30:32 I see my favourite tank engine in the background! Love the LBSC E4, the only loco I know that could work in basically any livery! Edit: And at 34:06, I can see my favourite old-fashioned tender loco, the Dean Goods!

Mine arrived at the weekend from Rails of Sheffield and I love this train pack. I agree about the black foam packing. Running it in the whole train seemed so tiny as it was only slightly longer then a Class 52 western I was running in at the same time.

Those coaches look incredible! I have actually visited Rainhill, where this locomotive was chosen to run on the LMR!

My wife's father bought a Hornby Rocket set in the 1970's as an investment and it sat on the mantlepiece in their home until her mother died in 2009. It looked just like your one except much bigger. The engine and each carriage were bigger than your box and the set included a couple of goods wagons. It ran on butane gas capsules but was only ever run once just to test it. After my wife's mother died, we sold the set at auction and it fetched quite a few hundred pounds. I didn't realise until your video that Hornby had made them on different scales.

Thanks for the review Sam, I am an Italian train enthusiast, particularly interested in this type of train, it is a beautiful model, we finally have a model with significant improvements compared to some previous models, Hornby did a great job !

I got my Smokey Joe model on Monday, and I’m pretty impressed by how much oo gauge has changed through the years.

38:05 Has confused me. Haven't you already reviewed the 08 and Derby Lightweight years ago? And these are different scores too, why would you re-review them?

"I've created a weird, parallel universe with multiple Rockets in it." Or, you could easily say that one is the original, and the other is a working replica, like the one you mentioned earlier in the video :P.

Sam: It looks like there are no NEM couplings Me: *INTENSE FLASHBACKS TO THE HOUR OF STRUGGLING TRYING TO COUPLE MY BACHMANN CLASS 158*

That is a nice model! I especially enjoy all the little details and how the set includes the LMR coaches!

Thank you for this review, it takes me back 40odd years, when I was lucky enough to attend the 150year celebrations at Rainhill. The construction firm I worked for had some tickets to take clients, and being a weekend, no-one else wanted to go!! So not only did I get to the show, I got paid AND a free lunch! What more could you ask for!

It's actually REALLY nice to see some realistic couplings for a change. Ok yes I know it's not really practical on most things, but it makes a lovely change.

hi sam! I have seen that Hornby are releasing an open-air third class wagon for this set. and the RRP is £16.99! you should review it!

Hi sam, hope your ok. Mines just arrived with smokey joe and its such a stunning model. I love it. Great video and keep up the great work you do. Jack

That might be my favorite train set I've seen on your channel. Thanks for showing us that.

After wearing out my old Triang Rocket, I was delighted to get this one. I had to pay up for it, but it is a jewel and performs splendidly. I did go out and got the third class coaches, which are equally exquisite. However, the tiny loco won't pull more than three coaches, total. A treasured piece, this one I'm taking with me.

Love the Union Pacific 119 at 30:22. When do you plan on a review of it?

Have you ordered the 3rd Class coaches Sam? the drawing is a period one from the time.

Wow, what a superb little model! Mine's waiting at home for me but I haven't had a chance to open it yet 😭 I'm even more excited now after seeing your video. Great job as always 👍

I got mine from Hattons with the Triang 60's package. Took it out & the loco didn't work! So under 1 hour I had to send it back to Hattons. Their repair service is above reproach! They found that 2 of the wires between the loco & tender had come unsoldered, £189 and that, seriously Hornby??? QC?? Once it came back running (thanks Hattons, you are life savers!) the loco ran quite well, but certainly no crawl. Once I put a Hornby R7105 decoder in it, it became as good a loco as your version. Only grumble is, it doesn't run in reverse very well, lots of wheel slip. Glad yours is a good one

Thank you, Sam. An interesting and informative review and I want one now that I have seen your appraisal. If they haven't yet given you a bundle of shares in the Company, perhaps they should :-)

God, i can’t believe it has been 5 months since this was uploaded

Probably one of the best things i've seen in model locomotives from the classy vintage box to fully coupled and running. Amazing.

