Review: Hornby Re-Tooled Class 43 HST R30099 East Coast Trains Livery - Comparison w/ previous model

Hornby's original Class 43 HST in the East Coast Trains livery, was based on the 2008 tooling and was a specially featured model for the long since defunct Modelzone retail chain. It had the highest specification of any Class 43 HST in it's day and was a truly superb model. Hornby's latest incarnation is part of their standard range now based on the 2022 re-tooling. So how does it compare to it's older brother and does it warrant the title of the Best 00 Gauge Class 43 HST yet? It's time to take a closer look.
Sections:
00:00 - Introduction
01:11 - Unboxing
08:47 - Close-up Views
13:21 - Running Session
15:55 - Summary
18:50 - Scoring
23:44 - Recommendation
Link to full running session: • Re-tooled Hornby Class...
Link to Class 43/Class 800 Value Assessment: • Hornby Class 43 HST an...
Link to review of the 2008 East Coast Set (Modelzone version): • Retro Review: Hornby C...
Thanks for watching.

[@ianhodgso-tm3gu]

Brilliant model got mine for £254.95 from gaugemaster with free postage .

[@EuviRail]

Excellent. No complaints over that price. Thanks for sharing.

[@geordielad9636]

Hello Eugene, spot on review as always and I agree with everything you say. Now I expect your waiting to hear what problems I've had? I bought the bouncing Midland Pullman version and it is fantastic. I have numbness in my hands as well as poor eyesight, I was trying to fit the detail to the loco and dropped the driving loco from about 3' to the hard floor, I said a few expletives beginning with S. The body had came off but apart from that no damage and it still runs perfectly, fan still works as do all lights. I did this a few months ago so it looks like I've been VERY lucky. This must be a testament to the build quality of Hornby locomotives, Bill.

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Bill and thanks for sharing your "drop test" experience! You were lucky as well as some kudos to Hornby!

[@richardverghese1353]

thankyou for such a speedy and helpful reply. the used model has no fans.i bought a used duette analogue transformer ,which slows the hsts to near perfection.As the hsts are costly i will leave the dcc route for now.but will keep watching your videos.

[@oleks323]

Hi Eugene , great review, as always, that German retailer is modell bahn union. Just took the plunge and ordered class 91 flying Scotsman and matching dvt, very attractive price, will let you know how it goes. Waited to see your review first, hopefully it doesn't disappoint. This pack at 200 eu plus cheep delivery to Ireland,is very tempting, plus they have the coaches to go with it. A sewer of a platform that is KZbin with their brain dead annoying scam ads keeps deleting my comments for no apparent reason. Regards Alex

[@EuviRail]

Hi Alex, my review has been delayed pending some slightly larger magnetic couplers I wanted to use for the running session. I've done the loco characterisation. While it has a good top speed I found I needed the power pack under DCC for low speed over insulfrog points where I got a few stalls. I've been running it with a TXS decoder. That model shop has a huge selection. Well worth keeping an eye on for bargains.

[@oleks323]

Thanks Eugene, I run my trains on DC only , so DCC issues not a concern, hopefully it will manage 9 mk 4 coaches , looking forward to your review. Check out their apt , very attractive price, I was myself reluctant to get one , but it grows on you, have the full 14 car train now and highly recommend it.

[@petertate5741]

Great review Eugene, slightly better than the 2008 version,but there wasn't that much to improve it was a great model to start with. Its definitely one of Hornbys best. Just a shame they can't seem to produce more models of this quality,and as for the RRP !!!Far too pricey .All the best buddy.👍

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Peter. Yeah, both the original and this one would be up there in the pantheon of Hornby's better models. The pricing went off the rails 2-3 years ago.

[@353madman]

Just found you're channel, and I have about eight sets of hsts spanning since the lima release in 89 to the 08 release'. but RRP has gone up in everything. So I gladly agree with what you have said here

[@EuviRail]

Thanks for that and welcome to the channel.

[@dallasthomas9298]

Great review Eugene, a German retailer (I have bought things before from them they are great) is selling these for €199 plus postage less VAT and coaches are also discounted also.

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Dallas. That's a very good price. Can you share the vendor in the comments in case anyone wants to take the plunge. Thanks

[@karlhudson1740]

R30218 RailAdventure, Class 43 HST Train Pack - Era 11 Diesel 11 Present Day 2014. £217.79 was £362.99 on Hornbys own website, Jan 2024. Also R30099 East Coast Trains is the same price.

[@EuviRail]

Hard to complain about those prices. Good stuff.

[@AllensTrains]

This HST is a far cry from the old Hong Kong el cheapo HST with the Ringfield Motor. However, I am bound to say some opportunities have been missed. Compared to for example Bachmann's Midland Pullman, there are no facilities to light the coaches from the decoder. Although this HST is an advance on earlier models, the coaches are just the same, and it is very expensive to make up a complete train. Thanks for uploading.

[@EuviRail]

Yeah, the overall cost of ownership for a full train can get really crazy. I'm looking at the coaches in the next video and the challenges there.

[@charlesrussell8137]

Great review. Any issues with light bleed like on the Azuma?

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Charles. No light bleed that I noticed and I wouldn't expect the silver/grey livery to have an issue with this.

