Earlier this month I received two of the new Hornby/Arnold N-scale SW-1 locomotives. These came from Brooklyn Locomotive Works on a reserve that I had placed about a year ago. First impressions were quite good, placing the locomotive on my test track and running it on straight DC. It ran almost completely silent and had great slow speed control, essential for a switcher. Detailing on the cab and body were excellent and paint was crisp. Before moving it to my layout, it needed to be converted to DCC. With just a few wiggles, the body shell came loose from the frame, revealing the motor and control board with a smaller board plugged into a 6-pin plug. This smaller board was easily removed and replaced with a TCS EUN651 decoder; one of the simplest conversions I have done to date. Now the locomotive was ready for the layout. At first, the locomotive ran fine on straight track, but then had trouble navigating some of the turnouts. On a closer inspection, it seemed as though every one of the wheel sets was slightly out of gauge on the narrow side. This was not too difficult to remedy, but should not have needed to be done. Once completed, the SW-1 ran like a champ and pulled at least 12 cars on a straight level grade. The only other complaint is that the couplers don't mate perfectly with micro-trains and need a little fidgeting to get them to hold. Other than the couple of minor problems, this engine will make a fine addition to my fleet with some relettering and a little weathering.