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Heljan 1800

BR Gas Turbine 0 Class Locomotive BR Black with Silver Trim

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest

Manufacturer description

Rails of Sheffield Exclusive

VERY LIMITED STOCK REMAINING

British Rail 18000 Gas Turbine Prototype Locomotive nicknamed ‘Kerosene Castle’

BR gloss black with silver trim (1949-56 condition)

Model Specification

• 21-pin DCC socket with easy access
• Space to easily install a speaker for DCC sound
• Directional LED Lighting, Cab lighting and engine room lighting!
• Heavy die-cast metal chassis with central motor and flywheels giving powerful performance
• Separately fitted wire handrails and sandpipes
• Spoked wheels
• Etched grilles
• Sprung buffers
• Flush glazing
• An optional Western Region style train reporting number frame and numerals will also be included in the package, allowing modellers to add this distinctive WR feature to the front of the locomotive.

Proposed model based on a unique gas turbine prototype built for BR, but ordered by the GWR in the 1940s. British Rail 18000 was a prototype mainline gas turbine-electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1949 by Brown, Boveri & Cie in Switzerland. It had, however, been ordered by the Great Western Railway in 1946, but construction was delayed. It spent its working life on the Western Region of British Railways, operating express passenger services from London Paddington to the West of England.
Loco was delivered in BR black with silver trim, but later painted in BR lined green with early emblem and then late crest, offering three livery options.
After withdrawal from BR service it went abroad and was used in various experiments in Austria and Switzerland in the 1960s and 1970s. Stored for many years in Vienna, it returned to the UK in the early-1990s for preservation and now resides at Didcot Railway Centre, albeit with many external modifications and without any internal equipment.
In terms of size and specification, this loco is similar to Heljan prototypes such as Kestrel and Falcon.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Heljan BR 18000 Gas Turbine locomotive is a limited‑edition 0‑scale model released as part of the Rails of Sheffield exclusive range. The model is supplied in British Railways black livery with silver trim, representing the early crest period (1949‑56). It carries the manufacturer part number 1800 and is presented with very limited stock remaining.

The locomotive features a 21‑pin DCC socket with easy access, space for a speaker to provide DCC sound, and directional LED lighting for the cab, engine room and headlamp. The chassis is a heavy die‑cast metal construction with a central motor and flywheels, and the model includes separately fitted wire handrails, sandpipes, spoked wheels, etched grilles, sprung buffers and flush glazing. An optional Western Region style reporting number frame and numerals are supplied for addition to the front of the engine.

The prototype on which the model is based is the British Rail 18000, a gas‑turbine‑electric locomotive built in 1949 by Brown, Boveri & Cie for British Railways. It operated express passenger services on the Western Region from London Paddington to the West of England, later serving overseas for experimental work before being preserved at Didcot Railway Centre. The model’s dimensions and specifications are comparable to other Heljan 0‑scale prototypes such as the Kestrel and Falcon.