Hornby Ruston & Hornsby ‘48DS’

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Hornby R3704 Ruston & Hornsby ‘48DS’ 4WDM, R&H works lined green ◆ PRICE £79.99 ◆ AVAILABILITY Hornby stockists or www.hornby.com

Of all the common phrases which tend to mean absolutely nothing, the one which best relates to the Ruston & Hornsby ‘48DS’ from Hornby is ‘the best things come in small packages’. Usually this is nonsense. Who really prefers a regular bar of chocolate over a jumbo one? However, in the case of the ‘48DS’, the best thing comes in a standard Hornby box! Announced by Hornby as part of its 2019 range (MR257), this is one of the smallest ‘OO’ gauge models we have ever reviewed. That’s hardly surprising as Ruston & Hornsby’s ‘48DS’ is one of the smallest standard gauge locomotives every made. It’s so small that Hornby has taken the precaution of offering all four versions with a wagon permantly coupled to provide extra pick-ups. Of the four versions, it’s the one in Ruston & Hornsby works livery that goes under the spotlight here.

First impressions are that this model really is tiny. Usually the picture on the box is either a little bit smaller or roughly the same size as the model inside. For the ‘48DS’, however, the picture is a full two inches bigger! The Ruston is so small that you could lose it in your pocket.

Let’s start with the sideshow, rather than the main event, and examine the wagon first. It weighs 21g and it looks and feels cheap, with a chunky underframe and not much in the way of detail. It is, of course, the old Airfix ‘Conflat’ that passed to the Hornby range via Dapol.

The tooling has been tweaked to not only include NEM pockets but it now has electrical pick-ups on the leading axle that connect to the ‘48DS’ via two small wires. It thus serves an important purpose. Out of all the wagons Hornby could have chosen, the ‘Conflat’ is the most versatile and it can be loaded with anything from whisky barrels to baulks of timber and pieces of machinery.

The ‘Conflat’ can be disconnected as it simply increases the number of pick-ups available to the Ruston (see panel right). You can remove the electrical connection and connecting bar from the NEM pocket if you don’t want it. Quite a bit of force is needed to remove the connecting bar.

So, on to the headline act. Upon initial inspection, it would appear as though the model lacks detail. However, after comparing the model with photographs, Hornby has captured the prototype’s simple lines almost perfectly. The real thing lacked the hundreds of rivets you’d find on a steam locomotive and those on the Hornby model are nice and subtle. Only the panel gaps are a touch on the heavy side.

There’s not much published information about the ‘48DSS’ but it appears that our review sample depicts a crossover period when the locomotive was offered with an enclosed cab but before the larger bufferbeams were introduced. Hornby also offers the original, open style cab.

There’s quite a bit of moulded detail but, given the size of the model, it really doesn’t detract from its appearance. Only the moulded radiator grille and the lack of cab interior stands out but this is counteracted by those lovely restraining rings on the chassis.

The plain green livery is well applied and the lining is crisp and straight. The Ruston & Hornsby logo may not stand up to close scrutiny but it looks good from normal viewing distances. Photographs of the Ruston works livery that this model carries suggests that the cab front window frames should not be body colour.

Removal of the body is

The lining around the cab and engine is crisp and straight and the Ruston & Hornsby logo is well applied to the cab sides

achieved by undoing a screw in each of the four corners of the locomotive which will give you access to the cab for the addition of a crew. Unlike most other models there isn’t the included bag full of fiddly brake rods and pipes, just a few spare tension lock couplings and a blanking plate in case you do choose to take the connecting bar out at the rear.

Yes, this is a basic model in terms of features; there aren’t sprung buffers or any lights and getting a DCC decoder in will mean finding space in the cab. But that isn’t what this locomotive is about. Measuring just under 55mm over the buffers, the Ruston & Hornsby ‘48DS’ allows modellers with even the smallest of spaces to build something in ‘OO’ (for further comparisons, five ‘48DSS’ take up the same space as just one ‘OO’ gauge Class 66). It’s a well-built model without fragile parts to break off and it’s a good runner, even on less than perfect track.

What Hornby has done here is show that fitting a model with the latest technology and fancy gadgets isn’t the only way to make it fly off the shelves. A simple, well-executed model will do just as well.

Ideal for flat dwellers, university halls students and anyone whose list to Santa Claus is looking a little on the short side! (CG)

COLOUR RAIL 3: BR purchased Ruston ‘48DS’ 237923/1946 from aeroplane maker Bristol in December 1948 for use on coastal defence work at Folkestone as DS1169. It was moved to the South West in 1959, going first to Broad Clyst, then Taunton and finally Yeovil, from where it was withdrawn in 1972. DS1169 was scrapped in 1973 but classmate 305302 now carries the ‘DS1169’ guise at the small railway centre based around the former S&D station at Shillingstone.

PAUL BARTLETT 2: 417892 sports the post-1946 enclosed cab, but with the later style rounded front and rear windows. It also sports the deep bufferbeam with rounded corners fitted to later members of the class. It was built in 1959 and delivered new to Sir William Arrol & Co., the Glasgow civil engineering firm that specialised in steel construction. It’s now preserved at the Derwent Valley Light Railway where it carries the name ‘Jim’.

MIKE MORANT 1: The Ruston ‘48DS’ could be found from whisky distilleries in the Highlands to the Heinz factory at Willesden. This ornate example was used at Express Dairy’s bottling plant close to Morden South station. Its identification has gone unrecorded – if any Model Rail reader has any further information, it would be gratefully received! It has the 19411946 cab style.