Hornby RailRoad OO Gauge LNER A4 Class 4-6-2 4468 "Mallard" Era 3 (DCC ready)

Hornby Railways is a British model railway brand that dates back to the early 1900's. Over this time it has become a household name and has consistently made high quality and highly detailed model railway products for beginners and the serious model enthusiast.

Probably the most iconic Pacific Express design of locomotive in Great Britain, the LNER Gresley A4, with its streamlined casing, was a classic symbol of the attitude towards speed and design in the 1930s.The 1930s saw increased competition to the railways from road and air travel and the LNER Board knew that they had to make travel between the major cities faster, more comfortable and more reliable. High speed diesel services were starting to make an impact abroad, in May 1933, the German State Railways diesel-electric Fliegende Hamburger entered service, running for extended periods at 85mph and by 1934, in the USA, Burlington Zephyr had reached 112.5mph during a longer 1,015 mile journey. Nigel Gresley, the LNER's Chief Mechanical Officer, travelled on the Fliegende Hamburger and was impressed by its streamlining, although he realised it was only efficient at high speeds. Gresley was certain that a modified A3 Pacific, with streamlining, could haul greater loads than the German or US locomotives, at the same speed or faster and a series of trials were conducted to confirm the Al's suitability.

With the trials successfully completed, the LNER Board gave Gresley the go-ahead to create the "Silver Jubilee" streamlined trains, the first of the new streamlined A4s. The streamlining of the A4s' steam circuit, their higher boiler pressure and the extension of the firebox to create a combustion chamber, made them more efficient than the A3 as they consumed less coal and water, especially later on when they were also fitted with a Kylchap double chimney, improving their free steaming capabilities further. Their streamlined design not only made them capable of high speeds, but created an updraught of smoke, avoiding the obscuring of the driver's vision that was such a major problem on the Class A4 engines. The story goes that during windtunnel testing, after several unsuccessful efforts to get the smoke to lift clear, a thumbprint was inadvertently left on the clay model, just behind the chimney. This succeeded in clearing the smoke and was incorporated into the final design.

In total, 35 A4s were built in four batches, 2509 - 2512, 4462- 4469, 4482 - 4500 and 4900 - 4903, between 1935 and 1938. They spent their working lives hauling express passenger services from King's Cross to Edinburgh, via York and Newcastle.The A4s were kept in service until the mid I960s, the last service under British Rail being the Aberdeen-Glasgow service on September 14, 1966. It was in July 1938 that 'Mallard' was recorded travelling at 126mph at Stoke Bank on the East Coast Mainline, snatching the record from the German railway by a mere 1.5 mph - a record that still stands to this very day.

The Hornby model of this iconic locomotive is supplied DCC ready in the LNER blue livery with Mallard on the name plate. It has a 5 pole skew wound loco drive which provides plenty of power and enables it to run extremely smoothly at high or low speeds. The Hornby RailRoad collection provides a perfect entry into the exciting world of 00 gauge railway modelling. Designed to be less easily damaged, yet maintaining attractive detailing and accurate liveries, the range is ideal for both the younger enthusiast and experienced modeller.

Specs:
Type: Hornby RailRoad OO Gauge LNER A4 Class 4-6-2 4468 "Mallard" Era 3
Gauge: OO
DCC: DCC ready
Livery: LNER Blue
Class: A4 Pacific
Designer: Sir Nigel Gresley
Wheel Configuration: 4-6-2
Utility: Express passenger
Motor: 5 pole skew wound loco drive
Length: 291mm