Ian Hargrave

But how many times have we heard the same song or variations on a theme over the last 15-20 years and the culture never changes. Our expression of righteous indignation is worthy……but it won’t alter a damned thing.

It’s an eyesore. And cannot be shortened. Designed to accommodate gimmicks.

Yet another YouTube disaster movie on screen.This time from a young Asiatic gent posting from Antarctica (sic ! ) The recipient of one from Kernow,he has the identical connection problem and is sending it back. This one is videod from a closer position and highlights the gap…..which he remarks is not to his liking.Me too.

Which is,rather than report it as a “hate crime “,by far the best way of dealing with such a situation. Causing public embarrassment can be very effective.

I wonder how many of us..if faced with a similar situation would actually do that ? If so,we might consider that many of our friends and acquaintances,not to say close relatives would face a caution or charge on the grounds of the possibility of a hate crime ? Think about it . Racist talk will take years yet to eradicate sadly

No problems to date but they haven’t had a great deal of use tbh.

Its reincarnation as an original 25KvAC test bed was on the Styal loop line c1957/58 where it was used to test newly erected OHL equipment. Its first public outing as a gas turbine was as a static exhibit on the 1951 Festival Of Britain railways stand at Waterloo East,alongside a 1500DC Wath electric and ex-works Britannia 70004.

Which presupposes a collective unity on the part of model rail enthusiasts. You wish…….

My mistake sorry.I should have posted Heljan 25.

Currently their 25 is an exceptional bargain .

Yes.George Dent’s review. My reaction,as subscriber of 20+ years is one of incredulity and disappointment. I have seen this model in operation a week ago at the NEC and wonder if he was reviewing the same model as the one I saw. Surely if he can remark upon ejector pin markings and “it would have been nice to have a teak frame added around the cab side windows “ then that gap between loco and tender should surely have been worth a mention. But no….”all scale dimensions and proportions virtually perfect “ Well maybe so if the two “halves” of the model are viewed as separate entities .Problem is ,the Black 5 doesn’t run like that as the article’s accompanying photos demonstrate . There is no evidence that the issue of lamp repositioning was attempted…other than a cautionary reference to possible damage such as the one I received from Hornby at the NEC Final verdict….” Excellent “. Really?

Agree there has to be a batch of rogue connectors. But that is half the problem. The other half is that unsightly gap.Woeful in the light of the claim of it being the ultimate. The eye has been taken off the ball here in the quest for gimmickry.

Not necessarily. The new 9F and Turbomotive will operate happily in the closer position . I have just shortened the coupling position on the new 78XXX and that too is happily strolling along with 5 Bachmann Parcels vans in tow. Looks better too..

Mine happily is still…apart from the fall plate…intact and is,like most Heljan models,a strong performer .

Still available in both versions on the Locomotion website: for release November 2024…..even though it seems to have disappeared from the Rails site. Lamp ( one on buffer beam central ) black .Though this is only a pre production image it has to be said. Hopefully any outstanding issues will be absent by November.

Or,like some later release models even be fitted with a shorter,closer position on the bar.

Out of curiosity,I have tried the Google link and am met with Page 404 on each occasion.We may speculate a reason but of course we don’t know why this has occurred. Try a phone call.

Cod be praised 🙏. Hope it’s as good as the LSWR van.

I wonder if Hornby will be tempted to produce a special edition…..but without headlamps. Though I should imagine the tooling is either worn or disappeared by now. In which case,step forward Dapol,Accurascale or Rapido.

Sorry no.

Having picked one up at the NEC Heljan stand at an incredibly advantageous price with Ben’s appreciated assistance I am very impressed with this. The performance on DC analogue is astoundingly good .One of those purchases you weren’t planning on making but despite all preconceived ideas on my part,it’s happily trundling around with a newspaper & parcels train c1980.

OK…fine but I have to say Iike my Turbo and the attached lights don’t bother that much because they show express passenger and aren’t mounted on the smokebox door like the carbuncle on the Black 5. But yes,I take your point.

Wholeheartedly agree with that. I’d prefer to regard the Black 5 issues as a blip in anotherwise purple patch since lockdown.

In truth,I couldn’t tell but yes I hope not…..having just had a running demo of the Black 5 lit up like the front end of a Pendolino on which I travelled back to New Street later.

Pigs will fly on your final sentence. And yet…….on these particular little piggies I’ve had no problem whatsoever,despite their weird mechanism.But Dapol are good with small locos….witness the LSWR B4 which is a little gem,so I’ll buy.