Starlight Express is back!

40 years ago, a momentous part of Hornby history occurred. On 22 March 1984, a special silver and blue liveried Battle of Britain Class model was presented to Queen Elizabeth II by Hornby’s Managing Director, Keith Ness, at the gala opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical, ‘Starlight Express’. The opening night at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London’s West End was welcomed with a lot of enthusiasm.

Did you know that we built a huge layout around the outside of the theatre? It incorporated a total of 1,500 feet of track! Hornby models ran around the track for an hour before the start of the show.

The iconic West End show is now back and celebrating 40 years since its original production in London! To mark the special occasion, we are proud to present a one-off replica of the Hornby 'Starlight Express' in the exact colours as the original and have added 2024 to the sleek silver and blue livery.