Heljan Class 35 Hymek

[Phil Bullock]

We replace the rather undernourished Heljan ones with turned brass ones from Markits

[Salmotrutta]

1 hour ago, Phil Bullock said:

We replace the rather undernourished Heljan ones with turned brass ones from Markits

Thanks Phil! 

[truffy]

On 19/08/2020 at 22:20, Phil Bullock said:

We replace the rather undernourished Heljan ones with turned brass ones from Markits

Would that be these ones, Phil?

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/1000/4ma159-modern-airhorns-short-long-2-pairs-/

[Salmotrutta]

Waiting to hear back from Markits otherwise will try Roxey...

[Phil Bullock]

On 22/08/2020 at 18:00, truffy said:

Would that be these ones, Phil?

https://www.roxeymouldings.co.uk/product/1000/4ma159-modern-airhorns-short-long-2-pairs-/

yup those are the boys! 

[bullit]

Just noticed the November releases are now available from at least one retailer in the North West.

Just wondering if anyone has any further info about these two:
3531 GSYP D7041
3533 GSYP D7050

Both seem to be pristine, the same livery and not preserved with the only difference appearing to be running numbers. Upon doing a bit more research, the real D7041 was an earlier version with different boiler and brakes to the later D7050.

I've no idea if there are any visual changes between the two and if there were, would these have been replicated on the model. Unfortunately the retailer only currently has photos of the previous versions (though blue FYE version 3535 show correct photos).

Also, does anyone know if the 'droopy couplings' were resolved on more recent versions? The ones I have were from the very first release and suffered from this.

Thanks.

[Suzy Sulzer]

https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/Heljan-oo-gauge-class-35-hymek

Glad to see return of correct size headcode font compared with previous batches.

 

Return of solebar instruction plates

 

Correct running numbers to suit headcode clips fitted locos. 

.

[lapford34102]

8 hours ago, bullit said:

Just wondering if anyone has any further info about these two:
3531 GSYP D7041
3533 GSYP D7050

50 has a class data sticker under the LH number and a shed plate behind the door, so later in it's life, 41 is as delivered.

The blue faded/weathered one; I'll reserve judgement until I see one but from the pictures, Hmm..............!!

 

Stu

[younGGuns7]

9 minutes ago, lapford34102 said:

50 has a class data sticker under the LH number and a shed plate behind the door, so later in it's life, 41 is as delivered.

The blue faded/weathered one; I'll reserve judgement until I see one but from the pictures, Hmm..............!!

 

Stu

Thanks I have been looking at these two and it did state as delivered on 41 so that must be the difference as there is no detail against the description. Must admit the weathered ones to me don’t sit quite right, will have to see in the flesh to make my mind up

[Roy Langridge]

2 hours ago, lapford34102 said:

 

The blue faded/weathered one; I'll reserve judgement until I see one but from the pictures, Hmm..............!!

 

Stu

When are Heljan going to give up the weathered models? They are very hit and miss, and the latter seems more common. 
 

Roy

[Downendian]

D7052 is a very complex weathering project, faded blue and patches of primer showing through, it was in quite a state . It also carried the D prefix until the end, Grahame Wareham’s excellent photos are the best source (Grahame’s Flickr photo below, linked to Flickr) Heljan have not appeared to have  done any chassis weathering and the floor level door handle modification, present on all blue and some late in green locos is still missing. I was hoping to see this on the new tooling. I can’t tell from the RoS photos if they have done the distinctive roof fan and grille  I’ll be detailing my existing fleet instead I think if it’s missing. 

 

[IMG]

Picked up 7041 at Warley over the weekend.  
Positive is the LED lighting and updated PCB with 21 pin socket with extra plugs for the aux connections
Running light shares the same light source as the headcode.
Red light is shielded by a piece of foam to stop bleed in reverse
Sales bumph says sprung buffers but it’s not got those.  

No specific space for a speaker and the roof grill is a solid moulding.

I plugged in the kadee and offered it up to the height gauge.  It was spot on so drooping couplings appear improved.  

