Hornby Percy Returns! | New Rip-off Tank Engine | Unboxing & Review

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Another day, another rip-off! This time, the old Hornby Percy returns in a fictitious(?) blue livery, at an extraordinary new price!
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0:00 Intro
3:59 Unboxing
6:28 Detailing
13:25 Mechanism
16:21 Performance
19:47 Haulage Testing
23:49 Ratings
27:16 Conclusion

[@robertnessful]

"I Have No Mouth, But I Must Scream" the shocking new memoir by Percy the Tank Engine.

[@QJ89]

It's quite a feat to have a clone model that emphasise the faults of the original Horny Percy (the Small Engine) model. I'm certainly not fond of that lid the front of the tank.

[@emanuelson11yt55]

Percy is called the small enguine not tank enguine

[@RichsRidesandRestorations]

I for one would welcome a series where Sam tries to make fully-working 3D printed versions of the Rip-Off Railways models for less than their RRP. And then reviews them and compares their scores.

[@Tankdestryer1]

well considering he made a 4-4-0 for i think half the price of this, which had more pulling power, looked nicer, and ran great. I think he could make this for like....MAYBE...$20?

[@philkeller4170]

If you pay attention to Sam’s Gladstone build* you would have noted that several compromises had to be made e.g. 3D printed handrails rather than proper fine wire and large transfers rather than fine Tampo printed lining. These things COST MONEY to do right (most of the costs incurred in a model are NOT the raw materials or casting the parts - it’s the time consuming and fiddly hand assembly / painting of the model where SKILLED LABOUR is necessary to achieve the sort of finish / detail modellers demand these days) and as such the end result was not a patch on what the likes of Oxford, Bachman, Rapido, Depoly, Hornby, Acurascale etc could achieve and only a fool would try and claim 3D printing could come close to replicating it. * NOTE I am not knocking Sam, I was very impressed with his build and the end result which did look pretty good for an amateur builder, but even Sam himself openly admitted the RTR manufactures could do it much better.

[@SamsTrains]

That's not strictly true Phil - I'm a beginner, so my work with the Gladstone wasn't representative of the maximum you can achieve with a 3D printer. You could use wire handrails if you wanted... there's nothing too complicated about those... and transfers can be perfect for lining... again, someone with more experience than me could have done a much better job! A resin printer can match injection moulded parts in terms of detail... I just don't use one because my space isn't ventilated, and therefore unsuitable. 3D printing your own locos may never better what the manufacturers can produce, but (even at my level) it offers a more affordable, active, and rewarding route into the hobby! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@andrewholdaway813]

@@philkeller4170 True it wasn't up there with the best of the commercial products, but it certainly gives Percy in teal a run for its money and bests it in some aspects.

[@kesenex2883]

id love to see that

[@EnterSodor]

Sadly most of hornby’s railroad locos don’t even qualify for that title anymore after the price increases. I’d rather not pay 50€ for a tooling that was designed nearly 40ish years ago

[@pikablob]

The thing that bugs me with this is that Percy is probably the *most* fictional-looking of all of the main Thomas engines - Awdry designed him as an Avonside-style industrial saddle tank, but the illustrator, C. Reginald Dalby, basically just drew a completely fictional design with a weird oval shape instead of a proper saddle tank (the argument over this lead to Dalby leaving the series). Percy’s shape is a lot better in the later illustrations by John T Kenney and Peter & Gunvor Edwards, but the TV Show went for the original Dalby design with the weird saddle tank. So any model based on that can’t really look like a normal engine - it’s always going to look like Percy, because Percy isn’t normal XD

[@nathanchan4653]

I like to think that IF Percy was an Avonside design but Percy’s physical design looks like a “rejected Hunslet Austerity design” as Percy, despite Avonside design and origins, is supposed to be an 0-4-0ST version of the Austerity Saddle Tank Engines but Hunslet chucked the initial design away but the “other locomotive designers” managed to grab Hunslet’s chucked drawings into Percy and “another engine that has the same shape as Percy”

[@SamsTrains]

Thanks a lot for sharing! That's probably why they chose to go with a fictional livery, as then they wouldn't get criticised for producing something unrealistic. I personally don't think it matters though - who says everything has to be realistic anyway? Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@asteroidrules]

As strange as it sounds, Percy being the least real engine on Sodor is probably why Hornby did this. All the other Hornby Thomas locomotives were based on existing loco tooling Hornby already had, but for Percy they had to invest in making new tooling just for him, and clearly when they lost the license rights they felt they hadn't gotten their money's worth out of that tooling.

