'The Great Gathering' Collection Makes Way for 'The Great Goodbye'

On 3rd July 2013 the National Railway Museum in York celebrated the coming together of the last remaining six Class A4 locomotives under the aptly named title 'The Great Gathering'.

The six remaining A4 locomotives are "Mallard", a permanent resident at the NRM, "Dominion of Canada" on loan from the Canadian Railway Museum, "Dwight D. Eisenhower" on loan from the National Railroad Museum, USA, together with the privately owned "Union of South Africa", "Bittern" and "Sir Nigel Gresley".

The last of Hornby's 'Great Gathering' Collections were sold this week and we have been delighted with the level of interest shown. Congratulations to all those who have been able to acquire a set and commiserations to those who have missed out.

Later this year we will release the 'Great Goodbye' collection which commemorates the event held at NRM Shildon in February 2014 which saw the six remaining Class A4 locomotive together for the last time.

This unique collection will feature a limited edition of only 510 of each of the six locomotives in their respective liveries as seen at NRM Shildon. These locomotives will feature etched nameplates and those who collect all six locomotives will be able to claim a specially commissioned glass display cabinet.

We will have a number of complete 'Great Goodbye' Collections which will be sold via our telephone order line on a 'first-come, first-served' basis. Please sign up to our e-Newsletter to be kept informed of when these sets will be made available to buy.

'The Great Gathering' Collection also gave us a unique opportunity to offer a charity auction, using our eBay account. We were astounded by the response to this limited edition which finally sold for £2200. All proceeds from this sale will be donated to the ToyTrust which helps disadvantaged and disabled children within the UK and abroad on behalf of the toy industry.

A huge thank you to everyone who bid on this Collection, which has made 'The Great Gathering' truly remarkable.