Heljan Class 55 ‘Deltic’ (later version)
◆ GAUGE ‘O’ ◆ MODEL Heljan 5531 BR Class 55 ‘Deltic’ 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, BR blue (preserved)
◆ PRICE £729.00 ◆ AVAILABILITY Heljan stockists Web www.heljan.co.uk
It will soon be 42 years since British Rail withdrew the last ‘Deltics’, with the final Class 55s taken out of service in January 1982.
Accordingly, the surviving examples have now operated twice as long in preservation and Heljan’s latest batch of ‘O’ gauge ‘Deltics’ finally cater for fans of the Napier-powered diesels in their later years.
Despite releasing a 7mm scale ‘Deltic’ back in 2011, the Heljan tooling offered limited choice, with the four-character headcodes and several other features suiting the 1960s and early 1970s era.
As visitors to recent exhibitions will attest, there’s now a burgeoning market for ‘O’ gauge diesels representing the late 1970s and 1980s period of British Rail and Heljan has duly answered the call from enthusiasts to portray these mighty Type 5s in their post‐1976 guises.
Overhauls and modifications changed the appearance of the ‘Deltics’ during this time, with headcode panels plated over, air horns repositioned to the bonnets, cabside quarterlight windows covered and the addition of Electric Train Heating (ETH) jumper cables and sockets.