Following on from their break in tradition by announcing some of next years range at the Warley show last month today sees the announcement of their full plans for 2015, this post is a summary of the information from a Southern / BR(s) modellers perspective. The main highlight is completely new tooling to produce an S15 class 4-6-0 freight locomotive along with the 0415 Class Adams radial tank that was shown at Warley.
S15 Class
The S15 4-6-0 locomotives were first introduced by Urie on the London South Western railway in 1920, with later batches being built by the Southern Railway under Maunsell. I was able to speak with the design team at Hornby responsible for these models, last week, and handle the first 3D test print illustrated here.
I can confirm that they have tooled for the SR built versions (i.e. not the original ex LSWR version with the stepped footplate numbers 496 to 515) and are to produce a number of different details and variants including: both the Urie (823 to 837) flared 5000 gallon tenders, the Maunsell (838 to 847) flat sided 5000 gallon tenders complete with newly tooled bogies, and ultimately pairing with an ex King Arthur 4000 gallon 6 wheel tender (as used on the central section) and even possibly versions of 30833 and 30837 that were paired with ex Schools class 4000 gallon tenders in 1962.
The chassis is a completely new design with a 5 pole motor, twin flywheels and tooling to accommodate the 3 different styles of driving wheels / balance weights fitted!
R3327 SR Maunsell lined olive green livery with Urie Bogie tender
R3328 BR early emblem livery with Maunsell flat sided bogie tender
R3329 BR late emblem livery with Urie Bogie tender
The actual locomotive numbers are still to be confirmed. The intention is that these should be available from around July next year.
0415 Class Adams Radial
Originally introduced by Adams on the LSWR in 1882 for suburban work, three of the class became iconic by being used in the heavily graded and severely curved Lyme Regis branch lasting until 1961. It has ranked high on the various model railway wish lists over the last few years and this year has now seen R-T-R versions announced by both Hornby at Warley and also as reported here Oxford Rail. The Hornby design team advise me that they are producing both Drummond and Adams boiler versions with similar chimney variations as well to enable a wider range of livery versions to be release in the future (as the two types of boiler were swapped between between different locos at different times).
R3333 No. 30584 in BR early emblem livery – Adams boiler
R3334 No. 30582 in BR late emblem livery – Drummond boiler
R3335 No. 488 in LSWR livery as preserved on the Bluebell Railway with Adams boiler
The intention is for these to be available by the end of 2015.
Locomotives and Train Packs
R3300 Winston Churchill funeral train pack to mark 50 years since the state funeral on 30 January 1965: comprising of Bulleid original style light pacific No. 34051 with cut down tender, in BR livery with late crest, 2 off Pullman cars ‘Lydia’, ‘Perseus’ and Pullman liveried Gangwayed Bogie Luggage Van S2464 (note existing tooling is being used for the GBL and not strictly as per the prototype van that was modified with additional windows in the centre pair of doors).
R3302 ‘1940 return from Dunkirk’ train pack; comprising of a 700 class No. 325 paired with a 14ft wheelbase tender and 3 coach Maunsell low window set No. 447 comprising of 2 off four compartment brake 3rds (4059, 4061) and a composite (5149) in unlined olive green.
R3304 700 class No. 30316 correctly paired with the first appearance of brand new tooling for the 13ft wheelbase tender, in BR black livery with early emblem and weathered.
R3310 Bulleid original style light pacific No. 34006 ‘Bude’ with long smoke deflectors (as fitted for the 1948 locomotive exchange trials) and cut down tender (number 3262) as paired with ‘Bude’ in August 1961, in BR livery with late crest.
R3311 Schools V class No. 30908 ‘Westminster’ in post August 1956 BR green livery with early crest .
Other train packs include:
- R3340 2 Hal EMU in BR green livery with full yellow end set No. 2603
- R3341 2 Hal EMU in BR blue livery set No. 2677
- R1176 Eurostar Class 373 train set in brand new blue livery c/w track and controller
- R3215 Eurostar Class 373 blue livery train pack
- R4580 Eurostar Class 373 blue livery centre saloons coach pack
Additionally
It is not just the Southern Modellers that benefit from new tooled models as also announced is an LNER J50 0-6-0 tank. Additional new tooling for coaches announced over and above the LMS non corridor coaches shown at Warley includes 5 new all steel K type Pullman cars:
- R4660 K Type All Steel Pullman Third Class Kitchen Car No. 72
- R4661 K Type All Steel Pullman Third Class Parlour Car No. 73
- R4662 K Type All Steel Pullman Third Class Brake Parlour Car No. 79
- R4663 K Type All Steel Pullman First Class Kitchen Car ‘Loraine’
- R4664 K Type All Steel Pullman First Class Parlour Car -‘Agatha’
These are very fine looking models and have been produced to Hornby’s usual fine standard for Pullman cars, using laser scanned data from surviving prototypes as well. In general though the prototypes ran on the Eastern Region, [edit 17/12/14] with thanks to an informative comment below from Colin Watts; both Agetha and Lorrain came to the Southern Region in 1961 and were used on the Bournemouth Belle. They incorporate a new style of table lighting achieved via LEDs directly under tables rather than the previous fibre optic method, which makes assembly and dis-assembly of these coaches much easier.
Class 71
It should be noted that although this model was announced at Warley it will form part of the 2016 range.
N Gauge
It was also advised at the media briefing day last week that following the success of the Hornby International brand Arnold British 1:148 scale N gauge 5 Bell EMU that further N Gauge products are likely to be announced later in the year, so what this space.
Full 2015 range
For details on the full 2015 range see either Hornby.com or RMweb.
Hornby’s supply chain issues over the last few years are well documented and continue to cause supply issues even though new factories are now producing models, many of the 2014 releases are having to be carried over to 2015 (although recently the K1 model that was moved out to February 2015 has now appeared). Hornby have advised us that the intention is to supply all of the 2015 announcements during 2015. Stocks of the LMS horsebox and the BR 21T hopper wagon announced at Warley are already in the Hornby warehouse ready for immediate shipping in the new year. The new all steel K type Pullmans are also at a very advanced stage of development so should be available quite early on in the year whilst the LMS non corridor coaches are at the final tooling stage.
I would also like to thank members of the design team at Hornby whom have been very patient with all my questions and exclusively provided me with additional information on their SR related plans to hopefully be providing here one of the most comprehensive round ups.
Note: all pictures are courtesy and copyright of either Hornby Hobbies Ltd. or A York.
