In the year that marks Hornby’s centenary, TIM SHACKLETON unlocks the potential of some classic models from the last half-century.
Above: It is easy to overlook outdated models in favour of the latest new addition, but there is great potential in rebuilding vintage models for a new lease of life. Here a set of Conflat L wagons loaded with Tri-ang containers pose in the evening light with a Class 14 diesel-hydraulic.
THE QUALITY of rolling stock from our leading suppliers has never been higher than it is now. It certainly hasn’t been like this throughout my modelling lifetime and almost without exception the models of 50 and 60 years ago – an era when we’d allegedly ‘never had it so good’ – were severely compromised in terms of their dimensional accuracy and attention to detail.
On the Hornby side, we had the excellent SD6 series of plastic-bodied goods wagons, introduced in 1959, but in the Tri-ang-Hornby merger of 1964 Margate had the upper hand and that meant play value and an eye on cost rather than strict prototypical authenticity. Having been around at the time, though, I’m not sure the majority of modellers were that fussed – we were glad of anything and the prevailing view seemed to be that goods wagons were goods wagon…
