Hornby's new South Eastern Railway Station based on Frant

[Dana Ashdown]

I was wondering if anyone has seen Hornby’s latest Skaledale offering in South Eastern Railway stations? As you may remember, a building based on Rye was released years ago. This time, Frant, located just south of Tunbridge Wells on the Hastings branch, was chosen.

 

 

According to Wikipedia, the original ragstone structure was designed in the Gothic/Tudor style by the South Eastern Railway’s architect William Tess, and opened in 1851. The Gothic theme was also used for many of Tess’ other South Eastern stations, including the larger building at Battle (opened January 1852), closer to Hastings. The canopy was added in 1905 — hopefully, it can be easily removed from the model it you need to represent an earlier period.

 

Like Hornby’s previous offering, the new station is produced in sections — two this time — consisting of: R7362 Station [Station Master’s House], £60.49; and R7363 Station Building [Booking Hall], £54.49. Hornby says they will be made of painted resin, although we’ll have to wait to see them “in the flesh” before judging them, as we only have drawings at the moment.

 

 

Three other structures will complete the set: R7364 Platform Shelter, £25.49; R7365 Signal Box, £42.49; and R7366 Footbridge, £54.49. I presume the signal box will also be produced in resin, but I’m not sure about the other two.

The platform shelter and footbridge are probably standard SER/SE&CR designs, so are useful for almost anywhere on the SE&CR, especially the former SER sections.

 

The two station buildings proper would cost £114.98, and should appeal to anyone in need of an early Victorian station. However, the entire lot would set you back £237.45, so either way, it would be a significant investment for many.

 

I’ll be interested to see how Hornby’s new station will compare to Metcalfe’s more affordable Wayside Station (PO238) and Wayside Station Shelter (PO239) die-cut cardboard kits. These represent similar stone structures on the Great Western Railway, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for Twyford and Bradford on Avon. (My Metcalfe kits are still waiting to be assembled.)

[sem34090]

Footbridge is useless for a pre-grouping modeller, being of SR Precast Concrete design. I suspect that the box also represents a post-grouping condition, with that extension, despite being of pre-grouping origin.

 

As for the shelter, I have no idea.

Edited March 12, 2022 by sem34090