Heljan Class 16

[10800]

Mine arrived this morning and the box was ripped open to reveal the goodies. A took a few quick snaps, just for illustration purposes, but I didn't bother faffing around setting the camera first:

 

 

Lloyd you're so impetuous ...

[Broadway Clive]

I must say I'm not too convinced about the prevelance of grey roofs other than on D8400 when it was brand new. I'd also take issue with the leaflet that comes with the model when it claims they were all delivered to Devons Road Bow. According to Irwell's "Diesel Depots - the early years" that depot's diesel conversion commenced in 1957 and was to include 25 type 1 locos of which ten would be 800hp (ie class 15 or 16 in TOPs language). However, D8400 (the first class 16) was not built till July 1958 and would still be on test in Scotland in August 1958 when Devon Road's last steam loco had departed, so they were obviously not involved at that time.  My understanding is that class 15 locos D8200-9 were the ten 800hp locos at the depot, and the December 1959 allocation list actually shows them in the process of being replaced by more of the 1000hp class 20s that would eventually become the sole type 1 loco at the depot.    

[giz]

BRDatabase http://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=class&id=16&type=D&page=alloc

has the 16s as delivered new to Stratford and allocated there until withdrawal.

 

It also has the first ten class 15s as new to Devons Road as Broadway Clive says.

[stock_2007]

I never thought I'd say this but after fitting a chip into my class 16 it run's as well if not better then my Atlas and Kato locos   I'm still not sure what to do about the couplings I want to fit a kadee  but   removing all the detailing Heljan has fitted seems such a shame   

[Southernman46]

Bit of cross topic fertilisation.........................lovely pictures from the 16t Mineral topic

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/9402421758/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/9402421804/

Edited August 29, 2013 by Southernman46

[tom s]

Bit of cross topic fertilisation.........................lovely pictures from the 16t Mineral topic

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/9402421758/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/9402421804/

Funny thing is classes 15 and 16 could not be operated together due to the electro-magnetic control on the NBL and the electro-pneumatic on the BTH, so the 16 has almost certainly failed and is being rescued. Surprise surprise

[SJR]

I never thought I'd say this but after fitting a chip into my class 16 it run's as well if not better then my Atlas and Kato locos   I'm still not sure what to do about the couplings I want to fit a kadee  but   removing all the detailing Heljan has fitted seems such a shame   

 

I compromise with fitting couplings; just install a Kadee on the rear end preserving the buffer beam detail at the front.

 

Cheers

Simon

[Dunsignalling]

I never thought I'd say this but after fitting a chip into my class 16 it run's as well if not better then my Atlas and Kato locos I'm still not sure what to do about the couplings I want to fit a kadee but removing all the detailing Heljan has fitted seems such a shame

I've got one on the bench for an ER pal. Once I work out how it all fits together, I'll be fitting a 141, 146 or 148 (depending on how everything lines up) in a 242 box direct to the chassis which will allow the pipework to be left in place.

 

We had it trundling round his layout light engine yesterday evening and it runs as well as it looks, it is also almost silent at low speed. He did several turns on the class as second man working out of Stratford and reckons they were at Devons Road before they got them.

 

This loco has to be a strong contender for Model of the Year in my book.

 

My problem will be justifying one turning up in Dorset.........

 

John

Edited August 29, 2013 by Dunsignalling

[stock_2007]

I've got one on the bench for an ER pal. Once I work out how it all fits together, I'll be fitting a 141, 146 or 148 (depending on how everything lines up) in a 242 box direct to the chassis which will allow the pipework to be left in place.

 

We had it trundling round his layout light engine yesterday evening and it runs as well as it looks, it is also almost silent at low speed. He did several turns on the class as second man working out of Stratford and reckons they were at Devons Road before they got them.

 

This loco has to be a strong contender for Model of the Year in my book.

 

My problem will be justifying one turning up in Dorset.........

 

John

I once had a really nice holiday in Dorset, so I'm sure you can justify almost anything down there if you really try

[tom s]

Being heavily involved in the reseach on Heljan's models I would like to point out that there was never any 'misconception' by Heljan to produce a blue Class 15 and therefore they did not 'succumb' to that point. The 'preserved' Class 15 D8233 did receive a couple of non-authentic liveries in its early preservation days, probably to help keep the rust at bay, but during their days of BR operation they were always green, albeit with the eventual applications of yellow warning panels of different shapes and sizes and the double arrow logos.

 

I would also like to think that Heljan can be trusted to produce accurate and authentic liveries, unless commissioned by other parties for direct sale, and that all the effort the Heljan UK team put in is always backed up by photographic evidence.

 

As many on this forum know liveries are a minefield, especially in the early diesel days and green/blue changeover. In London, especially Finsbury Park and Stratford, the repainting of loco roofs pale grey was carried out frequently as a means of smartening up the general appearance and was usually carried out by the artisan cleaners at that time..................................as one of my pairs of shoes did testify to!

Didn't mean to offend, i just thought the black and white pics of class 15s in full yellow ends with the BR arrows led to many people assuming they recieved Blue livery. Your snaps of death row 16's have given me alot of reference material when i was making my (out of paper, im poor, dont judge me ) trio of 16's but i could never tell the colour of the roofs, dirt and sunlight seem to mask the true colour unfortunately. The irony in the painting of the roofs silver/grey being that lighter colours showed up dirt a lot more than the standard blue, not doing much to smarten the appearance in the long run! Im in a mind to dip into the wallet of modeller's licence and paint my 16's BR Blue. Now that everyone has a class 16 my trio aren't that special anymore, nobody has a blue 16 though

[Brian Kirby]

BRDatabase http://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=class&id=16&type=D&page=alloc

has the 16s as delivered new to Stratford and allocated there until withdrawal.

