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73113 stabled at Basingstoke on 21st June 1986. Image courtesy of Alan Tait.
Review of Heljan Class 73
During 2023's Guildex Show in Stafford, I was able to get my hands on a fully operational Class 73/1 wearing the Civil Engineering ‘Dutch’ livery to cast my eye over. More importantly I was able to test it once it was fitted with a chip and put it through its paces on Dovedale.
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A Potted History.
The class 73 came about from the Southern Region (SR) requirement for a locomotive that could work on the third rail electric and also haul a reasonable load when the power was off or on routes and yards without the third rail. Initial design work was undertaken at Eastleigh Carriage and Wagon works during late 1959. The locomotive was designed to operate across the Sothern region so was built to a narrower loading gauge, this permitted it to be used in the narrow tunnels of the ‘Hastings’ route. What was produced was an austere short boxy locomotive carried on twin bogies each with four axles having the feel OVS Bullied's designs. The concept of the Electro-Diesel was born. Initially referred to as ‘ED’s’ they soon became known by rail enthusiasts as “Shoeboxes”.
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Six locomotives were built as a pilot to test the design. Many components and equipment were ordered from English Electric, with assembly taking place at Eastleigh Works during 1961-62. Designated ‘JA” (73/0), these were E6000 to E6005 (73001 – 73006). These could be powered from the transformed third rail supply, offering 1600hp. Or from an English Electric Turbocharged 4-cylinder 4SRKT Mark II 600hp diesel engine coupled to a generator set. The SR already had experience with the power unit, as it is the same as fitted in the SR class 201 to 207, ‘Thumper’ DEMU’s.
The initial JA design considered a success, a further order for 43 locomotives were ordered in 1965. As Eastleigh works was busy building stock for the Bouremouth Electrification project. The contract went to English Electric, with construction being |
73003 Stands at Brighton on the 2nd of July 1989 with the 16.45 Brighton - Plymouth.
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undertaken at the Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. These were numbered E6006 to E6049 (73101-73142). E6027 didn’t make it to renumbering as it was withdrawn following a collision. The modified ‘JB” (73/1) version had a greater top speed of 90mph and had more torque available whilst on diesel power thanks to differing traction motors from the JA’s. There are also some cosmetic changes to the body side grills, windows, multiple working cables and a few other detail differences.
When built the cab layout was unique as it featured separate power controllers for both electric and diesel power, these being mirrored on the opposite side of the cab in front of the second man’s position. Controls were reversed, with power control on the left and brake on the right.
When built the cab layout was unique as it featured separate power controllers for both electric and diesel power, these being mirrored on the opposite side of the cab in front of the second man’s position. Controls were reversed, with power control on the left and brake on the right.
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They were designed to be able to work with the Southern Region Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) via the standardised Southern Region 27 wire jumper cables and air pipes fitted at cab height. central Pullman style buffing plates and drop head Buckeye couplings from new. Buffers were able to be retracted to allow coupling to the SR units, or used standard length for use on stock with standard draw-gear. They also carried ‘Blue Star’ multiple working cables, which when operating in Diesel Electric mode would allow them to work and control other Blue Star equipped locomotives. On delivery they often accompanied the later batch of class 20’s on test workings in and around Lancashire, but once on the Southern Region would often be seen working with the Class 33’s.
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73136 at Southampton on 22nd August 1987 with the 14.00 Bournemouth - Waterloo. Image courtesy of Alan Tait.
The entire class were initially allocated at Stewarts Lane Depot and briefly some were sent to Eastleigh to assist with the expansion of the 3rd rail system to Bournemouth. The class settled down to a fairly mundane existence, maintaining a pretty low profile working various duties without too much fuss. Often working at night on Newspaper trains or engineering services but also Merry Go Round Coal services across the Kent Coalfield.
Initial passenger work consisted of Bournemouth-Waterloo services with the 4TC units, but they lost these workings on completion of the Bournemouth electrification in 1967. The class kept working the Weymouth Boat trains as far as Bournemouth. The 73’s were considered underpowered for the non-electrified lines past Branksome due to the gradients through Upwey, and Parkstone so were infrequent visitors
The re-instated English leg of the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) would see the class at the head of the luxury train from London to Folkstone Harbour regularly from the early 1980’s. However, the class was thrust into the limelight on the 28th July 1981 when 73142 carrying the name “Broadlands” worked a special service, this conveyed the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana on the first leg of their honeymoon using a couple of Mark 1 carriages and the SR Inspection Saloon, more commonly known as ‘Caroline’.
