Heljan planning a 1361 too

[Dublodad]

My 1361 in BR Black with Early crest arrived from Hattons yesterday.

 

I ran it in today after checking that the axles moved. I ran it for one hour in each direction on my rolling road, in half hour stints. It ran perfectly and smoothly all the time.

 

The only comment about the loco is that in certain lights the saddle tank has a greenish hue!! and the smokebox is a little tall against the saddle tank, but a lovely little loco to complement my 1366.

 

I have fitted Hornby straight couplings to both, rather than the cranked Heljan ones

 

I now need to test run them both with modern freight stock. the 1366 managed 4 Hornby Dublo wagons plus a brake van, although it could probably manage a few more, but that was all the Peckett could manage!!!

 

Terry

[adb968008]

Here's mine arrived this am.

 

As per the 1361 runs at 0.2amp, pulls 38g on the drawbar against a loco weight of 182g.

 

 

Only niggle is that on curves the valve gear locks up.

 

This was traced to the coupling rod snatching the piston rod, see circled where the coupling rod screw had caught the piston and removed the paint.

 

I've slightly towed out the slide bars and all seems to be good, looking at the original image you can see the slide bars were towing inwards.

 

Mine only had 1 coupling in the bag (dropped type) so I will add the normal type shortly.

Will pair this and the 1366 up tomorrow.

Runs just like the other one, nice model and nice prototype.

Edited January 23, 2017 by adb968008

[Garethp8873]

I'm heading down to my supplier at AGR Models in Leighton tomorrow and hoping part of my Xmas paycheck will be going towards one of the GWR 1364 models.

[NCB]

As far as I can tell neither Heljan or Kernow seems to be offering a genuine pre-WWII livery for the 1361; 1363 in both camps is obviously one of the preserved liveries (i.e. polished brass safety valve and smoke box door rim and hinges picked in white). Any thoughts as to why this is the case, and whether the omission might be rectified?

[Allegheny1600]

So!

Now that there have been several of these locos running on folks layouts, I wonder how pleased or not, people are with these models?

I note adb968008's comments above, anything else?

Cheers,

John.

[adb968008]

So!

Now that there have been several of these locos running on folks layouts, I wonder how pleased or not, people are with these models?

I note adb968008's comments above, anything else?

Cheers,

John.

Nine months in and I'm still happy with mine, no issues at all.

1366 class is all ok too.

[GWR8700]

Mine is good too despite starting off poorly.  A superb runner only hampered by the difficulty to fit DCC sound

[Gilbert]

Mine is good too despite starting off poorly.  A superb runner only hampered by the difficulty to fit DCC sound

Did you achieve a sound fit?

[GWR8700]

Did you achieve a sound fit?

I haven't attempted it yet.  I've seen a conversion done on here and it involves filing part of the weight with a grinding wheel. (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/118569-Heljan-1366-dcc-sound-fitting-guide/)  I will attempt it some day when I have a grinding wheel and confidence that I won't damage the locomotive beyond repair.  In the meantime, I am enjoying the good running qualities and and completely silent motor.

This is that particular conversion in action, although it's a 1366 it's most likely the same for adding sound.

Edited October 2, 2017 by GWR8700

[cctransuk]

Having taken delivery of a Heljan 1365, (in place of the Kernow / DJM version for which I cancelled my order), I was very pleased with the model. It ran smoothly and relatively quietly, though with a little 'growl'. As advised in the instructions, I set it up on rollers to run it in - but after around five minutes running it stopped dead and could not be persuaded to run again. So, I set to for a strip-down and fault-finding exercise.

 

Firstly, it is essential to remove the under-boiler tank balancing pipe - this just pulls out of the holes in the underside of the saddle tank. Then the front NEM pocket assembly needs to be removed by unscrewing the single long screw; this reveals a screw which can be unscrewed to release the smokebox unit. The entire saddle tank moulding can now be slid forward along the internal cast weight to release it. The upper cast weight / motor clamp is released by removing the two screws now visible.

 

With the motor now accessible, it was evident that the black wire had never been properly soldered to the motor terminal tag, and had broken free. Sliding the tiny rubber sleeve back along the wire allowed me to solder the wire securely to the motor tag, and the motor then functioned again.

