Hornby Class 43s
Hornby launched their first model of the Class 43 in 1978, a year after the full high-speed service was introduced to the Western Region. The HSTs, of which the Class 43s were the power units, heralded a new era in main line passenger travel and the eventual disappearance of locomotive hauled trains. They were also one of British Rail's most important and successful developments.
Hornby's first model was the early version of the DMB and so had no exhaust baffle in
the cab roof and had guards' compartment windows at the rear. When Lima brought out their
model in 1982, it was a more up-to-date version and a TGS coach was also made to provide
guard accommodation, as on the real trains. From 1988, Hornby models had the exhaust
baffle, but the windows remained. 
The Hornby model quickly became one of the most successful in the history of the company and production continued until 2007. Now with ownership of the Lima tooling, Hornby had planned to introduce two train packs based on the Lima model in 2007 but there were problems and neither arrived. Instead, the Lima model made its debut in the RailRoad budget range the following year.
Meanwhile, demand for a super-detailed Class 43 was growing. In 2006 it had topped the National Wish List Poll, beating all steam locomotives and rolling stock, and in 2007 was still the most wanted new diesel locomotive. Hornby announced a completely retooled Class 43 in their 2008 catalogue and, like its predecessor, this has proved to be highly successful model. From the start it was offered in a good range of liveries and these were added to in 2009 and 2010. The two pictured here are from the 2010 catalogue. In Arriva Cross Country livery we have 43321 and 43285 (R2949) and in East Midlands livery there are 43048 TCB Miller MBE and 43055 (R2948).