Great stuff. A beautiful model. The other Rocket replica was in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. My Papa worked on the railway for 42 years, retiring in the BR days approx 1982. Anyway around 1980 my Papa took me to a train Expo in Scotland where they had set up a section of narrow gauge track and we're running Rocket, replica, back and forth. She was bizarre looking but mesmerizing as I hadn't seen anything like it.

The wheels were turning in time with the opening piano music! :-D I really is a beautiful little set. :-)

Scrooge is burying Little Timmy

Hi s Sam. I bought a motor for a Triang to fit in an economically priced rail bus . A set of Nucro wheels and some very small e!astic bands were also purchased.. With a twig drilled down the middle then cut down the middle to allow the twig to be glued around the axle of one of the Nucro wheel sets small strips off brass were shaped and glued to form pick-ups for the motor. This rail bus was very fast and could speed around the Crawley Model Railway Society layout in 15 seconds as the layout was a scale mile long loop and was exhibited two years in succession at Westminster Hall iLondon in the early 60'. From Ian.

The Rocket was imported to the USA , and was the Reading Railroads first engine in 1836 ; operating in Reading Pa ,through SE Pennsylvania to North East. Very important train. I'd love to have this.

24:02 i kan see a american 4-4-0 steam locomotive union pacific #119

I'd have added an epicyclic reduction set in line with the worm gear, otherwise it looks unrealistically fast. That'd fix the crawl smoothness issues and probably make it by far the slowest crawler you can get. That might also allow the motor to be shortened enough to allow a bigger flywheel. But now we're in custom motor territory, so you're looking at maybe another 100 quid on top of the RRP

Seriously Sam, THANK YOU for your amazing content. It’s really crazy over here in the States, and I’ve realized that hearing ‘... Welcome back to the railway!’ has given me such an escape from everything going on, even for only a few minutes.

Held my breath while you were taking it out every time it went under that pedestrian walk over I about went blue nice set glad it works well

I absolutely love that model and thank you for putting the time stamps in the description

SO HAPPY! My old Stephenson's rocket broke,completely bent the front axle. now i have a Stephenson's rocket that is sizable to my layout!

Thanks for the great review. Looking forward to receiving my Rocket which is still in the post.

I find myself watching your videos in bed most nights, I don’t even have a model railway! I have a train set my dad put on a big heavy board, it never ran good after that 😩 but I do love seeing you and all the awesome trains and your set up 😀

I really like this loco so much, thanks for reviewing Sam.

Lovely train pack! Thank you for the presentation. The light weight of the loco got me thinking of ways to increase it. Maybe you could fill the chimney with lead pellets if it is hollow? And the figures could be cast of tin. Also the barrel on the tender could be filled with something heavy. Just some ideas. I recently fitted my Bachmann Spectrum H0 0-6-0 saddle tank switcher with a DCC decoder. Very cramped and fiddly work indeed but I guess nothing compared to fitting DCC on this locomotive. Very nice video, keep 'em coming and keep safe!

My father bought me the original Triang set back in the late 60s (I am 57) and even for the time it was a critically acclaimed set, though it only had the one coach as I recall. I loved it. It ran beautifully for the time but was susceptible to overheating, but that was hardly surprising given the state of electric motors at the time and the finesse of Rocket's body. My father insisted on taking it apart for whatever reason but never quite got round to put it together again, so although I do have the original coach still, the locomotive is in bits. I am not, in any way, being critical of the review here, but, what I would say is though, is that though the new Rocket may well be light, to me its pulling power is academic. The original Rocket wouldn't have hauled much anyway so to try and compare that in the same way as, say, A4 locomotives from different manufacturers being able to pull comparative loads I think is unfair on the Rocket model (I know you didn't, what I'm trying to clumsily say is that the 3 coaches is all it would never need to pull). After all, it was never going to be expected to pull even one Mark 1 carriage in its lifetime. Similarly the couplings. Other than its own coaches as we see, what else would Rocket have hauled? There might well have been small freight wagons, but I'd imagine there are no contemporary wagons commercially available, so again I think the method of coupling in this particular set is academic. I'd also say that this new Rocket set probably wasn't really meant for 'general use' but more of a collectors' set so again, I'd venture to suggest that performance isn't really a key issue in the same way as a brand new Pacific model. Great review of such a great set though. I don't know if it's a calculated risk or brave step by Hornby, but it shows they are capable of producing great models which hasn't always been the case.

