Heljan are such a mercurial company. Two of my own favourite models are the Heljan class 14 & 15, which run very well too. But there's no doubt that they do make some spectacular errors.
@@ianhudson2193 Look at the photo at 13:37. The only similarity between the prototype and the model is that they both have four wheels. The chassis, window layout and shape, the roof, the cab-end detail - just about everything else is different. And it is a photo of the exact same number vehicle!
@@billlucas8124 Looks like Heljan got the unit number from a picture of a Wickham unit... This begs the question, did any Waggon und Maschinenbau railcars ever do duty as Track Recording cars?
The photo of the prototype was of a Wickham railbus I think the Waggon und Macshinenbau ones went straight into preservation. Most of the British built railcars were less successful the Park Royal ones (the original Airfix model in the 1960s ) was full of asbestos and the last one was buried whole in a tip in Glasgow.
I have one of the original releases in Green. Recently it started to perform quite badly so I decided to delve into the model. The first thing that happened was that one of the roof mounted horns broke. Given the price, these could have been made from brass. When I looked at what else was needed to remove the body, I put the model back in its box. I think a rail replacement bus service is in the cards!
For the pulling power: based on the German prototype (Vt98) it should at least be able to pull 2 cars, with these cars being full size continental 2 axle ones.
Interesting vehicle, especially for me as a german viewer. The base of the british railbus was the German "Schienenbus" in 2 classes (one with one engine, one with 2, hundreds were built and did service for many years. Withdrawn similarly like in Britain, still quite a lot are in service as historical vehicles. So for the remaining British rail busses the spare part supply should be still possible from Germany. Would be interesting to see a comparison between the Heljan model and a german model of the class VT98 for example from Märklin (great model!) - but be prepared, this is even more expensive!
In the '60s, I had an unpowered, Airfix kit of this. Loved that the doors slid open. 12.5p, which was enough! BR green, with whiskers, would be my choice of livery but I don't need to spend £170, in order to revisit my past. Such stated, your reviews are excellent.
I think that the main reason that Helmand is still around is their class 07, as well as the ease of converting to P4 and EM. I don’t see that much else that they do better than anyone else, but I don’t model BR, so I probably wouldn’t know. Thanks as always Sam.
Interesting review! About ten years ago I bought a Park Royal version of this Heljan railbus (same mechanism, structure and daft DCC chip location) - it is slightly better than your example in terms of performance and detail. The wheelbase is long and it exactly spans the insulated frogs on diamond crossings so it would stop dead. I fitted a stay-alive which solved the issue and prevented stalling elsewhere. The internal lights are very dim and strangely reduce the motor speed when they're switched on.
A bit of trivia for you ... having guarded one of these many times in preservation I can tell that this model is based on the ones at the Worth Valley as it has an extre electrical socket at each end fitted by one of our members to enable tandem running!
My father Bill Black and many other volunteers on the KWV drove the two rail busses on the line for the morning runs on the line in the early years of the preserved line.
The Wagon and maschinbau railbuses were not used in departmental use and I'm pretty sure this livery is fictional as it was applied to a whole different type of railbus produced by wickham
I thought they were?? Though you're right, the running number on this is for a different prototype, which is why it doesn't match the photos! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
It seems 999507 and two others were purpose built for departmental use, but with a simpler style of cab fronts like Sam showed a photo of. I don't think dressing a model up in an inauthentic livery is really acceptable.
@caw25sha yeah I feel marking it down on realism after buying the most unrealistic livery of the bunch doesn't really work all that well. If he bought a BR green one it would have been more accurate and just better
I guess in Denmark the smart engineers are employed designing funky HiFi and furniture and so it is not the "shiniest spanners in the toolkit" that are left to design model locomotives.
Excellent review. In 2012 I got 6 of these 1st batch railbuses in green with speed whiskas and yellow panel. 2 x WM 2x AC & 2 x Park Royal. The wheel set nylon gear split on a WM shortly after purchase. Spare thru Gaugemaster. Then later an AC one blew up a motor and decoder. I ordered spare motor from Londons who kindly swapped the worm gears over. Could not get it back together so it laid in bits for years till Olivia trains rescued it and put in better decoder. They have high amp draw like most Heljans. Mine are all stored till layout built but I dont think they will run without future trouble. Mind you if they ever do the rare Bristol railbus I couldnt resist a couple.
Couple of comments: The weight may be needed to prevent derailing. I had issues with a very light (inexpensive) HO 0-4-0 tank. On the 2nd radius chicane the flanges are probably binding between front and rear axles; as it is, in effect, a very large wheel base single bogie. The weight would help with overcoming flange binding on tight curves - the slight under-gauging of the wheels may be for the same reason.
31:56 derby lightweight looks good :D in fact the preserved 2 car set irl is not far off being operational again. Trailer car is complete and motor car is under restoration and from what I have heard and seen it is very steady
They produced the wring Wagon and Machibou railbus for this unit, what plonkers. It looks alright to represent the 4 that survive, 2 of which I've seen at the KWVR. Great video Sam
There appear to be problems with the corner windows cracking. Your one is the same as every example that I have seen, including my own. See at 13:07. It's quite significant. I assume the top assembly is being stretched to fit over the lower section.
