TMC launches exclusive Rapido Class 46 with HM7000 sound for TT:120

The Model Centre has paired its exclusive TT:120 Class 46 No. 46026 Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry with professionally installed HM7000 sound across Rapido’s new Peak range. For TT:120 buyers, that means one model can be ordered DCC ready, with ESU LokSound fitted, or with Hornby HM7000 sound fitted from new.

The locomotive itself is finished in BR blue with headcode panels, and Rapido’s specification list is the sort of thing that matters once the train is on the layout: directional lighting, illuminated cab interiors, separately fitted detail parts, an etched radiator fan grille, front and rear NEM coupling pockets and a Next18 decoder socket. Rapido’s TT:120 Class 46 page also lists a single headcode panel, plated-over bodyside steps, a bodyside lower grille, outer bogie sandboxes only and factory-fitted speakers in sound versions, plus an optional buffer beam hose pack. In practice, that gives modellers a clear path from simple running to full sound without having to cut into the body or hunt down a decoder installation.

The prototype gives the model real point. Class 46 No. 46026 was the only named member of the class, carrying Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry after entering service in April 1962 as D163 at Derby Works. It was renumbered 46026 in February 1974 and withdrawn in November 1984, after years in BR service that included passenger and freight work on the Midland main line and summer cross-country turns in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Rapido said the TT:120 Peak range is its first locomotive release in the scale, built from its N gauge Class 45 and 46 tooling but redesigned for the larger format. The company is also pitching the range as a full-life project, covering BR-era locomotives through preservation. That fits the class history, with 12 Class 45s and 3 Class 46s preserved, enough to support preserved-era subjects as well as main-line blue period models.

The HM7000 angle matters just as much as the exclusive number. Hornby positions HM7000 as a Bluetooth and DCC control system built around Next18-pin decoders, and TMC says its professionally fitted sound option will carry an installation warranty. For a scale still proving itself to buyers, that combination of Rapido tooling, retailer exclusivity and ready-to-run sound support is a strong sign that TT:120 is moving from launch novelty to a line with real depth.