Considering it was released in 1984 it stands up well. When Hornby rereleased it in 1998 the cab handrails were made metal and the pick up bogie was modified with pickups on all wheels. All the lights at each end came on. A blob of maroon paint on top sorted that out
Yes I can see the class 56 works well so I can be happy with buying one, and your track layout looks ok too.
Considering it was released in 1984 it stands up well. When Hornby rereleased it in 1998 the cab handrails were made metal and the pick up bogie was modified with pickups on all wheels. All the lights at each end came on. A blob of maroon paint on top sorted that out
You're suspicions are correct, Mainline was bought by Dapol and I think that later they were bought by Hornby (or at least the injection moulds were).