Hornby BR Class 31

When first release in 2005, the new Hornby Class 31 locomotive model was claimed to be better than anything before it, including the Class 50 which, hitherto, had been seen as the pinnacle of UK diesel model development. The model runs like a dream with a steady and quiet crawl. The 5-pole skew-wound motor provides twin bogie drive, there are power distribution wipers on all wheels and the model is ‘DCC ready’. It is fitted with realistic directional lights which switch from white to red as the loco changes direction.

The real locomotives have an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement with the centre pair of wheels on each bogie being non-powered and smaller than the others. Hornby have not missed this point in the designing of the bogies for the model. Sure enough, the centre wheels are smaller but mounted slightly lower so that they also reach the track.

Sprung opening cab doors let you into a well detailed cab in which the features have been painted to add realism. All handrails are wire - bright on the cab sides and yellow on the ends. Oval metal sprung buffers are fitted and a very fine net covers the 12-blade red revolving fan in the roof. The grills in the locomotive’s sides, below the roof exhaust outlet, are ‘see through’ and other louvers look very realistically modelled. Fine sand pipes are fitted to the outer wheels of each bogie. The cab glazing is flush and the windscreen-wipers are separately fitted.

The couplings, ready for the NEM pockets, come separately packed with a lot of hoses and connectors for the cab fronts - all ready painted.