In early 2007, Heljan (a Danish firm with a stronghold in the UK RTR market) announced their plans to produce a ‘OO’ Class 58 model to compete with Hornby’s existing range. On this page, as well as on the main news page of the site, we will keep visitors informed of the models’ progress. News items will be added above the previous item on this page so that the most up-to-date information is easily viewed from the top to bottom.

Heljan have recently issued their 2008-releases programme. Amongst other locos such as various Class 26s, more Class 47s, a handful of limited-edition Falcons and the Class 17 ‘Clayton’ in its various guises, the second batch of Class 58 models are shown to be due out in August, comprising of:

* 58009 in Mainline grey

* 58024 in EW&S maroon/gold

* 58041 in original Railfreight red-stripe

* 58048 ‘Coventry Colliery’ in Trainload Coal

We hope that Heljan have taken note of a few of the issues that have arisen with the first batch of 58 models and will improve their attention-to-detail with this second run of locos, modelling them to an even higher standard than before.

The Class 58 Locomotive Group have provided a detailed review of the first batch of Heljan Class 58s now they are on general release and this will appear in the next issue of Traction magazine. The review will also appear in full (all 12 pages of it!) as a supplement to the March issue of Red Diamond and in time this will appear in the ‘Models’ section of this website which can be found on the left hand menu

Now that the models are available, we will aim to provide some reviews on the models and any detailing ‘tips’ that may be required. In the meantime, the Class 58 Locomotive Group have added an additional page to our fotopic site dedicated to the Heljan Class 58 models, such as Simon’s picture on the left, see c58lg.fotopic.net/c1433893.htm to view the images - more to follow!

Here we see all four pre-production Class 58 models that were on display on the Heljan stand at Warley. 58014 in Coal is at the back, 58001 in Railfreight red-stripe and 58050 in Mainline Blue are in front, whilst on the right is 58037 which, like 58001, is also in the red-stripe livery.

At the Warley exhibition in December 2007, four of the six pre-production models of the Class 58s were on display at the Heljan stand. 58001 and 58037 in Railfreight red-stripe accompanied 58014 in Trainload Coal and 58050 in its Mainline Blue livery. It was a shame to note that 58014 carried the Stewarts Lane depot plaque as per the computer generated image, which we all hoped would have been changed. Hopefully this was an oversight on the pre-production model only, perhaps in order to get it on display in time, and the Class 58 Locomotive Group are continuing to assist Martyn and the teams at Howes and Heljan in any way we can.

Heljan, have released computer-generated images of the six chosen ‘58s’ that are in production and should be hitting the shelves later this year. If the level of detail in the pictures is actually what will be produced, the models look to be a promisingly realistic representation of the class, complete with the variations regarding engine room door handles, NRN roof equipment, cab ventilators and bogie detail - including sandboxes.

One major faux pas with the images which is instantly noticeable though is the incorrect Stewarts Lane depot plaque on the bodyside doors of Trainload Coal liveried 58014 rather than the correct Toton Depot cooling towers symbol.

As a reminder, here are the details of the models being produced:

Version 1 (CP3 bogies & models come without bodyside door handles)

* 58001 in Railfreight red-stripe livery†

* 58004 in Mainline Grey livery

* 58014 Didcot Power Station (Trainload Coal livery)

† It should be noted that 58001 is being produced instead of the originally announced 58035.

Version 2 (CP3a bogies & complete with bodyside door panel handles)

* 58037 in Railfreight red-stripe livery

* 58047 in EWS livery (revised)

* 58050 Toton Traction Depot (Mainline Blue livery)

The latest release date for these models is at the Warley exhibition in December 2007 with an RRP of around £89.