Hornby Tank Containers

For the present-scene modeller, Hornby’s new container trio for 4mm:1ft scale/OO gauge should please, providing three different liveries to its tooling of a 20ft tank container, priced at an RRP of £30.49.

Concisa, GE and Hoyer Odfjell liveries are all sufficiently different to provide much-needed interest to rakes of Hornby KFAs, and are labelled as such for being compatible. The savvy modeller will look to employ these new containers across other types of container wagons for the scale too, such as Bachmann’s FGAs, for instance.

A glance at the shape of the containers looks ‘correct’ to my untrained eye, with the container ‘skeleton’ detailed with the ovoid locking eyes, an end access ladder, and upper access platforms for good measure. Meanwhile, for the curious, the labelling sees two of the containers marked as ‘for foodstuffs only’, with capacities of between 24,000L and 25,000L each.

Containers are a vital element of the modern railway, transporting all manner of goods from ports such as Felixstowe or through the Channel Tunnel, to distribution centres nationwide. Seen in block trains, their variety never ceases to amaze, as operators, branding and the cargo within changes with time. Many 20ft ISO shipping containers are available for 4mm:1ft scale in either assembled or kit form. However, tank containers variants for the scale aren’t as readily available, presumably owing to their more complex shape.

What’s inside each, and to where is it destined? Only your imagination can tell…