[Halvarras]

The photo reference for D7041 must be that showing it brand new after arrival at Derby on its first test run on 27 June 1962. It appears to be complete except for the fitting of OHLE flashes, which it may well have collected upon return to Beyer Peacock since these were a requirement by then - if B-P didn't fit them Swindon almost certainly would have done when it arrived for acceptance trials. So in all likelihood it ran for a very short time as modelled (probably just Manchester - Derby - Manchester then light engine to Swindon). Heljan's apparent desperation to model every possible livery combination, down to details such as this, makes me wonder whether the next releases will include D7046 in patchy primer, since it conducted the same trial run (1T46) as D7041 in this ghostly condition......🤔

 

GSYP 7050's data panels, shed stencils and lack of D prefixes would date it to 1969/70. As for the blue ones, we've seen red bufferstocks before, on D7064, and full red bufferbeams on D7007.......I think this error stems from a photo of the latter with what appears to be a red buffer but I'm sure it's a newly fitted buffer still in red oxide primer. I never saw any blue Hymeks with red-painted beams or stocks. At least the bufferbeam cowls are black now, not blue (never were on blue 'uns, even the 1973/4 Old Oak repaints). Heljan have been applying paint processes to blue Hymek bufferbeams which weren't necessary!

 

I also notice that this batch has not had the roof fan grille painted black, an omission which has occurred before. There seems to have been an expectation of tooling changes but I can't say I'm surprised that none have been applied, since this tooling is very nearly two decades old now (but still excellent overall). However Heljan should be reminded that (a) in 2004 Hornby managed to fit sprung buffers to its Hymek 37 years after it first appeared (😮), and (b) they themselves did this to their own original Class 47 after the first releases, so what's the excuse with the ever-popular Hymek? It would interfere with fitting the snowploughs? Does anyone bother with these? (Can anyone get the buffers out to fit them without breaking something?!)

 

Oh, and the long/short roof horns are still the wrong way round 🤨 - Hornby got that right too - in 1967!!

 

[bullit]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. 

 

After looking at the RoS photos I thought I'd made a decision to go for D7041, then I read about the omission of warning flashes which I'd completely missed!

[Halvarras]

7 hours ago, bullit said:

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. 

 

After looking at the RoS photos I thought I'd made a decision to go for D7041, then I read about the omission of warning flashes which I'd completely missed!

 

They are easily added, to represent D7041 as it ran from entering service* until it went BFYE in 1967/8. 7050 has them, but it also has late '60s overpainted D's and data panels........

 

*Confirmed - page 15 of the colour album 'Heyday of the Hymeks' shows D7041 at Dawlish with the flashes on 24 July 1962 - just one month after its appearance at Derby without them. It's good to know because, if captions are to be believed, D7002 still had no flashes (or roof-mounted warning horns) as late as 1966, so anything was possible!

[lapford34102]

On 29/11/2022 at 22:04, Roy Langridge said:

When are Heljan going to give up the weathered models? They are very hit and miss, and the latter seems more common. 

 

On 29/11/2022 at 22:07, Downendian said:

D7052 is a very complex weathering project,

Having had a look at the photos on Kernow's site

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/72519/3534-Heljan-Class-35-Hymek-Diesel-Locomotive-number-7052

all I can say is amatuerish.

Stu

 

[TheEngineShed]

1 hour ago, lapford34102 said:

 

Having had a look at the photos on Kernow's site

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/72519/3534-Heljan-Class-35-Hymek-Diesel-Locomotive-number-7052

all I can say is amatuerish.

Stu

 

Amatuerish and they forgot to weather the bogies and tanks.  Discount bin locos, me thinks.

[Halvarras]

And the front handrails don't appear to have been firmly attached.

And what's going on with the headcode displays? (Some kind of prismatic effect? - compare Kernow's 'scenic' image of '8A07' with the non-scenic one.....)

And 'A' refers to the driver's corners, not the loco's cab ends?*

And all this for the grand sum of........(oops, my Can of Worms warning light has just illuminated, reverse gear engaged 🤐😬)

 

*Not the first, Hornby did the same on their 2004 upgraded model! The Hymek was very unusual in having its 'A' end at the non-cooler group end - unlike single-engined diesel-electrics (No 1 end on those).