I'm a huge fan of railbuses, I built a park royal railbus from the dapol kit (motorised too)& got a silver fox W&M bus. I'm curious about how the Heljan AC cars railbus holds up nowadays. Looking into the vehicle that this is meant to depict, it would appear to be a Wickham railbus, interesting because Heljan made plans for many railbuses including the Wickham bus however that, & the Bristol Railbus, seem to be the only ones they didn't make
Hi Sam I do hope you are going to send the railbus back due to the cracked window and bodywork. Having watched your review I won’t be buying one - maybe in a few years time when people are selling them off!! The review is as informative and entertaining as ever, so thank you very much Very best wishes to you. Marc
Sam, this isn't incorrect per say, The photo you showed was of the Elliot track recording coach. Heljan have simply given this more common railbus the number of the Elliot bus. In theory these units could well have been fitted for track analysis. I agree, It is too expensive but would fit perfectly as a representative of a track maintenance unit. Modelers dont use knives on soft painted bodies.
Nearly all of the former east german Piko locos have similar pickups. And i do have no problems with that. I clean them every year or so. Cost me 10 secs per axle, mostly without the need to open the body. I have to do this with pickups from the inner side of the wheel, too. They do collect dust too.
Hi Sam. Your railbus was like mine from 2012 first batch. However after only about 2 hours of running it stuck fast and refused to move. On one end the gear train had so much play it had jumped out of the casting and broken teeth off. I just removed the gear and it runs OK on one powered axle. Not what you should put up with as I paid about £110 for my BR green version 12 years ago.
This model is extremely prototypical (more below) - but not in that livery. The prototype photo you showed is actually of a completely different vehicle. The real ones of this model used to operate through the town where I live and were two wheel drive; this caused problems on the route because it was on an incline and if they were facing the wrong way round they couldn't manage the journey in the uphill direction if it was damp. They literally had to make sure they were the "right" way round in order to use them, even though they were visually identical each end. So why is the model so prototypical? Because one of the axle gears split on my green version and turned it into two wheel drive - and - It wouldn't drive itself round my layout unless it was a particular way round due to very poor traction. Actually, it's not a bad model of the prototype and mine runs superbly on DCC (after fixing the split gear), but you can see that it rides very roughly over points and rail joints. Guess what? That was one of the main reasons that the prototypes were so complained about by passengers and led to early withdrawal.
Did W&M rail buses ever appear in anything but green before preservation era? I have three of the first release of this model. Excellent review. To add, (subject to any Heljan improvements in this release): The plastic axleboxes becomd detatched and are lost very easily. The original instructions do warn you to remove and care for the handrails. Unless they have changed, the horn mouldings break very easily, and they are/were not always easy to remove either. Excelkent review. I suspect they may not have fly wheel(s)? What do you think?
The Heljan AC Cars railbus got me back into model railways after 40 years away. (I’m told I’d travelled on the real ones in my pram!). I have two which are also heavy, have tiny detail parts which fall off -,though they pre-date Accurascale lol - look great and run fine. As ever, your review is mostly fair for what is a fake version of the W&M railbus. All I would question, though, is your comment about using screws to fix the body to the chassis: might these show through the interior which is designed to be very visible?
The first (no power) plastic models of these in UK where Airfix, later to become Dapol,.and they where fairly detailed models. In that time it did not matter that it had no power because you could get power rolling stock. Similar European types are seen with at least one flat or low sided wagon for goods, bikes, or skis which is pushed or pulled, so no running round.
This thing puts me in mind of Alan Sugar’s “mug’s eyeful” method of shifting complete tat for silly money. There’s one born every minute being the order of the day.
Agreed about the price and accessibility,but the slowing down on sharp curve,some might see that as a positive, makes it look realistic/prototypical. Also I'd say pulling away from a stand looks fine,it's not a shunting loco,or going to be coupled to anything,certainly doesn't pull away at "high speed". Also the price reflects its a very niche unit
Quite an unusual item. A test you might have performed would have been to try it on a 1st radius circuit. A railbus like this is a suitable item for those with a very small 1st radius layout. Not everybody has the use of an entire loft like you! Thanks for uploading.
I like the concept of single car DMUs for small layouts. Sam observed the railbus slows down through 2nd radius curves, I feel this is because of the long non articulated wheel base. I have a similar problem with CCT wagons on 2nd and first radius curves, which is why I'm hesitant about this model on 1st radius curves? I was going to put this point directly, but as you touched on it in your thread, it was logical to develop it. 🙂
I got a BR green one the first time round they released. Still to this day it has the record in my collection of being the worst one to DCC chip. The BR green version also had ladder detailing below the centre door, of which one was damaged during chipping. I will never be going back into that model.
Loved your honest presentation. Of my 383 locos in my collection, not one from Heljan. Your honest reviews of Heljan products helped in my decision not to buy
I think they've missed an opportunity here. Had Heljan taken the trouble to actually produce a proper Wickham railbus, not only would this model have been more accurate, but BR liveries would be available to give modellers a new railbus to collect.
DB999507 (later Lab 2 of the RTC) is a Wickham built railbus, not a W&M built one. I don't really see why Heljan thought that the W&M railbus was suitable as a representation for the Wickham prototypes. Overall, Heljan have done the W&M, AC Cars, and Park Royal railbuses in 00, as well as the AC Cars one in 0, each design having 5 units built. I don't understand why they didn't tool up a separate Wickham one for this particular prototype, there being 5 regular passenger ones plus this track recording one. There were only 2 Bristol / Eastern Coach Works ones, and only 2 Drewry ones, so it's not surprising they haven't done those two.