[@daveday5507]

Having built a small shunting layout, my intension was to use 0-4-0 engines which I like anyway. I then discovered that all the 0-4-0's were longer that an 0-6-0! This can't be true in reality. I put it down to Hornby.

[@David_Mattox]

Someone may have said this already, but I'd say a good headcanon for this is that Percy was owned by T. Brown Distilleries and was bought by Sir Topham Hatt before it could go out of business.

[@SamsTrains]

That's a great idea David... probably less sinister than my idea!! ;D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@PeterJewell2]

@@SamsTrains - "tear off his face" ???? Having grown up with the Awdry stories, such a murderous thought is deeply upsetting!! 😲😲 Seriously, though, this is an idea that Hornby should have done years ago. (It's taken me years to get hold of a secondhand Percy cheap enough to consider repainting...) Price is ridiculous. Just reflecting that I bought a barely run tender-drive Hornby Britannia for forty quid last month. Hornby really do seem to have lost the plot.

[@FunAngelo2005]

Yes,but he whould have a face still

[@bjmorley]

T Brown is short for Terry Brown. If youve ever looked at the names on Hornby's RailRoad/Train Pack locos/wagons, you'll notice they're named after Prog Rock bands, and/or band members. We've had King Crimson/Robert Fripp last year, as well as members of Rush; previous years we've had Emerson Lake and Palmer, as well as Genesis. Terry Brown is a record producer, who was heavily involved with Rush, amongst other bands.

[@pokeprime94]

I was honestly considering getting this and maybe setting up my track again, but I feel like everything in this hobby is headed downhill from prices to quality and so on. Kind of sad really considering I remember a time I could get an engine like this with my pocket money when I was still in school. I guess if Hornby’s goal was to drive people away it’s working

[@kanehood3478]

I know right, I’m a 33 year old plumber that owns my own company and I struggle to get new locos, how can the average household afford these things, I was 13 when I bought my first Hornby 0-4-0 set it was a simple loop, loco, 3 small wagons £50, now the same small sized loco is at the whole set RRP, I know inflation is a thing but, a model like the flying Scotsman was around £50-60, now they are close to £200 Nearly 4 times the amount, but wages haven’t increased that amount, I unfortunately have to acquire most of my locos 2nd hand from my local model shop just to be able to get something I can afford, not to mention my 9yr old loves my model trains but I hardly want to hand him a £200 loco for him to clumsily drop or run too fast and kill

[@SamsTrains]

That's really what sucks about this - this loco is aimed at beginners, and will appeal particularly to children... at £50 it's just not appropriate. Many won't be able to afford it, and those who can won't be getting their moneys worth. And Kane's right, the recent price increases are disproportionately huge... way more than they should be under inflation! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@kanehood3478]

@@SamsTrains thanks for spending way too much on this Sam so I don’t have to make the same mistake, I was debating getting it for my 9 yr old to mess around with on my layout, but I’d rather give him £50 to spend on a second hand loco that runs, after all I just managed to get a working very good condition Battle of Britain spitfire in box with all papers and detail pack for a rather cheap £28 from my local second hand train store

[@eisenbau]

You must have a had a lot of pocket money. In 1961 Nellie was 29/6. I would have needed 8 weeks pocket money to buy it

[@blueskys5435]

Its honestly better to get older locomotives for the same price. like my brother got an old Hornby 9f for £60, Looks lovely and alot of potential for modification

[@AlongPreservedLines]

Very strange how hornby charges over £50 for a model using tooling thats decades old, just like the other 0-4-0’s, hopefully they see sense and drop the pricing again… anyways great video Sam, as usual! - TIDS

[@SamsTrains]

Very much so - it seems a lot (maybe all?) of the Railroad 0-4-0s are £50.99 now... and some of them certainly are decades old! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@jeffreysmith156]

I have just this week bought from Hattons a brand new Hornby B12/3, in the short-lived "British Railways" livery, for £79.99 plus postage, which is much more like it in terms of value for money.

[@nathanbowers6364]

If you'd bought it used they'dve charged you another £20.

[@TIMMEH19991]

I did as well along with an O1 in BR livery for the same money. Hate to think how much either of those models would be if Hornby were producing them them right now.

