From Miniature to BIG

Whats the squashed middle car for...Battery's?

No, that houses the Diesel engines which are used for parts of the network in Italy that are not yet electrified and when the batteries are getting exhausted.  The idea is in electrified areas it uses the pantographs to draw power from the overhead lines to run the train and charge the batteries.  Then on non-electrified lines it will use the batteries first and fall back on the diesel when the batteries become drained.

They are actually quite comfortable trains as well which is nice, an application for hybrid technology that actually works as it should.  I'm still not convinced about hybrid cars, especially the plug-in variety they were only invented to circumvent the UK tax laws.  Often the batteries in that type of vehicle is only good for about 20-40 miles, then they use the fossil fuel engine.  Self-charging hybrids are a better compromise, but still not perfect as they rely on sensible driving to prevent the fossil engines from being used too much.

[Super]

Oh, do those shared trucks have drive wheels when using diesel power?

In tri-mode configuration the 'Power Pack' car contains a diesel generator set and the batteries.  The diesel generator produces electricity rather than driving any wheels directly. The cars are linked by unpowered articulating bogies, while the conventional bogie at each end of the train beneath the driver's cab carries the electric traction motors. Even when a FLIRT train is solely diesel-powered the principle is the same, it's a diesel-electric unit with electric motors.

[Super]

Oh thats right, silly me, these are totally electric driven trains but have different means of creating the electricity to use for the power.

Going back to the original subject, here's a nice youtube review including running of the Coronation Coaches, very informative and even includes them running in the dark (at the end) showing off the included internal lighting.  It also illustrates nicely how the articulated bogies work as well as the coupling options and close corridor extras included with the packs.


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I should add from what the reviewer says I actually got a bargain by having these on Pre-order since 2022 as I paid around £92 a pack, whereas he went to a retailer and the four packs apparently cost him nearly £500!!!

I've also received notification yesterday that the observation coach that finishes the rake of coaches is now in stock and I should receive it in a couple of days. Positive bargain that one, only a single coach, but you only need one so the £50 something cost isn't too harsh...

The new RRP is £149.99 for the packs or about £135 at the retailers and for the complete set of 8 coaches it would cost £600RRP or £540 at the retailers

Agai this is the mai reason why there is no reason that can afford a set for the £320 that would be absolutely doable but the new price there is no way. Again I 'm not complaining I'm just saying that it's very hard to have enough money to buy all 4 sets, 2 is just about fine but all 4 is frightfully expensive for something that can only be run with one class of locomotive!

Donald,

I totally sympathise and agree about the cost of not only these coaches, but locomotives and rolling stock in general. It's not a problem that is restricted to Hornby, but tends to be coming at us from all manufacturers in the UK. Even when I pre-ordered these coaches I had to think long and hard about putting the order in due to the cost of them per coach, but also for the cost of the entire rake. But in the end I decided to bite the bullet as I figured I've not got anything quite this exotic and expensive yet in terms of rolling stock and although as you say it can only really make up one train it is a special train. It's similar to the costs for the APC, I loved the look of the model, but just couldn't justify the cost. To get a full prototypical version of that you are talking getting close to £1,000 at RRP which is just insane. Even at the point it was offered under pre-order it was going to be massively expensive and made these coaches seem cheap in comparison.

Of course as I've said though the price of specialist or in some cases not even specialist but run of the mill releases but done in high detail are causing companies such as bachmann and smaller companies to be listing coaches at £100 or more for a single coach. To me this is just madness. I mean sure they are works of art, but do they really need to be that good? Its a bit like the Dublo vs standard locomotive releases. Sure the Dublo ones are superb, but apart from the diecast bodies etc... are they that much better than the standard versions? To a degree they do offer something for collectors and so long as Hornby keep the numbers of each release low then they retain their value on the collector market. But they are not really for the every day modeller who wants a locomotive to run.

Bottom line I bought these Coronation coaches as I've always wanted a full coronation train and even the old style 'normal' coronation coaches have always been pricey and difficult to obtain. So when these come I felt they were worth the big chunk of cash as even if it ever come to it I should be able to sell them on for more than I paid for them. But in the meantime I have something beautiful I can run and use. But otherwise my purchases have dropped off massively in the last few years as it is just too expensive to buy things on a whim anymore...

Hi Folks,

Well I finally today received the Observation coach that finishes off the entire rake of Coronation Coaches that I posted about last week.  As with the other coaches this is a beauty, very 'Art Deco' in design it features a complete interior of seating that reflects the luxury it offered.  Again with internal lighting, this model also features tail lights as well as per the real train had.  The pictures below are of my coach, but I'm also going to attach a video of a review by a third party of the same type of coach that highlights the detail nicely.









Finally, on the same day I also received a second delivery from Hornby, this was a purchase I made from their 'Black Friday' sale which ended yesterday.  The item in question is a BR Black liveried version of the 'Turbomotive' locomotive.  This represents one of only a few 'experimental' Princess class locomotives that were produced that used a new innovative drive mechanism.  This particular version is the factory fitted sound/digital enabled version that has the new HM7000 bluetooth decoder fitted.  This is normally a pretty pricey locomotive (£339 on Hornby's website now the sale is over).  However thanks to the Black Friday sale price (about 40% off), and the use of my remaining 'loyalty points' I managed to get it for a mere £3.99 (i.e. the delivery charge!!).  It is a beauty, big and incredibly heavy for an OO locomotive.  This was deliberate as this model features diecast parts such as the running plate and other parts and has been deliberately made heavy to give it excellent traction on the track.  Oh, and just for you Super it has plenty of rivet detail

One of the things I forgot to mention is how nice it is to finally see LNER Coaches from hornby with properly painted wheels, for my rake of teaks I'll need to paint them up myself, but here you can really see the difference that they make!

[Super]

Oh yes Nigel...the Turbomotive is 'Riveting' 😁 I also like the texture/look, somewhat weathered, black. Is that intentional or is this beauty used? You also mention that the Black Livery is a "version" of the Turbomotive, was there other colors besides black?