 

Though the motor fits fairly snugly into the recesses in the lower boiler casting and the upper cast weight, I suspected that the motor 'growl' might be caused by vibration between the motor casing and the castings. I therefore wrapped a single layer of thin masking tape around the motor - Sellotape would have done just as well - and then replaced the motor, ensuring that the black and red wires sat properly in their cast recesses. The upper casting was replaced and the fixing screws refitted. I track-tested the partially reassembled loco, and some adjustment of the weight fixing screws was necessary to ensure that the worm engaged the worm-wheel to the optimum extent, at which point the loco ran virtually silently, with no 'growl' whatsoever.

 

I noted that the saddle tank moulding, when slid over the internal cast weight, had a considerable void above the weight. I therefore cut a piece of roofing lead sheet to the dimensions of the top of the weight, and chamfered the edges to 45 degrees; this allowed the lead to sit on top of the weight whilst still allowing the tank moulding to slide in place. The smokebox moulding was replaced and the fixing screw refitted, followed by screwing the front NEM pocket assembly in place, and replacing the tank balance pipe.

 

 

The result is a fully functioning loco, which runs virtually silently and with significantly more mass than as supplied. Frankly, I do not think that it would be possible to produce a better model of the 1361 class, and the easy elimination of vibration between the motor and its cast surround has removed the only niggle that I had concerning running.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited October 1, 2017 by cctransuk

[gooderz]

I haven't attempted it yet.  I've seen a conversion done on here and it involves filing part of the weight with a grinding wheel. (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/118569-Heljan-1366-dcc-sound-fitting-guide/)  I will attempt it some day when I have a grinding wheel and confidence that I won't damage the locomotive beyond repair.  In the meantime, I am enjoying the good running qualities and and completely silent motor.

This is that particular conversion in action

That was the single most awkward sound conversion I've ever done. Didn't help myself by putting a flickering firebox in it either. Smashing little engine though

[Les1952]

Having taken delivery of a Heljan 1365, (in place of the Kernow / DJM version for which I cancelled my order), I was very pleased with the model. It ran smoothly and relatively quietly, though with a little 'growl'. As advised in the instructions, I set it up on rollers to run it in - but after around five minutes running it stopped dead and could not be persuaded to run again. So, I set to for a strip-down and fault-finding exercise.

 

Firstly, it is essential to remove the under-boiler tank balancing pipe - this just pulls out of the holes in the underside of the saddle tank. Then the front NEM pocket assembly needs to be removed by unscrewing the single long screw; this reveals a screw which can be unscrewed to release the smokebox unit. The entire saddle tank moulding can now be slid forward along the internal cast weight to release it. The upper cast weight / motor clamp is released by removing the two screws now visible.

 

With the motor now accessible, it was evident that the black wire had never been properly soldered to the motor terminal tag, and had broken free. Sliding the tiny rubber sleeve back along the wire allowed me to solder the wire securely to the motor tag, and the motor then functioned again.

 

Though the motor fits fairly snugly into the recesses in the lower boiler casting and the upper cast weight, I suspected that the motor 'growl' might be caused by vibration between the motor casing and the castings. I therefore wrapped a single layer of thin masking tape around the motor - Sellotape would have done just as well - and then replaced the motor, ensuring that the black and red wires sat properly in their cast recesses. The upper casting was replaced and the fixing screws refitted. I track-tested the partially reassembled loco, and some adjustment of the weight fixing screws was necessary to ensure that the worm engaged the worm-wheel to the optimum extent, at which point the loco ran virtually silently, with no 'growl' whatsoever.

 

I noted that the saddle tank moulding, when slid over the internal cast weight, had a considerable void above the weight. I therefore cut a piece of roofing lead sheet to the dimensions of the top of the weight, and chamfered the edges to 45 degrees; this allowed the lead to sit on top of the weight whilst still allowing the tank moulding to slide in place. The smokebox moulding was replaced and the fixing screw refitted, followed by screwing the front NEM pocket assembly in place, and replacing the tank balance pipe.

 

IMG_4418.JPG

 

The result is a fully functioning loco, which runs virtually silently and with significantly more mass than as supplied. Frankly, I do not think that it would be possible to produce a better model of the 1361 class, and the easy elimination of vibration between the motor and its cast surround has removed the only niggle that I had concerning running.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

quote  "but after around five minutes running it stopped dead and could not be persuaded to run again. So, I set to for a strip-down and fault-finding exercise"

 

Hmm - another account of a self-fix to a loco that should have been sent back as duff.  

