Heljan Warley 2013 news

[Igor]

With the following dates given, one assumes these new items must therefore be scheduled to follow, for late 2015/2016 onwards... Some way off then.

 

Class 05 0-4-0 (Sic) Diesel Shunter; RRP £124.95; Due late 2014/early 2015

 

Class 02 2-8-0 Steam Locomotive; RRP £184.95; Due early 2015

 

Pricing strikes me a a bit steep, particularly for the shunter in comparison to existing 0-6-0s?

 

Igor

[WILLIAM]

With the following dates given, one assumes these new items must therefore be scheduled to follow, for late 2015/2016 onwards... Some way off then.

 

Class 05 0-4-0 (Sic) Diesel Shunter; RRP £124.95; Due late 2014/early 2015

 

Class 02 2-8-0 Steam Locomotive; RRP £184.95; Due early 2015

 

Pricing strikes me a a bit steep, particularly for the shunter in comparison to existing 0-6-0s?

 

Igor

 

Agreed. £125 for a shunter?! Will they sell many at that price point or are heavy discounts inevitable after a while?

[Gilbert]

I think the Hattons/Heljan Class 14 went well at £115 (IIRC) I suppose it depend how much you want/need it....and what we think of it when it arrives....

[Roy P]

Hatton's newsletter mentions the Met Bo-Bos but the historical background has it's wires crossed!

It seems to suggest that they were rebuilt from the centre cab designs and replaced in the early '20s by more powerful units "but no.12 is preserved at the London Transport Museum".

 

The Heljan model is of the "more powerful type" that replaced the 10 boxy types  and the original 10 camel backs. there's a bit more to it than that but that's for another place and time.  No.5 John Hampden is in the museum as it was in better condition than the other three that survived in LT departmental use through the 1960s. No.12 Sarah Siddons, was "preserved" relatively recently from it's official depot duties.

 

I hope that Hatton's haven't copied any blurb from Heljan as it is forgiveable for a Liverpool retailer to be less than familiar with the details of a 90 year old piece of London. I trust Heljan have done a little more research.

 

Incidentally, although DJM Dave expressed a little surprise that it was Heljan announcing this model rather than Bachmann, He hinted that someone was going to do it back in mid January. This would suggest that he had asked of behalf of Dapol(?) prior to this date and somebody had beaten him to it earlier than that. Whether it was Heljan or Bachmann, someone has been working on this for a year now! We may get something to see before the 151st anniversary of the Metropolitan Railway.

RP

[Roy P]

It is worth noting here that Bachmann is now the distributor of EFE models so a RTR tube train could become a reality!

XF

I would have thought that any LT stock from Bachmann would be from entirely new tooling and as such maybe some other than more 38/59 stock would be a better choice. 

 

Something we can run alongside motorised EFE 38 stock if we pretend that the Croxley link had been built in the '50s. I'm sure that idea hasn't passed you by Nigel!    

 

RP

 

edit: I forgot to but a great big IF in that one

[Jeff Smith]

Most of the 20 Bo-Bos ran in basically three liveries:-

 

- Introduction to 2nd WW - Metro Maroon fully lined (yellow/black/yellow) with original three piece cast nameplates and Metropolitan crest (crests were removed when inducted into LT in the early thirties)

- Wartime grey with nameplates removed and no lining - just numbers and London Transport.

- Post wartime simplified maroon with minimal yellow lining, London Transport fleet-name in gold, numbers in yellow and new single-piece cast aluminium nameplates - as per No.5 in the LT Museum.

 

Before anyone gets pedantic, I know there were variations and at least one never received the post war maroon livery and another never got new nameplates - also two were renamed.  I am just generalising to make a point, which is, what livery will the model first appear in?  My money is 'Sarah Siddons' in original Metropolitan as per current running condition.  For RTR conversions there are both the original and newer nameplates available and number transfers.  My scratch built one (further back in this thread) was No.5 John Hampden in post war livery as I wanted it to complement my model of the original L91 - they overlapped in service for a few years in the late fifties/early sixties.

