Hornby Railways High Speed Train from the mid 1970s

Hornby Railways High Speed Train/Inter City 125 from the mid 1970s.
All dates approximate.
Link to earlier video with a boxed HST model R.069:
• Hornby Railways R.069 ...
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/ @oscarpaisley

[@andrewhead6267]

When introduced, Hornby did a “Triang” and made the HST coaches shorter than the real thing. Only changing after Lima introduced their HST with prototype length coaches. Of course the Hornby version meant you could get a longer train thrashing around your layout. A huge favourite toy train in its day.

[@davidstrains4910]

I have heard that hornby did the coaches shorter because at the time many layouts were made with the 1st radius curve, not many had longer radius curves on their layouts at the time.

[@russellbenton2987]

Iconic model of an iconic train . I got the trainset at Christmas 1977 . Happy memories . Even then , I knew the mk3 coach was too short , so I got some Joueff Mk3 coaches that were the correct length .

[@oscarpaisley]

Good morning Russell, thanks for looking in. Great to hear you got that terrific set as a Christmas present 77. All the best. Oscar

[@davidparry1982]

My first model train - I remember lying on the floor in the dark watching my HST going round and round that little oval 45 years on - I now collect vintage 0 gauge but hanker after this set…

[@andy7779_]

Wow, this is perfectly built! I love model railways, and I know it's not easy to create such a layout. I watched the entire video and enjoyed it!

[@michaelstaley2241]

Hi Oscar, never actually owned this particular model , looks like an accurate model. Fabulous days in my childhood..

[@needham831]

That brings back memories. 🙂I had the 77 catalogue too, but didn't get my first HST until 82. Always ran well for years. 🙂

[@APOTwixx]

The HST has always been a favorite. 😊

[@ScreamingLordStokes]

Hi Oscar, growing up in Doncaster in 1970s/80s the HSTs were so familiar both stopping at the station and zooming straight through at high speed on the centre roads. The coaches with their orange seats were super comfortable. Setting off the paxman engines were really noisy and exuded power. I remember there were special coolant trolleys on the platform in case they had a problem with the cooling system which i think they did quite often in the early days. I bought a second hand Hornby HST, just the two power cars and a single mk3 but i kind of resented the HSTs for replacing the Deltics and I ended up trading the HST for a used Lima Deltic! Regards, Antony

[@pauljohnson7171]

I have the power car and dummy car twin pack. Another of Hornbys strange selling options like selling locomotives and tenders separately. You still had to buy a carriage as the power cars won't couple. Bizarre!

[@FredWilbury]

Love your setup Oscar , which reminds me must get my HST running from my box of oddments 😊

[@callumk5]

I have one of these in intercity executive livery. I had two matching coaches and recently bought three more from eBay to make up a five car set. It’s now running with a DCC chip hard wired in and runs surprisingly smoothly with the original motor. Looking closely it doesn’t compare favourably with the modern super detailed Hornby model and the coaches are too short, but at speed the two sets look great passing each other and in my opinion the power car body moulding captures the overall look of the prototype well still today.

[@stephendavies6949]

Yep, from 3 feet distance and at speed, they look the part. And provides pleasure

[@AyebeeMk2]

just for context, July 77 was the month I left school at 16, started work on the first Monday of July at an adult weekly wage of £25, this was much higher than most 16 year olds who were doing apprentiships etc and were very lucky to get £18 per week, the army I remember (another possible choice for me at the time,) were advertising £22 per week. So the £19.50 price would be disposable income for a month. (?)

[@colinmacgregor8718]

I had that 1977 catalogue.When it came out.I am sure I still have it somewhere around.

[@roystudds1944]

Another great start to Sunday Oscar. I’ve got a HST set probably from the same era. Runs pretty well. Thanks for sharing. Roy.

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks for looking in Roy, great to hear you have one of these in your collection. Oscar

[@presidentxd]

When this came out it was so modern and futuristic.here in ireland we got a hymek painted in orange and black for the irish market.was the r.768 I bought a 125 set a a train show last year. Had wanted one for over 40 years.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi, thanks for looking in. Great to hear you finally got one in your collection. Oscar

[@gordontaylor1483]

Hi Oscar, Excellent choice of video today. I have two HSTs and have converted one to a CD motor, very smooth and good acceleration but loses out on control at the stop/start end, a bit abrupt. I think it looks good on the layout running alongside something vintage. Never thought the lights were the best but living with it anyway rather than going the trouble of modifying. Thanks again, Gordon

[@oscarpaisley]