Initial passenger work consisted of Bournemouth-Waterloo services with the 4TC units, but they lost these workings on completion of the Bournemouth electrification in 1967. The class kept working the Weymouth Boat trains as far as Bournemouth. The 73’s were considered underpowered for the non-electrified lines past Branksome due to the gradients through Upwey, and Parkstone so were infrequent visitors
The re-instated English leg of the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) would see the class at the head of the luxury train from London to Folkstone Harbour regularly from the early 1980’s. However, the class was thrust into the limelight on the 28th July 1981 when 73142 carrying the name “Broadlands” worked a special service, this conveyed the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana on the first leg of their honeymoon using a couple of Mark 1 carriages and the SR Inspection Saloon, more commonly known as ‘Caroline’.
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May 1984 saw the launch of the Gatwick Express services, which worked the non-stop services from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport. These used modified Mark 2F coaches that had been fitted with through 27 wire cables and extended waist high airpipes, reclassified as class 488. With a 73 at usually the Country end of the train and a converted and reclassified class 414 driving trailer at the London end. These Luggage Vans (GLV) retained their traction equipment which helped minimise the issue with the 73 and their penchant to hesitate over complex gaps in the third rail system. Initially any of the 73/1’s could be found on these services but it was decided to allocate a number of dedicated locomotives. Thee received a heavy general repair with extra flash guards on the third rail pickup shoes. Vacuum brake equipment was isolated and they were reclassified and renumbered into 73/2 range. It was only later that the vacuum exhausters and associated pipes were removed.
In 1988 pairs of 73’s returned to the Bournemouth to Waterloo Express services as an interim measure for the replacement of the 4REP units by the 5WES/442 “Wessex Express” units. The 5WES units were built by recycling the traction equipment from the 4REP. The use of 73’s continued as a stop gap until the full fleet of 5WES were introduced. A pair of locomotives were required to provide enough power to maintain the timings and operate at 100mph. Although essential a Southern Region machine that never really strayed far from home, they were frequent visitors to Crewe as Crewe Electric depot carried out heavy maintenance on them in the early days. They were also sent to Crewe works for repair |
73118 at Gatwick Airport on 24th January 1987 after arriving with the 12.15 Victoria - Gatwick. Image courtesy of Alan Tait.
73210 Gatwick Airport on 19th October 1991after arriving with the 14.00 Victoria - Gatwick. Image courtesy of Alan Tait.
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from time to time, this essentially became an Eastleigh function from the mid 1970’s. Occasionally they could be seen working passenger trains in the Birmingham area deputising for a shortage in traction on services from the South coast. They also visited Bletchley with unit drags to and from Wolverton works, but they returned south as soon as practical.
Sectorisation saw the loss of parcels and newspaper traffic from the Southern region and as a result there was a surplus of locomotives. Most of the 73/1 found themselves allocated to infrastructure and civil engineering work. A low use infrastructure pool would see a number of the class only working at weekends. Network South East, kept a number as emergency traction as ‘Thunderbirds’ at various locations across the patch and the Gatwick express 73/2’s moved in to the Intercity sector. Regional Railways North West took a number of 73/0’s moving North to Birkenhead depot. Two became 73/9 when they were converted into Sandite rail treatment locomtives for use on the Mersey Rail system. During the run up to Privatisation 73133 was converted in a route learning locomotive by Mainline Freight, with the centre blind box removed, extra seats in the cab and vertical WIPAC light clusters.
With Privatisation on the horizon, 1994 saw the Gatwick Express stock and the pool of 73/2’s moved to Gatwick Express Limited. It didn’t last long, and in 1996 the franchise was taken over by National Express who promptly set about ordering new units for the route, a priority given the age of the stock. The 460 Juniper Coradia’s weren’t a great success so it took until 2005 to completely eradicate the 73’s from these services. The rest of the 73/1’s fleet went to Mainline Freight then EWS where many found themselves offered for sale, this would be the start of the period where the class spread their wings.
