Lynton & Barnstaple OO9 Loco from Heljan

[JSpencer]

I have not recieved mine yet but my first thoughts on the pickups would be to bend them out of the way especially as you confirmed it runs ok using the drivers only.

[Stevelewis]

I have not recieved mine yet but my first thoughts on the pickups would be to bend them out of the way especially as you confirmed it runs ok using the drivers only.

 

That  would  be  difficult  as  they  are flat sections quite  wide which  form a  springy  surface  which bears  down on to the rim of the  wheel  so there  is  no  where  spacewise to  bend them to! complete  removal of the  pickups  would be  the  only  option   I think.

 

Unfortunately one  of  my  locos  will be on its  way  back to  the  retailer tomorrow,  a  fault  has  occurred  which  was  most unexpected,  in fairness  I will report it  when  I  have  spoken to  the  retailer.

 

Having  spoken to  the retailer  he  has agreed  to  exchange  the  loco  when  further  stock  arrives,  part  of  the  valve  gear  on  Exe  suddenly  snapped  when running  see photos  ( not  sure  what  this  bit  is  called!!)  but   it  does  appear  quite  fragile,, just  hoping  it  is  a  one  off  occurance.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Stevelewis]

I notice  there  is  a  report  on  NGRM   forum  of  another   failure,  I  have  emailed  Heljan  and  sent  them  photos  of  mine,   we  will see what  they  say

Edited June 15, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Stevelewis]

Reply  from  Heljan  looked  like a  standard  apologetic   reply, asking me  to  return  the 'item'  to  the  retailer

 

So  I replied  to  that  asking  if  they  still had  any  quality  control these  days  to  which no reply  has  been  received.

 

You  can   guess  I am  a bit  unhappy  with  the  situation.

[JSpencer]

Maybe the next batch will be better. It seems odd to make only 423 and then say the rest will be made later. Normally you do the whole lot at once.

 

Hmm, when is next batch due?

[Guest Midland Mole]

See, I knew my "Well done Heljan" comment was premature. This is pretty much what I have come to expect from them these days, items that look nice but either run badly or break easily.

Shame really, these had so much potential.

Alex

Edited June 15, 2017 by Midland Mole

[Stevelewis]

Maybe the next batch will be better. It seems odd to make only 423 and then say the rest will be made later. Normally you do the whole lot at once.

 

Hmm, when is next batch due?

 

July  has  been  mentioned via  my  retailer  he  said  around  6  weeks apparently all current   stock  was  distributed  via  Peco, no direct  deliveries  have  been  received, my retailer   thought  he  would  have got  part  of  his main  order  this  week  but apparently  that  has  not  happened

 

Although  if  problems with  the initially sold locos increase  then  the next delivery  could be delayed.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Stevelewis

[JSpencer]

See, I knew my "Well done Heljan" comment was premature. This is pretty much what I have come to expect from them these days, items that look nice but either run badly or break easily.

Shame really, these had so much potential.

Alex

 

Yeah, I'm now worried that my entry into 00-9 could quickly become an exit!

Edited June 15, 2017 by JSpencer

[Stevelewis]

Yeah, I'm now worried that my entry into 00-9 could quickly become an exit!

 

Bachmann's  Baldwin  4-6-0  due Nov  should  be  fine  (hopefully)

[Guest Midland Mole]

Bachmann's  Baldwin  4-6-0  due Nov  should  be  fine  (hopefully)

 

Exactly, and that is what my foray into 009 will be using. I imagine the Bachmann ones will run pretty well (looks like they do in the vids) and the price tag on them is more reasonable.

Alex

Edited June 15, 2017 by Midland Mole

[mcowgill]

From Bachmann's point of view the Baldwin is mechanically another DCC ready N gauge loco, they've managed plenty of those without any recurrent issues.   

 

I'm going to have another close check of Yeo tonight, still having problems with the pony trucks derailing on turnouts that don't affect anything else, the back to back of the wheelsets are fine so I'm suspicious of the pickup arrangements.  The problem now is that I'm hesitant to remove the pickups in case I later suffer from the exploding motion bracket/slidebar problem.   

 

What's the view, would removing the pony truck pickups to make it run properly invalidate the warranty if I then had valve gear troubles?

 

Martin

[micklner]

From Bachmann's point of view the Baldwin is mechanically another DCC ready N gauge loco, they've managed plenty of those without any recurrent issues.   

