Not being able to handle curves is a bit of a deal breaker. Most layouts need them unless you have a very long room

Hi Sam- again ,a good honest review !! As a massive class 45 enthusiast , I eagerly awaited Heljans release of this loco -BUT ,like yourself ,I was quite disappointed at final the result !! considering it took well over 2 years to develop and be finally being released after first being announced, and Heljan (supposedly ??) had members of class 45 preservation groups advising them ,it really isnt the "definitive" example we were led to believe it was going to be , as the cab "faces "and window profile clearly arnt right ,the cab doors are completely wrong and the axle box covers are just far too large, as well as the BR Blue versions ,the blue Heljan use is a far too darker shade ! , so all-in-all a very large disappointment for me !! I was going to buy a few locos but eventually only buying one example as it was such a big let-down !! and I do think its a very expensive loco taking into account its glaring errors !! and comparing it to the older Bachmann class 45 example ,it clearly isnt any great improvement .

Hey Sam, I think you may have got unlucky with a faulty motor as I have one of these and the performance is fine. Mine squeaks too but I’m not experiencing issues of it slowing down much on radius 2 curves. Also since watching your video I’ve tested the torque and the wheels start spinning at around 35% power. I’d strongly recommend you return it and get a replacement. Cheers, Apples

I'd be curious to see a follow up update/review of a replacement unit to see if this really is under powered or if it's actually faulty.

The peak seems more of a trough 😂 I’d try a replacement to see if it’s faulty but if it’s the same it would be a return for me. Thanks for the review

I’m going to wait for Accurascale to do one of these. You just can’t beat them for accuracy and price. Used to love watching the Peaks thunder through Hendon Station as a youth.

It’s nice to see heljan are trying to improve… dunno if it’s faulty or not, but at least heljan are trying. They still have a way to go to catch up with some of the other manufacturers

I think it's high time we all start sending models back with any level of fault or poor performance. That Peak is completely unfit for purpose if it can't handle a curve, but as you say it could be faulty, either way it should go back. Even the sloppy paint work and whatever the heck that emblem was supposed to be! I'm looking up at my N Scale models, half the size of the Peak mind, and the paintwork, livery and decals on all of them is flawless. I remember my Bachmaan Cl.46 from when I was a kid and it'd mop the floor with this thing. That thing was an absolute beast and would haul anything you put behind it around 2nd radius curves. It's completely unacceptable to be paying close to £200 for a product that doesn't work as it should or has a poor finish.

This is by no surprise to someone having tried Heljans Danish outline models. They have been overtaken in the inner lane by many others. Their locos are not good, they are over priced for what you get, and there are much better alternatives out there. Heljan is becoming more and more irellevant I believe.

The nose grilles have hinges which were only fitted as part of the 1966 refurbishment programme. The four holes on the bogie for the rear sandboxes are actually correct as they remained when the boxes were removed in the late 1960s. D4 Great Gable the Class 44 has four holes there.

Im starting to feel like the phrase "New Tooling" is lingo for "We've cut corners".

great review Sam, lots of memories of Peaks coming through Radlet in the 80s.... thanks mate

yep great review Sam it has saved me some money.

I enjoyed the video sam great video also the the br class 45 is one of my favorites

A few months back you did a video on bearings, what they are and why they’re important, I’d love a similar piece on torque, why corners seem to kill it off on certain models, what factors affect torque, can anything be done to improve it?

Great timing lol, just bought a class 45 operating manual at an antique shop earlier today!

Personally I know and agree this is not the best locomotive in the world, but in my opinion mechanically, it is a sign that Heljan is trying to improve as we saw in the mechanism. Who knows, maybe one day Heljan might actually be just as good as Bachmann one day. Good review Sam, keep up the good work.

I’ve only just watched this, so a bit late to the party but, great review! I was considering getting one of these with the intention of replacing my older Bachmann peaks but I don’t think I’ll bother now! It doesn’t look worth the expense for little if any improvements. To be honest, I still like the older Bachmann ones (later version with the nose seam) and they run well and look great. Keep up the great reviews Sam!

great review..very interesting watch

I've been waiting for this review.