[@SamsTrains]

haha yeah I bought one too... at last a decent price for a good loco in 2022!! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@imatrainperson1195]

That looks suspiciously like the engine used in the Hornby a Model World intro. Interesting how they decided to mass produce it.

[@SamsTrains]

Hmm it could be - I can't remember now! Yes interesting! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@bentullett6068]

It was in the 2021 catalogue and was the loco seen in the start credits of Hornby a model world, but due to the various issues in the world it wasn't released in time. It's my fault it came about as I had recommended that Hornby looked into redesigning some of the old Hornby Thomas range models into Railroad models including Percy but I was actually hoping they would have done it in the GWR livery like the real life Avonside tank engine.

[@nathanbowers6364]

Does anyone think of the Carry On Films "ooh Matron!" everytime Sam mentions his "Little Percy"?

[@MATT2productions]

Damn it! Hornby should Return Thomas and Friends to their line! Joke: Thomas said blue is a proper color for an engine. I bet Percy followed his advice. This loco could be a AU for Percy's origins. Do you think Hornby should bring Thomas and Friends to their range?

[@SamsTrains]

That's true - it's a shame Percy wasn't comfortable enough in his own skin to not change himself... but I hope he's happier now :( Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@The_British_Director]

Yes it shod

[@TheTTTEFan]

Oh Yeah.

[@tonypetts6663]

The rights to produce Thomas etc are now owned by bachmann which is why Hornby can no longer make them. The only thing they can do is us the mouldings in other guises such as this one, and I would imagine they will have to steer away from any similarity of colour etc or possibly face a law suit - like they have withdrawn their lion/Titfield thunderbolt models.

[@ElNeroDiablo]

@@tonypetts6663 Ehhh, for decades Hornby's had the rights to produce Thomas characters for the UK in OO whilst Bachmann's had the rights to produce them for the US in HO. Both were licensed by HIT/Mattel to make the locos for their respective regions. The differences is Hornby made the locos based on their RL basis or as-close to that as possible (eg: Gordon being made with A1/A3 Pacific molding like "Flying Scotsman"), whilst Bachmann made the locos based on their TV model appearances.

[@rogerking7258]

Four years ago I bought my grandson a Hornby train set. It had Smokey Joe (but in a different livery), four wagons, an oval of track with a siding, and a mains controller. I admit that I got a real bargain but I paid £45 for the whole lot. And no it wasn't second hand, but a new and current set. Now they want more than that just for a similar loco. I too think Hornby have lost it (and probably their customers too).

[@bentullett6068]

Another reviewer on KZbin Matt Slade has also announced he won't be buying any new locomotives for his layout this year as the prices from two of the main manufacturers have become ridiculous now. But you think the prices from Hornby are bad you want to see what the prices of the locomotives and rolling stock are from Europe and America as they aren't cheap.

[@SamsTrains]

Very much so Roger - I remember the Christmas sets being available at around the £50 mark too, which were complete! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@J.Tthebluepannier6375]

Despite the model being a rip-off to the original Percy model, but honestly, some of the detailing looks very nice with the teal blue livery, and most people can even used it to make their own custom. Hornby Percy model in many liveries appearances such as season 1-7. Regardless, I’ll give this a 6/10 for now.

[@andyaccount]

Teal Blue is more of a greeny-blue colour like the 'M' of Matthew Boyajian below

[@andrewholdaway813]

Rip off of percy? No it _is_ percy, same mold different colour (apart from the sore thumb door). Hence the abysmal fit between parts from the worn out mold.

[@andrewholdaway813]

@John Thomas SoecSavers?

[@gc7820]

If this was in the £20ish bracket like Percy was not but a few years ago (I can remember Thomas, Percy and smoky Joe at £15-20 in my lifetime and I’m only 35!) it would be a really attractive entry level model so why Hornby feel the need to be so grasping especially when the sunk cost has been recovered decades ago is only a question that Hornby can answer.

[@CurdsFromDaCulvers420]

On the bright side it can be used for a Percy custom lol

[@SamsTrains]

That's true! The face would fit :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@JLWCproductions]

I have to admit I kinda like the engine Short story : i saw this engine at a hornby centre shop along with some other engines along with a 0-4-0 br e2 tank which I picked instead. I'm planning to find the engine even though of its flaws I think it could be a nice addition to my small collection

[@lukegreen5341]

21:01 Great Scotland Yard. It's Percy The Small Engine From Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends The Original Series. Thanks Sam'sTrains Mate. X

[@Alpha-oo8]

“Told he’d never see his friends again”. Well, duh, they removed his eyes!

