Hornby DRS Mk 2e/f Coaches
◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL • Hornby R40330/R4033A Mk 2e Standard Open coaches • R40331/R40331A Mk 2f Standard Open coaches ◆ PRICE £44.99 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Hornby stockists Web www.hornby.com
Hornby’s range of air-conditioned BR Mk 2 vehicles offer a great balance between realism and affordability. At just over £40 each, they’re perfect for budget-conscious modellers. Sure, it would be nice to have sprung, close-coupler units rather than bogie-mounted NEM pockets, along with a few extra fiddly bits on the underframe and wire handrails. In the main, though the overall level of detail is pretty good.
Some of the latest releases in the Mk 2 family consist of a handful of coaches in the fetching livery of Direct Rail Services. The Mk 2e and Mk 2fs have been a staple of locomotivehauled passenger services over the past couple of decades, covering for shortages of diesel multiple units with franchisees such as Northern Rail and
Greater Anglia. Anyone who enjoyed Class 37 haulage around the Cumbrian coast or jaunts to Great Yarmouth from Norwich, during the 2010s, would not have complained, as the level of comfort offered by an ‘air con’
Mk 2 is far superior than a Class 153/156/158 DMU!
Usually top-and-tailed by DRS Type 3s or, on occasion, Classes 47/57/68, some services also ran with Mk 2f Driver Brake Second Open (DBSO) cars at one end. However, these often proved unreliable, as I can personally attest!
In all, Hornby has produced five Drs-liveried coaches, across
Mk 2e and Mk 2f vehicle types, all of which are offered in SO (Standard Open) format, and we received two samples of each sub-type. Incidentally, a DRS Mk 2f BSO (Brake Standard Open) has been offered by Hornby in the past. Slight differences are discernible between the Mk 2e and Mk 2f types, most notably in the different underframe equipment carried between the B4 bogies. All are turned out in the ‘Compass’ style of DRS livery and the overall level of finish is high, with an even coating of paint and very clean demarcations between colours. The main dark blue shade looks right, as does the lighter blue on the doors, while the graded transition of the horizontal stripes is very smooth – an impressive feat for what appears to be tampo-printed colours. That said, the blue turns a little too green at the ‘Compass’ end of each stripe.
At each end, the printed legends are crisply applied, with even the smallest type on the data panels legible. The door lock lights are printed and differ in size between the Mk 2e and Mk 2f versions (as per the real thing) and the bogies and underframes are also adorned with various warning symbols and embellishments.
The coaches run extremely well and the alternative sets of magnetic couplers, provided with each model, greatly improve the appearance and offer reliable operation. They certainly look great behind matching DRS heritage traction! (GD)