Good afternoon Gordon thanks for looking in, I've always been going to give it a go with one of those CD motor conversion kit. I modified the lights on this one to LEDs when I was using the zero one. I couldn't work out how to make them go directional with the constant supply of power in the rails and they're being no direct connection between the power car and the dummy car so I just set up to be on all the time. All the best. Oscar

[@downthegaragelayout.7465]

Very nice Oscar, they always look cool.its nice to see another one running on series 3 track. Allthe best. Phil

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks, Phil. Glad you enjoyed that. Oscar

[@martinhall60]

Good morning Oscar it's Martin from Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Great to see your HST, I remember when I worked on British Rail, I often used to walk thru the HST train putting seat reservations on the seats when it was stood in Hull Paragon station. I used to sit in the drivers seat and Imagine what it was like to drive the HST, Happy days indeed. Thank you once again Oscar for an amazing video, Sunday wouldn't be the same without your wonderful railway. I used to have the Hornby HST but it was given to one of my mums relatives and apparently ended up smashed into pieces and was dumped in the dustbin. But i like your HST Oscar, she looks very smart. Well as always it's time for my cup of tea and a toasted tea cake. Keep safe Oscar and have a good week ahead. See you next Sunday Oscar. 👍🚂

[@oscarpaisley]

Afternoon Martin thanks again for looking great to hear you enjoyed the video. Sounds like your HST set had a bit of a life, this one's made up a bits and pieces and has some fairly impressive scuffs. I'm sure before my son had it it had left the rails at high speed more than once and I know it certainly did under my son's control, he had a terrific fun with it. Take care. Oscar

[@johnscarsandstuff]

That's a part of my childhood. My best friend had the Hornby HST train pack, which I thought was very smart. His was a powered driving trailer, a dummy driving trailer and a trailer second coach. The set you featured appears to have a trailer first, which fits with what you said about it being a "bitsa" but it still looks good. I don't think I ever saw the original livery HST in service, but I remember watching the Exec and Virgin HSTs running through the War Memorial Park in Coventry. These days I have N gauge model trains and I keep getting tempted by an original livery HST set. The blue-grey colour scheme looks so smart on the HST.

[@Mike-kc8rl]

I remember wanting one of these in 77 more than anything! There was the issue of the coaches being too short and other things with the general cab shape, but back in 77, it was the best thing since sliced bread? Lima out classed it a few years later!

[@markwood4194]

I’ve got the box set, all still in its box. One of my favourites, especially as being near Reading, I used see the real thing quite often.

[@EsotericArctos]

I have this early model also. I modifed the ligths by purchasing an LED kit that allowed it to have red lights on the trailing end, and white on the leading end. I am not sure if the kit is still available now as it was a few years ago that I did that. I played with converting mine to DCC at one stage, but I went back to DC as I prefer modeling DC layouts rather than DCC. I agree with you about the clear plastic for the lights. It really doesn't sit well on mine either. I think all of them from this era had that same issue.

[@philipstokes2824]

They're still available off eBay think a bloke called black cat does them I fitted them in mine, works a treat.

[@EsotericArctos]

@@philipstokes2824 That would be the one 😊

[@robpumfrey667]

I just fitted the same kit , much better looking with red at the tail

[@TrentonLightninghammer]

Great work as always Oscar! Would love to see your take on one of the new Hornby 70th Westwood range Polly, Connie, or Nellie. I know they aren't in your typical collection era range, but they are odes to the era you collect. Could be a fun reflection on how the hobby has evolved with a triang twist.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi, an interesting suggestion. Thanks for looking in. Oscar

[@stephendavies6949]

I got this for Xmas in 77 (I think). Added some coaches and then bought a Lima version in Exec livery, which is more detailed than the Hornby version. Both still work well & bring back happy memories.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi Stephen, great to hear you have those in your collection and still working well. Thanks for looking in. Oscar

[@paulc9588]

Got mine in '82 as part of a set which included 2 coaches, track, a bare bones 'click position' controller, the dodgy cardboard tunnel and a very floppy train set introductory record narrated by Bernard Cribbins. An impressive model that ran fairly reliably, although I always thought it was a bit underpowered given the nature of the prototype. My Lima 50 from around the same time seemed to be a better hauler and never scrabbled for grip on the track like the HST sometimes did.

[@cameronpatterson1045]

Good morning to you Oscar from Glasgow another great video from you Sir I've got the Hornby H.S.T in Scot Rail 7 City

[@diesel1395]

Good to see the HST .I got the HST set in 1980 for Christmas. It came with two MK3 carriages .I think it cost around £32 then .I got the buffet car a few months after .Ive still got it and recently put a new motor in .Also added more carriages ,bought second hand .

