Heljan NBL 10800 - A delightfully detailed diesel! 

Hello Hylton. Many thanks for producing this superb review of the NBL, it provided me with just what I was looking for? a loco to go with my ventilated vans, so I ordered one and it came today. Not so good was I had to pay £170 that was the cheapest I could find from Gaugemaster, with free express delivery. What is good is just as you said, it's a beautiful machine and runs perfectly, again as you said it's a bit slow, but it's perfect for what I require, hauling goods wagons. If I was a coach passenger I would be complaining, will I ever get their? The wagons I was looking for a loco to haul? are for my Bachmann 38-083A 12 ton Southern ventilated van in GWR grey, the loco being black with the really dark grey vans looks a perfect match, although it does look a bit like a stealth machine! The wagons are really cheap for quality Bachmann wagons, £12.95 from TMC and £11.99 from Kernow if you fancy some? Again thanks for doing the video I am really pleased with my loco, Bill.

Hi Hylton Many thanks for this video. I'm an old fashioned Dublo 3 railer and your vid has inspired me to scratchbuild a 10800 in plasticard using a modified HD class 20 3R chassis to motorise it. This vid has really helped me with certain details, especially the ends and bonnet tops, that I couldn't make out from drawings and pictures. Sincere thanks. Rich.

Thank you for a well-researched and informative presentation. I share your enthusiasm for pioneering diesel locomotives. It was a huge challenge for the designers, basically striving to compress the mechanics of USA and European designs to fit within the smaller British loading gauge. At the same time, the ready availability of coal in the UK and the reliability of existing steam locomotives (evidenced by the Bullied pacifics) extended their lifespan. And the Heljan model is brilliant representaion in it uresulted in klinterest

Lots of young people will get into the hobby life will get in the way and they will return later. I didn't get into trains until my early 30s. I believe the choice available today is as good as ever. It's sad to see shops closing but this is nothing new. I think the hobby has bright future. You have a lovely locomotive. The early diesels are very interesting. Thanks for showing. Regards Paul.

A delightfully presented diesel!

Great review Hylton.Lovely quirky loco. All the best 👍

What a beauty! Looks like an American Road Switcher.

The problem with this hobby is it's far too expensive with loco' s selling for £200 plus ,coaches heading towards £60 and wagons at £30 each I have no idea how they expect young people to afford such prices. I have been doing this hobby for a few years now I have never known a hobby were prices go up so fast in such a small space of time. The demise of Hattons and Wharley show is a warning to manufactures to do something but given what I have seen of Hornby's announcement lessons they have not been learnt. On the subject of VAT the UK rate is 20% which does not help with pricing with anything not just the hobby.

And another nice video, thank you. Loco looks very similar to Alsthom, with 'h' back then, class 24/2500 for dutch state railways.

What a Gorgeous loco! Defiantly going to keep an eye out for one of those. Great to see how your layout is coming along and great video as always!

first time on your channel and subscribed. im also a fan of anything weird, quirky, and more importantly, underrated and forgotten locomotives

I too was saddened to hear of Hattons' closure. For the record, I live in New Zealand, and I've bought loads of models from them between 2018 and 2024. They were one of my go-to retailers for models that I just couldn't find in domestic shops. One of my favourites from those acquisitions is Heljan's model of the Class 16. You ought to pick one up if you can find one, since the 16 looks like a slightly modernised version of 10800. (10:41) - Slight correction on the pronunciation of Loughborough. The first syllable (Lough) is pronounced as if it were spelt as 'Luff'.

That's a good price for a loco like that. I've also found Heljan machines to be excellent runners.

Loving the detailed reviews of your new arrivals. Your point about bringing new people into the hobby is a very pertinent one given recent news. I think there are lots of under represented demographics who could add lots to this hobby. But the comments section isn’t the place for that debate! Looking forward to the next video.

