Silver Sidelines

I have to admit to recently becoming an impulsive/compulsive buyer of some early Heljan models.  Sadly the terms ‘as new’, ‘unused’ and ‘unopened’ should ring alarm bells.  These ‘ten plus’ years old Heljan products should come with a health warning - they can be seriously flawed.   Heljan W&M Railbus The first to arrive was a W&M railbus from I am guessing 2018.  I am happy to believe that it was bought, packed away and never taken out of its box. 8701 - Hejan Railbus W&M E79962 I was concerned about the condition of the motor.  However it was not the motor that was an issue it was the ‘click click’ and ‘bang’ from the transmission.  Removing the cover plates to expose the drive axles confirmed that one of the final drive gears had cracked and separated from the axle.  It was tiny – and why did it have three washers on either side? Heljan W&M Railbus drive axle with washers and tiny gear My Heljan drive gear had 12 teeth, a length (wid...

Heljan to my knowledge have produced three models of D1000 Western Enterprise painted in its experimental Desert Sand livery.   Heljan model number 5204 represented the prototype when it first emerged from Swindon Works in 1961 with no warning panels.   Heljan 5213 had small yellow warning panels as applied in November 1962.   Both 5204 and 5213 had a satin varnish finish.   Heljan 5221 also had small yellow panels but it had a gloss coated ‘ex works’ finish. When the opportunity presented itself I would buy Heljan 5213 - D1000 Western Enterprise, with small yellow panel. This would be my second Heljan 5213.   My first was purchased in 2010 when the model was introduced and subsequently replaced in 2012 with Heljan 5204 – with no yellow panels. Heljan 5213, 2012 sales listing My 5213 models appear to have had a couple of manufacturing issues.   I think they would have been made around the time that Heljan was transferring p...

I am returning to one of my favourite subjects, Heljan Westerns.   My sixties layout is shall we say ‘stuck in time’.   Rather than purchase the latest model shop offerings I have been backfilling some gaps in my ‘stock book’ from eBay.   Whether it is a sign of the times or just an ‘age thing’ but I have picked up a number of excellent ‘unused’ models, and in one case unopened from around ten years back. Heljan is a particularly interesting manufacturer in that their models seem to be designed to clip together with minimal use of glue.   The upside is that models can be taken apart and repaired relatively easily.   The downside is that the models are sensitive to impact and do not travel well. Western Queen – fresh from the Post.   Spot the Reporting Number in the packaging Heljan 5218 aka D1040 Western Queen – missing one reporting number Judging by the number of advertisements for models with missing Train Reporting Nu...