I have all the Heljan railbuses and they are all complete nightmares to get into, but sold out very quickly. My Park Royal had a faulty board and all Hattons could offer was a refund or live with it.
Heljan confound me, but I own a swag of their shunters in different liveries because they're gorgeous and unique. I never pay anything like full price either, but wait for sales etc.
Just watching the review Sam. I think the weight should help with current pickup as it is only a four wheel vehicle. That crack is bad. I'd return it for that! Wow...as this review goes on it really does turn into a horror show.
Its cheaper to purchase a Roco 798 railbus with trailer than this single car. The builder was called WMD (Waggon und Maschinenbau Donauworth) and also built some of the 798 cars and trailers.
How much would a replacement 5-pole motor cost. It wasn't very noticeable whether it was a double-ended driver's cab model, is it? Can the floor level be lowered? I love the railbus, blood and custard.
fun fact the engine in the german made railbus was a pancake diesel. the engine was flat head as in a normal deisel had a taller head. bussing used that type of engine in there truck range. in the late 60 ties bussing was bought up by m.a.n . thanks for a intresting video on heljan. 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪👍👍👍👍👍👍
I have had a look at the instructions that came with my Railbus, they do say to carefuly remove the hamdrails,! And there are about 6 poor quality photos to show you how to remove the body. Trust me even if you do manage not to loose either of the handrails, it is very difficult to get them back on.. that is why the ones for my model are stored in the box, and are not back on the thing!
Ridden on the real W&M buses that used to be at the North Norfolk Railway and they are certainly entertainment on 4 wheels. They rather rattle & bounce a bit while in motion & the power for the lights used to cut out sometimes. I only found out they used to work in Essex/Suffolk on the "doomed" network of lines, when saw someone winding around the destination blinds. One of those listed said "Acro Halt" & my father had a job at the Acro plant outside Saffron Walden, which did have a derelict concrete platform near the factory by a disused line. In reality the W&Ms are no better or worse than a Class 142 Pacer, only in a single car formation. FTR, the North Norfolk Railway did also have the prototype LEV1 Leyland bus, which was really just a Leyland National bus jammed on top of a chassis with 4 wheels.
It might look more like DB999507 if Heljan blacks out (yellows out?) the corner windows But after all, it is a Waggon & Maschinenbau Railbus in *fictional* Track Recording Coach livery
There's a small part of me that wants to buy a British engine and use the screw link couplers on a short train, but there's also another part of my brain that is normal and doesn't want to torture myself with couplings that small
Apart from the passenger doors, it look more like the Park Royal railbus (which only had one window per door) rather than the ones built by Waggon u. Maschinenbau.
Well you can better oder a second one for spare parts, as Heljan spare part stock is very scarce. Got a simple cabin LED light broken on my London Metropolitan Electric No. 12, and this was two years ago, not available🤯. Replaced it with a generic one in the end. And this one, cut open with a knife🤯, lets me sound like Victor Mildred "I can't believe it"…
It sems the model you received isn't worth much with that crack and to fit it with a DCC decoder you would need to damage it anyway. I don't think any engineer was involved in any aspect of the design because of basic mistakes made some of which you pointed out. It seems like it is a 20-ton bus with a 99hp engine, and the breaks are rubbing. Great assessment plus video and thanks again for taking the hit, (about $200.00), so we don't have to.
In all honestly it’s good that Heljan did these models of very strange vehicles like this, I have thought about picking up the laboratory 20 version in the RTC livery, most likely will still buy one of those because I like the looking it.
It is - though they haven't actually done the real loco this is supposed to be based on... this is a poor representation of it! It is nice to see unusual locos though! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Interesting as we had no idea that WMD railbuses were even used in the UK. According to Wikipedia only 5 have been made for the UK, based at Cambrdidge, shipped from Germany by ferry via Zeebrugge - Harwich. It seems they were planned for extensive testing. The undercarriage is exactly as per prototype on all pictures on the internet Sam. Not sure where you have your picture from(?) Anyway, very overpriced isn't it, oddly bizarrely designed and the crack is enough to send it straight back. The dark at both ends of the cabs is prototypical for driver safety. Meaning, in railbuses interior lights were unevenly lit that way. Cheerio.
Thanks Linda - the photo I showed was of the loco carrying this running number - which apparently wasn't even the same prototype! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I have a BR green version of one of these, and what a pig it is to get the body off. You end up causing damage to the horns, and then have to mess about trying to unclip the hand rails either side of the doors. So I'll have fun fitting a decoder into the thing
They're porn bots mate. They just spam robot comments everywhere to get people to click their profile. Pretty gross when there are kids who visit this site.
Yea my 1st thought was: are you reviewing an old (west-) German railcar (VT 98)? Also if this is no longer in passenger (train) service the interior should be different/modified, to its new role. But for the right price and in a regular (passenger) livery I'd say its "passable"; it is quite far from the worst models i ever saw/had.