I am eagerly awaiting the postman (unfortunately not today (Saturday) but there we are) to deliver this from my local model shop. I preordered and set up a payment account which makes the price far more bearable when you are simply paying £20 or £30 a month/couple of months (or of course whatever you can afford!) and then paying off the last £30 or so to clear the account and actually get it delivered to my door. I wasn't sure whether to watch your review or not (the entire "spoilers" principle!) but I am so glad I did. I have heard through various rumours that trying to fit a decoder to this, which I will be doing, is a bit of a nightmare with various people breaking the barrel trying to DCC it. I will report back! I managed it with my Queen Anne, so fingers crossed. Thank you as always, Dom

WOW!!!! That is beautiful!!!! I Love the chained couplers, the paint work and details on both the engine and the coaches. However, I still can't help but love the personality and charm of the old Triang Rocket; there's something to be said about old model train sets. :) I couldn't help but notice your Bachmann Union Pacific 119, and Bachmann City Of Truro on the sidings. Both beautiful engines and hopefully we see a review of them too.

The rocket looks amazing. As new to your channel, love it

This is probably one of your longest reviews ever! I believe the last one you did was either the Heljan Beyer Garrett or the OxFord Rail Railgun train pack. Actually, now that I think of it, your Oxford Rail Railgun train pack was your longest review ever with it being 40 minutes long! This one almost beats it! 😧

I actually like when the model starts to wobbly an shake it makes it look realalistic and experimental

I got this as a gift today and I love it! I can’t wait to run it (which will be a while since our layout isn’t built yet) I’m ecstatic either way!

Love it been waiting fir another rocket vid

Thanks Sam for yet another well balanced review and also a great video to go with it. Stevenson's Rocket is definitely my ALL TIME favourite steam engine. I have the mainstream "yellow box" version and I simply cannot fault it. I have also pre-ordered the new 3rd class blue open passenger coach due to be released in September of this year. Can't wait for your next upload.

Thanks for the great review! The Rocket is very smooth, likely the 5 pole motor. And the detailing on the coaches matched with smooth rolling wheelsets makes it a beautiful historical train.

5:44 I had a wierd look on my face until you said curiosity. Lol

200 pounds is a friendly price point compared to some continental stuff of the same era... The Piko Saxonia with 4 wagons comes at around 290 euro. Trix Adler comes at 500 euro for a DCC equipped example, and you might need another 40 euro for figures if it comes without

A few hours ago I paid my highest ever price for Hornby locos.The R3819 die cast body Duchess Of Atholl (Dublo version) and this Hornby R3810 L&MR, Stephenson's Rocket Train Pack. Thought I would miss out on both of these, but my closest local hobby shop rang me and informed me that both had just been delivered as per my order from many months ago. The only shop I pre order from. I was thinking Australia would miss out on these, given all the UK sold out upheavals lately with both. Good service but of course both seemed to be at full RRP.

Just ordered the loco I mentioned a little while back! He should arrive about the 10th-17th of July! I can’t wait to test the little bugger on my own set (which I keep in the box as I don’t have a room to keep it out permanently). The Rocket shown in the video is fascinating as it was the first working steam locomotive! I noticed something of an illusion while watching it run. When you stare at one of the wheels as it runs, it looks as if it’s going to other direction, which can mess with your mind very quickly! If I find any other locos (gotta get more track such as 22 inch curves for the larger ones on my list I made) I’ll see about getting them! Great video as always!

Another amazing video as always Sam!

Great review Sam, my favourite I’ve seen on the new Rocket so far 👍👍👍

Takes me back to in time , Nice video Sam

I would like to get a Rocket one day. Indeed some of my favourite model locomotives are the "early" ones. Bachmann made a series of American ones - The John Bull, The DeWitt Clinton, and the Prussia/Lafayette. I wanted the Lafayette. My father had gotten the DeWitt and the John Bull, though, and I loved them. Didn't take very good care of them, though, sadly, and so I no longer have them. Lovely locomotives though, if you love the older style locos.

