Last week, Locoyard followers were given the opportunity to vote for the next model review. The Bachmann N class and Hornby A4 won with the same number of votes. Today see’s the Hornby A4 class go through the Locoyardometer!
Class: Gresley A4 Pacfic
Use: Express Passenger
Region: London and North Eastern Railway
Era: 1935-1966
Preserved examples:
4464 (60019) Bittern – mainline certified, based at Southall Depot
4468 (60022) Mallard – static display at the National Railway Museum, York
4488 (60009) Union of South Africa – mainline certified, based at Crewe Heritage Centre
4489 (60010) Dominion of Canada – static display at Canadian Railway Museum
4496 (60008) Dwight D Eisenhower – static display at National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
4498 (60007) Sir Nigel Gresley – operational on the North York Moors Railway
Manufacturer: Hornby
Hornby R2339 4468 Mallard (click here for more)
Motor: 5 pole Loco-drive
Power: Heavyweight
DCC options: 8 pin dcc ready/fitted/sound
Locoyard Review
Detailing:
5/5
Excellent cab details (below)and opening cab roof (above) , handrails and lamp irons
Outline/Looks: 4.5/5
Looks fantastic to me, but has had some criticism from the media for being a little too long.
Finish/Decoration:
4.5/5
Very good finish and printing with brass nameplates. Can’t help noticing that the otherwise poorer Bachmann model has a better garter blue and BR Brunswick green finish however.
Running Qualities:
5/5
Superb – quiet and smooth. Can be a little sensitive to poor trackwork.
Relative Power:
5/5
It’s a powerful model, as it should be!
Specification:
5/5
It has everything modern 00 scale rtr models should have, including a DCC sound versions
Value:
4/5
Good value overall, though limited edition versions often have to be pre-ordered at close to full rrp. Fortunately, 4468 Mallard can be purchased for very little money secondhand. Be sure you get the loco-drive version however, as an older tender-drive “super-detailed” version shares the catalogue number R2339 with the far superior loco-drive version. You have been warned!
Overall Locoyardometer Score: 4.7
A brilliant model of a streak and one of the best ready to run 00 scale models on the market.
Detailometer 5, Outlineometer 4.5, Finishometer 4.5, Motorometer 5, Powerometer 5, Specometer 5, Valueometer 4, Locoyardometer 4.7
Loco Yard 
Great review 🙂
Your Mallard has so much more detail than the railroad version I reviewed last week. The one thing I wish Hornby had thought to add would be the crests the LNER added to her to show off the fact that it broke the steam speed record. That would of been a nice little extra thing to customize the locomotive like they do with Etched plates you dont have to attach them but its up to you.I know the Bachmann version has them but the Hornby A4s are of a higher quality i believe.
LikeLike
This is indeed a very fine locomotive. Simon, the reason that this model doesn’t have the boiler plaque attached is that this particular version of Mallard is from before its record attempt. You can also see it on the tender which is not a corridor tender that most of Hornby’s other A4s have. That in itself makes R2339 a very special model. If you want the boiler plaque, it can be ordered in etched brass (includes name plates) from Modelmasters! I also have a Bachmann A4 which is really of much lower quality. The locomotive is distinctly smaller and the boiler is lower. To me the Hornby A4s are simply the best (provided you have the loco drive version).
LikeLike