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 Daniel,I mostly agree to your statement that the stuff made in Germany appears to be of better quality than the US stuff, which is mainly made in China. But both Marklin/Trix and Fleischmann are also outsourcing their production into countries with cheaper labor, with the effect, that Marklin has started to get quality issues as well. The others we have yet to observe. I know from Brawa, that they have their locos made in China as well. Looking at the prices they are charging us for their models, the US locos are a bargain!As to the ability to negotiate sharp curves, I would not call this a quality issue. Although Marklin has reduced the size of the flanges over the years, their are still huge in comparison with the RP 25 flanges common in the US market. These smaller and more prototypical flanges require a much better track work and, of course, wider curves for safe operation. As space is not that much of an issue in the US, there is not much a need to be able to go around 14" curves.A final issue is certainly price. If you check the cost of a Marklin Big Boy in the German market, you can get two of BLI´s UP TTT´s as brass hybrids for it. With a sticker price of $1100 that dang thing be better of superior quality! For that price, you enter the market of hand-made brass locos. It is difficult to compare the US market with the German market. US model railroaders don´t mind a little tinkering and tweaking, if they get a good bargain, whereas we Germans rather pay those outrageous prices, but expect the loco to perform like a Swiss watch, right out of the box.
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