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Heljan Beyer garratt


Hugh Flynn
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 Best send an order in for a Setrack oval.

Keith

 

at what Rad, or set track 2 or 3. To my mind this loco should not be expected to go around a curve of much less that 36" Rad

 

A curve of Hornby 3 is only approx 19 3/4" rad and I would say that this is a tight curve for a large "scale" model.

 

But I could not see on the Hatton's web site what the recommend Min. Rad is, or did I miss it?

 

OzzyO.

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Hi Mark in Oz, yes, I would agree, its a start, but far from 'Heavy'. But the loco itself ran faultlessly through my pointwork and baseboard joints, its incredibly smooth and quiet.

 

I'm hoping to send mine to a friend in Yorkshire, who does all my loco's, the next picture shows the BG near to what I call a 'weathered' loco, 4F 4382, a Buxton loco.

cheers

joe

 

bginfront4f_zpsf51e1e76.jpg

Many thanks to you and others who have shown us the 'actual' model.

 

Now that the dust has settled I think it fair to say the weathering is light, almost non-existent above the waistline, but we can remedy that as required and as Ian points out there was no price premium charged. I notice a white stain adjacent to the safety valves...

 

Different lighting will no doubt offer different effects.

 

As to the running issues a few have after a number of hours, one presumes this is something to do with motor/drive parts and/or assembly. Hopefully not too common.

 

Meanwhile my two models 47996 and 47981 have passed from Hattons and Royal Mail to the agency responsible for delivery to NZ which may be NZ Post or maybe the airline freight contractor, either way, next Thursday is a fair guess of landing on my doorstep.

 

There certainly is something nice about the motion of this type of engine when running.

Edited by robmcg
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Not the heaviest weathering I have ever seen. Was imagining rusty parts, numbers and crest almost totally obscured etc. Was planning on getting a heavily weathered one but I think I will wait for now. Perhaps they will release Extremely Weathered at some point that will be closer to heavy weathering.

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I'm sure that with a bit of brush or spray, many things could be achieved...

 

Here is 'my' version of 47996, photo-edited from my pristine 47992... since my 47996 is I suspect somewhere over Asia...

 

post-7929-0-22636500-1407037380.jpg

Edited by robmcg
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Not the heaviest weathering I have ever seen. Was imagining rusty parts, numbers and crest almost totally obscured etc. Was planning on getting a heavily weathered one but I think I will wait for now. Perhaps they will release Extremely Weathered at some point that will be closer to heavy weathering.

Are you that confident there will be more releases.????

 

Maybe that's a possibility.......but I wouldn't think at the same price..

 

Better you buy one at today's prices and pay to get a good heavy weathering job done professionally.

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Not the heaviest weathering I have ever seen. Was imagining rusty parts, numbers and crest almost totally obscured etc. Was planning on getting a heavily weathered one but I think I will wait for now. Perhaps they will release Extremely Weathered at some point that will be closer to heavy weathering.

I too  am not  convinced  there   will be  any  further releases, if there  were  then  I dont  think  they  would  be 'soon'

 

If you consider  previous limited  editions  released in the  last  couple or  so  years,  most  are  still available  AND  at  much  reduced  prices, for example take a look  at  the  Class 14 Teddy Bear  now selling  for £69.00 for some  variants,  The  Co-Bo  and  10000 etc   also are still listed  at reduced prices.

 

I just  received  the last one  of  a special edition  of 1000 from Hattons  yesterday ( not  an  exclusive Hattons  release)  which  was originally just over £100 but  reduced to  just  £69.

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It won't have to after I have P4d it, but meanwhile the instruction book with the model says it will run round radius 2.

Keith

There  would  be  little  point  in  investing in the  development  of  a 'mass  market' model  which  would  not  traverse what appears to be  the  industry standard recommended minimum  curve  of   R2  (approx 18")

 

Just as  a  matter  of  interest  I  had  some  LGB Mallets  (European & USA outline)   which were  upto 900mm long,  they  were  designed  to  traverse G scale R1 curves  which   are   600mm (24")  radius ( looked a bit  silly  doing  so though!!)  luckily   my  garden  lines were  built  to  a  more  gentle  radius

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The problem with locking could be down to the motion. I've had a couple of Bachmann loco's where this has happened. My first 7F did an hour or so then locked up. Fortunately I was there when it happened. Tried reversing and the wheels did half a turn and locked again. On inspection it was poorly assembled guides. Five minutes work and it has run smoothly ever since. Had the same before with either a BR or Ivatt 4MT.

