Heljan class 57

Teleman · Heljan class 57

I went and brought one yesterday at the exhibition as it had 'buy me Peter' on it ( not realy ) but the stall holder did say he would give me a good price .

Its mint in box with all the bits to fit on as well as a bar for double heading , Its a very quiet loco and good at slow speeds but the centre wheels on each bogie are a bit of a fiddle to get on the track . Its a heavy loco to at 700g ( 1lb 8 oz ) with 8 driving wheels . I'm yet to take the top off to see inside as it is DCC ready

Well i'm off to play err ,, run her round Ryans layout , Its got lights and sprung buffers too
Not bad for £40

poliss

Review here. http://tinyurl.com/cjlnsl Says it is DCC ready.

Teleman

Thanks Pol , I have the top off now and can see the motor to , Its a twin fly wheel jobby ( will post pic later ) and yes it has a DCC socket as for being to wide ? I will get the scale drawing of the class 47 out

RetroGoth

I heard they are quite a bit too wide, the Bachamm one had the window frames too thick and the Hornby one has so many issues it isn't worth the time listing.

They all look like the real thing (apart from the Hornby masking line versions!) so these flaws don't bother me.

Teleman

Not to bad realy , only a mill but it does look like that can be solved as the chassis pushies out the body . If i get brave a might see if i can shave half a mill off each side of the chassis

RetroGoth

I am debating about getting the Heljan 47 as it's un-numbered and doing 47901. Originally was going to spray and renumber a spare Riveria 47 body.

How do they handle?

Teleman

Very nice

after a long running in it keeps getting better each run

RetroGoth

I'll have to get one then. Need to work out what the exact livery was at the time 47901 was based in Birkenhead. The only photos seen so far have colour fades with age so can't work out if the roof was blue or grey!

Teleman

Thats always a hard one with photos . Have you tryed the 47s web page ?
http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_numb...ex=0&kndex=0&s_loco=47901

RetroGoth

Thanks for that Peter. I looked at RPA a while ago, some more pictures added since then. Cab roof looks grey but the main roof could be either blue with added dirt or it's all grey. The age of the photographs is a bit of a hinderance...

Teleman

Looking at there page computer

i would go for blue . As that is the colour they say for it . All the info on there site i have been able to check with my photos / memory has been right so far

RetroGoth

I thought blue looking at it again. Might be different if I were using my own CRT monitor instead of her ladyships LCD one - I may not have pesterd you as much!

So how many 47s and 57s now I wonder? Enough to open your own 47s shop

poliss

Around 47 I reckon.

Teleman

not yet Pol

about 27 ish , brought another tonight on flebay for £16 inc post it looks mint but no box

RetroGoth

You have more than some operators then!

Favourite one then or is it a hard choice?

Teleman

Its .. errr . eer ... mmm.. Freightliner green ? or FGW , but it looks nice in DRS too and the red of the reserve it looks realy nice , Network South East looks realy 'cool' o bugger they all look nice

but bottom of the list is the Virgin colours . But it still looks 'FAB' in them

RetroGoth

I think blue suits these machines best, DRS being one of the smartest liveries of them all (next to Loadhaul - everything looks great in Loadhaul colours). DRS being one of the smartest in particular.

Virgin new build livery is awful, the three white stripes being far better on the eye.

I only have a couple 47s so far in my collection, as you know I sold a few different bodies. Riveria midnight blue, I suppose, is my favourite followed by XP64.