Hi all, Metal boilers do add weight and are easier to work with from a production point of view. We wont be using them on locos such as the 'U' class.
Naturally over the years the running quality of our locos has been improving with advances in available technology and experience and will continue to do so.
Regarding the Motors, There are some promising looking examples including Maxon,Faulhaber and many more. There are some companies that make motors of a high standard, one of them is Swiss, however the price is £100+ more per motor compared to Mashimas that we use. There are a few companies that have what looks promising and we are getting/have some examples for testing. Although finding a motor sounds easy, for a small production, getting one with the right combination of shaft-size, torque, voltage, size, speed etc is no easy task. This does make finding the right ones most rewarding.