[@SamsTrains]

haha very true... but you know how it is... put eyes back on him, and he'd see again! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@Gameboy_1992]

But where is the mouth?

[@quotagious]

They played a record backwards and got the name I understand hornby lost the Thomas franchise so using the moulds for other locos .

[@SamsTrains]

haha! ;D

[@TATICMOOR]

Sam, you will find a lot of the names of loco stock like this T Brown is usually a reference to a music artist. Some of the examples of recent models are Lee, Lifeson & Peart (are the three named Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neal Peart members of Canadian rock band RUSH). R Fripp Crimson King loco is Robert Fripp of the group King Crimson. Rothery could even be Steve Rothery of UK band Marillion, or S Wilson maybe Steven Wilson of the US group The Beach Boys. T Brown can or maybe the Country singer T Graham Brown. So, now wasn't that more interesting that this loco was at £50, LOL.

[@jdfjdfjdfjdf]

That's interesting to read (I'm an outsider to this hobby so everything is new to me when I sometimes watch Sam's excellent videos). S Wilson might be Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, if that was also following this naming pattern. Not too familiar with the Beach Boys beyond Brian Wilson but I only see mention of his brothers Dennis and Carl looking at their wikipedia page.

[@TATICMOOR]

@@jdfjdfjdfjdf It is always good to Google the names on Hornby Locomotives as there is a lot of famous names used.

[@Henry-hv8hx]

When I saw this on the Hornby website I immediately thought 'Hey, It's everybody's favourite green Caterpillar, just a different colour.' I might get one of these just to make it into Percy. Nice Video :)

[@davidbugler4597]

Useful and honest review as ever. You do have to wonder what the guys at Hornby have been smoking, to produce such toys at this sort of price. Worth noting perhaps that apart from a certain amount of coal for process fuel, most of the traffic for a brewery would have been in vans -- bagged and boxed materials in, boxed products out. A distillery large enough to have its own locomotive might well have had the grain delivered in steel covered-hopper wagons -- Dapol does a very nice BR GRANO.

[@SamsTrains]

haha I wonder that too... don't they consider the knock-on effect of selling beginners models at this sort of prices? Not very forward thinking are they? ;D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@madmerlinsart]

Was really excited to see these make a comeback last year, REALLY glad I didn't buy them. I'm glad I have my original Hornby Thomas and Percy from when I was 11. Great review and likewise I think the price is slowly killing the hobby.

[@Lightninging63]

You finally reviewed a Bachmann Junior engine! I've been waiting for this one for a while. Never knew they made a blue Percy though. Seriously though I'm amazed Hornby didn't try this sooner

[@SamsTrains]

That's a good point - surprised they didn't come out with these straight away... fictional James is the one I'd love to see them do... though it'll probably be £250 at this rate! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@bentullett6068]

I gave them the idea and they listened but due to the price rises and fake livery (there is a actual real version in GWR livery) its spoilt it.

[@davidstrains4910]

Decent review there Sam I’m not a fan of the fictitious stuff myself, unacceptable price for something this basic.

[@SamsTrains]

That's fair - I think I prefer realistic stuff too... though I'm in no position to talk ;D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@robertgraf4917]

Love the use of the musical bridge from "Turn Back Time" in the intro to the loco :-P

[@bummeroni]

Honestly if it weren't for the price, I'd consider picking one up for the novelty. It kinda reminds me of the bachmann branchine junior locos that bachmann did when they were trying to sell their bachmann models in the UK originally. You should review one of those if you ever get the chance!

[@tenterdentown2452]

I love the reviews where you slate Hornby on the price!

[@SamsTrains]

haha thank you! I don't like slating anyone... but expect to see more of the same while-ever their prices are so ridiculous! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@SwordlordRoy]

Fun fact: despite effectively all Thomas and Friends characters having a prototypical basis Percy was the exception. The Rev. W. Awdry decided on the prototype basis after problems with artists in drawing Henry, so he selected a real world Locomotive each was based on...except Percy. Best he could manage with Percy was "Percy is believed to have been built by Avonside of Bristol, but fitters at Crovan’s Gate have found components by Hunslet of Leeds and other builders." tl;dr: Not even the series creator could figure out what Percy would have been in reality...