Noticed this before. My advice to Heljan: Your modelling staff do a fair job, they look good. But the staff who design the internals should ALL be fired. Just start again, hire people with a brain who give a damn.
Even just going off the detail of this model, and the fact that the real DB999507 railbus wasn't the WM design, this is looking like a complete and utter rip-off. I'll be giving it a pass. I seriously question why this railbus is so expensive when you can get - for example - an Accurascale Class 37 for a similar price. Interestingly, there's a page on the Train Testing website that's all about the real DB999507 railbus. According to said page, the real thing has been preserved.
These are just reliveries of the original release. Thankfully I got the RTC from the first batch. DCCing was a nightmare and I never did get the handrails back in. On top of all that the model isn't even accurate for the livery !!
Have long fancied adding a railbus to my fleet. Having watched this and viewed in shops there is no way I will pay the extortionate price asked when I can get new tooled large locos for the same. This is a £99.95 model in my opinion.
I find it somewhat amusing that Sam says this model, “costs a fortune,” when he just got done making a video of BLI’s Paragon 4 Blue Goose at about $899. 😊
I have bought the original one by Piko (DB epoch III) for 234€/GBP 200 (what a coincidence !). For the same price, mine have a trailer, a five pole motor (with a flywheel, sorry), not less detailed, and you just have tot plop off the body from the underside (annoying clip-in construction, but no misplaced screws), the pluX22 socket is not placed in a corny place, far better lighting (interior + headlights). I have not run it by now, but I'm expecting better dynamic qualities overall. Well... Lots of work to do for Heljan if they retool their model. And you know why I won't buy it.
Sam..totally unrelated to the products you grandly review... The theme music you chose is to me as much fun as the train's themselves..i hear Teddy Wilson and Earl Hines..do you enjoy jazz music?
Hi Sam. Not very impressed considering it does not represent the real railbus. Just vlogged a class 15 by Heljan, although nothing wrong with it still things that should have been noticed in quality control, lights etc. Did mention you a couple of times. My reviews are nowhere near as detailed of yours. But did give the basics. Always watch your reviews then make my decision. Don't usually comment because you haven't got the time to reply, but had to on this one. Just bought an Accurascale 37 I'm only DC so no bells or whistles. Thanks Sam. Thumbs up thumped 👍 .... Pete....
Heljan are such a mercurial company. Two of my own favourite models are the Heljan class 14 & 15, which run very well too. But there's no doubt that they do make some spectacular errors.
Oh, man! The prototype is so different. How can they even say this is a model of that vehicle?
In what way?
@@ianhudson2193 Look at the photo at 13:37. The only similarity between the prototype and the model is that they both have four wheels. The chassis, window layout and shape, the roof, the cab-end detail - just about everything else is different. And it is a photo of the exact same number vehicle!
The photo is a Whickham built railbus. Completely different.
@@Locknut61 yet it too is numbered 999507? just like the model.
@@billlucas8124 Looks like Heljan got the unit number from a picture of a Wickham unit... This begs the question, did any Waggon und Maschinenbau railcars ever do duty as Track Recording cars?
Your videos are so awesome, I have spent the last half an hour waiting for you to upload!!
Thank you so much - hope you enjoy this!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
The photo of the prototype was of a Wickham railbus I think the Waggon und Macshinenbau ones went straight into preservation. Most of the British built railcars were less successful the Park Royal ones (the original Airfix model in the 1960s ) was full of asbestos and the last one was buried whole in a tip in Glasgow.
Why was it burned, in the open, in Scotland? Why not in the open, in Park Royal, which is a tip to start with?
@@Demun1649 😂
I have one of the original releases in Green. Recently it started to perform quite badly so I decided to delve into the model. The first thing that happened was that one of the roof mounted horns broke. Given the price, these could have been made from brass. When I looked at what else was needed to remove the body, I put the model back in its box. I think a rail replacement bus service is in the cards!
For the pulling power: based on the German prototype (Vt98) it should at least be able to pull 2 cars, with these cars being full size continental 2 axle ones.
Interesting vehicle, especially for me as a german viewer. The base of the british railbus was the German "Schienenbus" in 2 classes (one with one engine, one with 2, hundreds were built and did service for many years. Withdrawn similarly like in Britain, still quite a lot are in service as historical vehicles. So for the remaining British rail busses the spare part supply should be still possible from Germany.
Would be interesting to see a comparison between the Heljan model and a german model of the class VT98 for example from Märklin (great model!) - but be prepared, this is even more expensive!
In the '60s, I had an unpowered, Airfix kit of this. Loved that the doors slid open. 12.5p, which was enough! BR green, with whiskers, would be my choice of livery but I don't need to spend £170, in order to revisit my past. Such stated, your reviews are excellent.
I think that Dapol still make it, but it'll be rather more than half a crown now!!
@@johncunningham6928 Yes! I've seen it advertised for "as little as" £9.72. How much?😳🤣
Blimey, opening doors is more than this has! Many thanks for the kind words!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
The Airfix model was based on the Park Royal Rail Bus.
@@petee19 I'd love to know more, as I'm sure would many others here.
I think that the main reason that Helmand is still around is their class 07, as well as the ease of converting to P4 and EM. I don’t see that much else that they do better than anyone else, but I don’t model BR, so I probably wouldn’t know. Thanks as always Sam.
Helmand? They’re a mustard-manufacturer!
