Hornby's Yellow Trains

In the past, transfer to departmental use has saved a lot of redundant revenue stock from the scrapyard and that holds true today in the era of Network Rail. From Mk.2 air-con coaches to former Mk.1 BGs, the frequent Network Rail test and measurement trains continue to provide an interesting variety of rolling stock, not to mention traction, a fact not missed by Hornby.

Close-Fit models have been offered by manufacturers in the past, allowing a reasonable representation of specialised trains to be modelled. Hornby has pushed the envelope as far as it can with its new Mk.2f stock and a couple of its newer Mk.1 coach models too. Some of the livery to model fits are pretty close, whilst others only have a passing resemblance to the operational coaches.

The problem that mainstream manufacturers have in matching models of revenue stock to departmentals is that the latter rarely remain unchanged.

Adaptations for instrumentation and other fittings can change the outward appearance significantly. Anything from bogies, windows, the roof and underframes can be modified to suit the vehicles’ new role. Bogies are exchanged, windows plated over to meet the needs for equipment installed in the coaches and roofs fitted with antennae and pantograph wells.

Coach end equipment is added for operational reasons including multiple working cables for working locomotives in top and tail mode alongside electrical supply, features not fitted to standard models and expensive to tool for one-off models.

During 2020, Hornby released a number of close-fit models of departmental coaches dressed in the popular Network Rail yellow livery which will ensure their commercial success. To tool individual coach bodies to match departmental stock would be uneconomical, so the models have to be reviewed in that light.

How useful are they to the serious modeller?

R4993 PLPR2 No. 5981.