 

If it sells well perhaps Heljan will consider a post-war liveried one - I don't think grey will sell well though!

[Roy P]

Most of the 20 Bo-Bos ran in basically three liveries:-

 

- Introduction to 2nd WW - Metro Maroon fully lined (yellow/black/yellow) with original three piece cast nameplates and Metropolitan crest (crests were removed when inducted into LT in the early thirties)

- Wartime grey with nameplates removed and no lining - just numbers and London Transport.

- Post wartime simplified maroon with minimal yellow lining, London Transport fleet-name in gold, numbers in yellow and new single-piece cast aluminium nameplates - as per No.5 in the LT Museum.

 

Before anyone gets pedantic, I know there were variations..........

 

If it sells well perhaps Heljan will consider a post-war liveried one - I don't think grey will sell well though!

I previously wrote of five principle liveries and by way of clarification rather than pedantry, I considered the original scheme un-named with METROPOLITAN spelt out large on the sides as an additional livery and counted the pre-war Met and LT versions separately.  The pedant (collector) in me would also think of those that kept their nameplates for a while when painted grey or received new nameplates while still wearing grey with the red backed LONDON TRANSPORT panels.

All that aside, I do absolutely take your point when it comes to Heljan making the model appeal to most potential customers. 

I would personally like an early historical Met version and a later one on it's last run to Chesham (North of Ricky - Just!) before the withdrawal of the Dreadnoughts.

RP

[BrushVeteran]

Ooooh, lovely lovely.

 

That is 5 locos for me

 

 

 

My only problem is that in the ABC I am looking at 63948 was an O2/4 and 63975 was an O2/3, but it is a minor point.

 

So jonny777............you must be looking at an ABC dated between 1957 and 1962 I take it.

 

63948 was rebuilt to an O2/4 in August 1957, from an O2/3 and we have researched the livery from an earlier photograph, hence the early BR emblem. 63975 was rebuilt to an O2/4 in July 1962 from an O2/3, and we have used an image dated around 1963 which includes the OHLW flashes.

In both cases the main difference between an O2/3 and an O2/4 was the replacing of the dia.2 boiler with a dia.100A during a works overhaul so 63975 ran for only 18 months as an O2/4 before withdrawal.................what a waste!

[Dan Hamblin]

Someone asked how Sarah Siddons could be operated on 3rd rail - detach the negative shoe drop lead and attach it to the bogie frame. This sets up the earth return path via the wheels and running rail as required by 3rd rail electrification, because the white metal bearings allow relatively good electrically conductivity between frame and axle. The traction equipment still sees 750V dc and is robust enough to cope with it. We can't do this with more recent stock as they are fitted with roller bearings, which would receive arc damage.

 

I for one will certainly be trying to get the Heljan model, having crawled over the real thing when it was down at Eastleigh last year.

 

Regards,

 

Dan

[25901]

Agreed. £125 for a shunter?! Will they sell many at that price point or are heavy discounts inevitable after a while?

Hattons are showing them at £100 each so thats a start

[Jeff Smith]

I believe Sarah Siddons now has needle rollers - note the lubrication pipes to the yellow axle boxes.

[dcroz]

From Heljan's Facebook page, also now on Heljan website - http://www.Heljan.dk/faste_filer/modul.asp?vis=nyhedmod&fModul=web644.asp&mode=laesnyhed&artikelid=360

 

Heljan are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a new 'OO' BRCW type 3/BR class 33!

Two versions are planned, replicating the 'as-built' version and later modified versions of the class 33/0, both benefiting from all new CAD!