I do like a class 45, when I was at the East Lancs Railway Winter sulzer themed diesel gala, they had a 45 running 45108, and it was on the back of one of the trains I travelled on, and I think someone got of the loco at one of the stations and while it was stopped was working on the speedometer.

Hi Sam, Good review, Yes it's like my mother in law , looks good at a distance, with you bin it. All the best Brian 😃

I have 2 of these and I agree with your comments. Mine run okay and there is a noise which I need to investigate. The Bachmann class 44 & 46s i own are good....better in some areas but the Bachmann are great runners.

hi sam ..glad i watched this i nearly ordered one yesterday...

I think your headline of "disappointing" sums up this offering from Heljan Sam! It's totally drab and if they don't keep pace with the latest Bachmann, Dapol and Accurascale releases they'll no doubt be in OO gauge trouble!

I missed you on your tri ang remembering train set so here's my comment for that video I think more companies should rerelease old train sets Because I think it's so cool to see vintage stuff Really released after so many years and with the vintage we would not have what we have today

I had a similar issue with a Bachmann Deltic. Approaching corners, it would slow down, and the outermost wheels would carve into the plastic on the inside of the bodyshell. I just raised the body by using 2 old Triang connecting rod washers, and now the deltic flies round corners the same speed as on the straights, with no damage to the plastic. You would'nt even notice the slightly higher bodyline.

Hmmm interesting. Its very nice. Anyway ur trains are cool. And keep up the good work. Soon i will review an n scale train as soon as i get n scale track. Ur the best bro

Great video once again thanks,

I nearly considered one of these, but the shade of the BR Blue versions is incorrect (lacks that green tinge) and is too dark. Will probably opt for a Bachmann one instead

Interesting that it runs much better on feedback. Maybe DCC has allowed manufacturers to be a little lazy with motors: With DCC, the decoder controls the motor so you can set one to provide feedback for its motor while another loco with a coreless motor provides clean DC. That may be well for DCC users but it kicks sand in the face for those using DC.

Good review, I have seen some more positive reviews of these, won’t be getting one as I have a Heljan 25 on order which I’m excited for even if the price has gotten out of hand a bit, the 25 has a similar mechanism to these I think so we’ll see how those go! I have a feeling that there’s a potential issue with this loco but idk, might take some investigation really. On a separate note, good to see that the Barclays are returning to sale too. Anyway another good review can’t wait for the next one!

Awesome diesel Sam and that diesel is like spamcam aka d199 from the rws books

Can you explain more about what this "feedback controller" is doing - something like increasing the track voltage or current under load or something? If so then I wonder if a DCC decoder with good back EMF support will help the thing get around curves.

AMAZING REVIEW! Hey I’m making a new layout, do you have any tips?

Could the floating axle be why it slows on corners as they may catch the body ..I will say i do not have model railways etc just say and watched your video

I have to say Sam that the new Heljan Class 45 "Peak" locomotive is a decent looking model. I am glad Heljan has finally listen to everyone's criticism properly which is a step in the right direction. Of course, Heljan still needs to improve on certain things properly like the motor for example. By the way, I want to talk to you through your email Sam because I have a very important question.

Thanks Sam for the review, one to avoid, I think! For me Bachmanns 45 - D27 pt no 32-679DS the moulding, livery detailing and wire hand rails set it on another level compared to the Danish manufacturer's model!:

Have you tried to loosen the front ponies as they looked quite tight when you did a close up, them being tight could be making it harder for the front wheels to turn the corners and in turn fight the motor

I'm happy with my own Helijan 45133 it's a great performer and I love it, this one in the video though sounds like it's faulty.

