Coronation locomotive 6220 (Hornby R.864)

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= Coronation Scot at Brighton Toy and Model Museum =
This exhibit was on display between November 2012 and early 2013


An 00-gauge electric model of the streamlined blue and silver striped LMS Coronation locomotive 6220, made by Hornby (model R.864) in the early 1970s (1970-1973).

Differences between models

  • Compared to the later R.685 that replaced it, this model had a nice high-gloss finish.
  • Unlike R.685, the motor is where you'd expect it - in the locomotive rather than the tender.
    There's some chunky-looking metalwork under the older loco, and other "undercarriage" differences include the then-common practice of removing the flange on the centre pair of drivewheels to allow easier cornering on curved track (the later R.685 has flanges on all wheels)
  • The nameplate is a separate (noticeably raised) panel with location surround rather than just being being painted on. At least some of these locos were supplied with a few different alternative nameplates, so that you had a choice of which loco it was going to be (which was a nice bonus for the customer, but also meant that dealers didn't have to stock so many different packs on their shelves, which probably made stock control easier).
  • The crown that is meant to go over Coronation 6220's nameplate isn't present, presumably because this particular embellishment was unique to 6220 Coronation, and would have been out of place if the buyer had decided to attach one of the alternative nameplates.
  • The immediate "giveaway" for telling the difference between an R.864 and the later R.685 in photographs (other than the missing crown) is that on the older model, the blue tender "skirt" that extended over the tender wheels was made of coloured plastic, and - either due to colour-matching problems or due to natural fading over time - usually appears noticeably lighter in pictures than the rest of the tender body.
    By contrast, on the later R.685, the tender body is unpainted plastic and the tender skirt is blue-painted metal (with black detailing), so that the earlier colour-mismatches are reversed - the tender skirt on the later model appears darker than the rest of the tender, almost black by comparison.

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