00 GAUGE 4mm:1ft
1950 to 1959 ERA
Unboxing impressions
PIONEER diesel locomotives looked quite different to the locomotives that became the mainstream of British Rail traction of the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the safety issues that are also part of the railway since the 1980s were not seen as critical, such as access ladders on the sides of locomotives.
The NBL 827hp mixed traffic locomotive prototype commissioned by the LMS has all of the now considered archaic features of a pioneer diesel and this character has been replicated to perfection by Heljan. Upon unboxing, the immediate impression was one of an untidy-looking diesel design neatly modelled with a wealth of tiny little details and fine wire hand rails, which is not an easy thing to achieve.
The featured model is
