Heljan Class 14 Teddy Bear (rtr) In 7mm?

[CME & Bottlewasher]

I have had a quick scout about on here and didnt notice any comments about it (I could be wrong of course)....

Tower have an annoucement that Heljan were considering a 7mm RTR Cl14, but as there was no interest so they have then decided to ditch the project......

Did anyone ask us/GOG members/MIGO/RM Web anyone modelling 7mm or are we back to the situation whereby Tower Models are the font of all knowledge for all things 7mm and speak for us all?

Is this some sort of reverse psychology ploy on behalf of Tower/Heljan????

Probably not, as Tower declared that '....we were never in favour of this and have declared oursleves out already...'. Call me old fashioned - I dont know how many would have to be made/sold for Heljan to make a profit - yet isnt that just a tad arrogant of Tower to say such?

Would anyone here be interested in a RTR 7mm scale Cl 14 I wonder?

ATVB

CME

 

[daifly]

At the risk of invoking cries of 'wishlist!' by giving an answer to this question, I'd like one (95xx not a wishlist, that is).

 

[D1054]

At £169 I might even have two

 

[CME & Bottlewasher]

At the risk of invoking cries of 'wishlist!' by giving an answer to this question, I'd like one (95xx not a wishlist, that is).

No wish list - this was a WIP - now cancelled!

 

[daifly]

The case for the 14 (or D95xx for the pedantic) probably wasn't helped ......

Guilty as charged! As a teenager living near Swindon in the 1960s, diesels were generally green and referred to as 'Hymeks', 'Warships', 'Westerns' etc. As I recall, the TOPS classification was introduced around 1973 by which time all of the D95xx locos had been either scrapped or sold to industrial users. They will remain as D95xx to me!

 

[D7093]

As I recall, at Telford Guildex last year, Heljan had leaflets about this and asked what people would like - either the Class 14 or the Western, done as a Limited Edition. The Western, naturally, won hands down. The case for the 14 (or D95xx for the pedantic) probably wasn't helped by being illustrated by pictures of Heljan's 4mm 14, which got rather mixed reviews I think - yet again for Heljan a "Nearly but Not Quite" model.

Your correct Jordan and understandably the Western came out the winner. Perhaps they may come back to the D95xx at a future date, although I can't imagine it being in the Dapol 08 price catergory

The accused 4mm version, although it had its failings, it was something to work from.

 

[CME & Bottlewasher]

As I recall, at Telford Guildex last year, Heljan had leaflets about this and asked what people would like - either the Class 14 or the Western, done as a Limited Edition. The Western, naturally, won hands down. So yes, Heljan did ask people (effectively the G.O.G. membership) beyond Tower Models... who unfortunately do portray themselves as the One And Only on all things O Scale....
The case for the 14 (or D95xx for the pedantic) probably wasn't helped by being illustrated by pictures of Heljan's 4mm 14, which got rather mixed reviews I think - yet again for Heljan a "Nearly but Not Quite" model.

Having still not completed my brass kit 14, I have to say that I'd have preferred an R-T-R one all along, and have also, naturally enough, expected one to be announced just as soon as I do finish it....

Me too

Perhaps Dapol could do one now

 

[iploffy]

It's something that has always puzzled me, if none of the locomotives carried the number why do people refer to them as 14's. I can remember one in preservation that carried a 14 prefix number and really liked the Hymek in Dutch with the tops number but the 35's where referred to as Hymek's and not 35's

 

[daifly]

It's something that has always puzzled me, if none of the locomotives carried the number why do people refer to them as 14's. I can remember one in preservation that carried a 14 prefix number and really liked the Hymek in Dutch with the tops number but the 35's were referred to as Hymek's and not 35's

Isn't the same true of the Westerns? I don't remember any carrying TOPS numbers. Painting out the 'D' was as radical as it got.

 

[Pennine MC]

It's something that has always puzzled me, if none of the locomotives carried the number why do people refer to them as 14's.