 

Models planned for release soon are (sooner than you expect);

 

Early 'as-built' D65xx with original exhaust/roof layout

3410 - D6507 in early BR green livery

3411 - D6577 in early BR green livery

3412 - D6510 in BR green livery with small yellow panels

3413 - D6530 in BR green livery with experimental small yellow panels with rounded top corners

3414 - D6570 in BR green livery with full yellow ends and BR coach style roundels

 

Later class 33/0 with revised exhaust/roof layout

3430 - D6506 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3431 - 6544 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3432 - 33003 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3433 - 33002 'Sea King' in engineers yellow & grey livery

3434 - 33033 in Railfreight Construction sector triple grey livery

 

Please see the samples of both of the above versions on our stand at the Warley Show 2013 (stand A09)

[the-gog]

That's going to sting!

[lapford34102]

Oh! Interesting if not totally unexpected.

 

Stu

[hornbyandbf3fan]

£100 for a shunter and £148 for the 02! That's two items off my list

[luke_stevens]

 

<snip> Models planned for release soon are (sooner than you expect) <snip>

 

 

 

 

Please don't let them be on sale tomorrow when I get to Warley...

 

(I better take the credit card just in case!)

 

Luke

[Dagworth]

I'm pleased about this latest news, it might mean that some original shredders appear at reasonable prices second hand, I need the chassis...

 

Andi

[MarkSG]

Here's something I've been wondering. As a BR steam era modeller, Heljan haven't previously been on my radar as a supplier as they haven't made anything which fits my needs. So I know very little about them. But these new announcements (along with the Hattons Garrett, which I've already ordered) do bring them into my horizon.

 

So, DEMU modellers who are already familiar with Heljan, how good are they? These prices do seem a little steep, but if they reflect the quality of the model then I'm prepared to pay them. But I don't want to pay over the odds for something which is inferior to the offerings of Bachmann and Hornby.

 

Are they worth it, or not?

[Stevelewis]

Yes!  We  have  several  Heljan  Locos  which  have  performed  well over  the  years,  Digitizing  them  is  usually  very  straight  forward, and  rapid, there  are  soem  who may critisise  some  aspects  of some items  but  for  the 'average modeller' Heljan  products  are  excellent  being  equal to  or in sonme  cases better  than  Bachmann.

 

In  0 gauge Heljan  diesels are  superb  and  reasonably  priced.

[DJM Dave]

From Heljan's Facebook page, also now on Heljan website - http://www.Heljan.dk/faste_filer/modul.asp?vis=nyhedmod&fModul=web644.asp&mode=laesnyhed&artikelid=360

Heljan are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a new 'OO' BRCW type 3/BR class 33!

Two versions are planned, replicating the 'as-built' version and later modified versions of the class 33/0, both benefiting from all new CAD!

Models planned for release soon are (sooner than you expect);

Early 'as-built' D65xx with original exhaust/roof layout

3410 - D6507 in early BR green livery

3411 - D6577 in early BR green livery

3412 - D6510 in BR green livery with small yellow panels

3413 - D6530 in BR green livery with experimental small yellow panels with rounded top corners

3414 - D6570 in BR green livery with full yellow ends and BR coach style roundels

Later class 33/0 with revised exhaust/roof layout

3430 - D6506 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3431 - 6544 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3432 - 33003 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3433 - 33002 'Sea King' in engineers yellow & grey livery

3434 - 33033 in Railfreight Construction sector triple grey livery

Please see the samples of both of the above versions on our stand at the Warley Show 2013 (stand A09)

Ah you see, some doubted me on here about this too , where's the humble pie eating icon Andy? :-)

[Dagworth]

 

So, DEMU modellers who are already familiar with Heljan, how good are they? These prices do seem a little steep, but if they reflect the quality of the model then I'm prepared to pay them. But I don't want to pay over the odds for something which is inferior to the offerings of Bachmann and Hornby.

 

Are they worth it, or not?

Some are good, some aren't... The Hymek was excellent, the 86 was a dog, and everything else comes somewhere in between. Generally running qualities are very good with some notable exceptions (Claytons, Dogfish with non insulated wheelsets), earlier locos had horrible brass wheels that got dirty very quickly but they seem to have binned those now.