[@nathanchan4653]

I like to think that IF Percy was an Avonside design but Percy’s physical design looks like a “rejected Hunslet Austerity design” as Percy, despite Avonside design and origins, is supposed to be an 0-4-0ST version of the Austerity Saddle Tank Engines with outside cylinders but Hunslet chucked the initial design away but the “other locomotive designers” managed to grab Hunslet’s chucked drawings to build Percy

[@Thetrainbloke]

If I had a nickel for every time a company lazily repainted a Percy model, I’d have 2 nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s strange that it happened twice

[@tmdrm9817]

Odd question but what tri ang locos do you have? I have a few in my collection and I just wanted to see which ones you have i have wachted a few of your tri ang reviews.

[@andrewlivesey945]

3d print one just for sheer comparison rates .would be good to see resuly either way .cheers sam

[@bobingabout]

its not even updated to be DCC ready. I want to see you review the "Green Thomas" too.

[@paulweston8755]

Absolute madness and time that Hornby either get their act together or ship out once and for all

[@SamsTrains]

haha yeah - it's getting a bit silly now isn't it? Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@Damocles178]

Thomas: Blue is the only proper colour for an engine. Toby: Oh I don't know I like my brown paint Percy: I've always been green I wouldn't want to be any other colour either.... *Thomas hatches an evil scheme* Trucks: Love the colour Percy. Pity about your face though. Not a bad looking loco though. Fictional industrial engines are something Hornby can't get enough off. They could have sweetened the deal by at least having a DCC chip or something.

[@docbudz4206]

Really need to get my railroad back up and get some engines but prices are getting insane here in the UK

[@bollockybillfromover]

For the price you might as well get one of those electrotren tank engines; they seem to go for around the same cost, are 6 coupled for better pickup and traction, and geared to run at sensible speeds!

[@CplBurdenR]

Is the smokebox door from the ubiquitous Hornby Side-tank 0-4-0 ?

[@user-mv6ve8pm7k]

7:58 “You could make an interesting blue version of Percy”… a rude and sweary Percy would make for a very different story for Ringo to narrate 😂

[@henryandoliverfan3115]

My hornby Percy I got a couple years ago was also made faceless after I lost it behind a radiator cover XD. I've replaced it with a Take'N'Play Percy face since I didn't have a spare, I kind of prefer it

[@MrBnsftrain]

Back in 1985/86, Percy's Hornby model was whole new tooling for the body. The only other Hornby Thomas engines that had new body tooling were Toby, Bill, and Ben (which those three were oversized) I'm surprised it took Hornby this long to make a generic version of Percy when they have made many faceless versions of the 0-4-0 Thomas of the 1990s. Hornby could re-tool James to be a faceless 2-6-0, but the 2015 Hornby James and Gordon were still tender-driven when they could've used loco drive chassis as they did with Henry. I'm surprised this 0-4-0 chassis does not use a base keeper plate, as even a cheap life-like or model power 0-4-0 has a base keeper plate and essentially the same mechanism

[@maltnz]

Given licensing costs to Thomas owners, the cost of the non-Thomas without licensing should go down.

[@SamsTrains]

Agreed, in theory that should be one cost that they don't have to cover any more! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@valesbridge_yt]

One thing i've seen going around is that a possible basis for the little green catterpillar is Great Western 1338. An interesting little loco. I'd honestly been interested to see you try and 3d print a body of 1338 for a Peckett chassis Fun Fact; In cannon, the face on the sodor engines *is* the smokebox door!

[@JamifyAzure]

Percy’s Chocolate Crunch but instead it’s Percy’s Blueberry Crunch! This is certainly a very interesting model, could this be possible foreshadowing for the return of the other Hornby Thomas models as Junior engines? If so, that would certainly be peculiar yet interesting.

[@SamsTrains]

haha yeah!! Interesting indeed... and I hope we do see some of the other ex-Thomas engines... James would be the one I'd be interested in! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@melchestermodelrailway]

Interesting, because your recent review of the pilchard waggon, in it's massively oversized box, rather gives the lie to the increasingly used "Shipping costs" as an explanation for huge price hikes!

[@ianhaynes5898]

Well, it goes just fine but I think you would be better off getting a Little Giant if you are starting out. I started out with he standard thing but I painted the cab details, added crew, a light and some real coal in the bunker. You can get them for $22 on eBay.

