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Hornby GRESLEY A4 Collection


mick
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It was a model of a Hornby A4 (4902 SEAGULL in LNER Blue) that first got me interested in model railways way back in the 1980s and although Seagull is no longer part of my collection, over recent years my collection of Hornby A4 locomotives has continued to grow. I thought it might be of interest to illustrate some of the various liveries depicted by Hornby over recent years.

I'll begin with Hornby R3309 2512 SILVER FOX in LNER Silver Jubilee livery. This is part of the Hornby LNER Silver Jubilee Collection commemorating the 80th anniversary of the inaugural running of the streamlined LNER Silver Jubilee train in 1935. Four locomotives were outshopped in this livery, the first being 2509 SILVER LINK, followed by 2510 QUICKSILVER, 2511 SILVER KING and finally 2512 SILVER FOX.

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The next loco is 4494 OSPREY in a variation of LNER Green livery. This is a Hornby R3438, one of four locomotives included in the Hornby SIR NIGEL GRESLEY collection, all of which were produced in an attractive gloss finish.

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The standard livery for LNER A4 locomotives soon became LNER Blue and here we have a Hornby R3131 A4 No.4462 GREAT SNIPE carrying those colours.

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During the war years A4's were painted Black and here we have Hornby R3441 A4 No.4499 SIR MURROUGH WILSON.

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An experimental Purple livery was applied to A4 60027 MERLIN and here we have a Hornby R2798 carrying that livery. Sadly this model requires a bit of remedial work to repair some damage which hadn't been mentioned when it was advertised for sale.

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This is a Hornby R3320 A4 No.60023 GOLDEN EAGLE in BR Express passenger Blue livery

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And finally here's Hornby R2826 A4 No.60013 DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND in early BR Green livery. This model is part of the Hornby Commonwealth Collection which also includes 60011 Empire of India, 60012 Commonwealth of Australia, 60010 Dominion of Canada and 60009 Union of South Africa

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And here's a rather poor shot of the seven loco's arranged side by side. Which livery do you think suits the A4 best?

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ba14eagle said:

I like the wartime black (even better with only NE on the tender)...!

You mean as in 4901 SIR CHARLES NEWTON? This is the Hornby R2338 but apologies for the quality of photo as there's not so much daylight coming through the window now.

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This and 4499 are the only two black liveried ones I have so if you prefer shortened cabside numbers too I'm afraid I can't be of further assistance.

ba14eagle said:

... I suspect I will be the only person who says that!!

I wouldn't think so Iain. It's difficult to choose a favourite livery but black, blue, and the experimental purple certainly suit the A4 very well. The silver must have been an awesome sight it its day, especially when matched with the matching silver streamlined coaches but is perhaps the least workmanlike livery of them all.

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Normal in the U.S. Griff perhaps, but with the exception of the war, Express loco's were painted Green or Blue or Maroon or whatever the company colours were, only freight/mixed traffic loco's were painted black.

I never understood why they painted Express loco's black during the war years you would think people need cheering up as much as possible not depressing more by painting everything BLACK! Also why only put N.E on the tender instead of L.N.E.R? is there a drawer full of letter L's & R's somewhere yet to be found? :shock::lol::lol::lol:

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EngineDriver said:

Normal in the U.S. Griff perhaps, but with the exception of the war, Express loco's were painted Green or Blue or Maroon or whatever the company colours were, only freight/mixed traffic loco's were painted black.

I never understood why they painted Express loco's black during the war years you would think people need cheering up as much as possible not depressing more by painting everything BLACK! Also why only put N.E on the tender instead of L.N.E.R? is there a drawer full of letter L's & R's somewhere yet to be found? :shock::lol::lol::lol:

I should think that it was more to save time and labour. Perhaps it was the paint shops which suffered most in that respect.

Mick, I am wondering whether you might be adding a Dapol A4 to your collection? I have Silver Fox on order although I would have much preferred a valanceless BR version. If sales are good, that will be coming next, I have been told, although I really wish for a BR Standard or LMS loco to a similar specification. I suppose an LMS Princess Coronation is out of the question after last weekend's announcement by Hornby of a re-tooled one.

Riddles

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Riddles said:

Mick, I am wondering whether you might be adding a Dapol A4 to your collection? I have Silver Fox on order although I would have much preferred a valanceless BR version....

Unfortunately none of the Dapol models announced so far will fill a gap in my collection. I submitted an expression of interest for Mallard and have recently received a request for my deposit. I'm really undecided because I've only seen the models on YouTube and what I've seen and heard via that platform hasn't really blown me away. I'd like to get a few more opinions and reviews etc before committing myself. The exhaust smoke doesn't appear any different from others I've seen but its difficult to get a full picture via a short video. Likewise the sound is difficult to compare on a monitor.

Have you seen them in the flesh Riddles, and if so, what was your impression?

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Here's another selection of Hornby A4 loco's acquired over recent times.

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First up is 60011 EMPIRE OF INDIA in late BR Green livery and with the double chimney it had fitted in 1958. This is Hornby R3008, part of the Hornby Commonwealth Collection

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Here's another member of the Hornby Commonwealth Collection, this time it's R2825 A4 No.60012 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA in late BR Green livery but still with its single chimey.

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Hornby R2494 depicts A4 No.60020 GUILLEMOT in early BR Green livery and with single chimney......

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..whilst Hornby R2535 depicts A4 No. 60029 WOODCOCK in late BR Green livery and with double chimney

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From green to blue and this time we have single chimneyed A4 No. 60024 KINGFISHER in early BR Blue livery. Kingfisher was part of the Hornby 'Rare Bird' trainpack, released as part of the Barry J Freeman Collection

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Back to green and this time it's Hornby R2721 A4 No. 60018 SPARROW HAWK in late BR Green livery and double chimney

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And finally for now we have Hornby R2615 A4 No. 60021 WILD SWAN in early BR Green livery and single chimney

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mick said:

Have you seen them in the flesh Riddles, and if so, what was your impression?

I saw one running at the Dapol Club members day and also at the Warley/NEC show but I didn't get the opportunity to try for myself. They were far too busy to allow that. One at the NEC was running backwards and forwards on an automatic shuttle circuit so it didn't show it off to its best. The attraction of having the lamps, sound and smoke unit already fitted is attractive to me. They provide two sorts of smoke fluid, one petroleum based which provides the best smoke but doesn't last very long, and another which is glycol based and lasts longer but isn't as dense.

Riddles

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  • 9 months later...

Continuing with my collection of Hornby A4 locomotives, here is another selection of loco's that haven't yet been featured.

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In LNER Garter Blue, and carrying a single chimney, we have loco number 4500 GARGANEY which formed part of the Hornby R3402 Queen of Scots trainpack along with three Pullman 'K' Type coaches: First Class Kitchen Car THELMA, First Class Parlour Car SHEILA and Third Class Brake Car CAR No. 77. 

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In late BR Green livery is 60025 FALCON still carrying its single chimney. Falcon was purchased as part of the Hornby R2794M HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN trainpack which also includes 3 MK1 coaches

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In LNER Garter Blue here's 4903 PEREGRINE, a renamed and renumbered Hornby 'Mallard' model carrying a double chimney.

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Next we have another LNER Garter Blue model but this time adorned with the stainless steel cut out numbers and lettering which replaced the gold transfers seen on the previous model. This is single-chimney loco number 4496 GOLDEN SHUTTLE, another renamed and renumbered Hornby model. The loco also features a silver strip along the bottom edge of the loco and tender which should continue in-line and not with the step between loco and tender as depicted here.

At the very beginning of this thread I featured one of only four A4 loco's to be outshopped in the stunning Silver Grey livery, 2512 SILVER FOX, so it seems only fair that the remaining 3 similarly liveried locos make an appearance too.

First off we have 2509 SILVER LINK

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Followed by 2510 QUICKSILVER.....

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....and finally for now we end with 2511 SILVER KING

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That's a total of 22 A4's that have been featured so far but it's not quite over yet. Next task is to remove the 6 loco's from the Great Gathering display case, none of which have yet been included here and there's also HERRING GULL, one of the first loco's to run on my old Selby Garden Railway.

If we include the unfortunate 4469 which was destroyed in an air raid in 1939 when carrying the name SIR RALPH WEDGWOOD , a total of only 35 A4 locomotives were constructed so I need just a few more in order to have a model of each individual loco as depicted at some point in time. I have at least two duplicate loco's that could possibly be renamed/renumbered and there's another one on my shopping/wanted list should the price ever fall to a more reasonable level. I would really like to see the whole collection displayed together but the thought of opening all those boxes and packing them away again afterwards fills me with dread. 

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  • 4 months later...

During some work at home I took the opportunity to capture some quick photos of the 6 A4 loco's that form the Hornby 'Great Gathering' collection. Poor light and a phone camera don't do the loco's justice but simply for the record here they are.

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Firstly, and I guess alphabetical order is as good as anything, we have 4464 BITTERN in LNER Blue with double chimney and corridor tender

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Next comes 4489 DOMINION OF CANADA, again in LNER blue but with the silver lettering, numerals and lining. 4489 is fitted with a single chimney and corridor tender. The name DOMINION OF CANADA was added in June 1937 replacing the loco's original name WOODCOCK.

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60008 is DWIGHT D EISENHOWER which is depicted in late BR Green livery and is fitted with its double chimney and non-corridor tender. 60008 received the name DWIGHT D EISENHOWER in September 1945, replacing the original name GOLDEN SHUTTLE.

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4468 is of course MALLARD in LNER Blue livery, double chimney and non-corridor tender.

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60007 is SIR NIGEL GRESLEY in BR Blue livery, fitted with a double chimney and coupled to a corridor tender.

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60009 is UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA in late BR Green livery with a double chimney and coupled to a corridor tender. The name UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA was added in June 1937 shortly after construction when the loco was originally named OSPREY.

And finally, not a part of the Great Gathering collection and hence not continuing the alphabetic order theme

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This is Hornby R3522 60026 MILES BEEVOR depicted in early BR Green livery. Still carrying its single chimney and coupled to a non-corridor tender. 60026 received the name MILES BEEVOR in November 1947 having originally been named KESTREL.

There's still another example to feature in this collection but the aforementioned 'work at home' prevents me from accessing that one so it will have to wait for now. 

I've just realised that I have as many examples of Bachmann class 37 diesel locomotives as I have Hornby A4's so perhaps I'll feature them in the near future. One things for sure, I doubt I'll get anywhere near to having an example of every class 37 ever constructed!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now that I've got my remaining loco's stored together it's much easier to get hold of a particular loco so here's the final example from my Hornby A4 collection, the one that's been hidden away in a box for the past few years - it's 4466 HERRING GULL in LNER Blue livery.

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This is Hornby R2805XS depicting 4466 with a single chimney and non-corridor tender but it is seen here running on a standard Hornby 'Mallard' chassis. I had forgotten about swapping the body's over when I was still running the Selby Garden Railway so when I get the time I think I'll swap them back.

The name HERRING GULL lasted only until January 1944 when 4466 was renamed SIR RALPH WEDGWOOD after the original Sir Ralph Wedgwood (loco 4469) was damaged beyond repair during an air raid on York Railway Station in April 1942.

So that's 30 examples of Hornby A4's out of the 35 loco's that were actually built and I have two duplicates that could possibly be renamed. I wonder if I'll ever get to complete the whole collection? I was hoping for another missing link from Hornby during 2018 but they've chosen instead to release 4493 WOODCOCK in LNER Green and unfortunately I've already got that locomotive running with its BR number 60029 and in BR Green livery.

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I knew there was something amiss with my figures but I've only just discovered what it is. I've added photographs above for 30 Hornby A4 locomotives but 4496 GOLDEN SHUTTLE and 60008 DWIGHT D EISENHOWER are one and the same locomotive, Golden Shuttle being renamed Dwight D Eisenhower in September 1945. So that means I only have examples of 29 different Gresley A4 locomotives and not 30 as previously claimed......or that's what I then assumed!

Say 'hello' to 60031 GOLDEN PLOVER with her double chimney and corridor tender and depicted here in late BR Green.

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I was sure I'd already added this one, which is particularly strange as it is one of the two loco's that I have a duplicate example of, the other being 4462 GREAT SNIPE. I need to do some more research but I believe the duplicate 60031 would be a good choice to rename as 60028 WALTER K WIGHAM which carried the same type tender from 1952 onwards.

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Don't worry, I'm not going completely bonkers just yet, but I do have another photo to add to my Hornby A4 collection.

Although 4468 MALLARD featured as part of the collection a short time ago, that particular model was actually the one from the Hornby GREAT GATHERING collection whereas the one shown below......

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...is the Hornby R2339 model which depicts the loco before the addition of the 'World Speed Record for Steam Traction' plaque.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Mallard photographed here is actually sitting on my sound-fitted 4466 HERRING GULL chassis and as you may notice, is missing both its cab doors. This model is another that I could possibly renumber/rename as apart from the Great Gathering version I also have the Dapol Black Label version of Mallard. How many Mallard's does a man need?

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  • 1 year later...

A couple of posts ago, and the best part of 2 years too, I mentioned the possibility of renaming one of my spare locos as 60028 Walter K. Whigham. Well no need anymore as Hornby have recently released one of their models of the A4 as this particular loco.

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Hornby R3701 BR Class A4 No.60028 WALTER K. WHIGHAM in the experimental purple (or some say 'blue') livery, complete with single chimney and a corridor tender with BRITISH RAILWAYS along the tender sides.

Originally named SEA EAGLE, 60028 was renamed in 1947 after Walter Kennedy Whigham whom I believe was the Chairman of the LNER at that time. A fitting tribute perhaps but a shame that the name SEA EAGLE was removed from an A4 locomotive.

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Here's one I seem to have overlooked. Hornby tend to release a model of a specific A4 each year and I believe this was the 2018 example. The fact that I hadn't added to this thread since 2018 would seem to confirm this.

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Hornby R3630 LNER Class A4 No.4493 WOODCOCK in LNER Green complete with single chimney and corridor tender.

The name WOODCOCK was originally assigned to newly constructed locomotive No.4489 but that was removed in June 1937 when 4489 received the name DOMINION OF CANADA for working the Coronation service.

4493 entered service in July 1937 and retained the name WOODCOCK throughout its working life until disposal in 1964.

 

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6 hours ago, Storm trooper said:

Very impressive collection of A4s there Mick.

Thanks Deano. Yes, I've become a bit obsessed with it. It wouldn't be so bad if I ran some of them but they don't fit in with the theme outdoors and there's little chance of them running in the attic alongside MGR's. I've had the collecting bug for something or other for as long as I can remember.

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