Hornby Railways Catalogue and Box Art - An Advent Calendar Lookback

[BernardTPM]

That 'set' is looking increasingly dubious. Almost certainly not the original contents.

[Legend]

its interesting. Even though the same box , the insert is different . in the 65 version its carboard and in the later version its vac form plastic . I hadn't clocked the two guards vans . Doesnt look as if it would be an original yet the inserts for wagons appear ok

Edited December 9, 2020 by Legend

[BernardTPM]

The space filled by the short brake van should be filled with a UD tanker. Plus the flat is missing the cables, as I mentioned.

[Steamport Southport]

29 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

That 'set' is looking increasingly dubious. Almost certainly not the original contents.

 

They quite often swapped the wagons later on. Especially when they started adding the vans and PO wagons such as Prime Pork. Weetabix and Arnold Sands. It was virtually a lucky dip and probably depended on what they had of stock they were trying to get rid of. ISTR I had the wrong tank wagon in mine it should have been the Texaco red one and I ended up with a yellow Shell one. Or the other way around. I can't remember now as it was painted black to get rid of the bright plastic and match the Airfix Esso tankers.

 

Never had a Triang Class 30/31. It was replaced in the catalogue by the better Class 25 which I had several of. I did have the superior Airfix version though. Then the outstanding Lima model in the mid 1980s. The latter still stands up pretty well now.

 

 

Jason

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Never had a Triang Class 30/31. It was replaced in the catalogue by the better Class 25 which I had several of. I did have the superior Airfix version though. Then the outstanding Lima model in the mid 1980s. The latter still stands up pretty well now.

 

The funny thing with the Airfix one is that the motor bogie was "identical" to the Triang version in that it had mock centre wheels.  The Lima one is still with us as the Hornby Railroad Class 31, one of its most recent appearances being as a green livery/TTS fitted version.

 

The Hornby Railways Collector Guide (1955-2011) website has full details of the Freightmaster set

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/item_year_details.asp?itemyearid=4060

 

and indicates that it first appeared in the 1964 catalogue

 

 

 

 

[Steamport Southport]

It might of had mock centre wheels on the trailing bogie, but was light years ahead at the time.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/67141/airfix_gmr_great_model_railways_54100_6_class_31_31401_in_br_blue/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

Jason

[BernardTPM]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

They quite often swapped the wagons later on. Especially when they started adding the vans and PO wagons such as Prime Pork. Weetabix and Arnold Sands. It was virtually a lucky dip and probably depended on what they had of stock they were trying to get rid of.

I'd agree that was much more so from the mid-'70s, but for a long time the contents changed only slowly.

[BernardTPM]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

The Hornby Railways Collector Guide (1955-2011) website has full details of the Freightmaster set

http://www.hornbyguide.com/item_year_details.asp?itemyearid=4060

and indicates that it first appeared in the 1964 catalogue

It did, but I thought the 1965 catalogue illustration (photo against painted background) looked better. I chose 1971 rather than 1972 because the loco reverted to green in 1972 (though glossy).

[Butler Henderson]

5 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

Two brake vans in the set - Must be the 'Preserved Railway Demonstration Freight' edition ! 

Not necessarily, their were freight workings with brake vans top and tail where the working required reversal, usually as result of line closures preventing direct access to the destination.

[Nearholmer]

And, all over the southern suburban network, where the routes were very complex.

 

Back to the train set: it is a very good one, because the wagons have plenty of play value, making it more interesting than a couple of passenger cars.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Nearholmer

[banburysaint]

Thanks for posting this thread which I have only been discovered this evening. Lots of lovely memories being shared. For me my first catalogue memory is from 1982, I used to love looking for the lady and gentleman waving in the full page pictures. I still have the remains of the catalogue. Happy memories! 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

You all should have noticed that the later set box lid has the Tri-ang Hornby logo instead of the Tri-ang Railways logo on the 1964 set...

 

The cable drum wagon replaced the container wagon because the Tri-ang brand name was sold off separately from the Rovex division, when the Lines Bros Group was split up, and the name was no longer used. Though it took a very long time before all the moulded Tri-ang  names were removed from bodies and underframes, etc.

 

Of course, both wagons used the 1963 introduced Mk2a Bolster wagon as the base....

More sets. I seem to remember setting up the wagons in the same order as in the catalogue illustrations...

 

The Hornby Railways 1971 Freightmaster set...at Ffrwd Locks...

