06 March 2023
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Looking for a show-stopping standout model for your collection? Howard Smith believes this power car set will fit the bill.
It was in 2020 that Locomotive Storage Ltd, owners of 43046 and 43045 began operating a Pullman service from London St. Pancras to Manchester Piccadilly. On the 60th anniversary of the original BR Pullman sets, the pair would be repainted in Nanking blue, with a rake of nine Mk. 3 coaches.
The striking livery has now been applied to Hornby’s latest tooling of the HST with much-improved underframe and bogie detail, see-through side and roof air grilles.
We kindly received a sample of the duo, in special One:One collection packaging, featuring a special Blue Pullman with gold emblem. It's stylish and stands out on a shelf for all the right reasons.
Here are five things we like about this new model from the manufacturer:
1. To the top of the roof, beneath the grilles, we find twin detailed fans. These are in-line with other HST power cars from the manufacturer's new tooling, offering more detail than its older Lima-derived predecessor.
2. Hornby's newer tooling has other benefits, too – notably that the power car is all-wheel drive. The older tooling only has one powered bogie, and modellers would often substitute the ‘dummy’, non-powered locomotive for a second power car for better performance around curves on full-length rakes.
3. This model features the later upgraded LED lights, while inside the packaging is a set of etched nameplates for fitting to 43046 over the already finely-applied body-side name.
4. As with Hornby's impressive livery to its older tooling, the livery application is first-class with no imperfections in the paint, and a good depth to the orange coat applied to the moulded electrical connections over the black of the underframe and bogies.
5. For those with a sharp eye, peer inside the cab, and you'll see that its detail is excellent, with driver and second-man’s seat clearly visible. Controls are painted separately, too. The curious might want to peer inside a little longer, too, and admire the painted gauges!
I can highly-recommend this new addition to Hornby's growing One:One model collection – better still is that all coaches to complete the set are available, too!
See more reviews of Hornby's new HST arrivals in the April 2023 issue of BRM, on-sale from March 23 in print, or get yours earlier with a World of Railways Plus subscription.
