Heljan replacement loco wheels

[brian daniels]

I went into Howes today and saw they have at last got some later quality replacement wheels for the earlier Heljan locos that keep getting dirty/tarnished. So if you need any to save you having to keep cleaning your wheels give Howes a call or use there web site.

[(The) Youth]

http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/Railways/viewProduct.php?ProdID=5819

 

http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/Railways/viewProduct.php?ProdID=5818

[F-UnitMad]

Ah, this is for OO gauge ...

[Barry Ten]

Excellent news! Are the new ones much better at not getting dirty, then?

[John M Upton]

All earlier Heljan OO scale models had the crud magnet wheels from new which not only attracted crud very quickly in service but came with it already liberally applied on when new out of the box!! These were changed to much better wheels on all their releases at about the time the first of the 58's came out.

 

I have had both earlier and more recent Class 33's, the most recent releases I have purchased have had the new type wheel and have as a result not needed any drastic action. Up until now to replace the wheelsets on the earlier crud magnet versions, I used the replacement coach wheel sets made by Bachmann (about three or four quid for a pack of twelve sets) and simply transferred the cog from the Heljan axle to the Bachmann one for much improved running.

[34040]

All earlier Heljan OO scale models had the crud magnet wheels from new which not only attracted crud very quickly in service but came with it already liberally applied on when new out of the box!! These were changed to much better wheels on all their releases at about the time the first of the 58's came out.

 

I have had both earlier and more recent Class 33's, the most recent releases I have purchased have had the new type wheel and have as a result not needed any drastic action. Up until now to replace the wheelsets on the earlier crud magnet versions, I used the replacement coach wheel sets made by Bachmann (about three or four quid for a pack of twelve sets) and simply transferred the cog from the Heljan axle to the Bachmann one for much improved running.

 

 

Thanks, John. I had seen that tip about using Bachmann coach wheels before but I thought that I just had to transfer the wheels to the Heljan axle. When I did this, the wheels were too loose. Now I see where I went wrong. With the difference in axle diameters, do the gears have to be opened out to fit, or can they just be forced on?

 

This would be a much cheaper way to improve the Heljan diesels: it would cost me about £150 to do it the "official" way.

 

Dave

[kipford]

Use Black Beetle wheels. I did my 33 using these, full conversion to EM in less then an hour.

 

Dave

[John M Upton]

The gears can be forced on to the Bachmann wheel sets (once you have taken off one of the wheels of course!) and need a little care to get them lined up right but it has been worth the effort to exorcise the crudomatics out of the fleet.

[34040]

The gears can be forced on to the Bachmann wheel sets (once you have taken off one of the wheels of course!) and need a little care to get them lined up right but it has been worth the effort to exorcise the crudomatics out of the fleet.

 

Thanks, John: I will give it a go. I am very grateful to you for your detailed reply.

 

Dave

[34040]

Have just realised that I shall have to get Heljan replacements for my Class 52s. It was only Boudica'a chariot that had pointed axles!

 

Dave

[craigwelsh]

Have just realised that I shall have to get Heljan replacements for my Class 52s. It was only Boudica'a chariot that had pointed axles!

 

Dave

Or you could get a file to deal with that..

[neal]

Careful as they don't have the dimpled wheelsets in yet. They do sell 6 axle packs but these are for the 47 and 58 etc.

[SRman]

I thought the Westerns simply had an insert in the standard wheels to give the dimpled effect.

 

I received the wheel packs I ordered from Howes and have now swapped over three of the four locos I needed to do, ready for the exhibition next week at Caulfield (Melbourne).

 

 

[34040]

Careful as they don't have the dimpled wheelsets in yet. They do sell 6 axle packs but these are for the 47 and 58 etc.

 

Good point (no pun intended). Might not have to get the file out after all, just my wallet (eventually).

 

Dave

[34040]

I thought the Westerns simply had an insert in the standard wheels to give the dimpled effect.

