I'll be back: return of the Midland Beyer Garratt

[Bigmet]

So, the Beyer Garratt that Hattons got as a commissioned production from Heljan, has now gone into Heljan's range as a regular release; just as has happened with their previous commissions, the 'Teddy Bear' class 14 and 'CoBo' class 28.

Given the problems in round 1, quite understandable that there is mention of 'revision, improved motor and other upgrades' accompanying this news. Hopefully the motor trouble that occurred first time round will have been sorted. Maybe also one or two of the more notable visible inaccuracies in the body work. (What I do take from this announcement, is that it is fair to assume that despite its problems Hattons exclusive first production run must have been a commercial success.)

We have since seen two more big heavy models from Heljan in the form of the O2 and 47xx. They have what visually appears to be the same motor as the BG mechanisms, but nothing like the same scale of trouble, so it is reasonable to believe that the motor problem may have been fixed.

They won't do it, but any retailers planning to sell this model should really ask their customers 'Are you going to operate it?' and if they get the answer 'Yes', ask more questions about the layout and give them advice on Heljan's steam model construction if the potential owner is unaware. (While I am very happy with my O2s, they have to be handled very carefully; much more so than the similar weight Bachmann 9F as a comparator. And I wouldn't rate their track holding as likely to be decently reliable enough for set track either.)

[Admin4]

It will be interesting to see what changes the new ones have and if they make much of a difference, i now have room to consider one but after all the reported issues last time around its putting me off & makes me wonder how many others will be in the same situation.

[Lysander]

I bought one of the original releases some years back, more because I was fascinated by it than anything else: no-one ever though one would be available in r-t-r then.

It pulled an enormous load, 80+ wagons, but I ran it just twice before selling it very recently. I lost £20 on it, which wasn't too bad.

I did have some problems with it: the valve gear was troublesome and some body parts were badly fitted. Mechanically it ran well enough though after attention. But would I have had motor problems after more regular use? We'll never know....

Tony

[D605Eagle]

I didn't have motor issues, mine was badly built compensation and woefully inadequate valvegear disintegrating. I still haven't got round to repairing it.