Heljan Class 58 model

'Revamped' lol! Very funny.

What've they done to them? Modified the Ringfield motor to five pole, added sprung buffers. The rest of it is still the same old crap.

A quick scout about on the web tells me that retailers are asking anywhere between £40 to £48 for the 47 and around £43-45 for the Hymek. Nearly half the price of the Heljan equivalent, but nowhere near half as good.

Ben C wrote:-

Yet according to Simon Kohler there is still a steady demand for his Cl 47 not least of which from those wishing to use it on tight radius curves. If anything the Hornby version will have benefitted from the publicity surrounding the launch of the Heljan model. I suspect the market for the Cl 47 is big enough to sustain a version from all three manufacturers. Personally I prefer the Heljan for its illuminated headcode. Don't forget that many people fit a second drive bogie to Hornbies in order to improve the running characteristics. Ultrascale even make special packs of wheels just for them.

(kim)

My HJ 47s will get round second radius curves no problem. They have traversed 1st radius in my old fiddle yard arrangement but at low speed, about a scale 30mph.

I want something that runs properly out of the box without modification. Yes I had to tweak the pickups on my first Heljan 47 (47778 from the first batch) but those purchased since have been fine.

I've only ever taken the bodies off Bachmann and Heljan locomotives for two reasons: - removing glazing and other details prior to painting/varnishing - pure noseyness, normally if its the first of a particular type of model

Nothing mechanical has gone wrong with them yet.

My last Hornby and Lima locos spent way too much time on my workbench rather than actually running. I don't want this from my models.

"kim" wrote

He would say that wouldn't he. As I've said elsewhere in this thread we made a conscious decision to carry the Hornby 47 in stock this year, but it has not sold at all, so we will clearly not be repeating the orders we placed. I wonder how many other retailers have found the same.

John.

In message , John Turner writes

Did you get them on "sale or return"?

"John Sullivan" wrote

I wish! All model railway stuff is generally *firm sale*.

John.

"Me Too"... That's why I buy Bachmann locos. Not becuase they are 100% accurate, but becuase they run well out of the box and require almost zero maintenance. The same I'm sure will be the case for the Hornby 50 and Heljan

1. Personally, I would only consider the older Hornby models ("revamped" or not) in cases where I really wanted a particular class and there was no alternative. The same is true of Lima. I have a Lima 87 and a Hornby 90, neither is available elsewhere so I am stuck with sub-standard motor-bogies. I'd much rather have a central can motor/flywheel chassis - that's the primary concern to me, not the level of detail or accuracy. Of course, I'd prefer more accuracy and detail, but that is of secondary importance.

Put another way, if I could have bought the Hornby 47 with a Bachmann chassis for £50ish, Heljan probably wouldn't have seen any of my money yet.

I know this is just my view, but I'd suggest that it's the chassis, not the old tooling which stops people buying Hornby 47s and I'm sure Heljan are very happy that the people at Margate haven't upgraded the internals.

Adrian

Adrian wrote:-

IIRC both these models often have bits falling off or missing if bought by mail order. That is why I would pay a local dealer the full RRP for the Hornby. Unfortunately I don't have that option with Heljan.

I don't think that's possible due to the centre screw fixing? It would help if Hornby's were available straight from the box with a choice of one, two or no driven bogies.

(kim)

Since my first purchase from Hattons, I have only bought one loco by mail order - and that was because I had money in a PayPal account to spend. My local shop is thankfully very good and does sell Heljan. Better still, since I am now considered a regular, I get an extra discount which gets the prices quite close to mail-order levels and often better since P&P is avoided. Even if I am paying a little more, it's be worth it to see the things before I buy and actually browse a real shop.

I'd agree, but sadly the 2-power-bogies solution is rather expensive is still far from ideal.

Adrian

"Adrian" wrote

Aye, add around £20 for a second power bogie to the typical RRP of £54.00 for a Hornby diesel or electric model and suddenly they are way above the price of a Bachmann diesel - and nowhere near as good!

John.

"Adrian"

Expect a Class 60 next from Hornby - after the

;-) Mick

"Mick Bryan" wrote

Our Hornby rep confirmed that there will be a new diesel model next year after the class 31 is released, but was unable (or unwilling) to enlarge.

I suggested that a class 60 was rumoured (the suggestion has been kicking around for a few weeks) but he claimed not to have heard that.

John.

John Turner wrote:-

I think Mick Bryan may have been kidding about a rerelease of the Lima 60 by Hornby?

(kim)

"kim" wrote

I think it would be a perfectly sensible model for Hornby to produce. Currently there are two principle types of mainline diesel operating on Network Rail - the 60s and 66s.

Bachmann are expected to have a class 66 on the shelves around Christmas, and if Hornby are not to be left out of the equation by modellers of the current railway scene then the 60 is the only real option.

I'd suggest it's a pretty good bet!

John.

Agreed. Other than that, for modern freight, there really is only the 37s and various electic types which Hornby already have. Personally, I'd like to see a new 87 - perhaps with some of them going onto freight with DRS and others, there is some chance of at least a re-vamp of the Lima. Of course a completely new model would be better, but I can't see there's much chance of that.