Eurostar took 73118 and 73130 for further use, and fitted them with retractable Scharfenberg couplers at each end, primarily for the rescue of defective class 373 Eurostar sets but never really saw a great deal of work away from North Pole Depot. With the relocation of Eurostar services into St Pancras International and a new electrified depot at Temple Mills they became surplus to requirements and offered for sale. Both of these locomotives are now in preservation.
FMRail took a number of 73/1's from EWS when they were offered them for sale and promptly hired them back to operate ‘Thunderbird’ and empty coaching stock duties. A number were sold to preservation groups, whilst the growing GBRf company spied an opportunity to expand its locomotive fleet purchasing a number of redundant 73/2’s that were later joined by some 73/1’s. These were refurbished in Derby by Fragonset bring the class into regular contact with the Midlands. 73209 found itself operating as a shunter, working at Whitemoor Yard in East Anglia. The 73’s would spread their wings even further when a number found themselves working various test trains from Derby RTC. These workings would take them to various places across the network, including The Wirral and Buxton.
RVEL at Derby proposed re-build to a number of 73’s. Making them into more powerful variants on diesel power. 104 and 211 were given Cummins engines, of the design that are fitted to the Voyagers, and renumbered 73951 and 73952. This required a redesign of the bodysides and roof. The cab layout was altered to a single driver position. These were referred to as ‘Ultra73’s’, and operated by Network Rail for the use on infrastructure monitoring trains until retirement.
GBRf contracted Brush at Loughborough, with re-manufacturing a number of 73’s using an MTU V8 unit of 1600hp. The dual driving position were maintained but pretty much everything else was removed, including the ability to run off the third rail. Effectively, these are a new class of locomotive, but certification allowed them to fall into the 73/9 class rather the proposed class 75. A second batch were converted for use on the Caledonian Sleeper services north from Edinburgh, taking the class to Inverness, Aberdeen and Fort William. There are 11 members of this subgroup, 73961 to 73971.
With Privatisation on the horizon, 1994 saw the Gatwick Express stock and the pool of 73/2’s moved to Gatwick Express Limited. It didn’t last long, and in 1996 the franchise was taken over by National Express who promptly set about ordering new units for the route, a priority given the age of the stock. The 460 Juniper Coradia’s weren’t a great success so it took until 2005 to completely eradicate the 73’s from these services. The rest of the 73/1’s fleet went to Mainline Freight then EWS where many found themselves offered for sale, this would be the start of the period where the class spread their wings.
Eurostar took 73118 and 73130 for further use, and fitted them with retractable Scharfenberg couplers at each end, primarily for the rescue of defective class 373 Eurostar sets but never really saw a great deal of work away from North Pole Depot. With the relocation of Eurostar services into St Pancras International and a new electrified depot at Temple Mills they became surplus to requirements and offered for sale. Both of these locomotives are now in preservation.
FMRail took a number of 73/1's from EWS when they were offered them for sale and promptly hired them back to operate ‘Thunderbird’ and empty coaching stock duties. A number were sold to preservation groups, whilst the growing GBRf company spied an opportunity to expand its locomotive fleet purchasing a number of redundant 73/2’s that were later joined by some 73/1’s. These were refurbished in Derby by Fragonset bring the class into regular contact with the Midlands. 73209 found itself operating as a shunter, working at Whitemoor Yard in East Anglia. The 73’s would spread their wings even further when a number found themselves working various test trains from Derby RTC. These workings would take them to various places across the network, including The Wirral and Buxton.
RVEL at Derby proposed re-build to a number of 73’s. Making them into more powerful variants on diesel power. 104 and 211 were given Cummins engines, of the design that are fitted to the Voyagers, and renumbered 73951 and 73952. This required a redesign of the bodysides and roof. The cab layout was altered to a single driver position. These were referred to as ‘Ultra73’s’, and operated by Network Rail for the use on infrastructure monitoring trains until retirement.
GBRf contracted Brush at Loughborough, with re-manufacturing a number of 73’s using an MTU V8 unit of 1600hp. The dual driving position were maintained but pretty much everything else was removed, including the ability to run off the third rail. Effectively, these are a new class of locomotive, but certification allowed them to fall into the 73/9 class rather the proposed class 75. A second batch were converted for use on the Caledonian Sleeper services north from Edinburgh, taking the class to Inverness, Aberdeen and Fort William. There are 11 members of this subgroup, 73961 to 73971.
73138 leaving Consall on 30th May 2008 on the Churnet Valley Railway. Image courtesy of Colin Burgess.
