📢 Please take a minute to read this personal message from the creator of RailwayModels.uk

Heljan 5712

Class 57 601 Northern Belle Maroon/Cream

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

Prototype Eras
Era 10 (2005 to 2015) Rebuilding of the Railways
Era 11 (2016 to 2026) The Last Days of Privatisation

Manufacturer description

The Class 57 is a re-engineered locomotive, rebuilt by Brush Traction, Loughborough, from redundant Class 47 locomotives. The locomotives are fitted with a refurbished EMD engine and a re-conditioned alternator, improving reliability and performance. Three variants exist, one for freight (57/0) and two for passenger operations. Each cost £300,000, about one-third that of a new-build locomotive.

The class has its origins in 1997 when Freightliner ordered an initial six locomotives. A further six were ordered in 1999, making a total of twelve class 57/0 freight locomotives; five class 57/6 variants were built between 2000 and 2003, and twelve class 57/3 locomotives were ordered in 2002 (extended by four in 2003) making a total of twenty-one passenger units. One prototype class 57/0 was converted with electric train heatng in 2001, with a view to obtaining orders from passenger companies.

In 2000, Porterbrook placed an order for a prototype passenger locomotive fitted with electric train heating. This locomotive, 57601, was leased to First Great Western in June 2001, First Great Western were looking for a replacement for its elderly Class 47 locomotives. It hauled Mark 2 stock on day services from London Paddington to Plymouth and Penzance - until these ceased in September 2002 - and on the Night Riviera sleeper service. After an evaluation period, First Great Western agreed to lease three production Class 57/6s from Porterbrook in May 2002, with the first delivered in November 2003.

As the prototype locomotive was non-standard, it was decided to order a fourth Class 57/6 in 2003 and return 57601 to Porterbrook. This occurred in December 2003 after the first production Class 57/6 was delivered, with 57601 sold to West Coast Railways. Eventually, our Class 57/6s ended up in the hands of First Great Western. The First Great Western fleet were originally painted green with a gold bodyside band to match the Night Riviera stock, with cast name and numberplates. All four locomotives were named after castles in Devon and Cornwall, and operate mainly on the Night Riviera sleeper service, with the occasional stock move.

From March 2008, the fleet started to receive First Great Western blue livery, with 57605 the first repainted. In June 2010, 57604 received a repaint into lined Brunswick green livery, to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the Great Western Railway.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

Here is a summary of the Heljan Class 57 Northern Belle Maroon/Cream 57601 Windsor Castle Diesel Locomotive:

The Heljan Class 57 Northern Belle Maroon/Cream 57601 Windsor Castle is a model of a Class 57 locomotive in a maroon and cream livery, operated by the Northern Belle. The model features a 21-pin DCC decoder interface and is ready for digital command control. It has a minimum radius curve of 2 and features all-wheel power pickup. The model has a highly detailed body and chassis design, with NEM couplings, working lights, and sprung buffers. It is also sound ready with plenty of space for a DCC sound speaker.

The Class 57 locomotive is based on a re-engineered Class 47 locomotive, rebuilt by Brush Traction between 1998 and 2004. The locomotive has a Co-Co wheel arrangement and was built to improve reliability and performance. It has three variants, one for freight and two for passenger operations, and was initially used by Freightliner and First Great Western.

The model represents the locomotive as it would have appeared during the rebuilding of the railways, a period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The model is a representation of the real locomotive 57601, which was originally leased to First Great Western and later sold to West Coast Railways.