Heljan Class 58 Unboxing & Review 

*"I bought a ten quid plastic chinese train set from amazon which has arrived in better condition than most of heljan's stuff"* Hit 'em where it hurts, sam!

What some companies don’t want to understand or just don’t seem to be able to: The customer sets the price. Not the manufacturer.

Olivias Trains comissioned Heljan to produce a second run of Class 58's which they've had for a while. I've also seen that Olivias Trains are offering some Hattons exclusives for sale on their website.

Anyone see the whale on Sam's crane17:18. Never mind that,great vid sam maybe not a great model,but a great video greetings from California USA

I know it's an old video, but Heljan is known as an somewhat spotty company when it comes to QC in Denmark with Danish based models.

The bottom end dropping off is a feature - You get to experience building a modular locomotive just like the real thing! Jokes aside, I do love this class and Heljan did a pretty nice job in terms of detail.

I also took advantage of the discounted price on these at Hattons and have bought a few. DCC has been installed and lights have been upgraded on all of mine. They are good pullers and can handle a full rake of MGR coal hoppers.

I have a 58 from Hornby. Nearly 30years old and part of me and brothers 1st ever train set. Poor girl is missing coupling hooks and a few buffers from over eager childhood knocks/drops... But she still runs and the clipped in detail on the bottom is still in tact!

Currently I have three Heljan models, and all of them were bought from Hattons. They are a Class 128, a Class 15 and HS4000 'Kestrel'. The only one I've had build quality issues with is the Class 15. Interestingly that model doesn't have any pre-fitted bufferbeam detail, unlike the Class 128 and HS4000. As I lifted out of the packing for the first time, two bogie plates came off, and I had to clip them back in to place. And as if that wasn't bad enough, one of the copper pick-ups was bent in front of a wheel, so I had to take some tweezers and lever it back into place. Fortunately I haven't really had any quality issues with the Class 128 and HS4000 'Kestrel', apart from the NEM pocket on the 128 sometimes clipping the bufferbeam detail, which causes the unit to derail. Certainly a mixed bag, if you ask me.

Once again, Sam is at his best when he's merciless and passionate about the hobby! Keep it up!

Great review Sam ,i have this model and I removed the hole buffer assembly from the cast ion block which is held in place by plastic pins you just have to raise the bodyshel and carefully remove the buffer beam then fit the coupler. This is fine if you don't mind not having visible buffers while running with a rake 😊

Those grey plastic things in the bag are alternative cab handrails fitted with barriers to discourage the crews from walking along the edge when the loco was in motion 🙂

As a diesel enthusiast, I can confirm those lights look incredibly realistic. Quite impressive. Heljan can't make a good steamer (except for the garratt) but can make a pretty good diesel

The very old couplings for ease of use and most second hand stuff still has it.

Now I understand why heljian trains don't come with NEM couplers fitted. Their chain couplers work really well and they look so realistic, just be a little careful with them. I just got one of these and it turns out I love the coupling system so much that I modded my entire rake to have chain couplers, not gonna lie!

Olivia's trains is a model shop in Sheffield... maybe heljan made these models as an exclusive for them and hattons have bought some excess stock? Anyway another good review keep them up bud :) I think it's been mentioned before but if you want to review some more modern locos and models, the dapol class 68 is a lovely model and the locos themselves are just as modern as the models. It'll probably be one of the only 21st century loco's you've ever reviewed 😂

Hi Sam, again a really beautiful diesel loco by Heljan in high quality. I have the Kestrel, the Lion, and the Falcon prototype locos from Heljan. They are all excellent. Cheers, Norbert

I have four Heljan locos and there is serious quality issues with the motors, electric lights and the body of my Pembroke Rail/Virgin Trains 47 cracked whilst it was stationary in a box surrounded by an inch of bubble rap and kitchen roll, sat on a solid shelf without being moved for three years. My Warships don’t do anything except have their cabs light up and make a high pitched screeches and my GWR 150 Class 47 is just horrific, moving at a snails pace with the lights not working whilst the Virgin 47 is fine except the crack and the fact that I have to put the controller in reverse to make her move forward. I much prefer the quality of Lima models that are robust, make a nice whine, can pull up to nine coaches and cost less than £45 to buy even though ninety percent of the Lima locos I have bought are limited edition.

