21 February 2023
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One of three HST arrivals from Hornby sees Howard Smith re-visit the tooling, which now boasts its best-ever decoration.
Hornby is blessed with a rich catalogue of tooling into which it can dip annually for new liveries, and we find ourselves here with an old favourite. Proudly flying the flag under the banner of its Railroad branding, Hornby’s (ex-Lima) tooling lives on, and is still available new.
Sporting what has to be the best of the liveries carried by this Class – Intercity Executive – this has been applied using modern techniques and is pin-sharp, with straight lines and zero inconsistency. It’s simply not comparable to previous versions of this model from yesteryear.
A personal highlight are the lights which, along with the silver around the lenses capture the look perfectly. Hornby has more wallet-friendly RTR railway models in its annual catalogue than any other British manufacturer, thanks to its past tooling. It’s welcoming to see that the accessible entry-level end of the market hasn’t been neglected, with new train sets announced annually.
Ideal for the 1990s in its Intercity Executive livery, just like retro video games that are back in fashion, this train pack now offers nostalgia, too.
I’ve always admired this model – it’s a personal favourite, only now, more so with NEM-mounted couplings and better decorated to show it in its best light.
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