Heljan Lion

[ch1970mc]

Decoders were Gauge master dcc25 which once fitted I have never had any problems with, that said I have had a couple faulty from new.  I always test them first in a loco which i know to be okay, which i did prior to fitting in lion.

lion ran really well on dc,no wheel wobble etc which over people have commented on.

 

Hope to receive replacement soon, the more I look at pictures of it the more I like it!

 

Just to let you know have received my NRM prototype deltic with sound its a corker!!!!!!!!

[luke_stevens]

Received my Lion yesterday was really looking forward to getting it then........ windscreen wipers missing, ran okay on dc fitted decoders and bang decoders went up in smoke! Loco now in post back to model shop , waiting for replacement. This is my first Heljan model is this the norm as I wanted to get DP2 next. Will let you all know how I get on, second time better luck I hope!

In the past there has been problems with a lack of clearance under the pins of a decoder socket on some Heljan locos. Plugging a decoder in can result in a short circuit that is there but not apparent in DC becoming suddenly obvious. The previous recommendation was to put a piece of insulation tape under the socket before plugging in a decoder.

 

When you get Lion back, it would be worth doing this before fitting any decoder. And the same when you get your DP2.

 

Luke

[ch1970mc]

Replacement Lions back and it Roars!! No problems this time, Thanks Luke for the advice, went to fit the decoder and fit insulation tape under socket and it looks like Hejan has done modification as there was a factory fitted black thick tape on the PCB to prevent shorting with chassis! 

 

Me thinks wallet is about to take another bashing DP2 gets the green light to go!

[Metr0Land]

Well, I sold a few things on a well known site and one on rmweb classifieds so treated myself to a Lion from Liverpool.

 

She's a beauty.  Absolutely thrilled with her.  Bogies are a bit plasticky but that's easily toned down, and headcode blinds are too far recessed but hopefully I can get to them. At £79 + p/p it's a steal. 

 

Now where can  I find some (more) £3.99 Mk1's for her to pull? I wonder if there's thread on rmweb somewhere? 

[Baby Deltic]

 

Now where can  I find some (more) £3.99 Mk1's for her to pull? I wonder if there's thread on rmweb somewhere? 

 

WHSmiths in Huntingdon was crawling with them this afternoon.

[duncan_am_smith]

I've followed this thread with interest - although a US-outline modeller, I was always a sucker for "Lion".  Whilst I have nothing against the well-known-box-shifters, I wanted to give my business to a smaller retailer.

 

So imagine my pleasant surprise to find Diesel Depot (formerly called Going Loco) based at St Anne's, Lancashire, offering The Ghost at £79, free shipping - and, arguably, a bit more care than the big box-shifters.

 

Placed my order this evening - now, how do I explain why "Lion" is at the head of a D&RGW Tunnel Motor lash-up....

[bigherb]

 

Placed my order this evening - now, how do I explain why "Lion" is at the head of a D&RGW Tunnel Motor lash-up....

Don't worry about it,  I often have a Fairbanks Morse trundling through South London.

[SRman]

It's not well known that Lion was not broken up by BRCW as most texts will try to tell you, but was, in fact, exported to the USA to try to drum up some sales that might rescue their ailing finances. All this was hushed up a bit as the hoped-for sales didn't eventuate.

 

 

 

(For DUncan!)  

[duncan_am_smith]

Ah, those 'little known about' histories...! FM (Proto's Erie-built FM?) on the South London lines, eh? What next - SP Cab Forward on the Clapham-Kensington shuttle...

 

Lion arrived from Diesel Depot today - securely packed and, my, she looks a beauty. No running in as yet. I think the wipers and screw couplings will get swapped for brass examples and those black cantrail grilles need toning down; but, that apart, a cracking model.

[John Tomlinson]

In the unlikely event that there's someone out there still contemplating buying one, Hattons are still offering at £79. Mine arrived yesterday, under 24 hours from placing the order by 'phone. External condition is perfect, although there is a very slight wobble on running as noted above - not particularly serious IMHO.

 

Looking at the delicacy of the lining and detailing, there's no way I could have reproduced the same on my Silver Fox resin body, so in my view excellent value for money and a great addition to the fleet. Perhaps one day I'll try that ficticious D8500 livery on the SF version!

 

John, with snaps on www.flickr.com/photos/51265696@N03

[SRman]

I wouldn't mind seeing a Lion clone (perhaps a might-have-been production batch) in two-tone green like what became the standard livery on class 47.