Edited December 3, 2022 by Halvarras
Clarification

[Phil Bullock]

8 hours ago, Halvarras said: The Hymek was very unusual in having its 'A' end at the non-cooler group end - unlike single-engined diesel-electrics (No 1 end on those).

And Hymeks on Lickey banker duty always worked A end leading up the bank.  Something to do with certain control switches in the engine room … transmission related perhaps … being accessible when going up the bank.

 

If a loco arrived for duty with B end leading it was sent to Worcester to turn on the triangle.

[andyman7]

On 29/11/2022 at 22:07, Downendian said:

D7052 is a very complex weathering project, faded blue and patches of primer showing through, it was in quite a state . It also carried the D prefix until the end, Grahame Wareham’s excellent photos are the best source (Grahame’s Flickr photo below, linked to Flickr) Heljan have not appeared to have  done any chassis weathering and the floor level door handle modification, present on all blue and some late in green locos is still missing. I was hoping to see this on the new tooling. I can’t tell from the RoS photos if they have done the distinctive roof fan and grille  I’ll be detailing my existing fleet instead I think if it’s missing. 

 

Looking at the image of the real thing compared to Heljan's version, it's clear that if a manufacturer wants to have a go at this sort of weathering, it really needs the multi-layered tampo printing approach that Bachmann have lately been using. The Heljan model is probably an OK starting base for a DIY job, as cleaning off the excessive brown gunk helps the process of getting that scoured look, but not at full list price methinks 

[TheEngineShed]

Kernow still has some pristine EFE Hymeks, at a very competitive price  (£106.95) .  I don't think this latest run is worth the extra cash...

 

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/43588/E84001-EFE-Rail-Hymek-Diesel-Locomotive-number-D7005-in-BR-Green

 

https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/43590/E84003-EFE-Rail-Hymek-Diesel-Locomotive-number-7016-in-BR-Blue

[JST]

On 03/12/2022 at 09:01, Phil Bullock said:

And Hymeks on Lickey banker duty always worked A end leading up the bank.  Something to do with certain control switches in the engine room … transmission related perhaps … being accessible when going up the bank.

 

If a loco arrived for duty with B end leading it was sent to Worcester to turn on the triangle.

It was because A cab had a first gear lock out mechanism. They found that at the speed the Hymeks had to bank at was just on the change point between first and second gear. This resulted in it “hunting” between first and second and overheating the transmission fluid.

[JST]

On 30/11/2022 at 00:12, IMG said:

Picked up 7041 at Warley over the weekend.  
Positive is the LED lighting and updated PCB with 21 pin socket with extra plugs for the aux connections
Running light shares the same light source as the headcode.
Red light is shielded by a piece of foam to stop bleed in reverse
Sales bumph says sprung buffers but it’s not got those.  

No specific space for a speaker and the roof grill is a solid moulding.

I plugged in the kadee and offered it up to the height gauge.  It was spot on so drooping couplings appear improved.  

Interesting. I am about to collect mine when I come over to Blighty for Xmas and I want to fit sound to it. The Hattons website blurb says there is a space to accept a round speaker but from what you say this is not the case. Any ideas what may fit?

[Albie the plumber]

On 11/12/2022 at 09:58, JST said:

Interesting. I am about to collect mine when I come over to Blighty for Xmas and I want to fit sound to it. The Hattons website blurb says there is a space to accept a round speaker but from what you say this is not the case. Any ideas what may fit?

 Roads and rails does a flat speaker for it .

There's a short video clip on his website showing installation of said speaker .

No connection with him other than being a satisfied customer. 

 

[Phil Bullock]

We fitted 22mm round speakers in all our Hymeks with v3/3.5 loksounds with an enclosure made of Blu-tak and got good sound with Howes files.

 

However later Loksounds are bigger so 22mm speaker won’t fit without surgery…. So on a couple have gone for it, taken out the PCB , hard wired the chip and fitted a base reflex speaker.