E6016 (73110) on 4th June 2006 at Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway. Image courtesy of Colin Burgess.
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There are also a number of 73/1’s in preservation at various locations around the country, often in areas where they were rarer than hen’s teeth, such as Oswestry, Ecclesbourne Valley, Barry and the Llanelli and Mynwydd Mawr Railway. There is also a number of 73’s that have been in preservation and then returned to mainline use with GBRf and Network Rail.
The Class 73/1 and 2 ’s, have carried a number of liveries throughout their careers. Initially they were delivered in electric blue with a lower grey band, grey roofs and small yellow panels. This switched to all over rail blue with small yellow panels with grey roofs, later become all over rail blue with full yellow ends, at least one example received extended yellow fronts for a period as an experiment (E6018). With the advent of the Large Logo livery in the early 1980’s a number received this livery, followed by Intercity Executive, Intercity Swallow (73/2, notal having a Burgundy stripe as opposed to the usual Red), Departmental grey, Networks South East, Civil ‘Dutch’ livery, Mainline Blue & Pullman Umber and Cream. Post privatisation there has been a further explosion of colour. EWS Maroon, Fragonset Black, Two Tone Eurostar Grey, Network Rail Blue/Green/Yellow, Network Rail Yellow, GB Railfreight Toothpaste, GB Railfreight Blue/Orange, Gatwick Express, Southern (73202), two styles of South West Trains livery, Blue/Light Blue, FM Rail Two tone Grey, and finally Transmart Green. As it stands it looks like the 73/1’s will be around for another few years operating services for GBRf and a lot longer in preservation. |
73119. 73109 & 73006 at Eastleigh works on 23rd May 2009. Image courtesy of Colin Burgess.
What’s in the Box
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The model comes in the now familiar Heljan packaging with the model mounted on an MDF plank packed in various density foam. There’s a useful information booklet which is well worth a read before removing the locomotive from the plank as it contains a warning note about handling the model. The booklet also has instructions for inserting the red tail blinds and a useful section on fitting the ESU Loksound V5 XL plug in decoder and its operation. For DC users lighting functions are controllable using the underside microswitches
A small bag of additional parts can also be found in the box. This contains updated flash guards, NRN pods and an in-cab receiver & telephone, alternative head-code displays and an alternate set of vacuum pipes and buffer beam wedges. |
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The Model
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The basic body of the model is crisply moulded with many extra details added separately. Heljan report that there are 550 additional parts added to the basic model. It captures the austere and rugged appearance of the prototype very well with the roof and body side grills being of a fine mesh. As per the instruction leaflet. please be careful when handling the model as careless handling may result in the grills popping out. The exhaust silencer and roof panels are nicely captured. Paint and transfer application are very good and there was no bleed between colours, text where size permits are clear and legible. Metal cab handrails and the underside equipment, air pipes and electrical conduits are neatly captured.
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The chassis is heavy as is the norm for Heljan's models and it is powered by the tried and tested vertical twin 5 pole motor design. It is suggested that the model is suitable for radius greater than 5ft, however it seems capable of hauling a good tail load on tighter curves. It certainly manged with most of the stock used on Dovedale with ease. It is fitted with an XL plug-in decoder socket meaning the decoder will require some alterations to the pins to fit. There is a series of microswitches for lighting options for DC users. The chassis also has space for a smoke generator and the inside of the roof is fitted with a roof mounted cooling fan.
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Cab interiors and driving desks are very exquisite, the various switches, buttons and controls are moulded into the control desk and can be made out clearly. As are the representations of the driving controls and instruments, which are nicely captured. The rear cab bulkhead has the hand brake wheel and fire alarm boxes moulded.
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Looking at the front ends of the model the slab-sided design of the prototype is captured very well. Roof mounted airhorns are delicate, as is the original cab radio aerial. The 27-way jumper cables and air pipes, windscreen wipers, lamp irons, are finely moulded and fitted as they should be. The steps above the buffers are moulded in checker plate pattern & the hand rails are metal and carry a chrome finish.