Interesting review! About ten years ago I bought a Park Royal version of this Heljan railbus (same mechanism, structure and daft DCC chip location) - it is slightly better than your example in terms of performance and detail. The wheelbase is long and it exactly spans the insulated frogs on diamond crossings so it would stop dead. I fitted a stay-alive which solved the issue and prevented stalling elsewhere. The internal lights are very dim and strangely reduce the motor speed when they're switched on.
A bit of trivia for you ... having guarded one of these many times in preservation I can tell that this model is based on the ones at the Worth Valley as it has an extre electrical socket at each end fitted by one of our members to enable tandem running!
My father Bill Black and many other volunteers on the KWV drove the two rail busses on the line for the morning runs on the line in the early years of the preserved line.
The small location at the top of the vehicle was used not for a Head Code, but for a destination blind with available destinations on it.
Ahh yes - I meant destination board... that's my mistake!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
The Wagon and maschinbau railbuses were not used in departmental use and I'm pretty sure this livery is fictional as it was applied to a whole different type of railbus produced by wickham
I thought they were?? Though you're right, the running number on this is for a different prototype, which is why it doesn't match the photos!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Yeah they were immedaitewly withdrawn after ending passenger service.
It seems 999507 and two others were purpose built for departmental use, but with a simpler style of cab fronts like Sam showed a photo of.
I don't think dressing a model up in an inauthentic livery is really acceptable.
@caw25sha yeah I feel marking it down on realism after buying the most unrealistic livery of the bunch doesn't really work all that well. If he bought a BR green one it would have been more accurate and just better
It's basically like Hornby putting an Emily livery on a GWR Dean Single
Awesome video sam, typical heljan 😅😅 been waiting for a review of this for a while! Im in york at the moment - national railway museum here i come!
I guess in Denmark the smart engineers are employed designing funky HiFi and furniture and so it is not the "shiniest spanners in the toolkit" that are left to design model locomotives.
Excellent review. In 2012 I got 6 of these 1st batch railbuses in green with speed whiskas and yellow panel. 2 x WM 2x AC & 2 x Park Royal. The wheel set nylon gear split on a WM shortly after purchase. Spare thru Gaugemaster. Then later an AC one blew up a motor and decoder. I ordered spare motor from Londons who kindly swapped the worm gears over. Could not get it back together so it laid in bits for years till Olivia trains rescued it and put in better decoder. They have high amp draw like most Heljans. Mine are all stored till layout built but I dont think they will run without future trouble. Mind you if they ever do the rare Bristol railbus I couldnt resist a couple.
Blimey, so sorry to hear about that terrible experience - sorry but not at all surprised!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Couple of comments: The weight may be needed to prevent derailing. I had issues with a very light (inexpensive) HO 0-4-0 tank. On the 2nd radius chicane the flanges are probably binding between front and rear axles; as it is, in effect, a very large wheel base single bogie. The weight would help with overcoming flange binding on tight curves - the slight under-gauging of the wheels may be for the same reason.
17:32 Sometime heljan, I really wonder.
Cheers Jasper & Willow
haha I know!!
31:56 derby lightweight looks good :D in fact the preserved 2 car set irl is not far off being operational again. Trailer car is complete and motor car is under restoration and from what I have heard and seen it is very steady
Good spot! That's good to hear - I did see the bogies in progress last year!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
That photo is a Whickham built railbus. Entirely different design.
It's basically like Hornby putting an Emily livery on a GWR Dean Single
They produced the wring Wagon and Machibou railbus for this unit, what plonkers. It looks alright to represent the 4 that survive, 2 of which I've seen at the KWVR. Great video Sam
There appear to be problems with the corner windows cracking. Your one is the same as every example that I have seen, including my own. See at 13:07. It's quite significant. I assume the top assembly is being stretched to fit over the lower section.
Yeah that's what I thought too - just a shoddy design through and through
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I'm a huge fan of railbuses, I built a park royal railbus from the dapol kit (motorised too)& got a silver fox W&M bus. I'm curious about how the Heljan AC cars railbus holds up nowadays. Looking into the vehicle that this is meant to depict, it would appear to be a Wickham railbus, interesting because Heljan made plans for many railbuses including the Wickham bus however that, & the Bristol Railbus, seem to be the only ones they didn't make
About as well as the W&M one.
The fact that it scored an F and arguably was still let off easy on Performance, Quality, and Value is... impressive in all the wrong ways.
Great review Sam, I can't wait to see the review on Heljans 10800 class locomotive
Hi Sam
I do hope you are going to send the railbus back due to the cracked window and bodywork.
Having watched your review I won’t be buying one - maybe in a few years time when people are selling them off!!
The review is as informative and entertaining as ever, so thank you very much
Very best wishes to you.
Marc
Sam, this isn't incorrect per say, The photo you showed was of the Elliot track recording coach. Heljan have simply given this more common railbus the number of the Elliot bus. In theory these units could well have been fitted for track analysis. I agree, It is too expensive but would fit perfectly as a representative of a track maintenance unit. Modelers dont use knives on soft painted bodies.
Awesome video Sam's trains
Thanks Brian!