Hi Sam, checked out the link to Hattons, these are listed as "pre-owned - like new" that may explain the exclusively made for Olivia's Trains statement, these were on sale for £95, there's a tasty EWS livery version. More 80/90's stock please 👍👍👍👍👍

Great review i have fitted a 8 pine decoder to my heljan 58 which dates back to 2011 just make sure you lay the decoder wires along side the 8 pin plug not on top otherwise the roof exhaust panel will pop out when refitting the body, if this happens it just pops back in

I went on this exact train when I went to the UK!

Great review as always :) think the exclusive to olivias bit is as Hattons bought some of their unsold stock. Quite a nice model, impressive handrails! Don't fancy trying to fit a decoder in that body though 😁

I bought the EW&S version off of Hatton's a long while ago now. The underframe detail fell off while running and derailed the loco very often, it definitely is a design flaw.

Hi sam I have four heljan 47,s in the region of 20 years all are solid and run very well!

I don't know if Kato does anything British, but their models are very good.

You paid £70 for this. The fact it arrived in this state is unacceptable. Send it back and get them to send you the same model but unbroken. I’m a big fan of both Hattons and the channel lol but if you buy new you want it to arrive new lol. Great review sam, objective, feel your frustrations.

Sam I use Mainline style tension locks as they connect great to old D couplings!

You should have a look at some electric locos. The heljan class 77, the Hornby class 92 and the bachmann class 90 look very good

For under $100 Scale Trains has an American SD40-2 in different paint schemes. It’d be a great addition to your US collection

I love the class 58. They are so unique in their shape and design. They were the first British locomotive in real life to be built in modular components for the body work.

My Heljan Class 58 under tank clips broke too. Glued it on. But overall happy with the model.

Very ironic that the packaging was soposed to protect the loco but the heljian locos always fall apart out of the box and are damaged out of “protective” packaging ;D

I really like the dapol class 68 approach for buffer beam detail. There are 2 sets included for each end and one end has the full valance and full detail and the other end has a coupling, a cut out valance and cut pipework to allow room for the coupling to move. The end that has the cut detail also has full detail included in the pack so you can have full detail on both ends and the end with the full detail has the cut off detail included. I think that is a good happy medium but what do you think?

You are not alone. I do Euro HO and avoid Heljan like the plague (and, to be fair, I stick primarily to Märklin) . Heljan have a bad reputation in the HO world nowadays. I have spoken to shop owners and train folks throughout Germany about this. Design and detail look nice, but quality of build is poor.

The extra bogie side frames in the bag have sand boxes fitted. The bogies as fitted to the loco don't have them. On the full-size locos some had sand boxes, some didn't

Sam, yesterday - in art - I put brown paint on someone’s chair. They sat in it and it looked like they had messed their trousers. Unfortunately, the teacher found out and I got a lunchtime detention.

Loadhaul, Transrail and Mainline Freight were merged to make English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) in 1996. DB bought EWS in 2008. Class 58 was nicknamed 'Bone' and 'Egg Timer'.

Good Ol' Sam here roasting Heljan and i can't stop giggling

Some of those extra parts are alternative cab hand rails .

That would be a pre owned model Sam. I have the 58 001 in Railfreight livery. You will have to get a stronger DCC decoder to power this as they are known to burn out the hornby/bachmann ones. I got a 1.5 - 2 amp decoder to make sure

Hi Sam i have a heljan 58 EW&S i have had no probs with it

I don't know if its just an oversight here or are model trains arriving more damaged these days since they switched to blister packaging? My older model trains that came in the polystyrene packaging seem to be better protected? I have heard a lot of reports about the new Bachmann Class 90 arriving with broken bogies etc. Which for £180 each rrp is a lot of money to pay to receive a broken model train in the post!

