Hornby Class 800

◆ SCALE ‘OO’ gauge ◆ MODEL Hornby R3514 GWR Class 800 ◆ PRICE £393.99 ◆ PERIOD present ◆ REGION GWR ◆ AVAILABILITY Hornby stockists

Chris Leigh examines Hornby’s striking new model of GWR’S equally striking new train.

The need to replace the fleet of IC125 Highspeed Trains, dating from the mid-1970s, has been recognised for a long time. Successive refurbishments of the coaches and re-engining of the power cars put off the inevitable while work on developing a successor took place. A deadline of 2020 was set for the elimination of any HSTS that had not been upgraded with centrally controlled doors and disabled accessible toilets. Promised electrification of trunk routes, including the London-bristol, Cardiff and part of the West of England main lines, led to the development of an electro-diesel multiple unit – now called ‘bi-modes’. This 125mph unit would be capable of 25kv operation where available and would be powered by on-board diesel engines beyond the extremities of electrification. Such units would also be suitable to replace HSTS and Class 91/Mk 4 trains on the East Coast Main Line, where they would use their diesel engines on services beyond Edinburgh. The Hornby Class 800 is an important model. Indeed, it is one of the most important models of recent years, representing the replacement for the iconic 1976 High Speed Train. Modelling a five-car train of 26m coaches to suit train set curves was never going to be easy, and the Class 800, with a price tag of over £300, was

never going to sit easily in the train set end of the market. Accordingly, the new Class 800 is a flagship, top-of-the-range model. Nevertheless, it is capable of negotiating second radius 438mm curves, although certain other aspects of Hornby’s train set ranges, such as the sharper points and the incline piers, are beyond its capability for reasons I will explain later. RIGHT TIME Hornby has timed the arrival of its GWR Class 800 train pack to coincide with increasing appearances of the class in public service. In so doing, it continues its long tradition of modelling the latest in eye-catching new trains right alongside the launch of the real thing. Only once has this come unstuck, with the Intercity Advanced Passenger Train (APT-P) which was summarily abandoned by BR within weeks of its launch, leaving Hornby with something of a red herring as its flagship model. Despite the almost customary debacle around the public launch of a new train, it is unlikely that any such disastrous fate will befall the Class 800s. The model represents unit 800004 Sir Daniel Gooch/ Isambard Kingdom Brunel which was the unit employed for the inaugural trip. It has yet to enter public service and lacks the ‘coin’ motifs over the names, each ‘coin’ being unique to the name it accompanies. The five-car train pack contains two polystyrene trays, one holding the two driving cars and the other the intermediate cars. The immediate impression is that this is a heavy model. Indeed, once the two trays are separated it is clear that the powered car is heavy but the non-powered models are no lightweights either. The model lacks the shine of earlier GWR green liveries because the Class 800 has a largely vinyl exterior finish, while earlier GWR re-liveries used high-gloss paint. There is no pack of customer-fit details and just the customary instruction leaflet which includes a diagram showing the order in which the cars are coupled. This is actually quite straightforward, being in numerical order of the third digit of each carriage number, thus 814xx is positioned between 813xx and 815xx. A ‘male’ and ‘female’ coupler on each car ensures that they are coupled in the correct orientation. Once on the track and coupled, this is an impressive model. At 5ft 8in long (1.7m) the five-car

On the track and coupled, this is an impressive model

unit is a couple of inches longer than Bachmann’s six-car Midland Pullman. The coaches are 26m long, which is 3m longer than a BR Mk 3 coach. The bogie centre spacing remains much the same, however, the extra length in the body being at either end. This results in a vehicle with considerable overhangs. This could cause problems on layouts with sharp curves, closely spaced curved tracks or, as in my case, a closely placed backscene around the outer curve.

DEVILISHLY DETAILED

The smooth, aerodynamic exteriors of the Class 800 vehicles don’t provide an opportunity for a wealth of separately fitted detail and what’s present is mainly confined to the roof and underside. However, the shape has been well captured and there are some neat touches, such as the digital destination displays showing ‘Cardiff Central 1400 Swindon’ (the 12.56 off Cardiff Central to Paddington), and the nose cone, which can be removed to reveal a dummy coupler. This is attached to the cast metal chassis block and is not pivoted, so it cannot be used to couple two units together. It is difficult to believe that, given the cost and the length of the model, many modellers might want to couple two together. Indeed, even a single Class 800 does dominate all but the largest of layouts. My layout is not what I would consider small, at around 8ft wide and 15ft long, and my main station platform is only just long enough for a single five-car unit. The roof recess carries a posable plastic pantograph but this is not sprung, nor is it capable of collecting current. I suspect the majority of purchasers will take the opportu-