[@stephenbromley2302]

I got the gwr castle set it came with 2 speakers already pre fitted great model and runs fantastic I wish Hornby would retool the Pendolino to this level.

[@EuviRail]

I love the GWR livery. 100% agree re Pendolino. Thanks for sharing.

[@lucysblade]

I travelled many miles on these in the 70s between London and Cornwall and would love one. Alas, my credit card is less enthusiastic. Maybe, it will be discounted down the line.

[@EuviRail]

Well worth keeping an eye out for discounts. Thanks for sharing.

[@vcs00railway84]

Hi Eugene, i installed the TXS7000 sound decoders in the Blue Pullman, great volume and range of sounds, was hoping for directional horns but didn't think it had that which is a missed opportunity from Hornby with the new Bluetooth decoders

[@EuviRail]

That's a very good point. Missed opportunity alright. Thanks for raising.

[@AndrewNewlands-bg6sj]

Hi Eugene great video as always, I managed to get one of these and some coaches on black friday from Hattons for a steal, Im really happy with it except for the hm7000 decoders i got for it, I cant seem to get both decoders to work in union ie changing directional lights on one unit should change the other unit without having to phisicaly go into the other profile in the app and change them, does yours show as one profile or 2 different locos? I installed both decoders at the same time put both units on the track and set the numbers the same.. am I missing something? Im new to hm7000 i had high hopes but i am unconvinced now Thanks

[@EuviRail]

Under Bluetooth control, the two decoders are going to have different bluetooth addresses so even if the DCC addresses are the same you won't be able to control both at the same time as you could under DCC control. Now, there may be ways of configuring these decoders in a consist arrangement to achieve this single point of control. I went on the cheap and put a standard DCC chip in the dummy and TXS into the power car which meant Bluetooth control for the power car only so I didn't bother investigating. Worth dropping a question on the Hornby HM7000 forum on this.

[@adamoldridge]

I was interested to see you didn't pick up on the wonky moulded door windows where they 'improved' it - this stood out immediately for me - how they managed to cock it up I dont know!

[@richardverghese1353]

just bought latest HST,seen your video, especially seeing your HST FULL speed.Also bought the 2008 HST, used model.So checked lap speed of both on analogue and the used model goes 2 seconds faster.Question, the new model has to draw some of the voltage to run the fans, not present on used model .if transferred to DCC, does that provide two separate dc circuits ,to motor and fans ie AC has two separate dc diode circuits so fans dont deplete top voltage to the motor ie will i gain more speed compared to analogue as the 12 dcv are shared with fan and motor? thanks

[@EuviRail]

Hi Richard, given that the earlier model is drawing from the one motor to drive the fan I would have expected it to be slower if all things were equal. However, there is no way given the timespan involved that the two motors are going to be the same and I suspect this is the reason for the difference. I would always expect DC to be faster than DCC. If you have a multimeter it would be interesting to measure the current at the top DC speed setting for each model. This will give an indication of the relative efficiency of each motor. I burned out a TTS decoder on the older model when driving it hard under load so be careful when running under DCC for any length of time!

[@StormmyStormmy]

Hi Eugene, great honest review, I have 2 hst 21 pin sets, my Platinum Jubilee set is very good, my dummy car has a very noisy fan, I have removed it and cleaned out all the horrible grease they put in it at the factory, it is still noisy, the power car fan is quiet now I have re greased it, my Railadventure set is very good, no issues with noisy fans, how are the fans on yours? I don’t want to send my dummy car back to Hornby because I have read too many stories of items sent in for repair that come back with more problems and damage, I hope to get a new fan unit at some stage, I didn’t pay rrp on any of my hst sets, I traded in some unwanted locomotives to get the Platinum Jubilee set, I don’t want to trade items in anymore because you don’t get a great deal, if I see a bargain then I will buy a set if I like it, your set is £255 on Amazon at the moment, be careful when buying off Amazon because the packaging is terrible, thanks for sharing.

[@StormmyStormmy]

Hornby have put an extremely high price on their HST sets, they are not worth the shocking prices, the problem is that they have no competition these days, Lima produced a good set many moons ago, Hornby now own Lima and are selling Lima’s HST set in their Railroad range, I hope another manufacturer takes on the hst in OO gauge, it’s long over due, my favourite hst set is the new measurement train hst set in network rail yellow livery, love to see it in 21 pin form with the working fans.

[@EuviRail]

Thanks for that and glad you are pleased with the sets you have. On the fans, I had to shave some excess plastic on the roof openings as I did have some noise initially on the dummy car. That cleared it for me. I had to return my FGW HST to Hornby and to be fair they did a clean repair. The cost structure is crazy by any standards and a clear indication of having a monopoly. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

[@74aamer]

Got ours from Hornby £217

[@EuviRail]

Excellent!

[@74aamer]

Received it today!

[@alanwagstaff16]

I must say it is a excellent model. I have the old lima model which I dcc fitted. The new hornby model is great apart from the price. Otherwise I'd get one.

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Alan. Yeah, the old Lima version was cheap and cheerful. While this is a much better model the price is crazy.

[@MrMattMWH]

I'd like one but at that price ! Hornby price gouging at its finest. Oh for a Bachmann or Accurascale version ....

[@EuviRail]

Thanks Matthew, you're not alone with that wish!