📢 Please take a minute to read this personal message from the creator of RailwayModels.uk

Back to product list

Hornby R40490

RailRoad: GWR - Class 800 - 812001 - MS Coach

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

Prototype Era
Era 11 (2016 to 2026) The Last Days of Privatisation

Manufacturer description

This GWR Class 800 Motor Second (MS) coach is one of the five coaches you need to recreate a full GWR Class 800 train. This is the perfect complement to the GWR Class 800 train pack that consists of the drive and dummy unit - you can add just this coach or any of the other two coaches available.

The Class 800 trains were developed as replacements for the long-serving Class 43 HSTs and were first introduced on the Great Western Main Line in October 2017. Manufactured by Hitachi Rail, 36 five-car sets were built between 2014 and 2018 as part of the UK Government’s ‘Intercity Express Programme’ (IEP) and branded ‘Intercity Express Train’ (IET). The trains are bi-mode, capable of working along the newly electrified sections of the route, while diesel engines allow them to reach destinations that have not yet been electrified. An intended fleet of purely electric Class 801 ‘IETs’ were instead built to bi-mode specification in 2017/8, due to delays in completing electrification work, and these were designated as Class 800/3s. There are currently 21 of these running as nine-car sets.

Sets designated Classes 800/1 and 800/2 operate as nine and five-car sets respectively under ‘Azuma’ branding for operator LNER on the East Coast Main Line. The GWR ‘IET’ sets are numbered 800001-800036 and 800301-800321 and several of these trains have been given two names, one on each of the driving units. These are mainly the names of well-known people from history, including famous sportsmen and women, politicians, decorated war veterans and members of the Royal Family, with the driving units each carrying a different name (some sets do have just one name). Interesting exceptions include 800010 which has ‘Paddington Bear’ at one end and his creator ‘Michael Bond’ at the other, and 800316 which is named ‘Lionesses’, in honour of the England Ladies football team. The GWR’s historic past is not forgotten either, and 800004 is named ‘Isambard Kingdom Brunel’ and ‘Sir Daniel Gooch’, both eminent engineers associated with the original Great Western Railway.

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.

The Hornby RailRoad GWR Class 800 MS Coach, catalogue number 812001, is a OO gauge model from the 2025 Range. It is a painted model of a GWR Class 800 Motor Second coach, designed by Hitachi Rail and representing the current era.

The Class 800 trains were introduced on the Great Western Main Line in October 2017, as part of the UK Government's Intercity Express Programme. The trains are bi-mode, capable of working on both electrified and non-electrified sections of the route. The GWR Class 800 trains are numbered 800001-800036 and 800301-800321, with several trains having been given names, including famous individuals from history and notable figures from the Royal Family.

The GWR Class 800 MS Coach model is a part of the five-coach set needed to recreate a full GWR Class 800 train, and can be combined with other coaches from the range. The model measures 341mm in length and has a minimum radius curve requirement of 2nd Radius (438mm). It features a non-NEM pocket coupling and is part of the Railroad range from Hornby.