Aaaaah....... The Rocket is so beautiful with this train pack set. Clearly the best art, how this marvelous piece of history to show for people and kids, how trains are back in time and revolutionary it was, and the Rocket was a very, very very important for many constructions for the next 200 years.

This really is a stunning model, I have now put in an order for one of these and I can’t wait to see it when it arrives.

What a stunning model. Great review as ever Sam!

The New Rocket looks so good and if i had it the steps would have probably broken off already :) Hope your having a good time in quarantine and have a good one Sam!

hmm i may think about getting this in the near future and another great video sam!

I'm glad to see they nailed Stephenson's Rocket because it is the acknowledged forerunner of all locos. (The true forerunner is the loco made by Richard Trevithick)And it's my favorite loco. Thanks Sam! Love the channel

I've just gotten into model trains and I recall watching your videos 2 years ago. Revisiting makes me feel old lol

Great review! Didn't know Hornby made a model of this.

Cool I loved the Stevenson’s rocket when I was little

I really want this specific version but now they changed one of the coaches, the iconic box and made it more expensive

Sam- you refer to the illustarion of Rocket on the inside cover of the box. It is from the Mechanics Magazine of 1829 and shows Rocket at the Rainhill Locomotive Trials. One other point. Rocket was only yellow for these trials . In servicelike the rest of the L & M locos she was green! Her cylinders were also lowered in January 1831 to a nearly horizontal position. Huskisson also was not the first railway casualty and certainly wasn`t the last!

Hooray you finally got it :) congrats!!! Are you thinking of keeping the old rocket what you had

I think the lousy barrel was a necessary compromise for DCC, although it's bad that it doesn't quite close all the way. I'd have done screws from underneath to pull it in tight.

The detail on the coaches are amazing Keep up the good work sam. :D

Simply incredible video Sir HATS OFF TO YOU 😊

Damn you Sam making it look so easy coupling hahaha. Take me awhile to master it. Do love it though

That was a really nice model... it’s nice seeing something decent and respectable.

Super wow Sam, excellent review of Stephenson ‘Rocket’ train pack 👍👍 I’m glad they’re finally been released as I been planning to buy the new tool Rocket from Hornby. It’s amazing that this train pack set is the smallest that Hornby has released this year, I hope they will release more of 1820s & 1830s locomotives plus rolling stock like Locomotion in the near future. The only downside of the train pack was the packaging.

It is interesting that the 'Puffing Billy' and 'Wylam Dilly' locomotives of approx 1812 lasted until after Rocket was no longer used. Their modification to bogie locomotives to save track damage was reversed later as rail improved and they ended up in a similar state to original.

A great review as always Sam, and such a dainty little loco the Rocket is by Hornby. A nice little (sic) bit of engineering for this model. Any cons I seen in my yellow pack, you highlighted in this vlog. Price for the unit could have been cheaper by say £25, but then again it must have taken a lot more time to assemble all the fiddly parts together. Then again your paying for nostalgia that this model loco has behind it. Hornby's previous versions date further back than 1969 to 1963 with R651S/652 with smoke. Later releases were the R346 Smoke + 1 Coach, (1964-66), R346C Non Smoke + 3 Coach (1968-69), R769 with Nickel Tyres + 3 Coach (1982-84) NB also loco sold separately as R769 (1982-84), R771 with 3 Coach (1983-84) NB as a train pack to France via Hornby Acho. The price guide for these older models range from £45-£200 for the collector's of The Rocket models.

I can't believe you commented on my video! I was having a bad day and that really cheered me up. It really made my day when I got a notification that I had a comment and noticed it was you! :D

Cheers for the vid Sam. What an impressive historic train pack mate. I definitely do want the Yellowdale Rocket mate!👍🚂🚃🚃🚃🚄🚅🚉🛸🍺🍻😁👍

Oh wow that set looks stunning😍😍 i remember building rocket when i was in year 8 and its still runs today hahaha honestly have no idea how 😂😂😂 great video once again sam im loving the channel

Mine arrived this morning too. Then your review popped up. Its been a great day! Can't run mine yet, yet to lay any rails. So great to see yours running. It is stunning in the flesh though. very pleased. Thought it deserved higher on your ranking table really. Have now pre-ordered some opens to keep it company. Very nice. Hope Hornby considers some other ERA 1. A 'planet' would be great. And someone mentionned locomotion. That would be great, but very tricky to make. Lets hope for more victorian stock to come along.