[@madduckuk]

Hi Sam, Can't wait to see the Annual Report for this year. Looking at what Hornby said in 2021 it's pretty interesting when considering what happened with reduced retailer quotas. "Revenue during the year increased by 22% compared to the previous year due to excellent product design and an increase in DIRECT SALES..." "Our KPI has increased due to the significant increase in sales and our DIRECT CHANNEL STRATEGY". Also: "The Board have considered the impact of COVID-19 on the business and have concluded that it has not had a significant impact on the business".

[@SamsTrains]

Yeah that is interesting - I suppose they mean that Covid hasn't had a significant *negative* impact on their business, but do they not acknowledge the possible *positive* impact it may have had, given the vast numbers of people stuck inside picking up hobbies? Those times are over now... the number of activities at people's disposal is now wide open again! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@insomniacbritgaming1632]

I'm thinking of investing in some cheap locos for getting into detailing and weathering... this could be a first start

[@AJSAN1971]

I seem to remember from the Railway Series books that there is a bridge between Sodor and Wales and Gordon did make it all the way to London!

[@SamsTrains]

Ahh there you go then! So the steam team could sneak across the bridge by night... with one engine staying behind to cause a diversion? Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@CustomiZe_]

You may have spent £50 on it but at least you have prevented many parents buying it for their children as a first loco, especially if the parents are inexperienced in model railways.

[@horatioyen256]

1:14 well in later seasons there is a bridge to the mainland (England) so that very doable

[@deborahhancock1369]

are you going to review the puffing billy?

[@dirks.4172]

Sam, thank you for this video. Somehow tempting as I have a soft spot for blue locos (well, except BR blue...). I would say with some weight/lead inside the body the performance will become better reasonably. Best wishes Dirk

[@SamsTrains]

Thanks Dirk! Yeah it's a decent enough model for what it is - and sure, plenty of space for extra weight if you wanted to add some! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Average inflation raise is 10.4% for manufacturering in China. And the shipping costs which has increased the most drastically making it cost a staggering 40p! to ship this model. So yeah the model at most could have gone up too about £42.50 at most. Instead out of greed they've increased there profits by around ~20% on top which is more than the cost increase.

[@SamsTrains]

Exactly - I did the shipping calculations too... the increase per loco is almost insignificant! ;D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@davidjoyce1021]

My 3 year old has just been looking over my shoulder and shouted 'that's not Percy!'

[@TheShredSteve]

Hi Sam, I do think I have a good idea where the loco's name may have come from! It seems that someone at Hornby is a fan of progressive rock music. Taking a scroll through the Hornby catalogue, in the Railroad range we see a few names: G. Lee Mining Co. Lifeson Coal Board Peart Industries Or, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. The three members of the prog rock band Rush. Other names we see include Crimson King (the band King Crimson), R. Fripp (the guitarist in said band) and Rothery Industries (Steve Rothery, Marillion guitarist). It's quite possible "T. Brown" is a made-up name, but if we're following the theme it may be some obscure musical reference. Hope this was interesting!

[@Elvinley]

Could it be Terry Brown who produced some Rush albums?

[@TheShredSteve]

@@Elvinley guess it could!

[@cardrac6421]

Sam, What Camera do you use to film with?

[@mycluck2353]

I may be overthinking this, but Percy is number 6 and this engine is number 3 which is of course half of 6. Percy is green, and this engine is blue. Blue is a prime colour, and to make green you have to mix it with yellow. So this engine is half the man that Percy is 😂

[@pmb9172]

So The Aldi approach , think Catepillar , has come to Hornby or in the case of Titfield Thunderbolt not so subtle , we used to be selling these for under twenty pounds not really that long ago . Indeed I recall selling the whole Caledonian set itself for 49.90 .

[@Underrated_venom]

I love ur videos and ur model railway is amazing I honestly wanna have one like u when I get older

[@SamsTrains]

Thank you so much - that's lovely to hear! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@Underrated_venom]

@@SamsTrains no problem and I love watching ur videos u have been one of my favourites for ages

[@edwardvincentbriones5062]

@Sam’sTrains Off-topic: I’ve been looking on the internet and it seems that Hornby had produced a NRM special Bulleid Q1. It is a very rare model loco. I want to know what do you think of it, as a model loco collector. Hope you reply to me. Thank you.

