View source for No2 Locomotive 2711, early, MLDL (Hornby Series)

{{Exhibit|Loc=1037|Shelf=4|Pic=Hornby_No2_locomotive,_2711,_early,_detail.jpg|Text=Early plain black Hornby No.2 loco, detail, showing brass side plate|Date1=1923}}
{{Loco||2711|4-4-0}}
A very early example of a black [[4-4-0]] '''Hornby Clockwork Loco No.2 with six-wheel tender, and original box'''.

The No.2 locomotive (numbered '''2711''') was introduced in 1923, and this early version was probably manufactured some time in the first couple of years of production.

The loco and tender each have a round metallic "'''M L<small>D</small> L'''" decal with red lettering , standing for "Meccano Ltd, Liverpool".

The box is displayed above the locomotive, and is plain with embossed, raised, uninked lettering.

==Dating==
This can be seen to be one of the very earliest examples of a Hornby No.2 locomotive, because of the absence of lettered paintwork or other painted details. When [[Meccano Ltd]]. produced their first trains, customers had a choice between the glossy enamelled paintwork of the Hornby Clockwork Train, or screen printed detail on the cheaper Hornby Tin-Printed Train, but neither of the two product lines included painted detailing, suggesting that Meccano Ltd. may not actually have had the production-line capability to do paintwork detailing on their models at this time - the cab number on the side of the Hornby Clockwork Train was instead embossed on a thin brass plate which was then proudly atttached to the side of the cab. 

Like the original enamelled loco, this example of a No.2 Loco is completely plain black, with an embossed plate on the cab side with the number (2711). By the time that the first colour-illustrated [[The Hornby Book of Trains|Hornby Book of Trains]] first appeared in 1925, the No.2 loco was being shown with painted lining and decals and/or lettering , so this example would seem to date from some time between 1923 and 1925.

==Catalogue image, 1925==
{{BigPic|Hornby_No.2_Goods_Set,_LMS_(1925_HBoT).jpg|A later version of the Hornby No.2 Locomotive, from the 1925 Hornby Book of Trains}}

{{No2Loco}}