Well I’ve got 2 Heljan 27s ,a 26 and a 47 , all are ok and run very well. On the other hand I got a Clayton 17 which when they came out had motors that burnt out. It took a whole year to get a replacement chassis . So Heljan to me are very much in the buy with care category. But they’ve just announced a 45 and a completely new 47 which I think undercut the overpriced Bachmann ones , so I’ll wait and see

I've got several Heljan examples. DP2, Baby Deltic and Hymek to name a few. A common denominator with them all is the propensity for shedding detail. Once replaced and glued properly, the detailing stays put. I've been lucky not to lose anything as yet. I'd be quite irritated if I should find something is missing from a loco and not know its whereabouts, I must be honest.

At a guess Hattons bought Olivias train stock and sold it on cheap, I think they did the same with the EM2s Heljan made for Olivia

Mainline was not a separate company BR simply split the freight sector into the following geographical units for trainload freight (Mainline Freight in the south-east, Loadhaul in the north-east and Transrail in the west), plus Railfreight Distribution for international and wagonload trains, Freightliner for container-carrying trains, and Rail Express Systems for parcels and mail trains. British Rail Infrastructure Services.

Finally Sam I could not believe u reviewed a diesel I was the kid you said you were gonna do a diesel next to

In Holland we had 3 locos class 58: 5811, 5812 en 5814. They were employed by a private Dutch company ACTS. Cheers Onno.

It's a shame really For the price it's really nicely detailed and looks like a decent runner But the problem of parts Falling off straight out the box and the niggles you mentioned are minor but deal breakers

I like the 58 and was wondering about this model. Good review disappointing about the fuel tank dropping off.....although my Hornby 58's fuel tank did the same thing??? Anyway cheers for that and the rant was informative because I had read about others complaining about the same issue with Heljan models. It seems a pity they didn't last long in service but liked hearing their history. Four and a half stars.....no-one ever gets five stars...or so I'm told.🤔

I have bought Heljan, Bachman, Dapol, locos and EVERY single one has had a problem of one sort or another straight out of the box. The worst model was the Hattons 66 absolute total waste of nearly £200. My latest purchase was a class 37/0 from Olivia’s trains and so far has been the only model I’ve bought without a problem (fingers crossed)

Cool! This was IC82's (or will) favourite loco (in real life) I wonder whether he'll come back he's been gone for 10 months! ☹️

Definitely Better Than The Heljan O2

I think it is in BR Railfrieght Grey just at the turn of privatisation as it would have been cheaper to just paint the new company on the side then go for a full repaint. I have to admit that. That regarding that era is not my strong point

Your reviews are great Sam even when quality control is lacking you still look for the good points of the model

Fully agree with your conclusions Sam. I think, even at the price you paid, I'd have been pretty dis-chuffed if my model fell apart like that! Great review, thanks again.

I do agree with you're opinions, apart from the bad build quality, the detail does acturly look quite good. I would be happy to have this in my collection! Great video Sam.

Can you do a video with all types of wheel configuration you have?

Back from camp! I hated it there where bugs in the tent, and all the boys took my stuff,i snuck off the the bluebell line and saw a 4F! -Ollie

Nice review ounce again Sam I’d like you to review and take a look at heljans class 28

(i am not sure if the company was from holland or germany) but in europevthere is a simillar loco with an asymetrical cab on each end. And that is kind of close to this. (the name was something with 2000, i will update this comment)

Hi sam if you can read the information sheet that comes with heljan locomotive it says that the detailing should be removed before the NEM couplings and that ks is the same with the heljan class 26

I can't fault the heljan class 58 it's a beaut got 3 of them sam love the review pal

Since I use American trains, I use the knuckle couplers, but on my British trains, I use the standard Bachmann and Hornby couplers

as its heljan its just a base with two motor driven boxes motor in the middle then they just add diferant body shells and bogey covers

Another really great review Sam, only watched this review to see what you would say about another heljan model, this loco doesn't really interest me as it's not my era, but do you know something Sam, before you even opened the box I got the feeling that something would be wrong with the model, it was well packaged, but even this still didn't seem to help, your absolutely right to have an obnoxious tone, as you say these models are "not" cheep.! Heljan are shortly to bring out a model of the gas turbine loco 18000, this model is being referred to as going to be (MUSEUM QUALITY) by a well known north of England railway retailer, this model is quite pricey, nearly three times what you paid for your loco from Hattons, but seeing how bad heljan quality is getting I think they can forget museum quality, as they cannot even get basic quality right.! God help those who are buying into the heljan 0 gauge range if heljan 00 is getting this bad.