 

I'm going to have another close check of Yeo tonight, still having problems with the pony trucks derailing on turnouts that don't affect anything else, the back to back of the wheelsets are fine so I'm suspicious of the pickup arrangements.  The problem now is that I'm hesitant to remove the pickups in case I later suffer from the exploding motion bracket/slidebar problem.   

 

What's the view, would removing the pony truck pickups to make it run properly invalidate the warranty if I then had valve gear troubles?

 

Martin

 

Warranty invalid if pick ups or anything altered/changed. If its not fit send it back.

 

Sad to read about Heljan and Steam locos failures again.

[bertiedog]

It can hardly be called a failure before it is in the shops.....and few seem to have been delivered at all to major retailers, my own pre orders are long standing and no supply indicated as yet. Exe is one on order at present.

The pickups sound like adjustment issues, but no comment on the valve gear.

Stephen.

[PaulRhB]

It appears the first batch were delivered as evenly as possible so every retailer got some. The bigger retailers didn't get their full allocation but will in July. I haven't got all mine yet but did get one from the local shop so quite happy as I have one to test with.

[Stevelewis]

From Bachmann's point of view the Baldwin is mechanically another DCC ready N gauge loco, they've managed plenty of those without any recurrent issues.   

 

I'm going to have another close check of Yeo tonight, still having problems with the pony trucks derailing on turnouts that don't affect anything else, the back to back of the wheelsets are fine so I'm suspicious of the pickup arrangements.  The problem now is that I'm hesitant to remove the pickups in case I later suffer from the exploding motion bracket/slidebar problem.   

 

What's the view, would removing the pony truck pickups to make it run properly invalidate the warranty if I then had valve gear troubles?

 

Martin

 

There  is  probably  one  thing  that  we  have not  yet  done?  Test  the  loco  actually  pulling  a  train!!!!!  I feel  it  may  be  possible  that  the  weight  of  a train on  the  couplings  may assist  the  pony  truck  in  regaining  its  correct  orientation  as  opposed  to  when  the  engine  is  running  light  perhaps.  As   I note  that  the   derailments  occur  mostly  on curved  track  then in  normal  layout  use  the   loco  will   probably be  hauling  a train,  running  light  engine  would  probably be  confined  to  yard running  and  running  round train  in loop  which  are  usually  quite  straight.

 

Just  a  thought  I will try to  give  it  a  go  later ....was hoping' to do  some  track  laying  but  that  has  taken a  back  seat  since  these 2 locos  arrived

 

Another  point  I  have  noted  is  that  the  rear  pony seems  to be  more problematical  that  the  front  one,  the  springy pickups on the underside  are  longer on the  rear than the  front which means that the effective  springing  is  greater on  the rear, ALSO accesss to the pickups if removal is considered an  option  it would be  easier  on the  rear as there is more brass  showing  I have tried to  photgraph this .

Edited June 15, 2017 by Stevelewis

[roundhouse]

Steve

 

Would it be possible to temporarily tape the rear truck pickups to the underside of the loco then test it on the same curves where it has been derailing?

 

My two locos must be in the next batch as no word of them coming from a well known retailer yet.

[Stevelewis]

It can hardly be called a failure before it is in the shops.....and few seem to have been delivered at all to major retailers, my own pre orders are long standing and no supply indicated as yet. Exe is one on order at present.

The pickups sound like adjustment issues, but no comment on the valve gear.

Stephen.

 

They  have  been  quite  widely  distributed  although in  small quantities  currently  I know  that  they are/Were  available  in  Denmark  also  via  Heljans  website

 

The  problem  with  the  pickup adjustment is  that  they  are  flat  on  the   underside  of  the  chassis  ( see my photo  on a previous   post)  and  the  only  adjustment really feasible is  in a downward  direction which  would  increase the  pressure on  the  wheels.  I have  run  my remaining loco  minus  the  pony trucks  and  performance is  as  good as  with  them fitted,also  slow  speed  was  actually  slightly  better as  there was   no downward  force  from the  springing which  meant  all the  loco's 139gm weight  was  on  the  drivers

Edited June 15, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Barry Ten]

I can't see why anyone would think fixed pickups bearing onto moving pony trucks was ever going to be a good idea. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the part that's

touching the wheel, is it bearing onto the rim or the wheel tread? If it's the rim, is it wide enough to allow for the full deflection going around reasonable curves? I'm

just wondering if some graphite lubricant or similar might help the wheel move freely.

