Hornby LNER Pacifics Discussion

[Sea Eagle]

Book Law is still showing as "expected 27/02/2015" on the Hornby website - but doesn't appear to be a confirmed sighting as yet! Half finished projects and carefully collected conversion parts will have to stay on the shelf for a while longer...

[teaky]

Yes, shows 27th, nothing in the media and isn't it Chinese New Year? Does make one wonder if this date will be revised.

A little off topic here but I searched the Hornby website on "A3" and along with the locomotives it displayed a number of spare parts. Have I missed something previously or have Hornby always done spare parts?

[Horsetan]

..... Have I missed something previously or have Hornby always done spare parts?

Hornby used to make every single part from every model available during the Margate era, no matter how trivial.

Once production started in China, Hornby stopped holding stocks of spares. The only spares available on the China-generation engines are those below the footplate (but not the chassis blocks), detailing packs, some sprung buffers, and that's about it. Even then, you still have to wait for supplies. Some engines have notoriously-fragile bits, especially the Rebuilt Merchant Navy valve gear sets - which haven't been available for over a year, and with no indication if these will ever be produced again.

[teaky]

Ah, so it's just odds and ends then. Thanks for the info. Horsetan.

[Dave]

I was told last week when I enquired about Book Law that it was now due in June, according to my local model shop.

[jwealleans]

Peter's Spares seem to have been stepping into the gap as far as reproducing hard to obtain spares for Hornby and other ranges. This has been mentioned on the forum before.

Talking to a friend who works in there this week I was pleased to learn that at least some of these replica parts are made in this country (specifically, the A4 buffer beam recently announced) rather than sourced in China as I had assumed.

[Danby Wiske]

... I was pleased to learn that at least some of these replica parts are made in this country (...) rather than sourced in China as I had assumed.

That'll be why they're so expensive then...

[Horsetan]

... I was pleased to learn that at least some of these replica parts are made in this country (...) rather than sourced in China as I had assumed.

That'll be why they're so expensive then...

You could always try East Kent Models.

[S.A.C. Martin]

A plea for help. I am currently building a model of Enterprise, as she would have been just before her late 40s repaint into LNER apple green. She is to be in wartime black, and my model uses the NT (new type) non corridor tender together with the 94A boiler and superheater headers. I know that all of those details are correct for my model - but in what form would the branding be? I cannot find a photograph of her in wartime black livery.

I have found others and all of the A3s I have found thus far have shaded yellow lettering - but there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind it being NE or LNER. Can anyone say for definite what Enterprise is likely to have had?

[Sea Eagle]

"A plea for help. I am currently building a model of Enterprise, as she would have been just before her late 40s repaint into LNER apple green. She is to be in wartime black, and my model uses the NT (new type) non corridor tender together with the 94A boiler and superheater headers. I know that all of those details are correct for my model - but in what form would the branding be? I cannot find a photograph of her in wartime black livery.

I have found others and all of the A3s I have found thus far have shaded yellow lettering - but there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind it being NE or LNER. Can anyone say for definite what Enterprise is likely to have had?"

Hello Simon,
I can't answer your query definitively, but I think I can make a pretty good educated guess based on information provided by The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust Ltd about the liveries of the A4s. According to the Trust A4s outshopped from Doncaster between November 1941 and August 1942 were black with the full LNER tender lettering. Between August 1942 and April 1946 the livery was black with just NE. Finally between April 1946 and the re-instatement of garter blue it was black with the full LNER.

Accordingly I would say that when "Enterprise" was first outshopped in black on 11th February 1943 she would have been carrying just NE on the tender. She was back in for a general overhaul at the end of 1944 and out again on 3rd January 1945, but I would guess that the livery remained the same. Finally she went back to Doncaster for another general on 17th March 1946 and emerged on 4th May 1946 still in black, but with her post war number "111". Based on what was done with the A4s it's quite possible that on this occasion the full LNER was restored.

I'm pretty sure you're right about the shaded lettering. I don't think the unshaded yellow started to appear until around March 1947.

I followed a similar process to "update" my model of A4 "Sir Charles Newton" to post war condition - still in black but running as number 5.

Hope that helps!

[S.A.C. Martin]

Very helpful - thank you for that. I'll put her in NE with shaded yellow lettering and 4480 numerals then. Hopefully with some judicious weathering, it'll tone done the at present very gloss livery the model is in!

It's curious, but if I used the Railroad model again, slung an A4 tender behind it and did the cab, buffers and chimney mods I normally do - I could have Scotsman in wartime black as 502 or 103 properly. Interesting. Wonder if I should change my plans and make Scotsman a black example to match Enterprise instead.

[Sea Eagle]

Very helpful - thank you for that. I'll put her in NE with shaded yellow lettering and 4480 numerals then. Hopefully with some judicious weathering, it'll tone done the at present very gloss livery the model is in!

It's curious, but if I used the Railroad model again, slung an A4 tender behind it and did the cab, buffers and chimney mods I normally do - I could have Scotsman in wartime black as 502 or 103 properly. Interesting. Wonder if I should change my plans and make Scotsman a black example to match Enterprise instead.

That could work. "Flying Scotsman" remained an A1 (A10) with a Diag. 94 180lb boiler for the entire time that she was painted black. She was renumbered 502 on 20th January, 1946, and then 103 on 5th May, 1946. In both cases however the renumbering was done as a running modification - her last general overhaul had been in Feb/March 1945. Accordingly I would guess that she kept the NE tender lettering all the way through to November 1946 when she was taken into the works for rebuilding to class A3 - at which time she was painted apple green.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Yes, transfers aren't on straight. Will be rectified. Think I've done quite well with this model. Before and after:





4480 - click here for full details.

Thanks for the help Sea Eagle, much appreciated.

[Saint Johnstoun]

The chimney on 4472 looks like an original tall one! Should it not be the later type to composite loading gauge?

[AdamOrmorod4468]

The chimney on 4472 looks like an original tall one! Should it not be the later type to composite loading gauge?

You're right, it should be the shorter one, hence why Simon has changed it on 4480. It's somewhat strange they've used the wrong chimney, as if I remember correctly the original railroad 4472 had the original tall cab fitted.