Model Railway Hornby Locomotive Reviews

Worth Buying - This is an average model. The model has limitations and does not have a full range of mechanical or detailing features. For a railway model to be rated as "Worth Buying" a model must score between 4 and 7. Hornby Pannier Tank Great Western (GWR) R2534 Rating 6/10

Now many of you know about this famous little tank, Hornby have modelled it quite a lot over the years and overall, the look hasn't changed much. The loco uses the same chassis 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 a lot of 'grunt'.

This model was reasonably quiet and ran very smoothly, however the loco will stall on Hornby points if running at a very low speed, which is a result of having two traction tyres fitted reducing the number of wheel that can pick up power from the rails.

The model does not have sprung buffers 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.

Although the model is not super detailed 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 have seen members do a great job at painting them so it is possible to boost the detail on this model. The words 'Great Western' are printed on the sides and look good against the green (as all GWR locos do)

This model also comes in a similar GWR livery (R2739 GWR in stead of Great Western on the side).

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 believe the DC version is exactly the same.

Overall: This model is worth buying 6/10.

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