 

Edit - I see you mention the rim earlier, Steve.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Barry Ten

[rockershovel]

What a shame, to read this sort of report after such a long development period..

[bertiedog]

Why do people bother to advertise a product they do not even supply, Heljan should be ashamed of the situation of customers being hung out to dry because they cannot deliver the goods. Why did they decide to deliver some, and not wait for goodness sake? It ruins customer trust to do it this way, and frankly if there there was an alternative I would not buy from them.

I was satisfied with the Metropolitan and the Beyer, but this distribution takes the biscuit. With other makes this year nothing has arrived on time.

Stephen.

[bertiedog]

To test the loco as to the bogies, place on a straight piece of dead level track, and use a 1mm diameter wire or rod, and pass it along the track under the bogie tyre, which should lift easily without any visible lift on the locomotive body.

If the body lifts , the spring is too powerful, or the body light.

1mm is about right for Ngauge and 009. The minimum would be about .75mm. Any smaller and it will have trouble over the frog gap, as it rides the slight drop and back.

Also worth checking is the pivot screw visible in the photos, this may not allow full up and down, and might require a small thin washer to increase the play slightly,

 

Sorry no more advice, no loco......which is completely normal as it seems to delight suppliers in dealing in this grossly unfair way.

Edited June 15, 2017 by bertiedog

[Stevelewis]

To test the loco as to the bogies, place on a straight piece of dead level track, and use a 1mm diameter wire or rod, and pass it along the track under the bogie tyre, which should lift easily without any visible lift on the locomotive body.

If the body lifts , the spring is too powerful, or the body light.

1mm is about right for Ngauge and 009. The minimum would be about .75mm. Any smaller and it will have trouble over the frog gap, as it rides the slight drop and back.

Also worth checking is the pivot screw visible in the photos, this may not allow full up and down, and might require a small thin washer to increase the play slightly,

 

Sorry no more advice, no loco......which is completely normal as it seems to delight suppliers in dealing in this grossly unfair way.

 

everything   has  been  checked  I  have  been  a  railway  modeller  since  the  60s!!  but  thanks  anyway.

 

Not  sure   who   you  have  pre ordered from  but  there  were  several  outlets  who  did get  stock  which  was  distributed  from  Peco,  and  there   is apparently  more  in  the  pipeline

 

As  it  is  there  is  no problem  with  the  pony trucks positioning or  its  ability  to move in  both planes, the  problem  lies  with  the unusual  power pickup arrangement of  having  a  FIXED brass strip pressing  down on  the  top of the wheel rim  and inhibiting   horizontal  movement of the  truck  ie  it  is prevented  following  the track  as  the loco travels  from  curved  to straight track  and  vice  versa.

 

My supplier  got   not  quite  as  many  as  expected  but  was  able  to  fulfil most  of  this  preorders apparently

Edited June 15, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Compound2632]

Well, I ran mine forwards and backwards for upwards of five hours today, on a circuit consisting of set-track (minimum second radius) and Peco 12" and 18" radius points. The only snag I encountered was running forwards through the points in the facing direction, where the slide bar housing would occasionally catch on the protruding lugs of the point tiebar - but that's easily fixed! Mostly this was with a trailing load of the bogie open (No. 22) and a four-wheel van and open - I didn't try pushing this train for long but had no derailments.

 

The only thing I could comment on is that the coupling sits a little high relative to the couplings on the Peco wagons.

[bertiedog]

everything   has  been  checked  I  have  been  a  railway  modeller  since  the  60s!!  but  thanks  anyway.

 

Not  sure   who   you  have  pre ordered from  but  there  were  several  outlets  who  did get  stock  which  was  distributed  from  Peco,  and  there   is apparently  more  in  the  pipeline

 

My supplier  got   not  quite  as  many  as  expected  but  was  able  to  fulfil most  of  this  preorders apparently

The loco (s) were ordered ages ago from a Major mail order supplier, I am housebound and cannot get around shops or shows. Heljan obviously have no concept of a Queue, or ordered deliver once in stock, but " a barrowboy sales mentality". If they had waited another few weeks this would not have happened, it can only be put down to them rushing into selling any they can with no concept of customer care.

Stephen

[bertiedog]

Is it correct that Peco are the distributor? it really matters little, I expect some will turn up in time, but particulate versions may have sold out, what a pity I did not order 6 and then welched on payment! Still it's par for the course I suppose.....blow the customer, I'm all right Jack....