I’ve got to be honest, my initial thoughts to the title were “Why bother, it’ll just be a load of old tat, it’s a Heljan.” but the review was great as you’re an entertaining fellow and the model was surprisingly smart. The very few Heljan locos that I’ve seen that warranted and extra glance have all been diesels, oddly. When they bust out a steam loco, they seem to ruin it pretty much before they started making it :) :) New subscriber gained old bean.
Great video, Matt 👍. It's a real shame we lost this diesel . It would have been nice for it to have been saved for preservation and brought back to the UK.
Fantastic model here Matt, I have every heljan prototype loco that they have produced including Kestrel, I got mine back in 2023 for around £189, bit expensive but really couldn’t care what I paid for it as I had been adding some of the other prototypes to my fleet at the time, it’s a fantastic model as are many other Heljan locos and the fact they even produced this at all is great, I made one modification to mine and that was fitting a coupling bar instead of the tension lock couplings, overall fantastic loco from Heljan, I want to look at sound fitting mine at some point, great video showing this one Matt.
Very cool loco. Just a little hint of similarity to the classic German BR103 with the rounded ends. I really loved the history fact sheet you shared, too. Ran and sounded nice!
Different and interesting loco! I have now got two Heljan locos and have to say they are lovely to look at, very well detailed and excellent runners. I know some say Heljan have issues with how accurately they reproduce models compared to the actual locos but seem fine for me. Have also heard Heljan locos can be nightmares to service and work on, but not to that point yet!
Many do like to try and overdramatise the issues that some heljan locos can have but most times you see that they are no where near as bad as what some make out, your point on servicing is a key one, having a large collection of locos myself I can honestly say that are actually very easy to get into and service, they are no more complex than an old hornby ring field motor loco and those are dead easy to work on, when it comes to what some say about them as a whole by all means take it onboard but don’t just write of getting their locos just because you see someone have an issue, first off if you want the product just get it, if you have a problem you sent it back and get a replacement, don’t let someone tell you what you should and shouldn’t add to your own collection just because they have had an issue with a certain model, everyone’s experience of a certain model will be different, it’s the same for all the manufacturers we have today, I have a large collection of heljan locos, some of them I been bought after review videos have been done where the person reviewing showed a bad example but mine have all been good with no issues at all.
The rake of chocolate and cream coaches suit the HS4000 locomotive and according to Derby Sulzers website reads the power Unit was a Winterthur built 16LVA24 diesel engine with sixteen cylinders arranged in two banks.
Sorry, forgot, I believe that Brush was involved in the construction of the bogie assemblies (their specialty) due to the horsepower and torque forces involved. That Brush has acknowledgement on th loco doors is only fair and just. Hawker Siddley knew their limitations and engaged the experts. I also forgot to mention the wonderful Gas Turbine No. 18000/18000, so much promise but reality in service 'bombed' the idea. Stop/start with a turbine does not work in tems of fuel economies or wear and tear on the turbine. Sent to Switzerland left to rot, later efforts to rescue and save fail... too late.
I have one of these fitted with sound. Yes it seems odd that Kestrel was sold to the USSR as they would have to re-gauge it with the Russian rail gauge being 5'. Height restrictions would not be a problem in Russia as they're locos can stand to 17.5'. But it Britain it was just TOO powerful and the length of trains it could haul were too long for all the passing loops.Yes capable of reaching 125mph in an era when no British train ran day in day out at 125mph. So in a way it was an overkill loco as it could do so much more than any other British built loco ever could on a network that would never tax it's capabilities.
Don't want to be a party poop but.... Kestral was constructed by Hawker Siddley, whereas Brush Traction built Lion. In my opinion both Locomotives, together with Falcon, had the most promise for an exciting future for the Railwaysbut, as usual, the penny pinching, nervous Nellies at the Ministry, as well as lobbyist to the Government won the day. Just look at the waste of funds on the large number of first generation designs that were ordered and didn't perform.
What on earth made you decide to buy a bloody Heljan, in my opinion they haven't made a single thing that is worth buying. I wouldn't even accept one as a gift.
What justification do you have to say what you have here, now I’m not denying that there are some bad ones out there but what models have YOU yourself actually had experience with to come to the conclusion that they are not worth buying, or are you just another one of those gullible pathetic individuals who may follows what is said by others instead of trying anything yourself, if you need another view on a heljans products I can give it to you because I have a large collection and non of them have ever given me any issues, even ones I have bought 2nd hand.
I’ve got to be honest, my initial thoughts to the title were “Why bother, it’ll just be a load of old tat, it’s a Heljan.” but the review was great as you’re an entertaining fellow and the model was surprisingly smart. The very few Heljan locos that I’ve seen that warranted and extra glance have all been diesels, oddly. When they bust out a steam loco, they seem to ruin it pretty much before they started making it :) :) New subscriber gained old bean.
