thing picks up speed quite quickly. Also for 2F power classification it is surprisingly powerful and can manage the gradients all the way to falmouth quite easily at a steady pace of around 29mph and 19mph on the steeper gradient with a 8 wagon load behind it.
Interesting aspects of driving is the way wheelslip and braking works. If you have ever seen some achieve footage or just industrials moving heavy loads at coaling areas or steel mills a really distinctive characteristic is normally seen. This is namely the rather somewhat handfisted approach to using these little locomotives and is the way they wheelslip with changing reverser direction abruptly while brakes are on. The 2F replicates this extremely well, the wheels will slip with sudden change with brakes applied and they wheels will jerk in the direction of the reverser direction. Its a really nice thing to see. It really is quite satisifying to see and just another additional feature/animation which adds another level of realism.
Livery and 3D Model:
3D model wise this is up the usual high quality standard meshtools has been doing and the wheels correctly have counterweights

*poke Edward* From reference photographs I can find of the docktank the model and the real thing seems almost completely identical and I cannot really fault it 3D modelling front. Livery wise the liveries are again very good and cover LMS era and BR early and late with different level of weathering.
Cab wise its very good to and most of not all knobs and levers turn and are usable, lighting is also particularly good and not to differcult to see anything in cab. Plenty of non-locomotive related items also move which includes the cab doors and windows.
Also to note is working outside animated brakes which clamp onto the wheels when you apply the steam brake, another very nice immersive feature.
To add to this included in the pack is some excellent BR vans with wagon classification XP (if I remembering rightfully) which are as high quality as the loco itself and look really good behind the docktank aswell as serve as additional rolling stock for other BR steam era locations.
Sound:
Sounds are now the bread and butter of every release and make and break addons, safe to say the docktank is adequately supplied with sounds, one will however note they are similar or are the Jinty's soundset in both chuff,whistle and other various noises one omissions is that the rod clonk is different which should be as the jinty and docktank have considerable different type of connection rod setup.
Sounds are in general high quality again and it doesn't particularly sound to wierd having the Jinty sounds on the docktank and be quite honest it fits quite well.
Scenarios and Particle effects:
Scenarios included are 3 for advanced and 3 for standard featuring the falmouth branch, one could argue that a LMS docktank probably wouldn't be seen on a GWR route like Falmouth but Falmouth is BR days rather than GWR so it can be forgiven that a LMS interloper is on the route

. Scenarios seem to be a varied different degree of differculty and I have personally completely the trip to Falmouth with the docktank successfully and without to much issue, but mind the downward hills as you go.
Particle effects are the usual which have been present on the last few releases, simple but sufficient and they work well with the loco. The usual steam effects are applied to the cyclinder being open, under the loco from under the cab, water steam release from pipes when applying water and usual hard working cinder flakes from chuff smoke when your working this little devil.
Final Thoughts:
Overall we have had quite a taste of new steam locos recently for TS2014 and Meshtools and the other 3rd party developers have proven that done properly the locomotives look, sound and feel like the real things in digital format. Its a credit to 3rd party devs that we still get these feature pack locos when the main developer of the simulator generally doesn't push for anything above a straight standard setup and I for one are thankful that these types of addons get released.
So is it worth buying? Yes if you like Meshtools previous locos and yes if you like industrial type locos. Its not particularly suited to passenger service since it only has a steam brake so if you are considering to buy for that its probably not as suitable but for everything else and if you like shunting then its worth getting. Its yet another characterful locomotive to have on a route and for scenario purposes it would be interesting to see one of these busy away shunting wagons while you prepare for another train.
Since I usually don't finish without screens, here is a few to show what your being provided with and also what the cab views are like to:
