Hornby R2688 Sir Nigel Gresley LNER Class A4 Limited Edition

Description

Hornby R2688 Sir Nigel Gresley LNER Class A4 Limited Edition 70 years of Hornby DCC ready

When Frank Hornby launched his famous Hornby Dublo range of models in 1938 he created a scale of model railways that has grown and developed over the last 70 years. The range initially contained just two locomotives, an 0-6-2 and the LNER Class A4 “Sir Nigel Gresley”. In celebration of 70 years of Hornby “OO” scale models, a special limited edition of the “Sir Nigel Gresley” locomotive in packaging reminiscent of the classic Hornby pack designs of days gone by has been created with each of the 2008 models produced being supplied with a special numbered limited edition certificate. Loco is fitted with a 5-pole motor

By the 1930s Frank Hornby’s ‘0’ Gauge train system had grown considerably both in the large number of items available and in popularity but new houses were by that time being built smaller than they had been previously and consequently limiting the space available for amongst other things an ‘0’ Gauge train layout. Consequently, such restriction on space had an influence on the sales of Hornby’s ‘0’ Gauge trains.

In mainline Europe, a smaller gauge was being developed which was half the size of ‘0’. This new scale was aptly classified as ‘H0’ as it was half the size of the ‘0’ Gauge models.

Faced with this potential competition, the Meccano Board in 1937 decided to introduce their own system but due to scale versus mechanical size restrictions, they could not quite produce an ‘H0’ system but opted for a slightly larger scale which was given the name ‘Dublo’ by Meccano’s Commercial Director. The Hornby Dublo scale used more or less the same wheel back-to-back measurements of the ‘H0’ system but generally speaking all other dimensions were increased by 0.5mm.

By 1938 the first adverts started to appear promoting the new Hornby Dublo system. Two locomotives were initially produced one of which was a generic 0-6-2 freight model and available with GWR, LNER, LMS or SR markings while the other featured the LNER Class A4, ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’. These two locomotives were available with either a clockwork mechanism or a 12vDC motor and both featured in individual train sets where they shared a common pack.