[@johnbill9201]

Thanks for sharing this video Oscar, I've got the HST Swallow logo set, great to see them running around your layout thanks again John

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks for looking in John. Great to hear you have a version of the HST in your collection. Oscar

[@robinmathews2446]

Hi again Oscar, Mystery solved.. As I had thought, my old Intercity set was with my Son's layout.. It carries an Australian HST colour scheme, of silver, black, orange and grey.. My Grandson (Charlie) has the "Swallow" livery mentioned by others in the comments.. Thank you for raising my curiosity about it's location? So many model trains around my home that I get confused? Ha-ha ... I still tend to like the "original" blue with yellow livery best? Cheers, Rob

[@markwood4194]

£19.50. From 1977 in today’s Money would be £151.84 approx

[@trainsontuesday]

Lovely set Oscar, I got the Lima set for the full length coaches but I am looking for a Hornby set to have the guards compartment and window. Those were not included with the Lima model as BR had removed them from the prototype by the time the Lima model was made. I've had many a ride in HST', surely one of my favourites.

[@oscarpaisley]

Good morning David great to hear you have the lima set in your collection, I remember riding on the HST back in the late 70s as a child, very exciting seeing it roll into the station and it looked so ultra modern at the time. Take care. Oscar

[@stephenbourne4872]

Note how the MK3 carriage has '00' as a number. I remember that when you bought them new , they had some number transfers in the box to create your own carriage number.

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks for looking in Stephen and the info. Take care. Oscar

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

Great video nice loco thanks for the share on channel keep up the great video s

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi, thanks for looking in. Great to hear you're enjoying the videos.. Take care. Oscar

[@DJ_K666]

19.50 in 1977 equates to £111.00 now, according to an inflation calculator. A basic train set today would probably be about £150 nowadays, roughly £26 back then.

[@peterbradford5987]

I bought one on the day of release.

[@RobA500]

Another great train Oscar, I have one in the later Swallow livery. I have fitted a CD motor conversion to mine as the original motor gave up and could barely do a crawl, that was not good for a high speed train. I also intend to add directional lights with red tail lights as well at some point in the future.

[@stevenperry7493]

Morning Oscar ,that was different but very enjoyable to watch ,have you got the Blue Pullman set ,if so that would be nice to see running .😊 Suffolk .

[@oscarpaisley]

Good morning Stephen thanks for looking in. I do have a Blue Pullman power and non-powered plus parlour cars from the early 60s I'll be running it shortly, it should show up on the channel later in September. All the best. Oscar

[@marksinthehouse1968]

Me and my dad made our dummy lights stay on ,I wanted red tail lights the easiest solution was to get a normal brown wire to replace the diode one so the lights stayed on in reverse then I used a wrapper from a quality street strawberry cream as they had see through red wrappers so it made the bulb glow red,no need to modify the dummy car latter on in life I returned it to original ,a quick and easy mod also I never ran mine with the dummy leading as it always derailed 😊,all the best Oscar ,try it put a bit of red sweet wrapper on it instant tail lights Mark 😊😊

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi Mark, this sounds like my sort of thing using a bit of sweet wrapper I shall get some appropriately coloured sweets/wrappers. I think they added weight in the dummy car helps this one stay on the rails. It's a bit floaty otherwise.. Take care. Oscar

[@davidstrains4910]

An excellent file here Oscar, there is no doubt that this must have been a very popular set back when it was first made, I have a fair few HSTs in my collection, the majority are Lima ones though but I have a couple of these old ringfield ones, one is a pair of blue and grey and another is the later Intercity Swallow, another pair I have is a blue and grey but I have modified these to make a model of the prototype HST set, those short Mk3 coaches while inaccurate having a full rake of them is great, I have a full set for my swallow HST power cars, when it comes to my blue and grey coaches I have for that one are Lima and Jouef, great video Oscar, keep up the great work.

[@oscarpaisley]

Afternoon David that's a terrific collection of those you have. Thanks again for looking. take care. Oscar

[@LordTantrums007]

What happened to your Triang Hornby Super 4 layout, I was really impressed with Super 4 layout?

