I got my APT!

 

I wasn't sure that I'd be adding Hornby's latest version of the Advanced Passenger Train to my collection, so standing outside my local model shop holding the box pleased me enormosly. Nearly enough to make me forget the £430 I'd shelled out for it!

You see, Hornby have introduced a Tiers system for shops - those in the top teir have large and well laid out premised plus an efficient on-line operation. My local guy is in the bottom (3rd) tier thanks to a tiny premise and no web sales. New models go to the top teirs first. 

But, he got one! I ordered the model the moment it came out (OK, when I could officially know, about a month after I actually do), and two years later, allowing time to save some pennies, it has arrived. If you think that the teirs system means no models for the little guys, it seems that this isn't the case. I didn't pull any strings or make a fuss, it just arrived in the shop. One phone call and I was in the car to wave my credit card. 

I'll admit that this did leave me with a quandry - the weekend before I got the call, I had seen several sets at Doncaster, including on the excellent Tony's Trains stand, but I'd placed the order and wasn't going to walk away. This sort of big ticket item makes a big difference to local shops. I'm sure I was the biggest sale of the day, if not the week. Anyway, I can't bang on about supporting real model shops and head to the web the moment it is time to buy something. 

I've gone for the 5-car set DC set for several reasons: 

• It's the same as my 1980s version.
• It's the cheapest option. 
• I don't have anywhere to run it, so there's no point in spending even more on a cupboard Queen. 

I mean, I want an APT, but it hardly fits in with the sort of layouts I build. This is just plugging a gap in the collection. A lollypop loco. But I deserve a lollypop. Occasionally. 

Comparing the packaging (no, I'm not doing a squeally unboxing) you can see that Hornby has changed a lot. The new model is in moulded cardboard trays, far more eco-firiendly than the big slab of poystyrene the old model arrived in. 

Out of the box, the shape is noticably less square then the older model. Colours are better (ignore the bright yellow, a trick of the light) and so much better applied too. The red line on the 80s version is best described as "fuzzy". There's more detail as you'd expect, although the train isn't exactly bristling with the stuff. 

Am I happy? Yes. There will be more detailed reviews in all the magazines, but I'm pleased with my model, although this is from an APT collector point of view rather than as a finescale modeller. Maybe one day I'll have somewhere for it to streatch its legs properly and enjoy it tilting around the curves. That will have to wait, but if it does, I'll still run the old one too!