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Hornby Class 81


Guest Chrissaf

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Hornby has many Electric locos like class 86, 87, 90, 91 and others but missing is the class 81 as this was last made by Tri-ang in 1971 in BR Blue and the class itself they lasted until 1992! The locos appeared in other liveries beond BR blue but was never put back into production so come on Hornby lets have the class 81 we need this great Electric back as its needed as ive still got three Tri-ang locos i use! 😎

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We could equally say "Come on Hornby, how about the 2-300 steam classes which haven't been done. The age of your electric is not relevent, either, since I could name numerous locos which had 'more years on the clock' then the AC electrics.

 

Most of us understand that the electrics are not the best of sellers and therefore from a commercial viewpoint they will be way down the queue. The locos I would like to see are in a similar position but I, too, will have to wait.

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 PP, sadly your observation is all too true which is why when the family wanted a class 81 for the layout many years ago (1979)  I manufactured one from a Hornby class 35 Hymek diesel.

It has suffered a bit over the years but is mostly intact and still runs!

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It is  dimensionally more accurate than the old Tri-ang one, as I used scale drawings. The Tri-ang one was slightly too short. The cab front is pure Hymek, the window section is cut from the lower cab which is then glued back upside down underneath. Surprisingly it worked perfectly. The sides are plastic card, as is the roof well, and the cab roofs are moulded from Isopon. The chassis length was ajusted using plastic card too. The Hymek bogies are the same pattern as used by the AL1. The pantograph came from some spare ones being sold in a Chesterfield model shop.

 

I got the idea from an article in a model railway magazine about converting a Big Big Train Hymek into an AL1 for gauge O!

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