Hornby A4 (2004 version)
The new A4 is a fairly giant leap foreward from the old Hornby and Bachmann models, improvements have been made to the overall shape,the level of detail & Hornby have put the motor back where it should be powering the loco's driving wheels.
Hornby's new packaging will no doubt catch a few people out, it's very well thought out if a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle.
Performance from the 5 pole motor is excellent, from a crawl to flat out it's smooth and very quiet and after being a little disappointed with the tractive effort of my Merchant Navy I was happily surprised at the grunt this new A4 has, handling 8 coaches quite easily on my local clubs fairly steeply graded layout.
Detail wise I would say the new A4 is the best I've ever seen, even better than the Merchant Navy and that model blew everones socks off. As the photos show Hornby have really gone to town with a 3 link on the front and cab detail that I wouldn't even bother with if I was kit biulding the loco.
The front 3/4 shot shows how Hornby have really nailed the whales back look of the A4 and this more than any other part has put this model miles in front of its predesessor and competitors.
So well done Hornby, I'm hoping the A3 will be even better as they've always been my favorites. |
