With the prospect of a new and upgraded 4-VEP from Hornby in 2022, MIKE WILD looked back at the first versions to introduce digital sound while also improving the front gangways in this modelling guide.
Above: With its enhanced front end, new airhorns and sound installation, this first production run Hornby 4-VEP looks the part running through Twelve Trees Junction.
MY INTEREST in all things Southern electric, and particularly its multiple units, made Hornby's 2010 announcement of the Class 423 4-VEP four-car unit an appealing prospect. The first entered service in 1967 when Southern Region steam hauled services were coming to an end while the last wasn’t withdrawn until 2005.
In total 194 four-car units were built to the design which offered a combination of open and compartment seating, multiple doors for quick unloading and boarding at stations and a maximum design speed of 90mph to allow them to make quick progress between stations. They were designed for semi-fast work and the first were employed on the London Waterloo-Bournemouth corridor.
In model form the idea of a 4-VEP ready-to-run seemed unthinkable until the arrival of Hornby’s 2010 catalogue which held the promise of these instantly recognisable units. However, the…
