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Hornby R1251M

Celebrating 100 Years of ' Train Set, Centenary Year Limited Edition - 2020

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest

Manufacturer description

Rovex Plastics Ltd was formed in 1946 by Alexandra Gregory Vanetzian who had quickly, after the end of the Second World War mastered the technique of moulding plastic into brightly coloured miniature cars that he supplied under contracts to Marks & Spencer. Unfortunately, Vanetzian had to cease production of his cars as the name Rovex conflicted with the already registered Rover Car Company name and he consequently had to undertake not to manufacture any more cars, miniature or otherwise. So impressed had Marks & Spencer been with the toy car Vanetzian had supplied that they asked him in 1948 to produce an inexpensive battery powered train set.

Vanetzian accepted the challenge and in 1950, just in time for Christmas, the first train sets started to appear in the Marks & Spencer stores. The first Rovex set consisted of an oval of track, a battery box controller, two coaches and a black Princess locomotive, 'Princess Elizabeth'. However the task of completing the huge order for Marks & Spencer was not a smooth one and weighed down with financial issues Alexandra Vanetzian sold Rovex Plastics Ltd. to Lines Bros in October 1951 and in 1952 Tri-ang Railways was formed. The current Hornby range of train sets can trace their lineage to the very first set produced by Rovex Plastics Ltd., which contained a black Princess Coronation Class locomotive, 'Princess Elizabeth'.

With the twin celebrations of not only the Hornby Trains 100th Anniversary but also the 70th anniversary of the first Rovex, later to become Tri-ang Railways, there can only be one locomotive suitable to be included in a set celebrating these two momentous anniversaries and that is the 'Princess Elizabeth'. This set features the 21st century equivalents of not only the locomotive but also the coaches that replicate as closely as possible the very first Rovex train set.

As part of the Hornby Trains Centenary group of products, this set represents the coming together of the latest highly detailed models of 2020 with the pack artwork inspired by that of the very first set produced in 1950 by Rovex Plastics Ltd. This special limited edition train set contains an authenticating certificate confirming that it is just one of a production quantity of 1000 sets.

What's in the Box!?

Rolling Stock: BR Princess Royal Class 4-6-2; 46201 'Princess Elizabeth' LMS Period III Corridor First; 7573 LMS Period III Corridor Third, 27424.

Track & Accessories:

3rd Radius Large Oval; Train Controller (R7229); Wall Plug Transformer (P9000W); Power Connecting Track (R8206) Re-Railer.

Product videos

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  HORNBY | Signal Box - UNBOXING Rovex 00 Gauge Train Set

Video links are generated algorithmically and may not necessarily be this precise product.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

Hornby Celebrating 100 Years of Train Set – Centenary Year Limited Edition (2020) is a limited‑run model railway set produced to mark both Hornby’s centenary and the 70th anniversary of the first Rovex train set. Only 1 000 sets were manufactured, each supplied with an authenticating certificate.

The set reproduces the original black Princess Coronation Class locomotive, numbered 46201 and named “Princess Elizabeth”, together with two period‑accurate LMS III corridor coaches – a First Corridor coach (number 7573) and a Third Corridor coach (number 27424). The locomotive is painted in a pristine black livery with the early British Railways emblem, uses a 5‑pole skew‑wound motor, is DCC ready with an 8‑pin socket, and runs on a 2nd‑radius minimum curve of 438 mm. Its overall length is 299 mm.

The package includes a 3rd‑radius large oval track, a train controller (R7229), a wall‑plug transformer (P9000W), a power‑connecting track piece (R8206) and a re‑railer. All components are finished in a painted, pristine condition and the gauge is OO.

The release combines modern detailing standards of 2020 with packaging artwork that echoes the design of the original 1950 Rovex set, providing collectors with a historically informed yet contemporary model railway experience.