Helijan Class 28 Review

[Deem]

Has anyone, bought Helijan Class 28 and if they can share their opinion or any reviews.

[ColinB]

I bought two when they originally came out. One was a special from Hattons and the other from someone else. I think both were Heljan special builds. It runs ok, but then I am not an expert. The only issue I remember was it was difficult to get apart to add a DCC decoder, the body was a tight fit to the chassis. So what did you want to know?

[Deem]

Thanks for your reply ColinB.

 

I just wanted to know if they are any good in running like bachman class 20 or even hornby class 20, both are very good slow runner and I want to add Helijan Class 28 to my collection, if they are as good or better than class 20. I really respect your view so anything you say or show would be good enough for me.

[The Doc]

I don't own a class 28, but I do have a Heljan class 15, a class 23 Baby Deltic, and a class 47, and they all run beautifully at slow speed, definitely as good as my Bachmann class 20.  I think most Heljan diesels have very good mechanisms, with the exception being the class 17, where the first release had an issue with faulty motors. 

[atom3624]

One person commented in a recent review of the 'new Class 28' that the tooling doesn't appear to have changed since they were originally issued in, I think 2004, so don't expect super fine detailing.

I like Heljan and have perhaps 6 of various of their locomotives - a Class 58 is on my tracks currently - quiet, super smooth, heavy with excellent power and traction.

I have a new-tool Class 86 which is quite simply fantastic.

They generally seem to use very powerful, good quality motors, but a little maintenance is always required - that original grease can get hard, should be removed and a little dab of fresh applied, for example.

Al.