[@jamesdunloptrains]

Awesome video today Sam really nice modle

[@TTTEFan84]

You should do a review on the SE&CR 0-6-0 tank engine because it has a resemblance to the Hornby Thomas

[@philkeller4170]

It IS Hornbys old Thomas tooling! However that tooling actually started life in the late 1970s as tooling for the LBSCR E2 class before being bodged to make a parsable Thomas (it has a number of shape differences from the TV character) in the 1980s

[@ThetrainguyUK]

The funny thing about the price is that you can go to a Shop and get the santas express train set cheaper which comes with a 0-4-0, 2 wagons, And track!

[@Lei2lu4]

There is something i always wanted to know. Is there a model of a lancashire and yorkshire class 28? Bc i cant find it anywhere, except for the deely 3f I don’t like it.

[@dylanpurcell935]

The smoke box door is from the b2 peckett by hornby

[@SamsTrains]

The door doesn't come from any locos that I have - but I think it came from another Railroad 0-4-0 from what people have told me! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@ericgomes6711]

Hey Sam would you consider reviewing a Fratheschi traim set, more especifically a steam one?For context it's Brazilian train set, wich if converted into poundes must be like 100, maybe 50.Love your vids btw.

[@SamsTrains]

That does sound interesting Eric - I'd certainly like to give that a try! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@trainstorm1225]

It’s more than likely that Hornby made up this locomotive. Looking into Percy’s history in the Railway Series, he’s not really based off any locomotive. His “basis” wasn’t was chosen after Awdry designed Percy and just chose the closest locomotive to him, making Percy an entirely unique engine or a modified engine. So it’s safe to say that this locomotive doesn’t actually exist and Hornby just wanted to save money with a simple repaint. Anyways, great review, Sam! Looking forward to more!

[@matthew_thefallen]

oh i was waiting for this moment!! 🤩 Id' love to see the other one, the 0-6-0 SE&CR tank engine! :D

[@SamsTrains]

haha me too! And for sure - I'll cover that when they release it! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@whitewallwheels1hardcore.m_o_h]

but is the motor the same does it go like a pocket rocket or does it run slower like the coca cola loco

[@Im_here170]

Love the blue color!!

[@chrismoon6978]

Hi Sam, have you seen the peckett 1900 flying buffer beam? It would make a great 3d printed model.

[@jacobjcb8883]

I remember seeing that train on a model railway tv show I saw at my Aunt's

[@piggynice18]

I remember buying a 2006 hornby percy model four or five yrs ago. It was too fast to say the least😂

[@ANobodyatall]

'Tear off his face?' The 'Railway Series' gets dark!

[@matthew_setzer4136]

Question for anyone who would know, does Hornby/Bachmann just not sell that many locomotives in the us from their websites? I've looked around because I want to get into having a model railroad and I prefer the UK locomotives more so than the US locos, but all either websites have is just a very small amount of US locos (like 20 locos in total)

[@davidknowles2491]

Maybe the T stands for trousers, because brown will be the colour of them once more people start refusing to pay their ridiculous prices.

[@jameshardy4354]

The old e2 slash Thomas is coming out aswell in the railroad range I wonder if we will see more ex Thomas in the railroad range maybe James could go Back to the dealy 3f locomotive

[@radharamadevi]

Thomas arrived on Sodor in the secr green

[@strasburgrailfan90]

The Separately fitted boiler piece was originally removable on the original Percy model

[@martinwarm4041]

Yes it was..

[@SamsTrains]

Yep, it sure was!

[@_alpha_1017]

Hey sam, the smoke box door is from the hornby E2, its very similar

[@SamsTrains]

I don't think it is - my E2 has a handrail etc! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@_alpha_1017]

@@SamsTrains heh no prob but thats what i mean! They made a few changes so people wouldnt notice, they took away the handrail and added tge lamp iron nub

[@the4tierbridge]

You thought about switching this thing’s smokebox and Percy’s face, like with the E2 and Thomas?

[@cbrooks122000]

I think you will find they run slower than the old ones, as Hornby put a resistor in series with the motor to lower the voltage.

