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

Hornby R40502A

LNER - Mk4 FO - 11417 - M 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

Following on from the Mk3 coach, the Mk4s were built between 1989 and 1992 at Metro-Cammell’s Washwood Heath facility for the newly-electrified InterCity 225 services on the East Coast Main Line.

A total of 282 carriages were built, to maintain a fleet of 30 fixed formations. Each one comprised of nine vehicles, operating with a Class 91 locomotive and a Driving Van Trailer on the other end to allow trains to operate in both directions without needing to turn the locomotive.

The Mk4 is an all-steel design which incorporates a number of improvements over the previous Mk3s. Most notably, the inclusion of automatic push-button operated plug-type doors in place of the manually-operated slam doors. The body shells, which were built by BREL and Breda in Milan, also have fully sealed gangways and controlled emission toilets (CETs).

The coaches were used by successive ECML train operators that followed on from BR InterCity, including GNER, East Coast, and LNER, though they were largely replaced with the arrival of the first Class 801 ‘Azumas’ from 2019/20, with large numbers going to scrap. Following refurbishment, 12 Mk4s were acquired by Transport for Wales for its Holyhead-Cardiff ‘premier’ service, and these were joined by further examples that had been refurbished for a planned London Euston-Blackpool service by Grand Central that never materialised, bringing the TFW fleet up to 37 vehicles.

This highly detailed OO gauge model coach is based on ‘TF', a first class open coach with 2 + 1 seating across the aisle with tables.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

Hornby LNER – Mk4 FO (model number 11417, part number R40502A) is a detailed OO gauge representation of a first‑class open coach used on the East Coast Main Line InterCity 225 services.

The real Mk4 coaches were built between 1989 and 1992 by Metro‑Cammell at Washwood Heath. A total of 282 carriages were produced to form 30 fixed‑formation trains, each set comprising nine vehicles, a Class 91 locomotive and a Driving Van Trailer for bidirectional operation. The design introduced all‑steel bodies, plug‑type automatic doors, fully sealed gangways and controlled‑emission toilets, replacing the earlier Mk3 slam‑door stock.

In service the Mk4s were operated by BR InterCity and later by GNER, East Coast and LNER. From 2019/20 many were withdrawn as Class 801 ‘Azuma’ units entered service; a number were refurbished for Transport for Wales’ Holyhead‑Cardiff premier service and for a planned Grand Central London‑Euston to Blackpool service that never ran.

The Hornby model depicts the ‘TF’ configuration – a first‑class open coach with a 2 + 1 seating layout and tables – and is marketed for the current era.