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Hornby EWS Co-Co Diesel Electric Class 56

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#1 · (Edited)
EWS Co-Co Diesel Electric Class 56 Locomotive 56059
Hornby R2648 £87.00 - £100.00 GBP

Train Vehicle Rolling stock Railway Rectangle


This is one of Hornby's latest Diesels and as has been the trend recently it also turns out to be an extremely detailed model. It is to replace the older Class 56 that is still available from Hornby. The differences are immediately noticeable on comparison. The cab front is neater and better finished and the front of the old locomotive somehow manages to look smaller. The new chassis is far more detailed and of course the modern locomotive contains a 5 pole motor instead of the old ring field. Pickup is all wheel and the drive is through drive shafts from the centrally placed motor. It boasts working lights, DCC ready, working fans and opening doors. Upon opening the box you will find that it comes with a large detail pack and NEM pockets, It also comes with screw couplings and all its extra pipes.

Motor vehicle Font Gas Automotive tire Automotive lighting


Fitting some of the front and rear pipes can be extremely fiddly on this locomotive and I also found that you will have to carefully file the plastic pipe ends slightly to get them to fit into the front of the locomotive. The buffer beam on this model is metal so beware before drilling out any holes as you might find you have to do due to paint sealing them up.

The buffers are spring loaded and there is a small panel that is to befitted underneath the front of the buffer beam. This cannot be fitted if you intend on using the NEM couplings.

The front is extremely well detailed and matches all real life pictures of 56059. The lights work as normal - front lights / rear dependant on direction.

Train Automotive lighting Vehicle Motor vehicle Rolling stock


I was disappointed to note that the Aerial (which is extremely delicate) had lost some paint even before it had been opened. Also during its assembly someone had put a greasy finger mark on the inside of the front window. These though do not detract from the overall quality of this model.

The details on the chassis and grills are up to Hornby's usual standards and you can even see an engine outline through the grills. There are some very delicate little sanding pipes ready fitted to the front and rear of each bogie and are very easy to knock or damage. The bogies and under frames are well detailed but have not got any colour on the battery box case catches etc. The roof has a good overall finish with all panels and rivets being marked.

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Automotive tire Product Automotive design Hubcap Alloy wheel
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Both the fans work and I feel this adds a lot more to the model. There is also plenty of room inside the body to fit DCC or sound chips and speakers. I found the detail around the fan grills to be extremely detailed.

The Handrails on the front and sides of the model are unfortunately made of thin plastic although they look very good I think that they might be better made from metal. The small metal kick grills under the doors are very finely finished with miniature mesh. All the printed details are read able with a magnifying glass and the EWS Logo is perfectly reproduced.

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This locomotive does not like sharp corners at all and even being a 438 minimum radius model I would recommend that you run it on a much wider corner or it can make scraping noises and wobble. It runs very quietly and smoothly and has no problem dragging large amounts of rolling stock. I am personally extremely happy with the quality and finish of this model and could not find many things wrong with it. I just hope that Hornby continue with this run of detail and reliability in future locomotives.

All in all this is a very detailed and well finished model.

This locomotive is available in 4 different colour schemes. And can be brought DCC ready (£96.00 RRP) or DCC Fitted (£110.00 RRP).

R2645 BR Blue DCC Ready
R2645X BR Blue DCC Fitted
R2646 BR Railfeight Grey / Yellow (56049) DCC Ready
R2646X BR Railfeight Grey / Yellow (56049) DCC Fitted
R2647 BR Railfreight Grey DCC Ready
R2647X BR Railfreight Grey DCC Fitted
R2648 EWS (56059) DCC Ready
R2648X EWS (56059) DCC Fitted

Finish and
Detailing
9/10Plastic
Handrails, paint missing from aerial.
Price9/10Think they
could knock about £10.00 of RRP.
Build Quality9/10
Was annoyed to
find workers fingerprint on inside of window glass.
Overall9/10
A well built,
well fitted and finished model.

Madkitten - January 2008
 
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