Railroad SECR Tank engine (aka Thomas)

[drt7uk]

In the latest Hornby blog they have an image of the SECR tank engine they are bringing out in the Railroad range. It's a re-design of their Thomas locomotive, which in turn is of course the LB&SCR E2 Class. I'm still on the fence about whether to get or not? It looks smart and could be a good adition to all the other pre-1923 locos I have, many of which are SECR or LBSCR. Price is about £65. What do others think? Did the E2 tank ever carry a SECR livery or is this entirely fictional?

 

 

[JSpencer]

How can I put this ? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Well the chassis might be good to put under an R or R1 3D printed & painted body from CDC:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224750228160?hash=item34542852c0:g:exwAAOSwUj5hwJ4W

 

But I'm sure you could pick up a Jinty chassis (what this effectively has) from elsewhere for far cheaper than £65.

 

While a Terrier from the LBSCR made it into SECR service, no E2s ever did.

Of course this "toy" has been so distorted for Thomas that it does not match any LBSCR loco (the E2 being the closest but...) and hardly anything from the SECR comes anywhere close.

 

Overall a big eyesore and an expensive one at that. (expensive in the sense of very poor value).

It would be like taking their Anne and Clarabel coaches and repainting them in SECR colours.....

Great for a 5 year old? maybe !

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by JSpencer

[33C]

Personally, I would do one of two things. (If I had to have it) Find the cheapest one you can find and bid the dealer to sub £50. They can only say no or take the sale. Market forces. Or, see if there is one on the 2nd hand market now before it becomes "L@@K! RARE!" 🤓

[GernBlanstonShow]

Can't speak to accuracy but I love the livery and I think it suits the model nicely, but I'm still firmly not buying any new models from Hornby full price until they improve their business decisions. If this one goes for a bargain I'll definitely consider it. While I like it, if it ends up being rare I can live without it. 

[HonestTom]

If you like it, then go for it. It's not remotely prototypical, but remember Rule One. 

[phil-b259]

22 hours ago, drt7uk said:

 

 Did the E2 tank ever carry a SECR livery or is this entirely fictional?

 

 

Totally fictional!

 

The E2 was a LBSCR tank engine and the entire class remained on that system until Southern Railway days.

 

Yes I get the ornate SECR livery looks lovely but that should not blind anyone to the truth.

[HExpressD]

I've seen it in person and it looks pretty good notwithstanding the differences between a fully accurate E2 and the Thomas moulding. We've seen Hornby absolutely nail the SECR livery before on the H Class and this is another example of it looking fantastic IMO

[whart57]

The only possible explanation for the SECR livery on Thomas is that Hornby are in Margate and it provides Thomas with a back story Rev Awdry never thought of, namely shuttling holiday expresses up and down the ex-SER line from Ramsgate Town to Margate Sands. That or a youth spent shunting bathing machines.

[phil-b259]

7 minutes ago, HExpressD said:

 We've seen Hornby absolutely nail the SECR livery before on the H Class and this is another example of it looking fantastic IMO

 

Except they Haven't!

 

Look closely and you will see its their 'simplified' Railroad style lining.

 

That green lining round the tank for example should have yellow edging one side and red on the other. (Hornbys H class model, being in the main range did it right)

 

see 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by phil-b259

[whart57]

Given that Maunsell simplified the Wainwright livery before going the whole hog and painting engines unlined slate grey (a WW1 austerity measure admittedly) the Hornby Railroad simplifications are not that far off from the 1910-1915 livery for goods engines and others that were not presented to passengers on a daily basis.

[No Decorum]

Well, well, well! I understood that Hornby had altered the tooling irreversibly to create Thomas. Now it seems, the tooling has been reversed to some degree.

[phil-b259]

8 hours ago, whart57 said:

Given that Maunsell simplified the Wainwright livery before going the whole hog and painting engines unlined slate grey (a WW1 austerity measure admittedly) the Hornby Railroad simplifications are not that far off from the 1910-1915 livery for goods engines and others that were not presented to passengers on a daily basis.