I was on the Bachmann site the other day & noticed there x MK1 pullman 2nd parlour in Blue Grey as a FO 79 pounds...when first introduced 25 pounds tripled in price....

great video , thank you! Mine , with silver bogies , arrived from UK few days ago , did not have a chance to look at it yet. Yes , it is sad with Hattons closing down. I love their Trunk service and fast via DHL delivery. Since Qantas introduced direct flight from Heathrow to Perth DHL delivery takes 3 days to Perth. Yes , much faster to get a loco from UK than from Eastern States and also , in most case , cheaper. Rails of Sheffield use Royal Mail , a bit more expensive than DHL and slow...very slow , it takes weeks , sometimes months....

It fares really well, Hylton! The losses in the UK have shattered me too - I was a frequent Hatton's customer.

I'm new to the hobby myself. Rediscovered the hobby recently since a kid. There is a very similar engine to this that is preserved in Australia. Victorian Rail museum Seymour.

Beautiful loco. Enjoy her.

Heljan generally produce good models from the reviews I have read, though I must say £170 is way out of my (and probably most peoples) price range. Regarding Hattons, many have thought that they aren't as good as they used to be but even so the loss of an outlet is to be regretted. Incidentally Loughborough is pronounced luffboro in the UK😁😁😁

Lovely video and extremely tasteful background music.

I have many Heljan diesels dating back to 2007 when I first came across them. Their bo bo & co co big diesels are superb like this. Their smaller shunters however like the class 14, the PWM are dirge.

A good review hylton, a lot of stock from hattons is being taken on by rails of Sheffield and they post world wide

Well done Hylton, all the best🚂🚃🚃🚃💫🌟⭐

I remember my late Grandad telling me that these modern models are getting to much detail to run them and are better off in display cabinets.

One of my lecturers in college worked on the Hawk project at Brush

Forgot to mention in my previous comment. If you like unusual locomotives this fits the bill. Heljan North Eastern Railway ES1 this loco is exclusive to Rails of Sheffield and Locomotion Railway Museum in Shildon, there are a few variations. (I live in NE England and these loco's ran only a mile from here) I have three of them and they are equally as good as the NBL, they have been reduced from the original price. While I am writing I received a email saying VIEW PINNED COMMENT but cannot read it! I am nearly 80 so a dinosaur on computers. What do I have to do to read your reply? Bill.

Hylton, I posted two replies which you may not have noticed? so but both together here. ALSO I noticed you were asking for a good UK retailer to supply you in SA. I have used mainly Rails, TMC. Kernow I found very quick on deliveries considering I am near to Scotland and Kernow is way down south. I mentioned I bought my NBL from Gaugemaster I ordered it early Monday it arrive 24 hours later with free express delivery. Gaugemaster is quite a big retailer mainly associated with controllers and Heljan, might be with.worth having a look at them PREVIOUS COMMENTS Hello again Hylton, I bought the all black version HN1082. I didn't like the sliver on the bogies of other version. As regards your review I thought it was very professionally done, I have just found out you only restarted in this hobby a few months ago. So I would rate your video as good as Charlie Bishop and Jenny Kirk, Bill Hello once more Hylton, As regard growing up around railways. I had my first model railway at ten years old. The second after getting married, Continental Fleischmann, superb locos. This was sold as children on the way, a familiar story in this hobby. The third and final when I retired in 2003, yeah 20 years ago, and it's still not finished. The annoying part is the main depot for steam and diesel locos along with goods yard was only 1/4 mile away. I wasn't interested in the REAL thing till I retired🙄 The main line is still 1/4 mile away where I regularly see Biomass, Nuclear flask, 100 ton oil tankers, HSTs, class 800 LNER, so I'm really spoilt. If I can help you as regards advice on model railway I am very willing to help, I use DC analogue only and my layout is 18' x18' modern (ish) all diesels about 80 of them, no kettles😀, along with all kinds of modern rolling stock. Keep up doing your most informative videos and good luck building your layout, Bill.

Loughborough - try pronouncing it 'Luff-ber-ra'.

Great video mate. Very informative and entertaining. I love that loco. Does it come in BR green blue?

The marker lights are prorottpically dim. They're not headlights or driving lights. Same with the cab lights. A big bugbear I have is that model lighting is far too bright cares to prototypes.