Hornby TT4028 BR Intercity, Mk3 Tourist Guard Standard, 44063 - Era 8

British Railways required new rolling stock to enable high-speed travel on the Victorian-era railways in Britain. The Mk2 rolling stock was insufficient, and the new Mk3 coaches were introduced. These coaches were 75ft (23m) long, provided greater capacity, and included disk brakes and wheel slip protection for faster deceleration. The first Mk3 coaches were used in the HST prototype along with two Class 41 diesel power cars in 1972. The Mk3 coaches entered service in 1975 with the Class 43 to form the iconic InterCity 125 trainset.

Further, Mk3 coaches were introduced to the West Coast Mainline for use as part of locomotive-hauled trains. The HST units use Mk3 stock, while the standard locomotive hauled stock is Mk3a. Mk3a stock differs from Mk3 stock due to the inclusion of buffers and a different electrical system that uses motor generator units in each coach to power air conditioning and other ancillaries. The Mk3a stock was built until 1984, and then 3B stock with improved seating and lighting was built from 1985 to 1988.

As BR moved away from the corporate blue livery, some Mark 3 coaches and complimentary Class 43 units were painted in a new Intercity Executive livery. This livery consisted of a dark grey upper body, a white and red stripe, and a light beige sand color on the bottom of the body. Although this livery became widespread and long-lasting, the name Executive was eventually dropped from the side of the units, as the livery became the only one applied to Intercity sets.