 

The Hornby Railways 1972 Freightmaster set...at Ffrwd Locks...

 

The Hornby Railways 1973 Freightmaster set...at Ffrwd Locks...

 

 

The Fyffes ferry van was only available in this set.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Ruffnut Thorston
More added

[BernardTPM]

With a blue diesel in it I would have been surprised if it wasn't Tri-ang Hornby. It still looks like a box that has been refilled rather than still with original contents though.

The illustration in the 1972 catalogue actually has GWR livery on the horsebox (another reason I preferred the 1971 picture).

[Ruffnut Thorston]

The photos were taken a while ago now. It is possible that we didn’t then have the correct GW livery Horsebox. All the models are packed away just now...

[Opelsi]

8 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

It might of had mock centre wheels on the trailing bogie, but was light years ahead at the time.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/67141/airfix_gmr_great_model_railways_54100_6_class_31_31401_in_br_blue/stockdetail.aspx

 

 

Jason

 

A friend of mine had one of these in the early 1980's.

The motor growled when running and we thought it sounded somewhat like a real Class 31 as these used to run very close to us.

I also remember that we use to refer to the centre wheel as a ski-sled or similar!

 

[LNWR18901910]

Day 10

Another Centenary and a half! This catalogue showcases any potential models YOU wish Hornby would've actually made, but out of the three, only one was made so guess which of the three it was.

 

You have what appears to be more of an image board like a presentation you do at work or at school (it's what we had) and this ticks all the boxes. The white background gives it a sort of pocket dictionary or Dorling Kindersly feel to it. This is a celebration of how rail transportation has progressed (or in some cases degressed especially in recent times) and continues to this day. You will also notice the description of the locomotives underneath and they are all real-life preserved examples. If you haven't been to the NRM, you ought to! I know I did.

 

Not much to say on this one, but it does give a touch of educational class (without the school bullies, high-strung and tetchy teachers and school dinners that make us throw up).

 

N.B: Thanks very much to those who liked the previous advent post, I'm really coming close to the halfway point, I am! Thanks to Legend and Ruffnut Thornston for sharing your thoughts and memories as well as thanks to those for images of the Freightmaster train set (Freightmaster may seem a touch better than Freightliner), well done and thanks again. Another post on time, sorry if it's short but I will be back with another advent post hopefully better and much more in-depth than this one, bye for now!

[Steamport Southport]

No Jenny Linds preserved unfortunately.

 

I've always wondered why that was picked rather than something a bit more iconic that was preserved considering it was the Stockton & Darlington 150th. Maybe it was just that they had a suitable drawing.

 

Also the LNER A4 on the back is 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood which was the one that was hit by a bomb at York in 1942.

 

That catalogue was a bit empty. But thankfully they had got rid of a lot of the older items. Many of which were well past their sell by date.

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/year_details.asp?yearid=12

 

I always liked the sectionalised pannier tank.

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/review_details.asp?reviewid=2

 

 

Jason

 

[Butler Henderson]

That mid 70s artwork was also pretty misleading, just how many saw the valve gear on the drawing of 101 only to be deeply disappointed with the model itself.

[Legend]

8 hours ago, LNWR18901910 said:

Day 10

Another Centenary and a half! This catalogue showcases any potential models YOU wish Hornby would've actually made, but out of the three, only one was made so guess which of the three it was.

 

You have what appears to be more of an image board like a presentation you do at work or at school (it's what we had) and this ticks all the boxes. The white background gives it a sort of pocket dictionary or Dorling Kindersly feel to it. This is a celebration of how rail transportation has progressed (or in some cases degressed especially in recent times) and continues to this day. You will also notice the description of the locomotives underneath and they are all real-life preserved examples. If you haven't been to the NRM, you ought to! I know I did.

 

Not much to say on this one, but it does give a touch of educational class (without the school bullies, high-strung and tetchy teachers and school dinners that make us throw up).

 

N.B: Thanks very much to those who liked the previous advent post, I'm really coming close to the halfway point, I am! Thanks to Legend and Ruffnut Thornston for sharing your thoughts and memories as well as thanks to those for images of the Freightmaster train set (Freightmaster may seem a touch better than Freightliner), well done and thanks again. Another post on time, sorry if it's short but I will be back with another advent post hopefully better and much more in-depth than this one, bye for now!