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I got my Beyer-Garratt yesterday, BR version 47996. Superb model and runs really well. As mention by others the 'heavy' weathering needs some attention, but can be done to your own required standard. Just one thing though, for a BR version it shouldn't have bogie brakes should it?

 

Eric

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I ran my Garrett on Bachmann EZ track (my usual test track) and it traversed both 18 inch and 22 inch radius in a "Dog Bone" shape OK. This includes a reverse curve of 18 to 22 inch track!!

 

Terry

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. Just one thing though, for a BR version it shouldn't have bogie brakes should it?

Nor should the late LMS versions. they are all part of the pony truck moulding. easy enough to snip off.

 

 

Edited by JZ
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Well the good and bad news is I have run my BG for 20-30 mins without any dramas and all appears well, the bad news is I find downloading pictures/videos to this site a bit of a faff so will have to do some editing to get down to 1MB

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Nor should the late LMS versions. they are all part of the pony truck moulding. easy enough to snip off.

 

 

 

 

Not exactly - they are separate mouldings plugged and glued onto the pony truck moulding - they can be prised off with care.

 

Regards,

John isherwood.

Edited by cctransuk
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My lock up did look like the motion was causing the problem but it locked so tight that I decided that a replacement was best.

 

The problem first started on a Peco small radius point (24 inch) which was part of a crossover but it had previously traversed a 22 inch radius curve on many occasions, in both directions, the day before.

 

I am guessing here, but I think that a rivet may have come loose near the crosshead. Not really what we should expect!

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Oh dear. Now I'm worried, hope yours is a one off JohnT. I wonder if the weathering on the rods is causing drag and therefore the seizing?

 

I don't think it was the weathering as the rods were still silver including around all the rivets and other moving parts.

 

It was one of the most disappointing parts of the weathering job as the blackening of the rods had already "fallen off" when I first released it from the packaging!

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It  makes  me  wonder  if  the  BG  has  been  produced' down to a price'?  there seem to  be  quite  a few  reported  problems  occuring with  them on  here, perhaps  more  than have been reported  with  other  recent  releases,  of  course  there  are  possibly  a  much  higher  proportion  of  buyers  perfectly  satisfied with  thei locos.

 

What  makes  me  wonder  re  the  price is the  fact  that reference to  the Heljan Website  shows  that  their  H0 steam  locos  do command  much  higher  prices  than  the BG

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Eventually reduced a photo to required size, as can be seen there is little or no weathering to talk about , but the loco ran beautifully

post-7211-0-90747900-1407088565_thumb.jpg

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It  makes  me  wonder  if  the  BG  has  been  produced' down to a price'?  there seem to  be  quite  a few  reported  problems  occuring with  them on  here, perhaps  more  than have been reported  with  other  recent  releases,  of  course  there  are  possibly  a  much  higher  proportion  of  buyers  perfectly  satisfied with  thei locos.

 

What  makes  me  wonder  re  the  price is the  fact  that reference to  the Heljan Website  shows  that  their  H0 steam  locos  do command  much  higher  prices  than  the BG

I agree the model has been produced to a budget, the 'down to a price' effect if you like.

 

The retention of pony truck brakes, the very light weathering, the apparent inability to effectively blacken rods, and the (hopefully few) quality control issues suggests to me that manufacturing of parts and assembly of finished models received little in the way of care and changes which might have delayed sales. [edit; 'further delay sales'] Thus also the 'down to a price' occasionally warped cab, seized drivetrain, and so on.

 

The basic model is I think very brave and when compared to a similarly complex model for the Euro market I cannot see is being less than double the price.

