HST 125

[bluesparky]

Years ago I had a Hornby HST-125 set with 3 coaches and I remember it being painfully slow and not really able to pull the whole train.

 

 Could it the fact that the dummy car just added weight to the train and made it sluggish or were the motors in the 80's HST sets weak?

 

 I'm looking to get an HST set with 4 coaches for the railway I'm about to build and I was wondering whether it's worth getting two powered cars?
 Would I be correct in assuming that DCC layout would be able to cope with it, similar to a double headed train? Or are the modern versions much more capable these days?

 Thank you

[sub39h]

hi there,

 

are you planning on recycling your old HST or purchasing a new one? if you're after a new one then there are 3 to consider:

 

1. the old Hornby "toy" version, like the one you had. this is probably the cheapest, but also probably the worst

 

2a. the old Lima version. this is widely available despite the company going bust nearly 10 years ago. power cars can be had cheaply (think £10 or less), but if you're after Intercity Swallow or Executive coaches they can be hard to track down, or can be expensive (around £20-£25 each if you want mint boxed). 

2b. the Hornby Railroad version, which is only available in Virgin livery. it is the Lima tooling from when they were bought out by Hornby, but with a slightly improved motor.  

 

3. the latest Hornby versions. undeniably the best in terms of features, with all wheel drive, new powerful motor, DCC ready and directional lights. but you pay for all this, with sets costing £100+. also some of the coaches (particularly Intercity Swallow) are basically impossible to find (when i say impossible i mean I have called around 50 model shops and been to two or three shows and some toy fairs and only ever found one buffet car),  or you'll have to pay £40 each for them off eBay as they're so sought after. plus the Swallow livery is horrible, with Hornby opting to use this sort of custard yellow colour for the beige area of the livery that just looks ghastly. 

 

I personally think that the LIma ones capture the prototype the best in terms of the shape of the model and is the best value for money. but like your old Hornby ones, the old pancake motor they use can be weak and under powered. they most likely should have no problems with 4 carriages, HOWEVER should you desire new motor units can be had from the company diesel-trains (http://www.diesel-trains.co.uk/lima_motor_kits.html) which apparently massively boost performance. due to the relatively low cost (£10 or so for a power unit, plus £15 for the motor delivered) i'd give this a go to see if it will live up to your desired standards before investing in the later Hornby ones.

 

if you're planning on going DCC then you can even add directional lights and you'll still have spent less than the newest Hornby versions. 

 

i am not DCC yet (mainly because i haven't laid any track yet) but if you wanted to run two power cars DCC would be able to cope with this without any issues. you can run two power cars on DC too, but as there is some variance in the power between units you may get unlucky and have issues as one unit will be travelling too fast compared with the other either leading to the carriages being pushed off the track in reverse, or being pulled apart when travelling forwards. 

[Removed a/c]

I guess it depends on how capable you are in modding an older HST. I have one but lack zero skills so I bought the new Hornby HST, they are great, lots of detail. They can haul 8 carriages and the dummy no problem. 

[sub39h]

swapping the motor on a Lima HST would amount to 4 screws: two on the body to remove it, 2 on the bogies to remove the bogie frame and then the reverse for the new motor listed above. no skills required! 

 

directional lights are fairly straight forward too from the looks of the Model Rail Masterclass article I have, and failing that you could get light units professionally installed still for less money than the Hornby HST.

[bluesparky]

Great, thanks chaps.

I've had a look around at other threads on here and along with what has been said above I'm thinking about getting the new Hornby set - however at £200 it's an awfully large outlay.

 

I'll take a little while to think about spending that amount on them but they do look VERY tempting, I'll also look into the Lima version too.

The HST's are my favourite by far (and the 37's too) so I'll invest the more into the High Speed Train for my railway than any of the others.

 

 Thank you all for your help.

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I think Hattons has some of them at @ £105 depending on th elivery. The biggest  downside to the HSTs is finding enough of the coaches!! seems to be an issue no matter what the livery. 

[bluesparky]

I think Hattons has some of them at @ £105 depending on th elivery. The biggest  downside to the HSTs is finding enough of the coaches!! seems to be an issue no matter what the livery. 

 

 I'm after the original BR blue / yellow livery - I've just looked at Hattons and it looks like it's £160 for the pair - not as bad as the £200 I first thought.

 

 I only want / need 4 coaches as the layout I'm planning won't be huge so hopefully it won't be TOO hard to track down only four of them!

 Thank you.

[sub39h]

... you'd be surprised! from what i hear Hornby only ever made 1 of each of the TGS, TSO, TFO and TRFB for each HST set in Swallow livery. if even 1/8 of the people want to build a whole rake that means you'll run out of coaches very quickly! (and to be honest, the kind of people that are going to spend £160 on the set are going to be "modellers" and will want complete and accurate rakes)

 

however at least in blue/grey you have the option of going for Lima and Jouef Mk3s as well so you're covered. for Swallow livery the paint finish doesn't match as I alluded to earlier.