[John Tomlinson]

A question to you all about the prototype and its workings. In 1963 the loco was tranferred to the Eastern, and there is decent photographic evidence of it on Pullman workings. Notably and not least thanks to Eric Treacy, the Yorkshire Pullman 1E08, and also the Master Cutler/ Sheffield Pullman 1B21. 1B21 is one of the headcodes on the model as supplied by Heljan, and for my Eastern Region transition era layout I am looking for an alternative for the other end.

 

The two options would be a non-Pullman passenger working, suitable for maroon Mk1's, or a freight of some kind. In Modern Railways traction notes for an issue of the period, there is a reference to trials on freights, alas without specifics. I wonder if anyone could kindly give me a steer here.

 

Many thanks,   John.

[stewartingram]

1B66 for the Cambridge Buffet Express? I'm sure whilst at school I saw it on this, though not 100% sure, but we got a lot of odd locos on it such as the prototypes.

 

Stewart

[Metr0Land]

IIRC the Cambridge Buffet Express was strangely the same headcode both ways?

[31A]

IIRC the Cambridge Buffet Express was strangely the same headcode both ways?

All trains on the GN Suburban system originally carried the same headcodes in either direction; the headcodes indicated the line of route and starting / terminating points rather than direction or the individual WTT train identity.  However a short while before they finished they changed to being 1B66 in one direction, and 1P66 in the other direction.  I can't remember which direction was which, but I'm sure Stewart will know the details!

 

A bit more on topic, I have certainly seen pictures of Falcon on 1B66, but don't remember seeing anything about Lion on that job; however as it worked from 34G quite possibly it could have been.

[stewartingram]

All trains on the GN Suburban system originally carried the same headcodes in either direction; the headcodes indicated the line of route and starting / terminating points rather than direction or the individual WTT train identity.  However a short while before they finished they changed to being 1B66 in one direction, and 1P66 in the other direction.  I can't remember which direction was which, but I'm sure Stewart will know the details!

 

A bit more on topic, I have certainly seen pictures of Falcon on 1B66, but don't remember seeing anything about Lion on that job; however as it worked from 34G quite possibly it could have been.

Sorry I can't comment on the latter day headcodes, way past my period of interest!

As far as the CBE is concerned, I went to school at the Boys High School on Hills Road in Cambridge, which overlooked the line. Also at lunchtime, we often went to spot at the nearby Cattle Market which was opposite the south end of the station. The CBE was a favourite for odd locos, usually 34G (originally 34B) based, but sometimes rarer. Without consulting any records, ie just from memory, it was (in diesel days) a class 26 (including the small number of Scottish ones that were loaned to Hornsey) turn, followed by classs 23, then  later class 31. However, D0280 was put onto it for a while in its early days, and again after it had been back into Brush for a while. I know I first saw Lion at Swindon, before it moved to the GN, but I'm fairly sure it appeared on the CBE too. (Good enough for me to put 1B66 on mine anyway!). We also had 40, 55, early 47 when new, & 46 on the 1B66 at times. I know I saw HS4000 in the area too, but can't be sure if it was on the CBE.

It seems that in steam days the CBE was a favourite running in turn for 34A locos and this tradition continued into diesel days.

Not 1B66 related, but I also saw Taurus a couple of times from the Science Lab!

 

Stewart

[31A]

Hi Stewart,

 

Without wanting to stray too far off topic, it seems we had a very similar education, a few years apart (1968-1975 in my case).  I remember often seeing a KX train which arrived around 0830 and could produce an interesting loco (e.g. Gateshead 46, or on one occasion XP64 liveried D1733), and after school we rushed out to see the two 'Londons' around 1530, of which the KG could be a Deltic (adult or baby); later 47s became more the norm.  I envy you seeing Taurus, but the high spot for me was probably 'Green arrow' en route to Norwich for Bill Harvey's attention.

[stewartingram]

D1733 at Cambridge, wow that is a new one on me!

From memory again, the CBE was 0915 and 1515 departures, with an arrival a little while before, so that sounds like your train. There was also a lunchtime working that we saw, definately a 1B66, but I can't remember if it was actually a CBE, though it may have used the same stock. The working at Cambridge was quite interesting, and on my Hunston Beach layout I've modified the trackplan (based on Hunstanton) to replicate this.

1. n/b train terminates in bay platform 2. (Note the signalling also included a couple of ground dollies being used for arrival). Loco is uncoupled at the buffers.

2. station pilot - 03 - couples to rear (south end) of carriages, and pulls the ecs out of the bay to a position under Hills Road bridge.