 

I'm personally never likely to be running models for many hours, never have in the past, I have always been there in the room, and while I fully accept that a model should run faultlessly for many hours in its lifetime, it would take years of use to reach (for me). Do people actually leave the room with an engine circulating and then come back every now and then to see if it is still going correctly? How many hours of running is acceptable proof of 'fit for purpose'? To what extent must the retailer be responsible for small imperfections in assembly, lubrication, possible mis-handling by manufacturer or buyer?

 

To me the smooth DC running of my Garratts is a sheer pleasure to watch. I am very impressed by Hattons replacement policy. I do hope they will make some money out of it all.

Edited by robmcg
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I too  am not  convinced  there   will be  any  further releases, if there  were  then  I dont  think  they  would  be 'soon'

 

If you consider  previous limited  editions  released in the  last  couple or  so  years,  most  are  still available  AND  at  much  reduced  prices, for example take a look  at  the  Class 14 Teddy Bear  now selling  for £69.00 for some  variants,  The  Co-Bo  and  10000 etc   also are still listed  at reduced prices.

 

I just  received  the last one  of  a special edition  of 1000 from Hattons  yesterday ( not  an  exclusive Hattons  release)  which  was originally just over £100 but  reduced to  just  £69.

I will be surprised if Hattons end up 'remaindering' Garratts at less than £199. If they do an extra run with genuinely heavy weathering it might be worth a premium, but easy enough to try it yourself, or pay one of several weathering businesses to give your model something extra special, typically £60 would get a professional cover of grime with extra staining to match photos you might provide.

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One thing that I have noticed on my 'heavily' weathered version is that the numbers are too far back.

 

The characteristic limescale dribble from the edge of the top bunker ledge over the fourth number can't be reproduced without moving the numbers forward. This won't be a problem for me to do after 'extreme' weathering will be applied which would cover any imperfections in the moved numbers.

 

post-6728-0-54548500-1407140736.jpg

 

Also the bunker ledge seems to be too short. It looks like it should continue to near the centre of the rear coal flap. I'll have to think hard about altering this. P4ing the thing is the is the main task for now. After all, it passes the 'Garratt test' ..."if it looks like one, it must be one"!

 

post-6728-0-34566300-1407139744.jpg

The two images above are from the very informative Irwell Press publication 'The Book of The LM Garratts'

 

post-6728-0-80882400-1407139787.jpg

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...How many hours of running is acceptable proof of 'fit for purpose'? ...

Quite right, we don't have a standard. I would suggest that functionally it is that the mechanism should last a comparable time to the motor; and this is likely to be many hundreds of hours in normal use. (Subject to the user taking care of lubrication, and not subjecting the model to any 'torture test'.)

 

We don't see much in the way of complaints about end-of-life of model mechanisms, other than the split chassis Mainline and Bachmann steam models where mechanism parts fail well before the motors. I have been through over a dozen such from Bachmann, the heavier examples managing two to three hundred hours running over five or six years, before they were all used up, mainly die to wear through of all the plating in the conduction path

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Unfortunately my planned trip to Hattons has had to be cancelled, pressure of work.

 

It has now arrived at my pals who ordered it for me, and I shall meet up at the pub this evening for the official unveiling and hand over ceremony.

 

No more pills.!!!!!!

 

Bob

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One thing that I have noticed on my 'heavily' weathered version is that the numbers are too far back.

 

The characteristic limescale dribble from the edge of the top bunker ledge over the fourth number can't be reproduced without moving the numbers forward. This won't be a problem for me to do after 'extreme' weathering will be applied which would cover any imperfections in the moved numbers.

 

attachicon.gif018a.jpg

 

Also the bunker ledge seems to be too short. It looks like it should continue to near the centre of the rear coal flap. I'll have to think hard about altering this. P4ing the thing is the is the main task for now. After all, it passes the 'Garratt test' ..."if it looks like one, it must be one"!

 

attachicon.gif015.jpg

The two images above are from the very informative Irwell Press publication 'The Book of The LM Garratts'

 

attachicon.gif020a.jpg

Despite the myriads of pictures, this is the first time someone has picked up on this point. Maybe not easy to correct either?

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