Hi Sam. I had a BR blue one for a very short time which similarly underwhelmed me. Mine did seem to be a smooth runner and I liked the cab detail but the blue was far too dark and quite matt. It was a noticeably different blue to everything else I have, and especially in comparison with my Bachmann 45 - it just looked wrong. I had hoped it would be a step up from the quite old Bachmann tooling, but it just wasn't, and I still prefer the Bachmann. The 'tin man' noise is caused by a c.5mm plastic protrusion on the top side of each bogie which I assume is designed to maintain a minimum distance between the bogies and the body above. When the loco goes round a bend, the bogie obviously moves and the plastic 'nipple' rubs on the underside of the body (stop sniggering at the back!). A touch of white grease stopped it on mine. If you haven't returned it yet, lift up the loco so the bogies hang free, turn them fully to one side, and you'll see the offending piece of plastic - you're basically hearing a friction noise.

Arent the speakers usually mounted between the boogies in bottom middle ?

hi sam. a basic looking model but with good mechanism . is it worth it? in my book no not worth the little savings from the likes of accurascale even if it proves itself to be a faulty model and turns out to be a good runner.

That's amazing sam

Hi Sam, great review as normal. What a shame when Heljan finally get the mechanism sorted that it's such a poor runner! I am usually a fan of Heljan diesels especially their o gauge, I have plenty in oo all of which are great runners. But you are correct to give it a poor review as for me their is nothing worse than a poor runner especially in a peek which were so good in real life. I will avoid this one like the plague as I purchased a Dapol Manor (on offer for £80) which as per your review suffers the same problem and looks so awful when running I can only bare to use it as a static display, serves me right I will pay more attention to your review this time. Keep up the good work and more o gauge please, Cheers Paul

Hi Sam! For a joking gag, you should definitely review the Chuggington rolling stock! Cheers, Nigel Gresley

A neat bday surprise!

Does the "Magic wand" work on the cab lights? I have been thinking about getting one in BR Blue, to go along with my Bachmann one. But having seen you review, I'm not too sure now. I would be running it on mostly 3rd radius curves, and would also want to fit a decoder to it, as I use DCC a lot of the time!

Interestingly enough what I did get out of your excellent review was how good the hm2000 is. I've got a couple of these which service my n scale which includes coreless motors, tt, vintage H0 with those old very high quality dc71 Pittman 5 poles. I'd run my standard gauge if I could but unfortunately with only 12v and 550 ma the controller is just too weak. I bring this up due to the glowing reviews of the gaugemaster and I was thinking of "upgrading" but after seeing the hm2000 in action here it's made me quite happy with what I've got. Fyi, hm2000 running an old tomix N gauge EF81electric loco its down to a crawl of 0.06 scale mph, taking 30 seconds sleeper to sleeper, over 1 minute to go 10mm, well over 2 minutes for one wheel revolution so it's a pretty good controller I feel :)

I will stick with my old Bachmann Peak. I put DCC and working lights in it some time ago. I think this model needs a fair amount of weight added.

I have one of the TMC versions (the economy green one) and it runs fine and looks OK to me, especially when weathered. What Heljan excels at is providing a variety of liveries and numbers, including the transition era. Bachmann and Hornby often seem to boycott the late 60's for some reason.

I think it looks very real in terms of detail. I mean, maybe we are expecting too much. Trains are still considered to be toys in the end I think. A good modeller will weather it and improve it but it's an impressive rendering of a classic diesel to me.

It looks to me it is designed for A to B layouts rather than the looped layouts going by the slowness on turns/ corners

I almost forgot - the accessories pack issue is not binary either. The various items are mostly present or absent on the prototype depending on the exact year and number of your model. Things like sand boxes, steam pipes were removed. Roof detail varied considerably through the life of the engine.

Interesting review! Shame about the bad motor and other issues. Yes, the overall look of Heljan diesels can be a bit flat/plasticky compared with Bachmann and Accurascale. As Tony Fearn says below, I also think the cab door profile and other detail faults let it down.

great video

Before you send it back I might try it with a Hornby R965. Thanks for uploading.