Ahh 1975 , one of the more disappointing catalogues

 

I remember buying it at Model Rail Scotland , Glasgow in March and the excitement of dashing home to see what was new in the catalogue . The Stephenson edition , look at these lovely pictures on the front and the A4 on the back . The sinking feeling as the initial perusal of the catalogue failed to reveal any of these new models , then horror as you discovered that large parts of the range had actually disappeared !  Coronations, Princess , 2P, Battle of Britain, M7 , B12 , Caley 4-2-2, Lord of the Isles , Turntable all gone .    The catalogue itself had quite a lot of blank space . History of the 4 Railway Companies took over 4 pages , clearly a filling exercise and at the back the saving grace was how to build your Hornby model railway .Some quite good information and illustrations on how to build your railway . Only a long time after did I realise it was almost , if not completely, a verbatim copy of what had been in the 1962 Celebration of 10 years of Triang book.  So another page filler trotted out and inserted.

 

The entertainment was then to spot what models were in the illustrations that were not in that years range .  The catalogue had pictures of trains running along the bottom of the pages . The B12 and 2P were certainly shown heading trains , but you couldn't buy them!   The only saving grace was that the Class 47 was finally illustrated , the 74 catalogue had featured a not very convincing mock up , and the Met Camm dmu was available again , although this time disfigured by a non prototypical headcode box on the roof . 

 

In my eyes Hornby redeemed themselves by finally publishing the 3rd edition track plans book , which had been announced in the 74 catalogue which showed tempting images . Trouble was when it appeared some of the accessories had been withdrawn , so had to be quickly replaced by the very similar  4th edition which appeared in 1976.  It finally showed the bits of the layouts that had not been in the illustrations so you could make sense of them .  

 

Again in non related nostalgia , that was the year when "pocket" calculators first started to appear . There must have been some odd shaped pockets in these days . My first one was a Commodore I think . 7 digit display, never fitted in my pocket . But I remember others around at the time Sinclair, Texet , Lloytron . You could calculate square roots Woohoo!  Not allowed to take them to school though where solving anything without resorting to Logarithms  was frowned upon and calculators were going to lead to idle minds . 

 

Top of the charts that year Christmas , Bohemian Rhapsody  and surprisingly Laurel and Hardy !

[Nearholmer]

In the blue ridge mountains of Virginia .......

 

We are into serious memory territory here, but I will confine myself to the NRM.

 

I think it opened during the summer, as part of the 150 celebrations, but I couldn't afford the trip, all the way from deepest Sussex. Then, in the autumn BR announced a series of cheap excursions, on weekdays from Kings Cross for Christmas shopping in York, so a pal and I set-off at about 0530 on a bitterly cold day in late December, boarding the train about 0830 IIRC. That was the good bit over!

 

The loco had steam heat, and the coaches electric, or vice versa. Upshot: all the way to York on the slow lines through freezing fog with no heating in a Mark 1 coach where draughts entered at every window and door. It took bl@@dy hours, and somewhere around Selby we decided to drink our soup, which proved to have turned to icy slush and lumps of fat inside thermos flasks. We were the only passengers in our coach, and the whole train probably had no more than twenty people on it.

 

We did get to the Museum, and I think that was the day we met John Coiley driving the replica 'Rocket' up and down the yard outside in the snow, but that may have been another winter visit shortly after.

 

All the way back n the same unheated train, got home just before midnight.

 

Memorable!

 

As for the 1975 Triang catalogue: good cover, shame about everything else.

[stewartingram]

I managed to get to the NRM - on an HST - with vouchers from some domestic product or other. Was it washing powder? I can't recall.

 

Stewart

[Legend]

11 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

I managed to get to the NRM - on an HST - with vouchers from some domestic product or other. Was it washing powder? I can't recall.

 

Stewart

Must have been the prototype one  in 75.  Its was in use at the time . Interesting 

[stewartingram]

Might not have been '75, though very soon after the NRM opened, and when they first appeared on ECML.

Stewart

[Legend]

11 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

Might not have been '75, though very soon after the NRM opened, and when they first appeared on ECML.

Stewart

78 for mainstream introductions . Class 254 for ECML

[Steamport Southport]

2 hours ago, stewartingram said:

I managed to get to the NRM - on an HST - with vouchers from some domestic product or other. Was it washing powder? I can't recall.

 

Stewart

 

I think there was a few promotions. But the main one I remember was Kelloggs Corn Flakes.

 

http://cerealoffers.com/Kelloggs/Cornflakes/1975/Free_Children_Rail_Tickets/free_children_rail_tickets1.html

 

It was also "This is the age of the train!".

 

 

Jason