Because, quite simply, that's what they were; it's not in any way incorrect to call them that. The Class numbers came into use in late 1968, the matter of carrying what are popularly called' TOPS numbers' is to some extent a separate development that came significantly later (1973/74 for the vast majority of locos, but with some earlier and some later). Hence any class that was completely withdrawn between the two dates didnt carry TOPS numbers; neither did Hymeks or Westerns because they were slated for withdrawal and it didnt make sense to start hacking at the cabside lumps of metal to renumber them.

 

[iploffy]

No that's what I meant, irrespective of the locomotives physically carrying the number why were the class 14's called as such in reference to the type and not known by the title 95's when they carried the 95 plate

 

[D7093]

I'm trying to think when we started calling locos by their appropriate class.

Warships, Western's, Hymek's and Deltic's were to the end, whilst other types had their own names (which could vary across the country) at least till renumbering was completed in 1974 and probably for a while after.

 

[D7093]

No that's what I meant, irrespective of the locomotives physically carrying the number why were the class 14's called as such in reference to the type and not known by the title 95's when they carried the 95 plate

I think drivers and railway staff called them 95er's or 95's.

But spotters at the time around Gloucester, Bristol area called them Yogi Bears or Yogi's, because of the droopy eyed look when you seen them head on. This is possibly were the name Teddy Bear was derived from, but this was much later, possibly 20 - 30 years later!

I cant imagine what the spotters in East Yorkshire called them, but I'm sure its not printable here

 

[Phill Dyson]

I'm trying to think when we started calling locos by their appropriate class.

Warships, Western's, Hymek's and Deltic's were to the end, whilst other types had their own names (which could vary across the country) at least till renumbering was completed in 1974 and probably for a while after.

Yes I can't remember anyone referring to any locos until the back end of the 1970's by their tops classification

 

[Pennine MC]

No that's what I meant, irrespective of the locomotives physically carrying the number why were the class 14's called as such in reference to the type and not known by the title 95's when they carried the 95 plate

You've lost me now Ian, is there something I didnt explain very well?

 

[CME & Bottlewasher]

Weren't they classed as Type 1 machines, which technically meant they weren't Shunters (Type 0?)...?? The fact they carried headcode boxes shows they were intended as "Road Engines" to use a US term - sorry I'm so out of touch with UK descriptions these days!!
So as far as I know, Type 1 machines had a Class number starting with 1 (14, 15, 16 etc), Type 2 with 2 (25, 26, 27 etc) up to Type 5 (52, 55..) hence why the 95xx was Class 14, although '14' bears no relation to '95xx' - in fact no TOPS Class numbers seemed to relate to any of the old "D" series numbers of any diesels at all......

Trivia Question Time... who here knew that the TOPS Computer System that BR used was bought from the US Southern Pacific Railroad....??

I think that you're right Jordan

Rather lazily I use both TOPS/Class - as it's era I worked in the rlys. - which seems to make sense in my mind/to me

 

[daifly]

Rather lazily I use both TOPS - as it's era I worked in the rlys - and Class numbers, which seems to make sense in my mind/to me

Now I'm really confused - I thought that the Class designation was a TOPS feature.

 

[CME & Bottlewasher]

Now I'm really confused - I thought that the Class designation was a TOPS feature.

Sorry there should have been a / in their somewhere

Now duly amended....I shall have to watch my RT procedure in future, toodle pip, TTFN, piece of cake old boy.....'...blue two answering, now making angels 15, heading 260 degress..'

'You can teach monkeys to fly better than that...taka,taka,taka,taka'

 

[Pugsley]

Trivia Question Time... who here knew that the TOPS Computer System that BR used was bought from the US Southern Pacific Railroad....??

Me, but it's not much of a trivia question when you give the answer

 

[daifly]

Sorry there should have been a / in their somewhere

Now duly amended....I shall have to watch my RT procedure in future, toodle pip, TTFN, piece of cake old boy.....'...blue two answering, now making angels 15, heading 260 degress..'

'You can teach monkeys to fly better than that...taka,taka,taka,taka'

I think you might just have been watching too many dreadful old films!