 

IMHO this is what helps manufacturers believe their products are more reliable than they actually are...

 

Les

[cctransuk]

quote  "but after around five minutes running it stopped dead and could not be persuaded to run again. So, I set to for a strip-down and fault-finding exercise"

 

Hmm - another account of a self-fix to a loco that should have been sent back as duff.  

 

IMHO this is what helps manufacturers believe their products are more reliable than they actually are...

 

Les

 

Hmmm !, you do it your way - I'll do it mine !

 

I wanted a fully functional loco, and fixing it myself was a d*mn sight quicker than returning it. A loco that runs for a while and then stops dead can only have a fairly limited number of faults - most, easily fixed.

 

In the process of fixing it I gained a detailed knowledge of how it was constructed and, in the process, managed to increase its weight and make it run more quietly.

 

So - what I did was more use to me than sending back the defective model.

 

Why people believe that they have the right to tell others how to behave in a particular situation never ceases to amaze me.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[MG 7305]

My model 1361 class ran well until I cleaned the wheels using the isopropanol soaked kitchen cloth over rails method.  This required me to apply some downward pressure on the model to both maintain electrical contact and clean the wheels.  However the model now has gained a nasty click/hesitation in reverse only, forward it runs like a dream.  These symtoms occur every 3/4 turns of the wheels (yes really!) I have dismantled it and:

 

Cleaned the gears (the intermediates are pretty thin and pathetic).

Changed the packing height of the motor up and down.

Adjusted the axle/pick up keeper plate screw tightness to several states.  It is noticable that the chassis centre/driving axle location method is rubbish and seems to be managed by the keeper plates so the margin of tightness between locking the wheels and locating the axles is very small.

Glued packing on the chassis block to restrict the lateral movement of the front axle to ensure the crankpins do not foul on the crossheads.

Used military language.

 

I has previously cleaned the wheels with peco electric wire brushes and locked it up completely but cured it by one of or combination of the above but success has eluded me this time.  Is there a solution I have missed? 

[Butler Henderson]

Could be a pick up slightly misaligned

[MG 7305]

Pickups look good, all running on the inside of the tyre.

[MG 7305]

Fixed it!  This model does not have a very forgiving drive train, the motor worm has to be set pretty exactly above the idler gears, I love insulation tape, and the keeper plates for the axles and pickups have to be tensioned pretty accurately.  Wheel cleaning is going to be conducted rather more delicately in future.

[vulcanbomber]

Just ordered one for Christmas

 

What decoder did you fit in it?

[Dad-1]

I have a Lenz silver mini ....... found them fine when used before, but slightly expensive ?

 

Mine is giving trouble though. First on track where there was very tight clearance the pick-up wipers caught and bent

themselves badly. The wheels were very oily and needed cleaning, I had the same problem with wheel backs where

it would seem I have rather poor pick-up as it stalls for no apparent reason.

All the axles were very tight with what I suppose is a rather sticky grease. It's running is better now after at least 3 hours

running-in.

Next to take apart clean out thick lubricant and see what I can do about the excessively tightly fitted axles.

 

More to follow no doubt !!

 

Dad-1

[Dad-1]

The 'Rails' deal was enough to tempt me.

 

 

A pretty little locomotive, heavy enough to

haul more that you shopuld even need. Had this

one pulling 13 wagons with brakes on - brakes

as needed to get satisfactory Kadee operation.

 

Dad-1

[Dad-1]

A short video, running in my garage.

 

 

Dad-1

[Guardian]

Dear All

 

As my attention just focuses on the GWR 1361 class - may I ask the owners of the Heljan model to give me a hint whether the coupling and drive rods are of blackened metal or of plastics. 

 

Thank you.

Mark

[exet1095]

12 hours ago, Guardian said:

Dear All

 

As my attention just focuses on the GWR 1361 class - may I ask the owners of the Heljan model to give me a hint whether the coupling and drive rods are of blackened metal or of plastics. 

 

Thank you.

Mark

Metal coupling and connecting rods.

[maico]

Oh dear...

 

 

[cctransuk]

12 minutes ago, maico said:

Oh dear...

 

 

 

Nowt wrong with mine - and they're on offer at a great price at the moment.

 

So much so, that Kernow are offering their version at the same price, even though they'll loose money on the deal.

 

I went for the first on the market - the one without the imaginary splashers; (the Heljan one).

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.