Baby Deltic / class 23

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D605Eagle
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by D605Eagle »

Yeah they are good. I got gloss D5908 refurb I've had a while. Runs very fine. Sat next to my old silver fox D5903 you can see that the shape is just not quite right though. I cant put my finger on when it is, but when I compare to pictures D5903 looks closest shape wise. Even odder still D5910 looks very wrong. I just dont know why, I just hope when they have finished converting it it looks right!.
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D605Eagle
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by D605Eagle »

D5907 not 8. Still no edit function????? Unbelievable!

The Forum settings are set to allow user Edit, I am not sure (at the moment) why this area does not have the edit button.
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Bigmet
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

In general, I am as happy as Larry with it. The cab front windows are a tad undersize vertically, and the bufferbeam paint 'wraparound' stops too early where it butts up against the lower bodyside cream stripe. It has the all essential character though. This is model where I am tempted by onboard sound, because the insane turbocharger wail could be replicated by the tweeter size speakers necessary in OO.

Considered as a model it loses nothing in a comparison with the NRM/Bachmann DP1, and makes the Bachmann class 55 look shabby. Running is exemplary; as mentioned in an earlier post reliable and powerful, rather unlike the original!

I have had no trouble with the NEM pockets, mine has Kadee #18 in it, and these came out bang on gauge height. Different from some earlier Heljan models I have seen, as this model has a 'solid' pocket moulded as part of the bogie underside cover.
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GeraldH
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by GeraldH »

HELP!!! I've just received an unrebuilt Heljan Class 23 (Catalogue no. 2322) and am a bit confused. It has been reported here that the NEM couplings are at the correct height and yet the Heljan couplings it has been supplied with appear to be cranked? This leaves two possibilities. A. The model has been supplied with the wrong, cranked, couplings? B. The NEM socket is too high?

Could someone who has one of these locos enlighten me further? I want to use Hornby medium NEM couplings which are not cranked, but if these are going to come out at the wrong height, I'll probably send the loco back. I can't test the couplings without cutting off all the various pipes on the buffer beam, which would then mean that I couldn't return the model :( .

If someone could plug in some uncranked Hornby couplings onto their Baby Deltic and see if they line up with standard Hornby couplings that would be great :) .
Gerald H - BNR Correspondent :-)

My layout: http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... hp?t=28854
Bigmet
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

It's catalogue item 2322 that I own, and the NEM pockets are correctly positioned for height. An uncranked tension lock comes out with the top surface 8.5mm above railhead as it should. That means it lines up with other couplers at correct height. Cannot tell you what tension lock coupler style Heljan supplied with this model, as I have already disposed of these to avoid any confusion: I use the Bachmann version exclusively, as use of a single type is necessary for best (= very high) reliability in service.

Might I suggest measuring the height above railhead of the top of the 'bumper bar' on the vehicles you want to couple to. If the Heljan is 'right' at 8.5mm or this dimension as I believe, but the vehicles are not, that's equally a problem.
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GeraldH
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by GeraldH »

Bigmet wrote:It's catalogue item 2322 that I own, and the NEM pockets are correctly positioned for height. An uncranked tension lock comes out with the top surface 8.5mm above railhead as it should. That means it lines up with other couplers at correct height. Cannot tell you what tension lock coupler style Heljan supplied with this model, as I have already disposed of these to avoid any confusion: I use the Bachmann version exclusively, as use of a single type is necessary for best (= very high) reliability in service.

Might I suggest measuring the height above railhead of the top of the 'bumper bar' on the vehicles you want to couple to. If the Heljan is 'right' at 8.5mm or this dimension as I believe, but the vehicles are not, that's equally a problem.
Thank you for your help Bigmet. I took the plunge and cut off all the buffer beam detail and fitted some Hornby medium couplings. I had to file them down a little to get them to go into the sockets as they were a little too thick. So it seems that the couplings supplied with my model were wrong. Heljan don't like to make things easy :) .

I have unfortunately broken two bogie footsteps off in the process, they are rather fragile and in a place where I would frequently handle a diesel. I don't think I can reattach the two steps robustly, so I may have to break the other two off as well to match things up :( .

On the bright side, it has plenty of pulling power and it should be a good runner when it loosens up a bit...
Gerald H - BNR Correspondent :-)

My layout: http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... hp?t=28854
Bigmet
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

They certainly do have all the pulling power required and more. I could hear an unusual rumbling going on yesterday evening, and there was one of my Baby Deltics coming up a 1 in 80 with all six coaches of the Cambridge Buffet Car Express off the rails. It was making normal speed.

Cause of derailment was interesting, some kind of insect pupa had been dragged into a point crossing, and was neatly diverting every wheelset off the road. I am wondering if it was under the loco and got caught and lodged, as these diesels have only just resumed operation after several weeks standing during the steam only period beginning from 1956.
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

I finally got around to testing one of my nicely run in Heljan Baby Deltics (23) yesterday, to see what the maximum load capability was like. Been meaning to do this since my previous post in this thread: I am a slow worker, and the prod into action was the discussion of the new Heljan 25/3.

Level track, 22 feet straights, end curves greater than 36" radius, nickel silver Peco streamline rail.
The vehicles all 'free rolling' by my minimum standard, must roll away on a true 1 in 100, most will do better than that, the coaches especially.

44 Bachmann mk1 coaches, all up weight estimate 7 kg.
170 four wheel short wheelbase wagons, all up weight estimate 5 kg.

These are long trains, the wagons very nearly two thirds of a scale mile, and as a result much of the train was always on the curves. That set the limit, when the front end of these trains were all around a hundred and eighty degrees of the curve, starting was accompanied by a lot of slipping. If anyone has the space for at least 50 feet or 15 metres of straight and level track they might manage a little more...
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GeraldH
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by GeraldH »

My Baby Deltic runs very well, but it has always been a little bit stiff at low speeds unlike my two Class 33 which both run beautifully. I suspected that problem might be Heljan's famous sticky grease and took everything apart to clean it out and re-lubricate. I was slightly disturbed to see two hairline cracks in the plastic collars at the motor end of the cardan shafts. Things seem OK at the moment, but one does wonder if they will eventually fail? :(
Gerald H - BNR Correspondent :-)

My layout: http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... hp?t=28854
Bigmet
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

By report these collars can fail, but usually easily fixed with cyanoacrylate adhesive. And if not, Gaugemaster should be able to provide replacements, as Heljan's spares stockist. Perhaps I have been lucky as I work my models hard by most folks standards, but none of my Heljan mechanisms (15, 16, 23, 26/0) have yet given any driveline trouble to date. The oldest of these are the disc headcode 23's, so your model might be older, as the one headcode box version I had was sold on when the disc headcode versions were released.
Bigmet
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Bigmet »

Bigmet wrote:I finally got around to testing one of my nicely run in Heljan Baby Deltics (23) yesterday, to see what the maximum load capability was like...
This may be coincidence, but the Kadee coupler on the Baby Deltic used in this test abruptly failed today, the moving jaw snapped leaving the train behind. (Possibly it was damaged at some time in the past, what with being quite a heavy loco it might do some damage if it happened to run into something solid, but I have no recollection of such an event.) The broken off piece is lost so I cannot inspect it. Never previously had this happen on a Kadee in near three decades of use indoors and out.
Peterm
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Re: Baby Deltic / class 23

Post by Peterm »

Something I've never heard of either. Maybe some American cousins have heard of it given the amount of them that use them compared to the UK.
Pete.
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