The buffer beam is a great piece of model engineering. The ETH sockets are nicely portrayed, as are the train brake (air and vacuum) pipes and engine control pipes for use with other Blue Star locomotives. There are a pair of nicely produced Oleo pattern buffers, complete with logo. Centrally between the buffers is fitted the Pullman style buffing plate, below which is the nicely modelled drop head buckeye coupling. This is bit of a fiddle to couple up to, but this is a minor distraction and would easily be overcome by attaching your own shackle. The model I had for review has the centrally fitted High Intensity Headlight that was added during the 1980’s. Earlier models don’t this feature missing as you would expect. They are also lacking the aerial tapes. |
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The bogies are an absolute work of art. Finely moulded springs, brake blocks, dampers and torsion bars are present. The sand boxes are nicely presented and the finely moulded brake air pipes are picked out in white. On the rear axle of one bogie is the speedometer and cable to the body side, this is again neatly moulded. Cab steps have a checker plate design on the treads.
One of the talking points is the retractable 3rd rail collectors. These can be positioned, in either the raised or lowered position. But, if you run the model fitted with a DCC decoder, there’s a tiny LED mounted on the bottom on the bogie central beam. This can be made to flash as though in contact with a 3rd rail which is a very nice touch. |
Conclusion
This is the second Heljan model I’ve had across my desk in the past couple of months that has been a pleasure to both research and review. The level of detail on the basic model is spectacular, even without the extra detailing parts. I believe Heljan should have another winner on their hands. The number of separate components really shows what can be done in this scale. It runs smoothly and appears to be a capable model.
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Heljan should really give themselves a pat on the back with this release. Why? It’s offered in a range of colours covering a variety of eras. With a level of detail and functionality out of the box is second to none. I never like the open divers window on some other Heljan models, fortunately all the windows are shut. I hope that Heljan keep this practice for future releases.
Add a decoder and the features can be turned on at push of a button. The downsides? Well I’ve found it difficult to find any. The access to the drawhook is fiddly but there is an easy fix that |
I mentioned earlier. Where appropriate era details are added or removed to the main mouldings, and some extras are catered for with additional accessory pack. Heljan seem to have covered most, if not all bases with this model. It also gives an ideal starting place to re-engineer a model into the earlier 73/0 and also the later 73/9’s
The RRP is £779 for the non-weathered model, which seems high, but given the level of detail and extra components used to make this model to the very high standard, it is seems acceptable to me. Fortunately, a number of retailers are offering discounts to bring the cost down a bit. In my humble opinion this is the best Heljan release to date.
The RRP is £779 for the non-weathered model, which seems high, but given the level of detail and extra components used to make this model to the very high standard, it is seems acceptable to me. Fortunately, a number of retailers are offering discounts to bring the cost down a bit. In my humble opinion this is the best Heljan release to date.
Choice of Colours
Heljan have chosen a variety of liveries that cover a number of eras covering the mid 60’s to current day operations. The list currently stands at:
7300. Early Blue small Yellow Panel Lower Grey Solebar. E6008
7301. Early Blue small Yellow Panel. E6020
7302. BR blue with full yellow ends numbered 73137 factory weathered
7303. BR blue large logo un-numbered
7304. Intercity Executive livery un-numbered
7305. BR Dutch grey / yellow livery un-numbered
7306. Revised Network South East livery 73126 "Kent & East Sussex Railway"
7307. Pullman umber and cream 73101 "The Royal Alex" **GAUGEMASTER LIMITED EDITION**
7308. EWS red gold livery unbranded and un-numbered
7309. Network Rail yellow 73212
7310. GB Railfreight blue / orange livery 73107 "Tracy"
7312. BR blue with full yellow ends un-numbered **TOWER MODELS LIMITED EDITION OF 50**
7300. Early Blue small Yellow Panel Lower Grey Solebar. E6008
7301. Early Blue small Yellow Panel. E6020
7302. BR blue with full yellow ends numbered 73137 factory weathered
7303. BR blue large logo un-numbered
7304. Intercity Executive livery un-numbered
7305. BR Dutch grey / yellow livery un-numbered
7306. Revised Network South East livery 73126 "Kent & East Sussex Railway"
7307. Pullman umber and cream 73101 "The Royal Alex" **GAUGEMASTER LIMITED EDITION**
7308. EWS red gold livery unbranded and un-numbered
7309. Network Rail yellow 73212
7310. GB Railfreight blue / orange livery 73107 "Tracy"
7312. BR blue with full yellow ends un-numbered **TOWER MODELS LIMITED EDITION OF 50**