[@SamsTrains]

I know the resistors you mean - but I reckon they might have changed the motors, as they still seem to run slower even when you power the motor directly... if I'm remembering correctly! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@minecraftertracey01]

My idea on this loco is there a gourp of people who like to make Custom Thomas and friends models with what there were bassed off irl, since Percy wasn’t bassed off anything they made one for the group of people. A lot of people also like doing it without faces

[@azuma892]

Do you have the Hornby 0-4-0 Hitachi Sentinel?

[@SamsTrains]

I do! :D

[@whitewallwheels1hardcore.m_o_h]

there is another thomas out the sccr in green or what ever you call it

[@michaeldavies9600]

Back in 2018 when i decided to get back into this wonderful hobby of ours, i purchased a GWR postal trainset that's TRAINSET the whole thing controller track everything for £70 ! If you look on ebay now they retail for anything around the £140 mark! I also have in my collection purchased from ebay a lovely little blue 040 which came with three 4 wheel coaches for £12.I think anyone who pay's close on £50 for this needs their head tested lol :)

[@SaltyVan]

Step 1: buy this model as cheap as possible Step 2: get a 2002-2015 wooden railway Percy Step 3: remove model smoke box door Step 4: repaint the model as Percy Step 5: attach wooden railway Percy face to smoke box Step 6: repeat from step 1 Step 7: sell models Step 8: PROFIT

[@ItsTrainFun]

I got n scale Henry and Percy from tomix yesterday! For a really good price! (Less then ebay) I am soooo happy! Ooh and one of my tomix Thomas locos are working kinda good again! 😍

[@SamsTrains]

That's fantastic - is it good then?! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@evophantom]

The prices are putting me off massively. I got a coca cola set second hand and started to get into getting locos to go around it. Was going to end up building a proper set up but the price of the track, the locos and just about everything is insane

[@Superion247]

It's also nice to use this engine as a prototype engine, if anyone wants to use a headcanon as to how Percy's class was made. Price does make it a miss due to it being so simple in detail. You should also review an LNER P1 model. I'm unsure if hornby made a model yet or not. I think only 2 of them were made in real life, very strong, heavy goods engine, but were coal hungry locomotives.

[@SamsTrains]

Yeah absolutely - at a better price this would be perfect for anything like that! No P1 from Hornby at the moment, but that would be cool! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@RRspartan24]

Model railway direct is a lovely dealer! that were i got my bachmann OO9 baldwin 10-12-D for my narrow gauge layout.. not bad shipping from them to have it imported to me here in the States.

[@SamsTrains]

Yep, never had a problem with model railways direct - very good shop! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@aleopardstail]

how old is that 0-4-0 chassis?

[@AbbeyYard]

If this is T. Brown Distilleries number 3, who are T. Brown numbers 1 & 2?

[@rochmel1409]

Thanks Sam. One question that springs to my mind is how many of the new model do Hornby expect to sell? Surely any serious modeller of an industrial railway would require something much more detailed and would wish to display a name relevant to their layout? When i was young (in the early sixties) I only had two locomotives the Triang 0-6-0 Jinty in BR black and a red 0-4-0 industrial tank called Polly which I really didn't like because it looked so wrong pulling coaches etc around my trainset. My point being that we glibbly think that children will love models like this but I'm not so sure.

[@SamsTrains]

Oh sure - this isn't designed for serious modellers - no doubt about that! This is aimed at beginners, and more specifically young people. Whether children will actually like this is another matter - I think they would, but the price isn't child friendly... it would've taken me a year to save up for this with my pocket money... and you don't get much for your £50! Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@briandesens144]

Awesome video Sam's trains

[@SamsTrains]

Thanks Brian! :D

[@TKS60163]

"If anyone wants to write that story or make a video of it go ahead" Me, who writes custom RWS stories: "Challenge accepted."

[@SamsTrains]

haha amazing!! Good luck!! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)

[@lindaoffenbach]

Good heavens, for the same money you have quite the choice of more than a decent starter Piko DC BoBo electric or dieselelectric loco. This one at the price should be equivalent to Piko’s tank loco with tender for ~ 37 GBP. Fair enough, you’ve reviewed the even cheaper Piko one without tender as quite nasty some time ago, but many from even the GDR era (decades old tooling as well) are still solidly running around. Fair price imho for this Hornby Percy: 30 GBP for getting into the hobby as an intention similar to Piko I suppose. It is fair to say that H manage more painted details and hide the running gear where Piko do sharp flawless moulding and construction, but H here remains a rip-off indeed. We would rank it as 4 / 10 as well.