It looks like your motor mount is faulty - when I saw this I immediately opened mine and the motor is definitely not loose. I also double checked it's performance on 2nd radius, and I do not see a noticeable slowdown. Mine isn't the fastest loco at low settings, and it doesn't have a great deal of torque, but it does run really smoothly on all curves. I agree re: the handrails (and I think they are the model's biggest flaw). My speedo rests higher on the bogie than yours does, and doesn't wobble. The fine paint details aren't the best, but with human eyes the flaws are not discernable, so I generally don't mind such small flaws. I never minded the finish, in most part because I never intend to run my locos "out of the box". I plan to weather all my locos, preferably with an "oily rag" finish suggestive of a hard working loco wiped down by an enthusiastic cleaner. I do agree that the Bachmann finish is nicer - but in the end it comes out in the wash.

I have seen a fair few reviews of this model already and they show the model more positively, because of that I will be getting one eventually with the version I’m thinking of is one of the TMC commission ones because they do them with the split head code which I really like, plus I don’t have a super detailed class 45 in my fleet.

I bought the TMC one with the split head code I like the loco but it really only runs well in one direction going the opposite way it pops and grinds a little witch can probably be fixed idk I haven't pulled the body off to see... Oddly the thing that upset me the most is on its long trip to the U.S. the wand seems to have grab some of the metal bits in the accessories pack and somehow ripped it open so my first impression of the loco taking it out of the box is watching all the small bits fall to the floor...

Hola buenas noche sam excelente video muy locomotora segui asi abrazo gramde😃👍👍👍

About how I sent you a loop on N scale track, will it fit inside the two TT scale ovals on your TT scale layout

The best thing is that Heljan is actually trying to improve in its quality. This is definitely evident in the mechanism. It could be faulty. I don’t know. But I think it’s a step in the right direction.

I bought one for my grandson to run on a simple DC Analogue oval layout. I sent it back, as you say it hated curves. Nice model but curves are its downfall for sure. Shame. Thanks for your reviews, they are great and well detailed.

in the early 1980s I was on train pulled by a Peak that broke down in the middle of Bedfordshire. We were rescued by a class 25. So maybe the model is quite realistic!!😂

My version of this loco does not slow down on radius 2 curves. Strange that this one does.

Spot on review, Sam. It looks nice I must say, but it falls short in comparison to the competition. Its a big shame because I like it. If it was built to a high standard, etched grilles and nicely painted, I might say its alright from a distance. Of course, from a distance doesn't do, but it would be alright. Like this its just meh to not be mean since again, it looks alright from a distance. Its alright, but if you start to compare it to other locomotives it just falls flat. If I want a Peak, Bachmann fills the bill and is probably a lot cheaper as well especially second hand. Great review, Sam. Even though the model is quite mediocre, I could feel your disappointment through the screen but hey, its not the worst ripoff from Hejlan so at least that.

"Nothing to complain about" - that makes a nice change.

I'm really not a fan of diesels Sam but great review, keep up the wonderful work ;) Cheers Jasper & Willow

12..16 No, the speedometer drive cable should not be hanging loose like that, its free end should be firmly attached to the body. I'm wondering if there's a socket of some sort on the underside of the body, and the cable just came loose. Or maybe it was left loose at the factory for easier body removal -- on some steam loco models one has to disconnect part of the valve gear when separating body from chassis, so maybe that's happening here. Sad that Heljan have missed opportunities here -- plastic cab door handrails instead of wire, no blanking plate uinder the fan, plastic instead of etched grilles, a paint job from the 1990s -- on what could have been an impressive flagship model. Considering that they have just announced their re-toooled 0 Gauge version, thery should have known better. Thanks again for another excellent review.

Ha! OK, thanks for the feedback.

It looks a beauty love peaks

Aside from independents such as Accurascale there is only one company capable of producing decent diesels and that is Bachmann. I have one of the old Bachmann Peaks and on many levels it kicks this Heljan offering in to touch.

