THE Class 58s have always represented something of an unsung workhorse, quietly getting on with their day-to-day job of hauling merry-go-round coal trains from collieries to power stations, a role for which the Type 5s were designed from the outset.
Often overlooked by enthusiasts at the time in favour of older or more vocal classes, and indeed modellers because of the lack of a decent starting point, the class is now ‘heritage’ traction. For those working in 4mm scale, the situation improved dramatically in the mid 2000s with the release of the Heljan model. Before this, the only way of modelling the ‘Bones’ was by detailing the poor and woefully under-powered Hornby offering that first appeared in the early 1980s.
The Heljan model is not without its faults however, most of which are actually in the livery application. There are a few little errors on the loco itself, but in my eyes, nothing leaps out as being overly concerning. The livery errors can be corrected when the model hits the workbench for a makeover, especially with regard to the triple grey locos, in this case a trio of Trainload Coal machines.
Read more in the December 2017 issue of RE – on sale now
