3 minute review - Hornby Restaurant Buffet

Purchased fromTrains4U
http://www.trains4u.com

Hornby online
https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/catalogs...

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3 minute review
Hornby R4973 Mk1 RB restaurant buffet

Welcome to another 3 minute review, this time we look at the recently released, newly tooled Hornby restaurant buffet.
A while ago, I was wise to reserve one at my local model shop as one major retailer had sold out on pre-order!!

RRP on this is £34.99, not an unreasonable amount for a super detailed coach these days.
With available discounts I got this one for £31.50

The box is of the quality we expect these days, tight fitting with a glossy finish. The model being encased in preformed plastic packaging to keep it safe and secure.

Onto the bench for inspection and the first thing that I notice, like many of you probably have, is the shade of blue that Hornby have used. Seems a little dark?
We’ll see how that matches up to its Bachmann counterparts later!

Good to to see that the NEM socket is mounted to the bogie and not the main body. The correct way in my opinion.
Surprisingly, it is at the correct distance from the buffer beam to accept the Bachmann bar coupling and be reasonably close coupled.

Under frame detail is good and well defined. One thing to note though, is that it seems to be modelled on a later version with air brakes! You steam era modellers may want to add a vacuum cylinder to each end?

Strangely/annoyingly there is nothing new in this coach apart from tooling!
What do I mean? Well, this is a diagram 24 Restaurant Buffet, number ranges 1644-1699 1701-1772 and was first produced in model form by Lima way back in the 1970’s and then Mainline in the 80’s! I had one!! Still got it somewhere?

Built by Pressed Steel at their Linwood (Scotland) factory on two orders, lot 628 and lot 636 entering service in 1961 and 62 respectively.
Being the most numerous of the catering cars, it’s little wonder they found themselves on all corners of the country and all the liveries, green, maroon, blue grey and inter city as the Hornby have depicted on the models available.
However, I’m a little disappointed in that I will have to renumber mine as Hornby have not done an eastern region vehicle!

Being well read on the subject, but by no means an expert, for my purposes, the restaurant branding will have to be removed as ECML vehicles only had the buffet branding.
I would wager only a handful of Midland allocated vehicles ever carried both?

This vehicle will go into my ECML “high speed set” that operated out of Kings Cross to Leeds/Bradford in the mid 1970’s and will be partnered, kitchen to kitchen with a diagram 23 RU (Bachmann) that is branded restaurant.
Orientated with the restaurant next to the 1st class nobs and the buffet next to the standard class plebs!
5 mk2d’s forming the rest of the train, the only thing missing is a twin engined two stroke deltic humming away at the helm!!
(I sold all mine as an investment into the imminently due Accurascale models……)