 

 

According to Howes' website, the six-axle packs are designed for the Westerns as well. Perhaps the inserts will be made available separately as I cannot see how they are fitted and if they can be removed without causing them damage.

 

I'm having a look at using Hornby Pullman wheels, with the pointed axles filed back. I have several sets after replacing with the NEM compatable version, the wheels are the right diameter and have the four holes. The holes are a bit larger but I am hoping to disguise this with paint.

[34040]

All done at zero cost. Purists should look away now.

 

 

The most difficult part was removing the base plate. Heljan have mounted the contact strips low down on the Class 52 in order to hide them behind the spring beam but this means that they cover the release clips. Contact strips did get a little mangled during the operation but you have the opportunity to straighten them out before reassembly.

 

Needless to say, locos (I did two of them in about an hour) run much better now.

 

Dave

[BrushVeteran]

I have just completed over forty locos and the result is well worth the effort and cost. Electrical contact is vastly improved and current consumption is lowered. I had no problem with removing baseplates and it took approx. 15 minutes per loco including before and after testing.

[Guest Phil]

Mmmm. That green thousand does look very nice.

 

It doesn't seem to have been a poplar livery with modellers.

[P.C.M]

All earlier Heljan OO scale models had the crud magnet wheels from new which not only attracted crud very quickly in service but came with it already liberally applied on when new out of the box!! These were changed to much better wheels on all their releases at about the time the first of the 58's came out.

 

I have had both earlier and more recent Class 33's, the most recent releases I have purchased have had the new type wheel and have as a result not needed any drastic action. Up until now to replace the wheelsets on the earlier crud magnet versions, I used the replacement coach wheel sets made by Bachmann (about three or four quid for a pack of twelve sets) and simply transferred the cog from the Heljan axle to the Bachmann one for much improved running.

 

 

Hi John,

I had read about putting coach wheels on Heljan locos somewhere before, so thought I would have a go tonight, problem is the Bachmann coach wheels are about 1mm smaller. Are the Heljan ones to big? I am worried if I change the wheels the loco will sit to low, have you found this?

 

Many thanks cheers Peter.

[34040]

Hi John,

I had read about putting coach wheels on Heljan locos somewhere before, so thought I would have a go tonight, problem is the Bachmann coach wheels are about 1mm smaller. Are the Heljan ones to big? I am worried if I change the wheels the loco will sit to low, have you found this?

 

Many thanks cheers Peter.

 

 

Not John, Peter but I found the same when I started replacing the wheels on my locos. It is not a major problem with the 33s and 35s, except that the Heljan couplings are already known for being a bit droopy and the lower bogie position emphasises this. I cut about 1 mm off the dangly bit of the tension-lock coupling so that it will not foul point blades and all seems well (coupling up not affected). The only problem that I had was with a Class 47. The fuel tanks are already low-slung and when I re-wheeled the first of mine, it "beached" itself at a couple of placed on my layout. I cut the bottom out of the fuel tanks and filed back the ends and it is now OK. Strangely, the rest of the fleet did not need doing, so I can only assume that the chassis had a small bulge that caused the problem. However, if I was doing the job again, I would use the Hornby coach wheels as they are the same size as Heljan use.

 

Dave

[P.C.M]

Not John, Peter but I found the same when I started replacing the wheels on my locos. It is not a major problem with the 33s and 35s, except that the Heljan couplings are already known for being a bit droopy and the lower bogie position emphasises this. I cut about 1 mm off the dangly bit of the tension-lock coupling so that it will not foul point blades and all seems well (coupling up not affected). The only problem that I had was with a Class 47. The fuel tanks are already low-slung and when I re-wheeled the first of mine, it "beached" itself at a couple of placed on my layout. I cut the bottom out of the fuel tanks and filed back the ends and it is now OK. Strangely, the rest of the fleet did not need doing, so I can only assume that the chassis had a small bulge that caused the problem. However, if I was doing the job again, I would use the Hornby coach wheels as they are the same size as Heljan use.

 

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I think I might have a look at getting some Hornby wheels and give that a try.