@@SamsTrains you're welcome Sam's trains
Nearly all of the former east german Piko locos have similar pickups. And i do have no problems with that. I clean them every year or so. Cost me 10 secs per axle, mostly without the need to open the body. I have to do this with pickups from the inner side of the wheel, too. They do collect dust too.
Hi Sam. Your railbus was like mine from 2012 first batch. However after only about 2 hours of running it stuck fast and refused to move. On one end the gear train had so much play it had jumped out of the casting and broken teeth off. I just removed the gear and it runs OK on one powered axle. Not what you should put up with as I paid about £110 for my BR green version 12 years ago.
This model is extremely prototypical (more below) - but not in that livery. The prototype photo you showed is actually of a completely different vehicle. The real ones of this model used to operate through the town where I live and were two wheel drive; this caused problems on the route because it was on an incline and if they were facing the wrong way round they couldn't manage the journey in the uphill direction if it was damp. They literally had to make sure they were the "right" way round in order to use them, even though they were visually identical each end. So why is the model so prototypical? Because one of the axle gears split on my green version and turned it into two wheel drive - and - It wouldn't drive itself round my layout unless it was a particular way round due to very poor traction. Actually, it's not a bad model of the prototype and mine runs superbly on DCC (after fixing the split gear), but you can see that it rides very roughly over points and rail joints. Guess what? That was one of the main reasons that the prototypes were so complained about by passengers and led to early withdrawal.
Thanks for the review, Sam. You, have saved me 170 ,quid 👍
I love the 'old tool' in the thumbnail 😂
Did W&M rail buses ever appear in anything but green before preservation era?
I have three of the first release of this model. Excellent review.
To add, (subject to any Heljan improvements in this release):
The plastic axleboxes becomd detatched and are lost very easily.
The original instructions do warn you to remove and care for the handrails.
Unless they have changed, the horn mouldings break very easily, and they are/were not always easy to remove either.
Excelkent review. I suspect they may not have fly wheel(s)? What do you think?
We have 2 at KWVR
i see those all the time at the EARM at chappel, the horn is ridiculously loud lol
I badly want to buy this model in KWVR red it looks really nice
Yeah all the liveries look good to be fair!
The Heljan AC Cars railbus got me back into model railways after 40 years away. (I’m told I’d travelled on the real ones in my pram!). I have two which are also heavy, have tiny detail parts which fall off -,though they pre-date Accurascale lol - look great and run fine.
As ever, your review is mostly fair for what is a fake version of the W&M railbus. All I would question, though, is your comment about using screws to fix the body to the chassis: might these show through the interior which is designed to be very visible?
The first (no power) plastic models of these in UK where Airfix, later to become Dapol,.and they where fairly detailed models. In that time it did not matter that it had no power because you could get power rolling stock. Similar European types are seen with at least one flat or low sided wagon for goods, bikes, or skis which is pushed or pulled, so no running round.
The model you’re reviewing, Sam, is the Western Region permanent Way vehicle.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
Had to laugh at the rant about the DCC socket photo!!
This thing puts me in mind of Alan Sugar’s “mug’s eyeful” method of shifting complete tat for silly money. There’s one born every minute being the order of the day.
Agreed about the price and accessibility,but the slowing down on sharp curve,some might see that as a positive, makes it look realistic/prototypical. Also I'd say pulling away from a stand looks fine,it's not a shunting loco,or going to be coupled to anything,certainly doesn't pull away at "high speed". Also the price reflects its a very niche unit
Whilst I can agree with your comments about the speed issue; the price is simply down to greed.
Quite an unusual item. A test you might have performed would have been to try it on a 1st radius circuit. A railbus like this is a suitable item for those with a very small 1st radius layout. Not everybody has the use of an entire loft like you! Thanks for uploading.
Yeah absolutely - it should have been perfect on r1... expect it would be!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I like the concept of single car DMUs for small layouts. Sam observed the railbus slows down through 2nd radius curves, I feel this is because of the long non articulated wheel base. I have a similar problem with CCT wagons on 2nd and first radius curves, which is why I'm hesitant about this model on 1st radius curves? I was going to put this point directly, but as you touched on it in your thread, it was logical to develop it. 🙂
I got a BR green one the first time round they released. Still to this day it has the record in my collection of being the worst one to DCC chip. The BR green version also had ladder detailing below the centre door, of which one was damaged during chipping. I will never be going back into that model.
Yeah I think it's the worst one I've seen for chipping too - they've got nerve re-releasing this!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Loved your honest presentation. Of my 383 locos in my collection, not one from Heljan. Your honest reviews of Heljan products helped in my decision not to buy
I think they've missed an opportunity here. Had Heljan taken the trouble to actually produce a proper Wickham railbus, not only would this model have been more accurate, but BR liveries would be available to give modellers a new railbus to collect.
DB999507 (later Lab 2 of the RTC) is a Wickham built railbus, not a W&M built one.
I don't really see why Heljan thought that the W&M railbus was suitable as a representation for the Wickham prototypes.
Overall, Heljan have done the W&M, AC Cars, and Park Royal railbuses in 00, as well as the AC Cars one in 0, each design having 5 units built. I don't understand why they didn't tool up a separate Wickham one for this particular prototype, there being 5 regular passenger ones plus this track recording one. There were only 2 Bristol / Eastern Coach Works ones, and only 2 Drewry ones, so it's not surprising they haven't done those two.
