Little Known Hornby International Class Locos?

[Rana Temporia]

I am actually starting to make progress on my plans to downsize my collection and sad as it is I have not even looked at never mind run these little locos for years so away they go! They are four versions of the Hornby 'International Class' loco that was mainly available in sets and were probably Hornby's attempt at getting the fastest loco possible in OO. I don't think spares were ever available, these four were all kept running with various parts off donor locos from junk boxes. the design was poor, the two chassis extensions at the front break off easily and the design of the whole loco is one of cheapness and short longevity. Many of the ones available secondhand have the smokebox door missing as it isn't a great fit.

For info, the green 'Bulldog' and the Red version would be much better rivalling 'Mallard' for a world speed record than moving a few wagons around, the other two would probably catch them up after a bit of running. I think there was also a grey version available that is quite rare. A photo from someone who has one would be good.

A little bit of Hornby history for those who have never seen them before!

[threelink]

Hi RT. A fascinating bit of history there. I have seen these locos but until now I knew nothing about them except that they appeared cheap and nasty. Were they a precursor to the pocket rocket chassis under Nellies, Pollies and the like?

[Rana Temporia]

Threelink, I think these were more of a dead-end than a precursor to anything. I think they were a follow on from the range of models that used the fold up plastic chassis like the Swedish Diesel. The photo shows the oldest version on the left, the newest on the right. The black oldest one has a brass worm but square axles like those used in the fold up chassis. The red and green middle ones have the axles re-designed to be round where they pass through the chassis whike the green Bulldog version on the right has wholly round axles with just a short insulator in the middle. Hornby using split chassis!

Apart from the wheels, rods, couplings, weight and motor the whole thing is made from a fairly rubbish plastic.

[threelink]

Interesting information. Thank you RT.

[Tony57]

The grey one is R164 and is named Iron Horse.

[81F]

Comparing my version of the international tank with 101, it lookd like the gears, motor, wheels, connecting and piston rods were used on the pocket rockets.

[Rana Temporia]

81F, I found that a very early 101 that I bought for the chassis to put under a 3D printed body had a much bigger motor than the standard one. They may have been using up stocks before settling for the more common one?

The difference in size meant that I had to cut part of the 3D printed body away. I have two more of these 3D printed locos and the more common motors fitted in them with no problems.