Lima were the first to produce a ready-to-run PGA aggregates hopper wagon in 4mm scale and their model was based on a prototype which was a development of the early 1970s builds of Foster Yeoman/ARC PGAs. Hornby were keen to offer a model and chose a prototype, most of which entered traffic with Redland Aggregates, Derbyshire Stone and others.

Lima first included aggregate hopper wagons in their catalogue in 1980, but it was not until 1988 that the Hornby model arrived. Although to a slightly different design, in order to present livery samples for approval, some Lima models were resprayed and freshly finished in the liveries that Hornby proposed to produce themselves. These original samples have survived.

The Lima wagon had two ladders at each end which faced the buffers. On the pre-production samples, prepared in the Hornby factory, the ladders and handrails were replaced so that the ladders (which were made of metal on the samples) came down either side of the wagon.

The hopper on the Hornby production model was longer than the Lima one and its supports were differently spaced; also, it did not contain an internal divider. The chassis was quite different and peculiar to this model.

The Hornby design went through 11 liveries and many more number changes. Then, in 2004, Hornby acquired the Lima tooling and this year started to use the tools of the former Lima PGA. A total of eight models were planned in two Yeoman designs. For each design there is one solo model and a weathered triple set. The designs differ in that one has the hopper's vertical sides painted blue, with the name in large while letters and the other is the same but the blue area does not fill the hopper sides. and appears more as a banner So far, we have reviewed one triple set (R6486) with the large blue area. Here we have the solo model of that design and the solo and triple set with the 'banner' design.