I have all the Heljan railbuses and they are all complete nightmares to get into, but sold out very quickly. My Park Royal had a faulty board and all Hattons could offer was a refund or live with it.
I cant wait for Sam to review the new Heljan Class 47. 🤣
Not until they're reduced to sensible prices - looks completely wrong from the photos I've seen!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Its a terrible model by most accounts .It would be lucky if it was awarded a single star under your system .
Heljan confound me, but I own a swag of their shunters in different liveries because they're gorgeous and unique. I never pay anything like full price either, but wait for sales etc.
Good to see Heljan catering to our need to winge about something
haha it'd be hard not to winge about this one... absolute rubbish!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Perhaps if they didn't cater we wouldn't whine? Think about it, what comes first, the poor product or the moan?
Just watching the review Sam. I think the weight should help with current pickup as it is only a four wheel vehicle. That crack is bad. I'd return it for that! Wow...as this review goes on it really does turn into a horror show.
Its cheaper to purchase a Roco 798 railbus with trailer than this single car. The builder was called WMD (Waggon und Maschinenbau Donauworth) and also built some of the 798 cars and trailers.
How much would a replacement 5-pole motor cost. It wasn't very noticeable whether it was a double-ended driver's cab model, is it? Can the floor level be lowered? I love the railbus, blood and custard.
fun fact the engine in the german made railbus was a pancake diesel.
the engine was flat head as in a normal deisel had a taller head.
bussing used that type of engine in there truck range.
in the late 60 ties bussing was bought up by m.a.n .
thanks for a intresting video on heljan.
🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪👍👍👍👍👍👍
I'm not a train expert, but would you really _want_ the driver's cab illuminated? Wouldn't that make it difficult for the driver to see ahead?
Only at a stand still, the driver would have the light on. When driving, it turns off. Some decoders even have a setting where you can automate that.
I have had a look at the instructions that came with my Railbus, they do say to carefuly remove the hamdrails,! And there are about 6 poor quality photos to show you how to remove the body. Trust me even if you do manage not to loose either of the handrails, it is very difficult to get them back on.. that is why the ones for my model are stored in the box, and are not back on the thing!
Awesome video today Sam what a really nice locomotive
Thanks James!
It’s a lovely little model. I think I might get one if the agent who does the August Modelling Extravaganza has one.
If you can find one for the right price... and you don't mind the inaccuracies ;D
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Ridden on the real W&M buses that used to be at the North Norfolk Railway and they are certainly entertainment on 4 wheels. They rather rattle & bounce a bit while in motion & the power for the lights used to cut out sometimes.
I only found out they used to work in Essex/Suffolk on the "doomed" network of lines, when saw someone winding around the destination blinds.
One of those listed said "Acro Halt" & my father had a job at the Acro plant outside Saffron Walden, which did have a derelict concrete platform near the factory by a disused line.
In reality the W&Ms are no better or worse than a Class 142 Pacer, only in a single car formation.
FTR, the North Norfolk Railway did also have the prototype LEV1 Leyland bus, which was really just a Leyland National bus jammed on top of a chassis with 4 wheels.
Hey sam, can you link me the aliexpress loco youve placed at the bottom? Or is that video not out yet?
It might look more like DB999507 if Heljan blacks out (yellows out?) the corner windows
But after all, it is a Waggon & Maschinenbau Railbus in *fictional* Track Recording Coach livery
I kinda like how it slows down on the curves.
There's a small part of me that wants to buy a British engine and use the screw link couplers on a short train, but there's also another part of my brain that is normal and doesn't want to torture myself with couplings that small
Apart from the passenger doors, it look more like the Park Royal railbus (which only had one window per door) rather than the ones built by Waggon u. Maschinenbau.
Ahh interesting - thanks a lot for sharing!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Well you can better oder a second one for spare parts, as Heljan spare part stock is very scarce.
Got a simple cabin LED light broken on my London Metropolitan Electric No. 12, and this was two years ago, not available🤯.
Replaced it with a generic one in the end.
And this one, cut open with a knife🤯, lets me sound like Victor Mildred "I can't believe it"…
Ahh is that so? Can't say I'm surprised... yeah it's shocking isn't it??
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
It sems the model you received isn't worth much with that crack and to fit it with a DCC decoder you would need to damage it anyway. I don't think any engineer was involved in any aspect of the design because of basic mistakes made some of which you pointed out. It seems like it is a 20-ton bus with a 99hp engine, and the breaks are rubbing. Great assessment plus video and thanks again for taking the hit, (about $200.00), so we don't have to.
In all honestly it’s good that Heljan did these models of very strange vehicles like this, I have thought about picking up the laboratory 20 version in the RTC livery, most likely will still buy one of those because I like the looking it.
It is - though they haven't actually done the real loco this is supposed to be based on... this is a poor representation of it! It is nice to see unusual locos though!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Crazy to think it would work, lighter. The unit,if it was light, with the over hang,too,would be off the track every 5 seconds, it needs to be heavy.
