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Heljan 1801

BR Gas Turbine 18000 Class Locomotive BR Green Early Crest

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 green with orange/black waistband lining (1956-57 condition) and early BR crest

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

Prototype information

Heljan’s limited‑edition BR 18000 gas‑turbine prototype locomotive is offered as a Rails of Sheffield exclusive. The model carries the manufacturer part number 1801 and is presented in British Rail green with the early crest and an orange‑black waistband lining, reflecting the 1956‑57 livery.

The locomotive is built on a heavy die‑cast metal chassis with a central motor, flywheels and spoked wheels. It features etched grilles, sprung buffers, flush glazing, separately fitted wire handrails and sandpipes, and an optional Western Region style reporting‑number frame and numerals.

The model is ready to accept a 21‑pin DCC decoder via an accessible socket and includes space for a speaker to provide DCC sound. Directional LED lighting, cab lighting and engine‑room lighting are fitted, and interior illumination is provided.

The prototype represented by the model was the BR 18000, a gas‑turbine‑electric locomotive built in 1949 for British Railways. It operated express passenger services on the Western Region, later entered preservation at Didcot Railway Centre and serves as a reference for the size and specification of Heljan’s Kestrel and Falcon range.