Heljan Model Railway Locomotive Reviews -  Class 57

Author "47806" (forum member)

Heljan Class 47 Locomotive - Virgin Trains (4601) Rating 9.5/10

Performance:

• Motor: Twin-flywheel, 5-pole motor.

• Couplings: NEM couplings

• Traction Wheels: 8 Powered traction wheels

• Wheel Pickups: All 12 wheels pick up power from the track.

• DCC Status: DCC Ready

• Easy to fit the DCC chip? - I have not done it, according to the instructions, simply take off the shell, pop out the dummy chip and put in the real one.

This is a very powerful locomotive, good momentum and speed control.  It takes time to store energy before it moves off and beware, it takes time to stop.  The top speed is fast but not unrealistic.  The slow speed control isn’t bad but if the momentum is killed, it will stop.  I have run up to seven coaches on 2^nd radius track without issue.  The loco performance is better on larger radius curves, I would say 2^nd radius is the absolute minimum.

Detailing

• Weathered: No

• Spring Buffers: No

• Detailed Cab: Yes

• Driver: No

• Directional Lights: Yes

• Display couplings: No

• Flush glazing: Yes

• Additional detail: hoses, alternate buffers and snowploughs.

The paint is crisp and accurate to the livery.  Hand rails are plastic and very brittle, they have fallen off my model many times, consider using metal ones as replacements.  Window wipers look good and rest on the glazing.  The bogies look heavy and will look better with weathering.  Antennae are cast into the shell, one has broken off my model in transit.  Overall, the detail looks like a class 47.

Overall

Overall, I would recommend this model to anyone who wants to buy a class 47.  You will not be disappointed.  When I visited the UK this past summer, I saw class-mate 47810 in Norwich, the loco looked just like the Heljan model, a very good effort to model a popular favourite.

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