 

It also has the first ten class 15s as new to Devons Road as Broadway Clive says.

 

 

One has to remember that Stratford has always been ER, whereas Devons Road was a LMR diesel shed when converted from the original steam shed, indeed even in it's short diesel life, the LMR used it to store quite large steam locos, up to 4-6-0 size, including i believe 5XP and 6P. BK

[tom s]

One has to remember that Stratford has always been ER, whereas Devons Road was a LMR diesel shed when converted from the original steam shed, indeed even in it's short diesel life, the LMR used it to store quite large steam locos, up to 4-6-0 size, including i believe 5XP and 6P. BK

wasn't stratford the largest steam depot at one point? i would have thought that would have been converted too, although there isn't any evidence of the original shed so it may have been levelled prior to constructing the new depot

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi Tom

 

Stratford steam shed was a collection of buildings of vary ages. Parts were slowly knocked down and new diesel buildings built in their place as the traction changed from steam to diesel.

[stock_2007]

I never thought I'd say this but after fitting a chip into my class 16 it run's as well if not better then my Atlas and Kato locos   I'm still not sure what to do about the couplings I want to fit a kadee  but   removing all the detailing Heljan has fitted seems such a shame   

On the subject of Kadee couplings my class 15 is fitted with number 19 kadee's I know 18's are to short I fit them to my rolling stock. I was wondering  has anyone fitted Kadee's to their class 16 yet?

[SteveCole]

Hi all,

 

Just to let you know that we've uploaded a superb review of the Class 16. The review is by Tony Wright. It can be found by clicking here. 

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

On the subject of Kadee couplings my class 15 is fitted with number 19 kadee's I know 18's are to short I fit them to my rolling stock. I was wondering  has anyone fitted Kadee's to their class 16 yet?

 Any Kadee fitting to a sprung buffered vehicle, I retract the buffers. The very similar class 15 takes a no 17 when this is done, on my 30" minimum radius operation.

[Clive Mortimore]

Having mine now for a few days I have noticed some things that do not seem as good as I would expect.

 

The cab fronts do not seem to be angled enough, they appear too flat.

 

The battery box is set too far back from the edge of the running plate.

 

There is a very poor representation of the spring under the bogie bolster.

 

The sand boxes look too small.

 

[Miss Prism]

The cab fronts do not seem to be angled enough, they appear too flat.

I don't understand, Clive. Which angle?

 

The sand boxes look too small.

 

Inevitable because of model radii constraints?

 

 

[Igor]

From that BRM photo review, there are a few points of interest. Surprised by only 3-pole motor and the RRP. Is it really 155 pounds? The sole bar top plate (is it a seperate sheet?) is deformed under the cab when you click on the top picture. Bogies look very 2D.

[stock_2007]

Don't know a lot about the motor ie 3-pole etc but I do know its a very smooth runner.   Also not sure about the RRP of £155 as Hatton's and most other sellers are selling them for £107

[Southernman46]

Ah - I see we've reached stage 5, having skipped Stage 4 (moans about lack of livery options - 'cos they've all been done)

[Clive Mortimore]

I don't understand, Clive. Which angle?

 

 

Inevitable because of model radii constraints?

Hi Miss Prism

 

I hope this sketch makes things clear.

 

With the sand boxes there should not be a problem, the bogies are quite some way in from the ends and the sand boxes clear the frames.

[Ian Hargrave]

Why worry about a 3 pole motor ? Heljan's offerings to date out-perform most r-t-r products.Hornby's recent O1, which is an excellent runner,is also a 3-pole job.The sole quarrel I have with Heljan is the price.....which I will probably end up paying.

[BrushVeteran]

If I may add a little information which I hope is helpful.

 

The three pole motors used these days are skew-wound so they are a lot smoother in operation. Unless you get a faulty one, they are far more reliable and more suited to slow running. To get a five pole motor that was small enough to fit in the space available would have pushed the cost up unproportionally.

 

The drawings and CAD were taken from official BR/NBL drawings and have been checked dimensionally. The cabs are correctly moulded with the angles correctly portrayed. I would add that some of the drawings which have been carried over from some of the published material in the railway press are not accurate and cannot be relied upon when checking the dimensions of a model. All that can usually be confirmed are the major measurements and this is why it sometimes takes a considerable time to embark on a project because of lack of suitable drawings.

 

I'm afraid I can't really see an issue with the sandboxes but again they were drawn from the official works drawings apart from the fact that the bolster flitch plates were beefed up on the bogies as part of a modification in 1962/3 and this has been incorporated in to the model.

 

I posted some images on 27th November 2012, which are still on this thread, where I tried to portray the bogies and cab unit for comments. There were no comments regarding these issues, I have included them again for interest. The only issue that came to light was the size of the cab side windows, and yes some were enlarged near to the end of their lives.

 

 

[stock_2007]

Without wanting to offend anyone can I just say how disappointed I am that people are so keen to find fault with the class 16 which is to my mind is one of the best RTR locos I've seen in a long time. As someone has already said when  Heljan told us about the loco everyone know what it would look like it was no secret there were photos everywhere.

I really like both my class 15 and 16 I'm sure I'll be adding another to the shed before long.