 

Cheers Peter.

[34040]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I think I might have a look at getting some Hornby wheels and give that a try.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Thanks, Peter. If you are considering the Hornby wheels, then I should point out that the ones to which I was referring were the Pullman "with lights" wheels which I had left over after upgrading my coaches to take NEM couplings. I do not know whether ordinary coach wheels will do the job. Hornby do make the Pullman wheels available as a spare part at about £2.00 for a set of four (the Bachmann ones are about £6.00 for a pack of ten sets- not twelve, as you might imagine). Thinking about it, a wheel that is one millimetre smaller in diameter will only give a ride-height half a millimetre lower, so the Bachmann ones would be fine, except where the track clearance is marginal. I did undertake some tests before adopting the Bachmann wheels and found that a loco. so fitted would double-head with a loco. with the original wheels quite happily. The difference is very small.

 

Incidentally, I did not bother to replace the centre drivers on six wheel bogies as they are not involved in current collection and not very visible. Again, the mix of the two sizes did not cause any problems.

 

Dave

[P.C.M]

Thanks, Peter. If you are considering the Hornby wheels, then I should point out that the ones to which I was referring were the Pullman "with lights" wheels which I had left over after upgrading my coaches to take NEM couplings. I do not know whether ordinary coach wheels will do the job. Hornby do make the Pullman wheels available as a spare part at about £2.00 for a set of four (the Bachmann ones are about £6.00 for a pack of ten sets- not twelve, as you might imagine). Thinking about it, a wheel that is one millimetre smaller in diameter will only give a ride-height half a millimetre lower, so the Bachmann ones would be fine, except where the track clearance is marginal. I did undertake some tests before adopting the Bachmann wheels and found that a loco. so fitted would double-head with a loco. with the original wheels quite happily. The difference is very small.

 

Incidentally, I did not bother to replace the centre drivers on six wheel bogies as they are not involved in current collection and not very visible. Again, the mix of the two sizes did not cause any problems.

 

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave,

Thanks again, I was in a model shop yesterday and had a look at some Hornby coach wheels I compared them with some others and realised that they would be to small so didn't buy them. I did think that maybe the wheels from Hornby's newer coaches like the Pullmans might be the go.

You are right about the hight being only half a mil but as I don't have any spare Bachmann wheels I might just give the Hornby ones a shot.

 

Cheers Peter.

[34040]

Thanks, Peter. When you said that you were going to "have a go" with the Bachmann wheels, I thought that you might have done as I did and lay in a stock before trying a test fixing. Your decision to go for the Hornby Pullman wheels might prove to be inspired as I have just discovered a problem with the Bachmann wheels. When coupling to a vehicle with the old full size tension-lock couplings and taking a second radius curve, the lower height buffer of the Class 47 will foul the hook on the wagon and may derail it. This should not be a problem with the 35 (oval buffers) or 33 (shorter wheelbase) but may result in me retro-fitting my 47s with Hornby wheels, although careful train-building might be able to keep the situation from occurring.

 

Dave

[P.C.M]

Thanks, Peter. When you said that you were going to "have a go" with the Bachmann wheels, I thought that you might have done as I did and lay in a stock before trying a test fixing. Your decision to go for the Hornby Pullman wheels might prove to be inspired as I have just discovered a problem with the Bachmann wheels. When coupling to a vehicle with the old full size tension-lock couplings and taking a second radius curve, the lower height buffer of the Class 47 will foul the hook on the wagon and may derail it. This should not be a problem with the 35 (oval buffers) or 33 (shorter wheelbase) but may result in me retro-fitting my 47s with Hornby wheels, although careful train-building might be able to keep the situation from occurring.

 

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave,

Sorry to hear about the problem with the 47, I use Kadee's so it could still cause a problem plus the Kadee's need to be at the right hight.

I have had a look for Pullman wheels and can only find the packs of ten 14mm coach wheels, any ideas where you could get them from? Looks like we will both be trying to get some.

 

Cheers Peter.