Heljan Class 15

[Pint of Adnams]

I have just acquired one of these from a trader dealing in discontinued items. It has the small yellow warning panels and I'd be grateful for any recommendations on how to safely remove them.

 

TIA.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

In my limited experience Heljan's body paint doesn't shift easily. Not touched by solvents, use stripper or polish away with brasso, T-cut or similar and you wil remove the underlying as well. The best plan is to key and overpaint, unless someone here knows different (which I would find useful too, just in case a good deal comes up on something disfigured with custard dip).

[Phatbob]

At the risk of repeating myself, (I've passed on this tip before) I understand from a source at Heljan that they use Railmatch paint.  So you should be able to get a perfect match for the original paintwork if you want to overpaint the SYP.
HTH,
Bob.

[Strathyre]

Anyone (like me for instance) that has one and wants to justify it running on Scottish Region metals (other than the one that was used in the late 50s for a short while on trial - D8208 I think?) should take note of the photo in the link below

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10116293454/in/photolist-gpWDAE-bGvS5B-bvwsXn-eb1FTx-cqeosA-jkxBjU-9dvNuR-jZy99j-aDqqoF-afZ9wY-dnJGsB-bNDymM-a5MMM6-bu2BkZ-bu2FRx-bu2Azv-bu2FY6-bzJUPJ-dqhkN3-g2PKh7-g2RGXR-g2RGY2-g2PKmA-goF6uU-dnvD6s-dqfVqU-ejHp9g-ejP8qb-eig6je-eig7XH-eig7kM-eig8cc-dVgyqD-b1beJF-fPBDFy-aiMMpD-kw6fSs-dkF1ST-eYAQz9-aDuhmw-iGmkGq-iGj5m7-iGiARB-dRPrgd-aDuiaY-eYpkPP-b3pua8-dXSgr5-aC4Mhc-ehXkPZ-ejHqWp

 

It shows D8236 inside St Rollox Shed (65B) on 21 July 1965 - absolutely no idea what it was doing there but would dearly love to know!

 

Paul

[Pint of Adnams]

In my limited experience Heljan's body paint doesn't shift easily. Not touched by solvents, use stripper or polish away with brasso, T-cut or similar and you wil remove the underlying as well. The best plan is to key and overpaint, unless someone here knows different (which I would find useful too, just in case a good deal comes up on something disfigured with custard dip).

 

 

At the risk of repeating myself, (I've passed on this tip before) I understand from a source at Heljan that they use Railmatch paint.  So you should be able to get a perfect match for the original paintwork if you want to overpaint the SYP.

HTH,

Bob.

Thanks guys - I'll let you know how that works out in due course, although TBH it's unlikely to be me actually doing the paintshop work.

[ColinK]

Having got mine the other day, I'm sufficiently impressed with it that I might get another, clean up the short nose end of the cab roof so that it's a fully flush fit, then repaint into fictional BR Blue with full yellow ends and a proper TOPS number...

 

Do you mean like this?

 

Olivia's Trains in Sheffield painted, weathered and put a sound chip in it for me.

 

[iankemp]

I am thinking of getting one, it would be renumbered to the one that was at Toton. I think that was ADB968002.

[HeavyDuty]

Old thread but on topic, so...

 

I just received my solid green Class 15 yesterday. It suffered a slight amount of shipment damage, one of the cab side handrails snapped.

 

It can easily be repaired, but the cross-section looks very odd to me. Are they actually supposed to be square or rectangular, or should they be round? Photos I'm finding are inconclusive.

 

I have Ultrascale EM wheels on order, has anyone developed etched detail kits for these?

[Martin S-C]

I realise this is an ancient topic but I just got one of these the other day. Looking through the detailing parts I have three of these short straight pieces with a 90deg bend at one end and what seems to be a fixing lug at the other.

My guess is they are guard irons but I wanted to confim since I have only 3 of them supplied with my model.

 

Thanks all.

[mikesndbs]

Hi Martin

 

I can't think of what they are but agree they look a bit like dumb irons.

Don't recall ever fitting anything like them to mine.

Have been studying my video of it but again can't see them.

