Hornby Unveils ScotRail HST, Merchant Navy, Class 66 for 2026

Hornby timed three OO gauge announcements to land five days before Model Rail Scotland opened at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, and every item earns its Scottish credential on its own terms. The ScotRail Class 43 HST train pack (R30464) commemorates the last HST fleet still in regular passenger use; the SR Merchant Navy 21C4 "Cunard White Star Line" (R30560SS) arrives factory-fitted with a steam generator and HM7000 DCC sound board; and the RailRoad GBRf Class 66 "HMS Argyll" (R30534) enters the budget diesel freight lineup at £94.99 DCC-ready, with availability from April 2026.

The ScotRail HST is the most regionally specific of the three. Power cars 43128 and 43135 are both currently stabled at Haymarket and still work the Inter7City network across Scotland. The train pack pairs a powered car with a dummy car, priced at £394.99 DCC-ready or £449.99 with TXS sound fitted, but delivery is not expected until December 2026. That timeline makes this a long-term pre-order suited to modellers building a dedicated Scottish passenger scene, and anyone considering it should confirm their minimum radius clearance accommodates the full power-and-dummy consist before committing.

The Merchant Navy carries the most technical ambition of the three. Built in 1941 at Eastleigh Works as 21C4 (later renumbered 35004), the real locomotive was named by Sir Percy Bates, chairman of the Cunard-White Star company, on January 1, 1942. The Cunard-White Star shipping line had its roots and major operations in Glasgow, which gives this Southern Railway pacific an authentic Scottish tie at a show that might otherwise question why it is there. Hornby's model uses the Bulleid Pacific tooling throughout and is "pre-fitted with HM7000 control" to produce "puffs of steam in time with its movement," paired with sprung metal buffers and a die-cast chassis.

The pre-order calculation for the Merchant Navy hinges on one firm constraint: R30560SS will only be available with DCC sound and steam generator pre-fitted, at £364.99. There is no DCC-ready configuration. DC layout operators will need a compatible controller before the loco will run correctly, and the steam generator itself introduces an upkeep variable that purely mechanical models do not, requiring distilled water and periodic cleaning. Club and exhibition operators running the model hard on a demonstration layout should factor that maintenance cadence into their decision. June 2026 is the expected delivery date.

The Class 66 HMS Argyll operates in an entirely different tier. The RailRoad model carries running number 66775 in GBRf livery, though it is worth monitoring against Hornby's official product confirmation: it was 66091 that historically held the HMS Argyll name during its time with English, Welsh & Scottish Railway in the early 2000s, a discrepancy present across multiple retailer listings. At £94.99 DCC-ready and £149.99 TXS sound fitted, the model sits well below the premium Hornby mainline bracket. Bachmann's sound-equipped Class 66 remains the established benchmark in OO gauge diesel freight; the RailRoad version trades decoder sophistication for price accessibility, making it a practical call for club operators who need additional freight motive power without stretching the layout budget.

All three items opened for pre-order on March 24. The April-June-December delivery stagger means cash commitments land at different points across the year. For collectors focused on Scottish-subject models, the HST train pack numbered 43128 and 43135 represents a fleet with a finite operational life, and Hornby's decision to announce it at Model Rail Scotland ensures the collector audience and the pre-order window opened in the same room.