Hornby. Availability of pre-nationalisation rolling stock

[Robin Brasher]

In Hornby latest Last Chance To Buy email are two BR coaches to a pre-nationalisation design. R4566 BR(ex LNER) Corridor Brake reduced from £48.99 to £29.99 and R4531B BR(ex LNER) Full Brake reduced from £48.99 to £34.49. Both coaches in BR maroon livery.

 

Hornby has said that it will be reintroducing the pre-nationalisation coaches. I wonder if Hornby has withdrawn them to make them to a simpler design with more moulded parts to keep the prices down.

[Ozexpatriate]

When coaches are left on shelves, it seems most folk are modelling BR despite all the talk about pre-Nationalization and even pre Grouping 'wants'. Those elaborate liveries were expensive to produce and beat anything a professional could produce in 4mm, so it's a shame they weren't snapped up.

It would be interesting to get other observations of what coaching stock sits on the retailers shelves. The impression I have formed is that with the possible exception of "all first", the pre-nationalization stock sells.

 

I think a start in getting the right balance could be made by avoiding first class coaches. Most model railways have to use shorter than prototype trains and it is not surprising all-firsts are barely purchased. Composites are far better.

I agree. For me the issue is having something at all, rather than worrying whether every conceivable coach variation is modelled when a manufacturer decides to build a batch.

[Ozexpatriate]

Being an LMS man, when it comes to Hornby's RTR Stanier stock, I was over the moon all those years ago when they were named as the first super detail coaches to be produced but I can't help feeling as time went on that the other regions got more variety.

Pre-1947 GWR notwithstanding (fans of which still don't have anything since the 57' Stanier stock was introduced), I agree.

 

The good news for LMS fans is the 2015 announcement of the non-gangwayed stock.

[Dunsignalling]

I think a start in getting the right balance could be made by avoiding first class coaches. Most model railways have to use shorter than prototype trains and it is not surprising all-firsts are barely purchased. Composites are far better. If Bachmann is pleased with the return on its LMS 'Porthole' coaches, they might be the people to be persuaded to produce a dining car. They would have to design a new window with pre-war style sliding vents as well as a new chassis and 6-wheel bogies, so it is not a minor thing to produce. The company might feel a 68' coach would need to be too severely compromised in order to go around train set curves.

Definitely agree about all-Firsts - apart from a few 4-sets on the Southern, they were generally only seen in long trains.

 

I have getting on for thirty Maunsells and only one is a FK.

 

Hornby's 12-wheel Pullmans aren't that much shorter than the LMS Restaurant car but they handle No.2 radii OK and look good so it shouldn't be insurmountable.

 

John

[brushman47544]

We are a fickle bunch. We think there are too many all Firsts produced, but we ask for a Mk1 FO because it's needed for the current Charter sets. Too many brakes, except of course BR(SR) ones. And dining cars...well they'd be nice but we don't really need them.

 

I can quite understand the manufacturers' dilemma, but then again all it takes is a bit of research to identify which liveries and eras are likely to sell and decided the quantities to be produced accordingly. Hornby does seem to be more keen now to tailor production runs to expected demand so perhaps there is hope. I know this thread is about pre-nationalisation stock so a bit off topic, but since Hornby doesn't yet have a buffet/restaurant in its new range of Mk1s it could do no worse than avoid duplication with Bachmann and go for the RBR. That would give those who want one a Southern Region green liveried restaurant/buffet to run with their Maunsells.

[Ozexpatriate]

Too many brakes, except of course BR(SR) ones.

If I recall correctly, the full-brake Hawksworth coaches were the most popular. People couldn't get enough of them, though curiously a crimson and cream one is on sale at Hornby.com for 40% off this week.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...Hornby has said that it will be reintroducing the pre-nationalisation coaches. I wonder if Hornby has withdrawn them to make them to a simpler design with more moulded parts to keep the prices down.

If they did re-tool it could be with considerable advantage on the Gresley gangwayed vehicles. A different choice of subjects - ideally the end vestibule stock as these were what survived longest, and also did the inter-regional jobs in BR days - with the width and bodyside profile matching the Gresley non-gangwayed, so they look better than the previous. Too much to hope for.

[coachmann]

If they did re-tool it could be with considerable advantage on the Gresley gangwayed vehicles. A different choice of subjects - ideally the end vestibule stock as these were what survived longest, and also did the inter-regional jobs in BR days - with the width and bodyside profile matching the Gresley non-gangwayed, so they look better than the previous. Too much to hope for.

The LNER did not cease building all-door corridor stock when end door designs were introduced in the early 1930's. All-door designs continued unabated right up to the war....... I believe it was something to do with ease of loading and unloading. But as to withdrawal dates, were the all-door coaches withdrawn early despite some being younger than end door coaches?

[Market65]

Hi. I remember trips to Bridlington and Scarborough on summer Sundays in c1963/4 in trains composed of Gresley all door corridor stock. I believe the last survivors were withdrawn about 1965. They were still in use circa '64 on the remaining loco' hauled trains between Hull and York via Market Weighton.

 

All the best,

 

Market65.

[trevor7598]

As the subject has strayed onto Gresley coaches, the one big omission from the Hornby range must surely be

the Tourist open third. They showed promise with the Buffet car ( the only end vestibuled type ever produced r.t.r ).

From the sales point of view. a much better bet than the shelf sticking all first, and with two preserved railways

operating them ( S.V.R and N.Y.M.R ) this type is still very much in the public eye, and there were lots of them.

As with an LMS TO I think many modellers would buy more than one. (If they are wealthy enough !).

[Welchester]

If I recall correctly, the full-brake Hawksworth coaches were the most popular. People couldn't get enough of them, though curiously a crimson and cream one is on sale at Hornby.com for 40% off this week.

 

They were in the 'Black Friday' sale last year for about £12. Not something I really needed, but how can you refuse a couple at that price?

[coachmann]

Shame the Hawksworth passenger full brake wasn't done in plain carmine red. From photos they do appear to be more of a parcels van than a baggage coach in a passenger consist.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The LNER did not cease building all-door corridor stock when end door designs were introduced in the early 1930's. All-door designs continued unabated right up to the war....... I believe it was something to do with ease of loading and unloading. But as to withdrawal dates, were the all-door coaches withdrawn early despite some being younger than end door coaches?

No idea. As a young observer at the Southern end of the ECML in the 1960s, the very occasional appearance of an 'all-door' design gangwayed coach was as I recall it a rarity among the surviving Gresley and Thompson vehicles steadily being ousted by mk1 and mk 2 stock. Didn't occur to me at the time to keep records! And then the wooden panelled coaches were all gone, except for the Gresley full brakes and the occasional buffet car.