Hornby has established the principle of running scale-length trains with the possibility of a 9-car Pendolino, stretching to 2875mm.
Now it introduces the prospect of the 6-car Hitachi Class 395, which is excellent. The irony is that the Cl 395 will be the same length as the longest-possible Eurostar, clearly not at all true to prototype.
Some years ago the Hornby price list showed additional Eurostar carriages, believed to be the buffet/bar, which would at least have enabled 8-car trains, but were not introduced. Hornby missed the marketing opportunity of the full opening of HS1 15 months ago to enhance its model by offering more coaches.
I'm certainly not advocating full 20-unit or even Regional 16-unit trains, but a 10-unit train would come in at 2900mm, barely an inch longer than a Pendolino. A pair of buffet/bar coaches and a pair of standard economy coaches would stretch the current 6-unit formation to something closer to an acceptable model.
What more do we have to do, besides filling in the forms at each Hornby Roadshow, to convince Hornby of the case to enhance its model?
Now it introduces the prospect of the 6-car Hitachi Class 395, which is excellent. The irony is that the Cl 395 will be the same length as the longest-possible Eurostar, clearly not at all true to prototype.
Some years ago the Hornby price list showed additional Eurostar carriages, believed to be the buffet/bar, which would at least have enabled 8-car trains, but were not introduced. Hornby missed the marketing opportunity of the full opening of HS1 15 months ago to enhance its model by offering more coaches.
I'm certainly not advocating full 20-unit or even Regional 16-unit trains, but a 10-unit train would come in at 2900mm, barely an inch longer than a Pendolino. A pair of buffet/bar coaches and a pair of standard economy coaches would stretch the current 6-unit formation to something closer to an acceptable model.
What more do we have to do, besides filling in the forms at each Hornby Roadshow, to convince Hornby of the case to enhance its model?
