Designed by Drummond for the LSWR in 1897, over 100 of the M7 Class were built and became an important part of the Southern Railway’s fleet. Hornby first released a model of it back in 1968. This model originally had 'firebox glow', although it was removed to reduce production cost for latter versions of the model. The model was not made after 1988.
A completely retooled,
super-detailed M7 model arrived in 2006. Tooling allowed for two different lengths of
footplate and it could be produced with or without push-pull gear. The current Hornby M7
Class tank engine model was introduced in 2006 and so far 12 versions of it have been
released. The two most resent reached the shops this year and are R2924 in Southern
Railway Olive Green and numbered '51' and R2923 in the later Southern Malachite green and
numbered '242'.