 

Not quite true.

 

The 'simplified' Wainwright goods livery looked like this... 

 

Note the use of a single yellowish line - not a green thick green one as seen on the E2 and the painted over dome.

 

No, the Hornnby E2  just a chepo railroad paint job and does not represent  the 'simplified' Wainwright livery.

 

Moreover when Maunsell got rid of the Wainwright livery - it wasn't replaced with grey! (The Grey livery came later as WW1 took its toll and further economies had to be made). It was actually a plain green with large primrose-ish numerals, very reminiscent of the livery used by the new Southern Railway after grouping...

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by phil-b259

[whart57]

It is worth asking how many locos actually carried the simple green livery. Probably only a few. The grey livery was long lived, lasting till the Grouping, but only a few locos would have gone through the paint shops during the life of the plain green paint job. 

[drt7uk]

On 05/08/2022 at 10:43, No Decorum said:

Well, well, well! I understood that Hornby had altered the tooling irreversibly to create Thomas. Now it seems, the tooling has been reversed to some degree.

 

It's a shame that they've not brought this out with a similar livery to Bachmann's E4 class, which I do have and it looks wonderful. I'd have definitely got it then but I think I am going to give this loco a miss.

 

[jjb1970]

It's a Railroad model intended for people on a budget and/or who will look at it as something which looks nice. Not for me but it wasn't meant for me and judging it as if it was would miss the point. I guess the question is how much of a market there is for a model like this.

[Wickham Green too]

22 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

It's a Railroad model ..... which looks nice. ...

OK there are a number of serious S.E.C.R. items on the market now - but do Hornby actually expect the same people to buy this abomination to go with them ? .......... what about all the other lovely pre-grouping liveries they could have chosen - not least to match the sea of generic coaching stock that's appeared from Hornby and elsewhere recently ?

[jjb1970]

Are the people buying serious SECR models the market this is aimed at?

[No Decorum]

21 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Are the people buying serious SECR models the market this is aimed at?

Obviously not. I wouldn’t give it house room but I think a grandson would like it. It would (tongue in cheek) be ideal for all the fictitious four- and six-wheel coaches being churned out by Hornby and Hatton’s. 

[whart57]

Famously the first artist employed by Awdry's publishers to provide the pictures to the Thomas books had absolutely no interest in railways. The result was very nice landscapes but some seriously strange railway engines, much to Awdry's irritation. None more strange than Percy, but Thomas too is an utterly unique 0-6-0T. Obviously the success of Awdry's books and the subsequent TV series made producing Thomas a no-brainer for Hornby, but given that Thomas looks like no other 0-6-0T, it's an odd choice for turning into a SE&CR engine. Didn't they have any other old tool they could make this Railroad range engine from?

[GWR-fan]

lt will find a market.  I have a lot of the latest and greatest locomotives and super detail rolling stock,  but of late I have found the old Hornby Holden #101 quirky but interesting.     One arrived the other day in an old trainset,  "107" and after testing it,  it started to grow on me.  I then purchased another two old trainsets with the Holden loco in the unprototypical "LSWR" livery,  intending them to be inexpensive running chassis as spares.  Then another cheap early BR crest showed up and finally the latest GWR "101" Railroad model.  Yes, very little detail and a toy but like those who purchase the ex-Thomas SECR model,  it does have appeal to those who still recall the basic trainsets they had so many years ago.

[Edwardian]

On 03/08/2022 at 16:50, drt7uk said:

In the latest Hornby blog they have an image of the SECR tank engine they are bringing out in the Railroad range. It's a re-design of their Thomas locomotive, which in turn is of course the LB&SCR E2 Class. I'm still on the fence about whether to get or not? It looks smart and could be a good adition to all the other pre-1923 locos I have, many of which are SECR or LBSCR. Price is about £65. What do others think? Did the E2 tank ever carry a SECR livery or is this entirely fictional?