The 1st Hornby loco you ever got

[Alan1310]

mine was a little 0-4-0 by hornby called queen mary it was in red i have never seen one since. i also got a lima diesel shunter in br blue but it was not British in the slightest

 

[deltic1989]

Mine was a full cab GWR Pannier tank, that sounded like gravel when running light (even when oiled) and expired in a puff of smoke when hauling a rake of 4 hornby GWR coaches, deputising for the Bachmann "manor" that my Dad knoced off the board the day before.

 

[YorkshireBear]

well my dad had already got a few locos including Flying scotsman limited edition thing with the b&G water tender and mk2's an LNER j72 and an intercity 08
The 08 was one i remember first playing with as it had less brakeable bits that was when i was 2 i remember i think

Then for my 7th or 8th or 9th LOL birthday i got hornby GNER HST i loved them because it reminded me of a trip to NRM at york (being from sheffield) it was only time i saw them really.... dad wasnt an enthusiast as such he liks riding steam trains on heritage lines and playing models with me when i was a kid. He now helps me out building mine

If that doesnt count as a loco then hornby wise it would have to be a black five second hand..... in LMS lined red

 

[2561Minoru]

Wow, this thread is growing fast! keep em coming lads

 

[4SRKT]

My lads' first Hornby was a Golden Arrow set with Boscastle and three Pullman cars out of the unidentifiable returns department of the parcels firm I work for. For £25

For myself I got an unopened Bachmann 20 for a fiver

The departmental manager hasn't much idea of how much model railway gear is worth TBF.

 

[YorkshireBear]

My lads' first Hornby was a Golden Arrow set with Boscastle and three Pullman cars out of the unidentifiable returns department of the parcels firm I work for. For £25

For myself I got an unopened Bachmann 20 for a fiver

The departmental manager hasn't much idea of how much model railway gear is worth TBF.

nice little arrangement there epic!

 

[Bittern]

A Thomas the Tank Engine set which ran in nothing but a circle instead of an oval. Released in the 90s.

 

[maxnod]

A Hornby-Dublo 'Cardiff Castle' in 1966, very slightly second-hand and an 0-6-0 tank engine (R1?).


Wish I still had them.

 

[DJ_K666]

A Hornby Jinty 16440 with two LMS clerestory coaches was my first one for my 6th birthday. they were part of the Hornby Country Local set which came with an oval of track and a siding which would be set up on the dining room table.

I still have it and the coaches too.

 

[colpepper]

A Class 31 in a Freightmaster set in 1965. I was told my father bought 'me' a set earlier when I was about three years of age but my mother insisted he return it as I was too young. I have the faintest recollection of a black steam loco which disappeared rather quickly.

 

[CosherB]

This thread makes me feel old! Mine was 'Duchess of Montrose' in about 1956! 3 rail of course - it's all Hornby did back then. This became the basis of my train set and it's still up in the loft in a box!

Later I got a 0-6-2 tank, 2-6-4 BR standard tank (by far the best loco I ever had), a Bo-Bo diesel (later known as class 20), and finally a Tri-ang 2-car DMU converted to 3-rail! It had serrated wheels on the power bogie and was therefore very noisy!

 

[Welshman]

This thread makes me feel old! Mine was 'Duchess of Montrose' in about 1956! 3 rail of course - it's all Hornby did back then. This became the basis of my train set and it's still up in the loft in a box!

Later I got a 0-6-2 tank, 2-6-4 BR standard tank (by far the best loco I ever had), a Bo-Bo diesel (later known as class 20), and finally a Tri-ang 2-car DMU converted to 3-rail! It had serrated wheels on the power bogie and was therefore very noisy!

Mine was also "Duchess of Montrose" and third rail track[gosh, someone else as old as me!!].
Then I added a Class 40 diesel a little later, and then when I was 18 or so, in a fit of unbridled generosity, gave it all away to a poor family living next door.

Something I have deeply regretted ever since! :cry:

 

[colpepper]

gave it all away to a poor family living next door.

My mother befriended a lady with young children who hadn't got much money and insisted I give away my toy cars to them. She caught me just at the age I'd finished playing with them and I reluctantly agreed.
Not only did it contain my Corgi and Dinky cars which I looked after immaculately but all the ones my sister's boyfriend had given me, some of which had belonged to his dad!

I go through ebay now saying had that, had that, had that...had that.....:cry: I wouldn't mind but we hadn't got any spare cash and most were birthday or Christmas presents.

 

[jaigee]

Now I am feeling ancient! :cry:

C:1950, a Dublo 3-rail A4 "Sir Nigel Gresley" set in LNER blue with 'teak' coaches. Then PC "Duchess Of Atholl" in maroon(?), followed by an N2 0-6-2 tank in BR black. Plus numerous rolling stock and 'infrastructure', the prized one being the level crossing!