Great video, Matt 👍.
It's a real shame we lost this diesel . It would have been nice for it to have been saved for preservation and brought back to the UK.
Fantastic model here Matt, I have every heljan prototype loco that they have produced including Kestrel, I got mine back in 2023 for around £189, bit expensive but really couldn’t care what I paid for it as I had been adding some of the other prototypes to my fleet at the time, it’s a fantastic model as are many other Heljan locos and the fact they even produced this at all is great, I made one modification to mine and that was fitting a coupling bar instead of the tension lock couplings, overall fantastic loco from Heljan, I want to look at sound fitting mine at some point, great video showing this one Matt.
Thanks for that Matt, enjoyed immensely. All the best. Ian
I remember seeing these when they came out. They looked great models.
Awesome channel great video keep them up please like and subscribe thanks for your support
Very cool loco. Just a little hint of similarity to the classic German BR103 with the rounded ends. I really loved the history fact sheet you shared, too. Ran and sounded nice!
Awesome channel great video keep them up please like and subscribe thanks for your support
Nice model. Thanks for the video, Matt. It looks like you are starting to have a warping problem. I hope it is not serious. Martin. (Thailand)
Different and interesting loco! I have now got two Heljan locos and have to say they are lovely to look at, very well detailed and excellent runners. I know some say Heljan have issues with how accurately they reproduce models compared to the actual locos but seem fine for me. Have also heard Heljan locos can be nightmares to service and work on, but not to that point yet!
Many do like to try and overdramatise the issues that some heljan locos can have but most times you see that they are no where near as bad as what some make out, your point on servicing is a key one, having a large collection of locos myself I can honestly say that are actually very easy to get into and service, they are no more complex than an old hornby ring field motor loco and those are dead easy to work on, when it comes to what some say about them as a whole by all means take it onboard but don’t just write of getting their locos just because you see someone have an issue, first off if you want the product just get it, if you have a problem you sent it back and get a replacement, don’t let someone tell you what you should and shouldn’t add to your own collection just because they have had an issue with a certain model, everyone’s experience of a certain model will be different, it’s the same for all the manufacturers we have today, I have a large collection of heljan locos, some of them I been bought after review videos have been done where the person reviewing showed a bad example but mine have all been good with no issues at all.
Very nice Matt...love the Heljan rumble...
great v log matt keep up the great vlog you do on chan nel
Awesome channel great video keep them up please like and subscribe thanks for your support
Nice loco, Matt.
With all that hp on tap, it would've shown the Deltic a clean pair of heels (or bogies, to be more accurate).
The rake of chocolate and cream coaches suit the HS4000 locomotive and according to Derby Sulzers website reads the power Unit was a Winterthur built 16LVA24 diesel engine with sixteen cylinders arranged in two banks.
Sorry, forgot, I believe that Brush was involved in the construction of the bogie assemblies (their specialty) due to the horsepower and torque forces involved. That Brush has acknowledgement on th loco doors is only fair and just. Hawker Siddley knew their limitations and engaged the experts. I also forgot to mention the wonderful Gas Turbine No. 18000/18000, so much promise but reality in service 'bombed' the idea. Stop/start with a turbine does not work in tems of fuel economies or wear and tear on the turbine. Sent to Switzerland left to rot, later efforts to rescue and save fail... too late.
I have one of these fitted with sound. Yes it seems odd that Kestrel was sold to the USSR as they would have to re-gauge it with the Russian rail gauge being 5'. Height restrictions would not be a problem in Russia as they're locos can stand to 17.5'. But it Britain it was just TOO powerful and the length of trains it could haul were too long for all the passing loops.Yes capable of reaching 125mph in an era when no British train ran day in day out at 125mph. So in a way it was an overkill loco as it could do so much more than any other British built loco ever could on a network that would never tax it's capabilities.
Don't want to be a party poop but.... Kestral was constructed by Hawker Siddley, whereas Brush Traction built Lion. In my opinion both Locomotives, together with Falcon, had the most promise for an exciting future for the Railwaysbut, as usual, the penny pinching, nervous Nellies at the Ministry, as well as lobbyist to the Government won the day. Just look at the waste of funds on the large number of first generation designs that were ordered and didn't perform.
What on earth made you decide to buy a bloody Heljan, in my opinion they haven't made a single thing that is worth buying. I wouldn't even accept one as a gift.
What justification do you have to say what you have here, now I’m not denying that there are some bad ones out there but what models have YOU yourself actually had experience with to come to the conclusion that they are not worth buying, or are you just another one of those gullible pathetic individuals who may follows what is said by others instead of trying anything yourself, if you need another view on a heljans products I can give it to you because I have a large collection and non of them have ever given me any issues, even ones I have bought 2nd hand.