It’s strange I have that model but I have a heljan baby deltic I ran it in but it slowed down on bends but after a months of use it’s ok they need alot of running in it now goes like the clappers so I’m thinking it could be the same for the 45 mine is still in it’s box one of my 33s done the same hope this helps Sam Cheers Mark 😊😊

You know your are having a great day when you are gonna drive a real locomotive and when Sam uploads the same day too! Great vid!

Awesome video Sam's trains hey Sam I saw the video that trainboy uploaded today

I find mine is really squeaky when it goes around corners. I have never seen a Bachmann version, but this does not look any better despite being several years newer

17:12 Well at least heljan learned something. About time too ;) Cheers Jasper & Willow

If you're not happy, and it seems that way from your unboxing it's an under par performer return to sender! You'll only regret it if you dont imo. Again another great review.👍

Hi love your vids

Hi Sam, I think that your model could well be faulty. My BR Blue model is a great runner, and as others have said the squeaking around curves is easily remedied. In total honesty, I wasn’t happy with the blue and renumbered and resprayed mine and am much happier with it as a result.

I think Heljan should either drastically improve the quality and decoration of their models or just stick to doing obscure prototypes which would save them the embarrassment of being compared to more competent manufacturers. Maybe they should try to re-do the Triang Dock Shunter and see if they could improve on that.

I like the diesel it looks cool

Sam I like your channel

The peak is one of my favorite br Diesels, shame this model wasn’t the greatest

Sam, have you checked the mechanism your old Bachmann 45 lately? Mine had snapped all 4 screw plastic pedistals on each corner of the motor making it loose. Some holes drilled by the fuel tank and cable ties solved the problem. 😀

Great review Sam! It’s too bad that Heljan are still so far behind everyone else. Sure their improving a lot, especially in terms of accessibility and mechanism, but the detail still leaves a bit to be desired, and the performance is quite embarrassing. I actually think you were a little generous with this one. Also, I have a quick question; I’m in market for a 3D Printer, and I was thinking about going with the Flashfordge Adventurer 3. I know you have replaced you Flashfordge though, is there a problem with it? Thanks!

great review Sam. Send it back though as out of the box it does not perform. Having said that, I like the leading and trailing wheels and the way they work. Perhaps Hornby and Bachman could adopt this method for their trailing trucks. Looks like a dud motor so send it back. For what you paid you should expect it to at least run around the layout with 7 coaches without a problem.

I'd be sending that back sam especially at that price.

Hi Sam. Scrolled through comments and can’t see anyone else mentioning this, but apologies if others have. When you have the close up coupling, I cannot see the from trailing wheels move. Is that just my eyes, or could that explain the lack of torque? 27:11 time stamp. Thanks. Good review.

It's a positive thing to see that Heljan had finally succeeded to manufactures a locomotive you can open, bar the clipped basekeeper plates, but not impossible to open, and even fairly easy to unclip. Add a nice mechanism with all what you need as a standard. Alas, the finish is Hornby-like (same factory ?) and the overall performances are abysmal (same sh***y motor as Hornby ?). It's not a shelf queen, but would have deters me from buying one if I would have been interested by this model (too large for my traffic patterns). I think your model is defective, and you might consider to have her back to your retailer. With a correct finish and a working motor, this one may be a correct model to have, everything else is spot on.

Hi Sam. At 36:34 you can see the lights in the cab flickering as it stutters around the corner potentially suggesting a power feed issue?

I would give it a coat of gloss varnish,which would make it look better. Many thanks

So it looks good (for a Heljan) and most certainly goes like a Heljan does 😂😂

Consider the "Tin Man" noise flange squeal.😊

I really like the axle bearings but I find the lack of torque disturbing.

Let me help you Sam. Medium spec loco with poor quality build. Just look at how the fuel tank is hanging down low! I think it was easier to see for us in the video. The part that you noticed loose was the speedo drive cable. The top end should be fixed to the body

Got a few mainline railways peaks, stick with them

Four stars for performance when it can't go up hills or round bends? How bad would it have to be to get one star - presumably jump off the track, burst into flames, and set the loft on fire?

My grandpa and me watches you’re videos