 

Are they worth it? Only you can decide that.

 

Andi 

[Mark Dickerson]

[stops dancing around and around.] I'm waiting with raised eyebrow to see quite what gets announced re- the Metropolitan Bo-Bo, particularly in terms of limited editions. I almost wish the actual Sarah Siddons had emerged with something LU150 liverywise this year just to guarantee a longer-term release in a more routine guise...

[Mike Storey]

From Heljan's Facebook page, also now on Heljan website - http://www.Heljan.dk/faste_filer/modul.asp?vis=nyhedmod&fModul=web644.asp&mode=laesnyhed&artikelid=360

 

Heljan are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a new 'OO' BRCW type 3/BR class 33!

Two versions are planned, replicating the 'as-built' version and later modified versions of the class 33/0, both benefiting from all new CAD!

 

Models planned for release soon are (sooner than you expect);

 

Early 'as-built' D65xx with original exhaust/roof layout

3410 - D6507 in early BR green livery

3411 - D6577 in early BR green livery

3412 - D6510 in BR green livery with small yellow panels

3413 - D6530 in BR green livery with experimental small yellow panels with rounded top corners

3414 - D6570 in BR green livery with full yellow ends and BR coach style roundels

 

Later class 33/0 with revised exhaust/roof layout

3430 - D6506 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3431 - 6544 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3432 - 33003 in BR blue with full yellow ends

3433 - 33002 'Sea King' in engineers yellow & grey livery

3434 - 33033 in Railfreight Construction sector triple grey livery

 

Please see the samples of both of the above versions on our stand at the Warley Show 2013 (stand A09)

 

This is surprising indeed, notwithstanding the prediction by Dave, and maybe welcome, but perhaps not. I have re-checked the letter from Philip Sutton, of Rail Exclusives, who were originally producing these via Heljan, but hit a contractual dispute and pulled out. The letter states quite clearly that RE have retained all drawings and detailed information, and will progress the project with "another European manufacturer". I would have assumed that RE had retained all IP in connection with this work, but this announcement suggests the contrary, or that Heljan have or will be undertaking similar prep work already done by RE. We do not yet know how Heljan's version would compare to the very detailed RE version planned, but I wonder whether the market will support two upgraded Class 33/0's? If not, I suspect the Heljan model will be much less detailed and without the radically improved sound package promised by RE. I doubt if there would be much difference in individual price as RE were offering quite a competitive deal, but on condition every purchaser bought them in pairs.

 

Is this a spoiler by Heljan? If this knocks RE out of the game, and one requires the level of authenticity RE are/were promising, then Shawplan/ Lazerglaze et al, will probably benefit and the total combined cost plus added time, may raise the price well above the intended RE package. Oh well, at least we will get a better roofed 33/0 from somebody (assuming one or both of them gets it right this time!)......

[298]

 

So, DEMU modellers who are already familiar with Heljan, how good are they? These prices do seem a little steep, but if they reflect the quality of the model then I'm prepared to pay them. But I don't want to pay over the odds for something which is inferior to the offerings of Bachmann and Hornby.

 

Are they worth it, or not?

I think you have to judge each model on it's individual merits. In the past they have been good at releasing cad drawings prior to the tooling stage, but less good at correcting obvious mistakes that are pointed out to them....

[the-gog]

Some are good, some aren't... The Hymek was excellent, the 86 was a dog, and everything else comes somewhere in between. Generally running qualities are very good with some notable exceptions (Claytons, Dogfish with non insulated wheelsets), earlier locos had horrible brass wheels that got dirty very quickly but they seem to have binned those now.

 

Are they worth it? Only you can decide that.

 

Andi 

 

Don't forget the Cl 128 DPU, which in my opinion is excellent. Well-built and runs nice and sweet.