Heljan class 47

What are Heljan's locomotive wheels made of? Looks like bronze to me. Goodness knows what it is, but they seem to get dirty between one operating session and the next, and require cleaning before the loco will run properly. (I used neat Ecover citrus cleaner and degreaser, and they were good for the whole afternoon.) It's only Heljan wheels that give this trouble, no other manufacturer's wheels do. Why can't they use wheels with nickel plated treads like everyone else?

Does anybody know how I can get at the gearing to lubricate it? I don't want to find after a few hours chasing its tail at 90 m.p.h. with 15 on, that I've stripped a wormwheel or four.

Reply to
Jane Sullivan
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"Jane Sullivan" wrote

I found that if you throughly clean Heljan loco wheels and then polish them (to a near mirror finish) with Brasso, Duraglit or similar, they stay clean and useable for very much longer.

Alternatively I assume it's possible to purchase Ultrascale nickel-silver wheelsets to replace the originals, although I expect the waiting list for these may be long!

John.

Reply to
John Turner

No - use Branchline wheels, of the shelf and only 15 mins work to reweheel - I do my P4 ones that way.

Reply to
David Skipsey

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