I was tempted to get one and now you have sold it to me, even if they are not the best runners they look fantastic

Sam, that loco caused the first ever death by train incident in railway history [William Huskisson died on September 15, 1830] during the opening of a railway system or something to that. A rocket loco ran him over. Trains have a dark side you know

Hi Sam - The chains aren't a mistake as I have the same with mine. The shorter ones go between the tender and first coach as the gap otherwise looks a bit silly. Glad you were as happy with yours as I was with mine!

Have to admit I absolutely love mine. Completely agree about the box, when I first tried to get the locomotive and the coaches out I was absolutely terrified to put them back in. Hoping for more rolling stock to go with it after the announcement of the third class coaches which I hope comes with more rocket style couplings. After the announcement of the third class coach earlier today I’ve seen quite a few people now asking for Hornby to produce ‘Planet’ and ‘Lion’, fingers crossed 🤞

I live alongside the line in which she ran! And I spotted City of Truro , waiting for that review!

Man she looks beautiful. That side rod is just hypnotizing to look at while it’s running. Such a cute loco! Wow. That’s the first time I consider a loco cute.... Anyway, I’m hoping for Locomotion No.1 and Planet one day

just as you released this video today Hornby have announced the third class open carriages, I have pre ordered 2 to go with the centenary rocket set I purchased. I had the exact same reaction you had when you opened the box due to its detail and size. also you are correct about the coaches having different names in the different sets

I got this recommended to me right after buying tickets to ride in the cab of an actual steam engine with my friend! I'm so excited!

It all looks amazing. Realism is 100% good. Definetly going to have to get this.

It certainly is a stunner. Just thinking about them being able to almost perfectly conceal the mechanism without sacrificing detail is astonishing; particularly when in some recent bigger models there is still a mechanism somewhat interfering with detail such as the Derby Lightweight you recently reviewed. It's a bit of a shame about the water barrel but then that came at the cost of cleverly trying to fit DCC. Overall though they really have come a long way from their little pug where the motor took up the entire cab. Would love to see them do new tooling for that someday. Interestingly while Rocket is one of the smallest models out there; it's also perhaps the tallest. That funnel makes it taller than virtually everything around it.

Good thing this one is sold out everywhere, I've already spent too much money on model trains after binge-watching a bunch of your reviews!

Fab review, Sam! I don't have any trains myself, but living in Darlington, and having seen from your video what Hornby are now capable of, I really hope they are planning a model of Locomotion No.1 for the 2025 bicentenary. That would be amazing! xxx

It’s crazy, there are 4 Stephenson’s Rockets at York Railway Museum, the real one, a static replica, a static, cut open replica and a working replica.

It might be that the short couplings are to couple the loco to the coaches, whilst the long ones are to couple the coaches to each other. Two sets of each, just in case one of the couplings goes "walkies"!

Awesome video today Sam I really want one now lol

What would look really cool, especially in real life is to park the Rocket next to the Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy locomotive for a size comparison. If you're ever in the states, and get a chance to see 4014, when they eventually resume excursions after this Covid-19 virus pandemic is under control, do it. The Big Boy is a really impressive piece of steam era technology.

Hi sam. Great review. Was watching it with mine out aswell,. I agree the packaging is a bit compromising on the handling of in and out of the box, but if you use the thin plastic sleeve that comes in each coach and loco section place near the top centre and it slide in perfectly without damaging the little luggage rails that stick out abit Ion the top end. Hope this helps Sam. Take care. Matt

Hornby did an outstanding job. The picture comparisons really show the improvements as well!

A really nice model! By the way, I know a lot of people are asking for the Big Boy to be reviewed, but just letting you know, the Big Boy can only operate AT LEAST 22in" radius curves. Even then, that is pushing it a bit, because that will wear the wheels with the stress of the curves. So, that would mean at least 24in" for large American locomotives. Other than that, another great review!

I like how you used the new time stamps!