The forward lights should have a yellowy hue to them

The packaging for these Hejlan models reminds me of the Bachmann packaging in the US, Nearly every time I would open the box for the model a loose piece would snap off, be it a light, horn, bell, or Westinghouse airbrake!

Think what I would do is to have the loco haul from one end without the detail as you may not be able to see it and then have the other end without the coupling but with detailing That's what I've seen other people do I think the heljan 58 is a pretty decent model one of heljans better locos like the 128

i love the reversing lights

For an American review try the EMD DD40AX Centennial

But it is miles better than the Hornby one. Who needs working roof fans?. Yes the cabside hndrails are metal, the other bogie frames are there because some class 58s have/had slightly dufferent ones fitted. After looking at photos of the real example of the model that I have, I was glad that Heljan bothered to include them, as for the example I have needed them. The fuel tank is a naff fitting, and ought to have been fitted better, getting the body off is a pig, and not something I want to do too often.

I u do a bird's eyes view of the top of the 58, you'll probably understand why they were called bones!

IS IT JUST ME OR DOES HELJAN FIT REAL COUPLINGS INSTEAD OF NEM COUPLINGS ON ALL THEIR MODELS EVEN THOUGH OTHER COMPANIES DO IT IN REVERSE

During your live stream this Sunday, can you run some trains as excursion trains in your running sessions

I think the Hornby cl58 was the first loco they produced in china once the UK factory closed! It appeaed on Jeremy Paxmans BBC Newsnight at the time!

Pretty cool sam

if the fans spin dont run it too fast or the fans will fly out of the grills and take the grills with them

Sam looking majestic

I never came across a Heljan Product in nature. But it seems to be not a good brand.

GET BIG BOY TRAIN 😤

Ooh very nice Sam, I spotted the 37s in the siding, because of the sound they make they were called eggtimers because they ticked over a lot Still a nice vid and have a good day, I'll be watching your stream

Feel free to correct me I'm wrong, but could the centre axel on each bogie be prototypical, there to help spread the load rather than provide power? The NZR Da class had two three axel trucks but the centre axels where unpowered to help reduce the axel loading, and when the Da's where rebuilt into the Dc class, thus was retained. Just a thought

I have never actually brought a Heljan locomotive. They look great but obviously reliability and build issues are putting me off. Even the oxford diecast and Hattons locomotives have better build quality.

I have been waiting for this loco for ages

Interesting video. Shame about the build quality. I’ve driven a 5 gauge class 58 before the one difference with this model was it was in a EWS livery.!

I would say it is OK. Not that impressive to find a part already broken off in the box. Very odd they have a bag of detail for you to fit and the pre fitted detail causes problems when running. Mostly I have the knuckle couplings, which work well.

Next can You do, the NKP 765

Hit'm between the eyes...heljan are far to slack with their models...top marks sam!

The way I remember u had no major issue with the Class 26, so not all Heljan locos u have was faulty, but still i think that Class 26 is the best of the Heljan diesel i saw so far. Even dough this loco seems to have a good value it just does not have that character to interest me.

Bachmann has announced Daisy is on the way.

That will have a class 67 sound chip

By the way Sam this is railfreight livery with mainline logos.

I guess this is the best heljan model in a while.

I use E Z Mate knuckle couplers. I'm American

heljan commissioned more of these a few years ago..that why their name is on the box..?

Always NEM couplings, they are the easiest to use on most models.

Hey sam sorry about the mix review with heljan but i was wondering if at somepoint could you do any reviews of some of fleischmann H0 models i have seen some online and would just like to get yiur opinion on them cause ive heard that there really good

The 58 is a surprisingly handsome locomotive.

They must have known it was broken when it was packaged since it was sealed and undisturbed in the box.