Being about seven at the time and in a fit of 'modernisation', I later repainted the A4 in gloss green . I still blush at the memory today!

 

[darloboy]

mine was the intercity 225/and eurostar and a br blue class 142pacer bk in 1997 which i have still running on my layout to this day

 

[HawkeyeTheNoo]

The original Intercity 125 HST, when it first came out way back ('78 if I remember) Loved that train. Unfortunately I stopped "playing with trains" for a while in my later teenage years and I came home from Uni one weekend to find my Mum had, had a clearout and the local Oxfam had gotten my trains! Hope someone got good use of them though!

 

[Masboroughlad]

Mine was in the mid 70's. Loved it. I got a class 37 with 3 mark2s in aset with an oval of track. I also got a green 08 shunter and a few wagons at the same time.

 

[oversteer]

Mine was the HST set (mid 80s) mind you a bit boring in hindsight as it was only two carriages

About the same time I got "Smoky Joe" which was particularly notable for the fact that it was like a F1 car in acceleration but sadly not in cornering ability, causing many departures off the table to the floor - it quickly lost its chimney, detailing etc but never gave up!

I always wanted to build this layout -

but never did

 

[edlivewire]

I got a black hornby dock shunter in 1978, my dad had a 1960's pretops br blue class 31 from new.........I use it still to check the loading gauge on my layout.
Don't BR still do the same ?

 

[jonty14]

Hi. My first steam loco was the 040 saddle tank "Desmond". First trainset was the Country Local with Jinty and coaches. Still have Desmond and is running well. First diesel was Airfix 31 in green.

Jonty14

 

[Don2912]

Mine was a (Triang) Hornby "Hymek", D7063 which was bought for my 4th birthday.

She is still owned, along with the three Mk.IIa coaches that came with her, plus the two wagons, a grey LNER goods brake, and a green "Prime Pork" closed van.

Sadly, she hates PECO points, so does not often venture out under power, but can sometimes be seen at Open Days or as a siding filler.
I don't have the heart to re-wheel her...

Don

 

[Bittern]

Don't BR still do the same ?

Could be hard considering BR ceased to exist in 1997.

 

[matchmaker]

Not Hornby, but Tri-ang. R50 Princess Victoria. About 1960..........

 

[bus man]

Mt big brothers class green class 20 but it was a two rail hornby one - very posh at hte time in the early 60s

 

[ACE1888]

Had a few Tri-ang models, with my first 'Railway' stuff for Christmas around 1973/4 at a guess, The BR Green 'Princess Elizabeth' and BR Blue 'Hymek' and Class 101 Met-cam DMU in Green livery 3 that I remember.....oh and a 0-4-0 'Nellie'!

 

[oldrailbug]

It seems I am not alone on this one, my first Hornby loco was the Duchess of Atholl 3 rail set, that was in 1956 just before my parents dragged me off to Australia.

 

[justinsteam]

The original Intercity 125 HST, when it first came out way back ('78 if I remember) Loved that train. Unfortunately I stopped "playing with trains" for a while in my later teenage years and I came home from Uni one weekend to find my Mum had, had a clearout and the local Oxfam had gotten my trains! Hope someone got good use of them though!

Intercity 125 was also my first, 1978 sounds about right.

 

[sprinterguy]

I always wanted to build this layout -

but never did

I’m sure we’re not alone in wanting “the big layout” from the track plans book when we were young! It was the big layout in the eighth edition that I always used to ogle over, which admittedly was rather more modest than that example you’ve posted. Interestingly enough, that layout still survives in Hornbys’ hands, and has made appearances, with much improved scenic additions, in more recent Hornby catalogues.

I started out with the Hornby “Twin Train Set” which I got for Christmas 1995: It consisted of a Tyne and Wear Pacer, a Royal Mail liveried class 47 and five assorted modern wagons. In similar fashion to mumrars’ example, my Dad had spent the days leading up to Christmas laying the track onto an 8’ x 4’ board in the garage. Just a simple oval with a long passing loop, but every year the track layout would be added to: At the beginning of December every year the railway board would mysteriously disappear, and then on the morning of Christmas day there it would be again, on the floor of the sitting room, with the most recent track alterations and whatever train I had wanted for a Christmas present that year. To this day, I have no idea where my Dad hid an 8’ x 4’ model railway layout in that garage, and how I never spotted it!

 

[Trenitalia]

When I started there in 1994 hornby not exist. My first train was a ETR450, then an E656. The first locomotive Horby was E402B XMPR livery in the 2008.

 

[MrWhippyO]

My Flying Scotsman with some LNER coaches was my first, it will be 15 next year and still runs fine