I don't think any WM machines went into departmental use. Two went to the NNR, two went to the K&WVR and one was scrapped for parts,
Interesting as we had no idea that WMD railbuses were even used in the UK. According to Wikipedia only 5 have been made for the UK, based at Cambrdidge, shipped from Germany by ferry via Zeebrugge - Harwich. It seems they were planned for extensive testing. The undercarriage is exactly as per prototype on all pictures on the internet Sam. Not sure where you have your picture from(?) Anyway, very overpriced isn't it, oddly bizarrely designed and the crack is enough to send it straight back. The dark at both ends of the cabs is prototypical for driver safety. Meaning, in railbuses interior lights were unevenly lit that way. Cheerio.
Thanks Linda - the photo I showed was of the loco carrying this running number - which apparently wasn't even the same prototype!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I have a BR green version of one of these, and what a pig it is to get the body off. You end up causing damage to the horns, and then have to mess about trying to unclip the hand rails either side of the doors. So I'll have fun fitting a decoder into the thing
Is there ANY model from Heljan that isn't a shoddy product?
No there isn't 😂
Sam why do people with weird profile pictures (bottoms) keep commenting on your videos 😢
one word: bots.
They're porn bots mate. They just spam robot comments everywhere to get people to click their profile.
Pretty gross when there are kids who visit this site.
Yeah it's a youtube-wide issue unfortunately - as soon as I see them I block them!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Lighting is decently accurate, even ER Driver I sar with in DMUs like them dark at night
Perhaps the picture was of the British built ones?
Yea my 1st thought was: are you reviewing an old (west-) German railcar (VT 98)?
Also if this is no longer in passenger (train) service the interior should be different/modified, to its new role.
But for the right price and in a regular (passenger) livery I'd say its "passable"; it is quite far from the worst models i ever saw/had.
Noticed this before. My advice to Heljan: Your modelling staff do a fair job, they look good. But the staff who design the internals should ALL be fired. Just start again, hire people with a brain who give a damn.
The model itself is lovely sam hopefully accuscale will produce this down the line heljan have made a mess of it, great review 👍
Hey sam you should look at the broadway limited rf16 sharknose
When I saw the thumbnail for this video, I thought this was an O gauge model!
Even just going off the detail of this model, and the fact that the real DB999507 railbus wasn't the WM design, this is looking like a complete and utter rip-off. I'll be giving it a pass.
I seriously question why this railbus is so expensive when you can get - for example - an Accurascale Class 37 for a similar price. Interestingly, there's a page on the Train Testing website that's all about the real DB999507 railbus. According to said page, the real thing has been preserved.
Anybody Notice In the Log Book in Last Place Was "Aliexpress Porter husler", wonder what thats about?
These are just reliveries of the original release. Thankfully I got the RTC from the first batch. DCCing was a nightmare and I never did get the handrails back in. On top of all that the model isn't even accurate for the livery !!
Have long fancied adding a railbus to my fleet. Having watched this and viewed in shops there is no way I will pay the extortionate price asked when I can get new tooled large locos for the same. This is a £99.95 model in my opinion.
Would you say it's a bit expensive then?
Just for laughs, I converted that British price to Canadian $...(Choke!) $296.00 CAD...! Good review, Sam...'orrible Cost...!
I find it somewhat amusing that Sam says this model, “costs a fortune,” when he just got done making a video of BLI’s Paragon 4 Blue Goose at about $899. 😊
Addendum. It should be noted that said video was NOT a review of the Blue Goose, and that - yes - I am kind of teasing Sam here, nonetheless. 😊
This reminds me of the old airfix/dapol railbus kit
The weight doesn't slow the model down unless it's going uphill.
Another great video 👍
Thanks Paul!
I have bought the original one by Piko (DB epoch III) for 234€/GBP 200 (what a coincidence !).
For the same price, mine have a trailer, a five pole motor (with a flywheel, sorry), not less detailed, and you just have tot plop off the body from the underside (annoying clip-in construction, but no misplaced screws), the pluX22 socket is not placed in a corny place, far better lighting (interior + headlights). I have not run it by now, but I'm expecting better dynamic qualities overall.
Well... Lots of work to do for Heljan if they retool their model. And you know why I won't buy it.
Blimey! I might have to look out for one of those to see how it's done properly!
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Presumably yours is HO not OO?
@@caw25sha Mine is HO. Piko does not manufactures OO models.
Sam..totally unrelated to the products you grandly review...
The theme music you chose is to me as much fun as the train's themselves..i hear Teddy Wilson and Earl Hines..do you enjoy jazz music?
these models deserve a separate channel called rip off trains
Hi Sam.
Not very impressed considering it does not represent the real railbus.
Just vlogged a class 15 by Heljan, although nothing wrong with it still things that should have been noticed in quality control, lights etc.
Did mention you a couple of times. My reviews are nowhere near as detailed of yours. But did give the basics.
Always watch your reviews then make my decision. Don't usually comment because you haven't got the time to reply, but had to on this one. Just bought an Accurascale 37 I'm only DC so no bells or whistles.
Thanks Sam.
Thumbs up thumped 👍
.... Pete....
It’s a neat little loco.
The mechanism gave me Class 17 vibes. A cool looking model though. Heljan. The company of lemons.
Weight needed to keep it on rails in curves/points?
Shouldn't need to be that heavy - not much that could go wrong with an 0-4-0
Thanks for watching - Sam :)
@@SamsTrains I have the rtc version from 2012, great runner, but not accurate and not worth the current price
A long rigid wheel base round curves will drag a bit.