3. train loco reverses out of platform, coming to a stand also under the bridge, actually on the down main.

4. station pilot propels ecs back into platform 2, is uncoupled, and comes back out to park in its usual spot out of the way.

5. train loco returns to p2, to couple up, ready for departure south.

 

How much more interesting than a 365 today!

 

The 7 coach rake of the CBE included a Gresley Buffet car in the centre. In those days though, the premier service was to Liverpool St. A 9 coach rake, again with a Buffet in the centre but Mk1 this time. Crack train was the Fenman at about 0900/0910 south, 58 mins as I recall. The new 37's (D6700-29) were staple diet on the Liv.St. expresses whilst I was at school, taking over from the 31's in use before.

 

Stewart

[John Tomlinson]

Many thanks to all of you for this fascinating story - 1B66 it is then!

 

John.

[faulcon1]

What do you mean by "the drive shafts have dropped out twice"? On normal reasonably flat track there shouldn't be sufficient slop for the drive shaft to drop out. I've been able to get a shaft to drop loose but that needs the trucks to be off their fittings.

 

 

 

It the trucks are correctly seated it sounds as if either:

 

 

 

a.) the shaft is "short" i.e. the wrong length shaft, or 

 

b.) the cup on the motor or before the work has slipped / not been fitted correctly so there is too much space between the cups, allowing the shaft to become loose.

 

 

 

The distance only needs to be tightened up by less than half the ball joint diameter.

 

 

 

I'd be looking to measure the distances between the worm - cup - drive shaft - cup - motor bearing for the end that works and compare this to the one that drops out. It shouldn't be too difficult to correct.

 

 

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

Luke

Well I didn't fiddle or take the loco apart but sent my Lion back to Heljan in Denmark after sending them an email. If I'd fiddled with the mechanism then that would have voided the warranty and Heljan would have still fixed the loco for me, but would have charged me for the process. They might have even said that my fiddling had caused the malfunction.

As it turned out the Heljan engineers did a first class job and refunded the postage too. I can't praise them highly enough. They were wonderful throughout the whole process.

One other thing that's what a warranty is for. If you buy a loco and it doesn't work as it's supposed to, DON'T start trying to put it right yourself but use the warranty. After all why wouldn't you use the warranty.....you have paid for it. If you buy a brand new car and it goes pop within a week you take it back to the place you bought it for the fault to be repaired under warranty. Why should new model railway locos with a warranty be any different.

I know some who may buy a Lion put on all the detail parts, place in a display case and leave it there. But I wany to run my Lion, Hymek, Western, Kestrel and Falcon, (both of them) the model and the 4.0L one.

[bacon butty]

I'm wanting to add a driver into my Lion. How easy is it to pull the cab from the body - do Heljan apply so much glue that it could be a little too destructive or should I be ok if I'm careful.

Also have I seen photo's somewhere that there was sometimes a technician in a white lab coat that traveled in the cab with the driver.

Any help or advise as to what to put in the cab would be most appreciated - this is way before my time but I find the whole issue of a white loco absolutely fascinating.

 

thanks in advance for any help

 

Stuart

[SRman]

I haven't checked my Lion out but past experience with Heljan is that they don't use much glue at all, with the possible exception of the original release class 58 light bars. This lack of glue also means it is easy to lose the odd side window from locomotives as they tend to be a press-fit only. The cab interiors are usually just a tight force fit.

[GRUNFOS]

I'm wanting to add a driver into my Lion. How easy is it to pull the cab from the body - do Heljan apply so much glue that it could be a little too destructive or should I be ok if I'm careful.

Also have I seen photo's somewhere that there was sometimes a technician in a white lab coat that traveled in the cab with the driver.

Any help or advise as to what to put in the cab would be most appreciated - this is way before my time but I find the whole issue of a white loco absolutely fascinating.

 

thanks in advance for any help

 

Stuart

It was only ever driven from one end, the other cab was fitted with somesort of monitoring equipment,find a phototo ensure driver is in the correct cab.

[jsp3970]

It was only ever driven from one end, the other cab was fitted with somesort of monitoring equipment,find a phototo ensure driver is in the correct cab.

If you look on line you can see photos of LION leading with either cab, so I don't think that is actually true.

[Ian Hargrave]

It was only ever driven from one end, the other cab was fitted with somesort of monitoring equipment,find a phototo ensure driver is in the correct cab.

Out of pure idle curiosity,I'd be interested in your source for that. Lion didn't hang around for long enough for much definitive to be recorded about her.