 

Hope you get the answer

[Kier Hardy]

Those are footsteps which are located on the bufferbeam on the short bonnet end. (2 per loco)

http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/proto_class15.html

The step can just be made out on the 3rd image on this page (look through the handrail in front of the loco).

 

[Martin S-C]

Aha, many thanks - so just below each buffer with the step facing forwards? Not a lot of room there with the (much filed down) sandbox in place. I think I'll have to use something thinner than the plastic moulding - a bit of bent brass strip. It seems I got 3 of every sprue in my model except for headcode discs so I was concerned that three was a curious number. It also seems the dumb guard irons are not on the model (visible in all 3 top photos of your link Kier Hardy). I will have a go at bending them out of brass strip as well.

[Martin S-C]

One more question if I may. Early on in this thread a link was given to the image on Heljan's site that showed where each of the hoses, etc went on the bufferbeams but this link is now broken. Does anyone have that image still? Or can someone kindly point me to a diagram that clearly shows which hose on the detailing pack is which? I've collected a good selection of photos of the prototype but the model hoses are so small I cannot distinguish which is which.

Thanks once again fir any help.

[John Tomlinson]

On 04/02/2019 at 10:38, Kier Hardy said:

Those are footsteps which are located on the bufferbeam on the short bonnet end. (2 per loco)

http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/proto_class15.html

The step can just be made out on the 3rd image on this page (look through the handrail in front of the loco).

 

This is interesting as the batch of 21's (NB type 2's) allocated to the former Great Eastern when new had similar footsteps fitted.

 

I wonder if it was for the use of staff to ride on whilst shunting in small yards, which would have been common in East Anglia c.1960.

 

John.

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, John Tomlinson said:

This is interesting as the batch of 21's (NB type 2's) allocated to the former Great Eastern when new had similar footsteps fitted.

 

I wonder if it was for the use of staff to ride on whilst shunting in small yards, which would have been common in East Anglia c.1960.

 

John.

Hi John

 

I think it was something a bit more simpler, it was so a crewman (the fireman/secondman) could clamber up the back of the loco to change the headcode and fit a tail lamp when light engine.

[John Tomlinson]

Thanks Clive, that makes a lot of sense. There are steps for access at the long hood end anyway, dropping from the running plate, enabling the headcode change and tail lamp fitting at that end.

 

Over the last year or two I've picked up three of these on ebay, and I thought it was time I detailed them up and put them into service. I read through this thread as the cab roof height jars badly and needs sorting - thanks to 34B-D above I now know how to get inside without damage! I'll have a butchers at the gear trains whilst they're on the bench, just in case they're over-greased, though in fact all seem to run very smoothly.

 

John.

[John Tomlinson]

During the afternoon I've had a session with my D8229 GFYE, and picking up on various issues already mentioned;

 

The cab can be fettled to get the roof to be flush with the top of the short hood. A lot of this seems to be due to some glue at the cab bottom, plus the thickness of the paint in the various meeting points with the main body shell. I did some careful paint scraping,  plus filing a sliver off the cab bottom and the problem was solved - as ever in these cases take it a bit at a time. As 34B-D noted, take out the ridge in the inner cab roof moulding as well.

 

I had a broken cab rail on the loco. I took the two bits out and glued with "Plastic Weld". I opened out the locating holes in the cab side a tad to reduce strain before re-fitting as push fit.

 

On trial the loco had suddenly cut out and re-started in one direction, as observed by Jonathan Weallens above. I did inspect the gear trains and could see no fault or obstruction. Having removed the tension locks and their carriers, for later replacement by screw couplings, the loco no longer has this defect, and my conclusion (tentative), is that the fault lay in a drooping tension lock, catching the odd trackpin standing a bit high.

 

Unlike other Heljan locos we could name, there was only minimal grease in the gear train, so no fears of congealing in the future and overstraining the motor. After re-assembly, tweeking of pick-ups and a general wheel clean the loco runs very smoothly like my class 16, not surprising as it has the same motor and very similar drive train.

 

I shall in due course fit the buffer beam detailing and some of this would benefit from having valves and fittings painted. I shall do this for all three of my class 15's at the same time to reduce effort.

 

IMHO I think this is a cracking model, greatly improved by setting the cab roof at the correct height.

 

John.

Edited August 30, 2019 by John Tomlinson
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