Hornby Railroad Plus Class 110

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Hornby Railroad Plus R30171 Class 110 two-car DMU, Br/metrotrain blue/grey ◆ PRICE £149.99 ◆ AVAILABILITY Hornby stockists Web www.hornby.com

First released in 1982, the Class 110 became a regular item in Hornby’s catalogue throughout the following decades, offered in various BR liveries and in two or three-car formations.

Representing one of the more successful first-generation diesel multiple units, Hornby’s model has remained a favourite with modellers, especially as an all-new version has yet to appear in ‘OO’ from any manufacturer.

I still have a couple of ‘110s’ in my collection, dating back to the 1990s, albeit in heavily detailed, repainted and re-motored form – those old Ringfield motors could be a little temperamental!

Hornby’s Class 110 has been out of production for some years, but pre-owned examples have been seen to change hands at decent prices, revealing a continuing demand for these handsome DMUS, which operated across large areas of Northern England from the early 1960s until 1990. Built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. and equipped with Rolls-royce engines, the ‘110s’ were often referred to as ‘Calder Valley’ units, owing to their close association with the transpennine route from Manchester to Leeds via Todmorden.

Answering many modellers’ calls, Hornby has now reprised the ‘110’ in the wallet-friendly Railroad Plus range, with a choice of a three-car unit in original BR green (with speed ‘whiskers’), plus a two-car version in BR blue/grey, as reviewed here.

WHAT’S NEW?

Outwardly, not much has changed from the original model, which still offers a faithful representation of the real thing.

Sure, you can tell the tooling is

over 40 years old, but there’s still a good amount of moulded surface detail, including door furniture and roof vents. There’s also a set of neatly moulded water tank filler pipes on the DMCL cars, although the toilet compartment lacks frosted glazing.

The exhaust stacks are separate plastic fittings, as are the convincing concertina-style gangway connectors. The glazing units are also unchanged, fitting flush into the bodyshell, with wipers moulded into the windscreen panels.

The level of finish is high, with the blue and grey elements applied neatly, including the fine white lining and printed numerals and lettering. This unit also carries West Yorkshire PTE Metrotrain branding, placing it firmly in the 1980s era, with the destination panels showing a Leeds-sheffield service.

The body is a clip-fit, using the same, slightly awkward system of the chassis latching onto prongs moulded as part of the glazing units. These are prone to breaking, so do take care when separating the bodyshell, noting that there’s also a retaining clip at the gangway end.

Inside, the interior units are moulded in dark blue, with First class seating in the compartments behind each cab, along with solid partitions. The driver’s consoles feature controls and brake hand wheels.

An eight-pin DCC socket is located in the powered car, which now features a revised motor bogie, equipped with a three-pole motor driving both axles via various gears. A pair of traction tyres is installed (with a spare set provided), with power collection from all four axles of the power car (even those with traction tyres).

The single underframe moulding is basic but does feature low-relief representations of the engines, radiators, and battery and fuse boxes, with separately fitted exhaust pipes. The bogies are also unchanged, with a good representation of the frames, suspension and axlebox detail. Large metal tension lock couplers are pre-fitted to the inner ends, with optional sets provided for the cab ends

The metal disc wheels are an improvement over earlier ‘110s’, with a much finer flange profile. When it was let loose on the test track the model ran very well, with the new drive unit offering a smooth ride, which improved markedly after a 30-minute running-in period. The traction tyres may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they sit within grooves on the wheel rims, so cannot be easily discarded. Besides, with the driving car being relatively light (210g), the added adhesion is helpful, especially if running a three-car unit.

HAPPY DAYS

A ride on a Class 110 always felt like something of a treat when I was a youngster, especially as the First class compartments had been downgraded by the 1980s, so you could ride in luxury behind the driver!

While it would be great to have a ‘110’ produced to current standards, I’m happy to see Hornby’s venerable model available again, especially with the improved mechanism and DCC provision. It certainly provides a more affordable option and offers the perfect basis for a super-detailing project, which is definitely something I have in mind for this model… (GD)