[@Jules-zo3ds]

Another great start to a Sunday Oscar. I must confess I like your longer videos but I'm sure they're a lot more work and generally not as popular. Have you got any Wrenn or two rail Dublo? It might make for an interesting video running two and three rail together and comparing the differences.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi Jules, great to hear you're enjoying the videos. I have the West Country Class "Barnstaple" the Cobo and the Southern Electric and the green livered R1 0-6-0 Tank loco in two rail from Hornby Dublo. The only Wrenn item I have is their version of R1 0-6-0 in black which somebody very kindly passed on to me last year. I think I have videos earlier in the year with the two W. country classes and the two Southern Electric running on the railway, but don't think I've had both the CoBo's running together yet? Take care. Oscar

[@brianhepke7182]

I wonder why Hornby didn't fit couplings to these locomotives? It really is a handsome looking set. Amazing to think the real thing was around for so long; it still looks the part today. I, too, prefer having a motorized loco instead of a dummy on the other end. I have done this with my Blue Pullman. As you say, longer rakes can be achieved. Having said that, my HST loco can handle six coaches plus a dummy quite comfortably at a respectable speed. Just acquired a second set in not so good a condition which I am planning to paint in bright yellow to emulate the "Flying Banana". A garden shed project for the future. Thanks for sharing, your videos are always stimulating.😊

[@RobA500]

My guess on the couplings is to force you to add at least one coach.

[@smithge4uk]

The Air tanks is part of the coupling D moulding, not really able to have a coupling hook in the middle. Lima got around it by having the air tanks moulded onto the body and a cantilevered arm to the coupling - which still doesnt have a hook

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks Brian. It really is a striking Train both in model and in real life form and a very interesting choice on Hornby's part to treat the design of the couplings the way they did, I suspect it may have been encourage the purchase of a coach. The flying banana sounds like a terrific project. All the best. Oscar

[@robinmathews2446]

Hi Oscar, The Intercity set, in that earlier colour scheme looks very nice.. My Grandson has a later set, that (I think) is a grey and black livery? I seem to recall also having a set of these in that later colour too? But it was many years ago, and they may have migrated to my Son's layout ? (Quite a bit of my rolling stock acquired in the 70's & 80's did)? I don't think that the wheels liked my older "Standard" track very much? Both my Son and Grandson have later track on their layouts, and I think that the Intercity sets run better on their finer points?.. This calls for some investigation? It's not often that I forget a bit of our history, and not knowing for sure where they are now, is bothering me? My Son's layout has mostly all Kadee couplers, but as the Intercity has no couplings at the ends, so I'm quite sure that it made sense for it to be run on his layout? I'm sure that I will find them? Great to see the set climb to the upper track station.. Tri-ang must have planned things well, as the later trains all seem to have clearance on the old type of sidewalls? Have you ever ran a 4-4-0 loco up there yet? (Is it called an "L1"), with the big overhang at the front bogie? I bet that is a 'close fit'? Your Son's Intercity set with two power cars that you mentioned, would have looked good with a few extra coaches between the cab units, more like the real thing? Lovely to see these running smoothly around the layout.. Thank you for sharing...

[@oscarpaisley]

Good afternoon Rob. Hope you find out where your original went. I think they have terrific play value, I was surprised how well these ran on the series 3. I do have a little extra weight in the dummy car at the end. I've a few extra coaches but I've not got round to running long version of the train yet, maybe I'll reinstate the additional motor.. I'm fairly certain I've tried the incline / side walls with the L1? I know the B12 works okay that has a terrific overhang. Take care. Oscar

[@Jimyjames73]

Hello Oscar - Did you get the HST recently??? - Even thou I'm in to Steam Locos - I do like the HST 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi, I’ve had it for about 10 years It’s one I bought for my son when he was quite small. He had a great time with it. Take care Oscar

[@patrickquinn5962]

Most entertaining always Oscar thanks Patrick Quinn IRL

[@B.DoorewaardBoekhout]

Most entertaining video as always. Sorry to be nitpicking, but that coach isn't 2nd class as it has a yellow line and is clearly marked 1st ... Keep up the good work Oscar and thank you for a great way to start the Sunday mornings!

[@RobA500]

I spotted that too, I think the set shown in the catalogue had a second class coach so may be where Oscar got the information from not realising.

[@B.DoorewaardBoekhout]

@@RobA500 I have no doubt that most -if not all- of us spotted it and that Oscar is fully aware of the meaning of a 1 on a coach door. But hey, we are Serious Collectors here, so things like this cannot be left unmentioned 😇

[@oscarpaisley]

Good morning Bob thanks for pointing that out. I genuinely had missed that. Great to hear if the video entertaining, I should definitely be paying more attention... All the best. Oscar

[@kellyashfordtrains2642]

Triang model engines will happily run on proper 00 gauge track. So swap all your Triang track for 00 gauge, and your model engines should run a bit more smoothly.

[@carolinerogers1057]

Ironic train

[@jimmanyk]

As ever🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤😁👍👍 I'm not impressed with the distance between the pickups either, need to go & give my HST a "test"😉 don't think it's been over the new section😏