NRM Review - Hornby GWR Pannier Review

[Rail_Fan 15]

Carrying on from my other thread about the lack of steam locomotive reviews, id though that i would help everyone along with this little review of the Hornby GWR Pannier Tank.

Now many of you know about this famous little tank, Hornby have modelled it quite alot over the years and overall, the look hasnt changed much. The loco uses the same chasis as the old version 08 shunter and i also think the Jinty uses the same one as well. The front 2 wheels and the rear two wheels pick up power from the rails and the centre two wheels have a pair of traction tyres, allowing this locomotive to have alot of 'grunt'.

This model was reasonibly quiet and ran very smoothly, however the loco will stall on Hornby points if running at a very low speed, i beleive that this problem can be solved by adding more pickups but i do not how to make this modification.

The model does not have sprung buthers but instead has some nice shiny metal ones that do look nice. It has Hornby standard couplings but these can be easily removed by unscrewing a screw which holds the coupling into place.

Allthough the model is not super detail it contains enough to please the market it is aimed at. The top of the chimney looks like brass and is a nice finishing touch. The cab has the shapes of all the levers etc but they are not painted. I beleive Martin did a great job at painting his so it is possible to boost the detail on this little thing. The words 'Great Western' are printed on the sides and look good against the green (as all GWR locos do)

I am unaware of any other liveries with this loco which is a shame for someone who wants to use BR ex GWR locos.

Its best for me to point out that the loco i have came from the GWR Western Pullman set and so is DCC Fitted, however i beleive the DC version is exactly the same.







Enjoy the review!

[Ironduke]

Nice review Todd :^)

just a few opinions

The front 2 wheels and the rear two wheels pick up power from the rails and the centre two wheels have a pair of traction tyres, allowing this locomotive to have alot of 'grunt'.

Traction tyres are bad...

This model was reasonibly quiet and ran very smoothly, however the loco will stall on Hornby points if running at a very low speed

and that's why.

I am unaware of any other liveries with this loco which is a shame for someone who wants to use BR ex GWR locos.

This locomotive (2728) is based on a turn of the century design (note the open backed cab) and would never have appeared in BR livery but you can always repaint it.
Here's a wiki about it:
GWR 2721 Class

[Martin71]

Good review there Todd.

You know you made a very good point there about super detail. In many ways it is one of my favorite loco's simple a great runner and it can even fly...with assistance from the kids. If it had being a super detail loco I cringe at the thought.

You did some research and provided some good back ground info.

Well done Todd.

m

Maybe we need a review section in the forum??

[RAF]

I love the Panniers looks. Always have since I was kid when watching Thomas with Duck.

[roadie stu]

I am unaware of any other liveries with this loco which is a shame for someone who wants to use BR ex GWR locos.

This locomotive (2728) is based on a turn of the century design (note the open backed cab) and would never have appeared in BR livery but you can always repaint it.
Here's a wiki about it:
GWR 2721 Class

as stated in Wikipedia, 43 made it into BR ownership, withdrawals took place between 1945 and 1950, so some might have been repainted with BR livery

Stu

[Mighty]

And some also made it into London Transport ownership. I have a pannier tank in LT maroon livery - quite nice actually - I shall have to see if I can get a photo, and find the box to see who made it.

[roadie stu]

And some also made it into London Transport ownership. I have a pannier tank in LT maroon livery - quite nice actually - I shall have to see if I can get a photo, and find the box to see who made it.

the ones owned by LT were Collett designed panniers with full cabs, all of the "half cab" panniers had been scrapped by then

[Black-Marlin]

What on earth was the bright red livery (not maroon!) that Hornby applied briefly? I'm not making this up - I have one!



- although I had to do some seriuos weathering to make it less garish!

Gavin

[Mighty]

I'll go up in the loft tonight, take a photo, and find out what make it is. It must be diecast due to its weight, but it hates all hornby points and track! It won't run over points without derailing, and even going round 2nd radius curves it tends to derail. When it does work, it does go nicely, even very slowly on a DC layout.

Will be back later with more info!

[Black-Marlin]

I'd completely forgotten about this thread. However, my question still stands - can anyone tell me what the hell livery my open-topped pannier's wearing? I'm aware that my previous picture isn't all that helpful, so here are three rather better ones...

Cheers,
Gavin

[DrStroganoff]

Is it not the old Hornby London Transport version? Thats what I always thought anyway, because that was bright red.

[Black-Marlin]

Fair 'nuff - that sounds sensible! The Bachmann maroon was what was confusing me - I hadn't quite got it into my head that 'London Transport' and the 'London Underground' aren't the same things...

G

[Mighty]

Can you look up close to the crest on the engine. I can't quite see but I think it could be a 'Metropolitan' crest? I don't think it's the Bachmann London Transport loco, as I have that one, and it looks like this