Heljan are producing a newly tooled range of Class 02 diesel-hydraulic shunters in O Gauge!
This high-spec new model of this diminutive little industrial shunter is expected to arrive in early 2025, with the range including all sorts of variations in BR green, BR blue and industrial liveries. Final samples are being put through their paces now to ensure all is well mechanically, electrically and with their exquisite decoration - you can see the latest sample images here.
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Product Features
Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts including handrails, headlamps, lamp irons, wipers and more
High performance chassis with all-wheel drive and pickups
Digital & Sound capability - 21-pin decoder socket with space included for a speaker
Separately switchable LED marker lights and cab lights
External features will include authentic detail variations.
Highly-detailed cab interior and underframe, separate handrails, door handles and pipework.
Etched Yorkshire Engine Co. worksplates.
Prototype Information
These tiny four-wheeled shunters were designed to reach the places other locomotives could not; with a wheelbase of just 6ft they were able to tackle sharply curved lines in streets, docks, warehouses and factories and even use traditional wagon turntables. They were a direct replacement for the legendary Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘Pug’ 0-4-0STs working dock lines in Liverpool, Manchester and beyond.
Around 50 similar locomotives were built for industrial railways, in many cases with electric rather than hydraulic transmission. As the work they were built for vanished in the 1960s, many of the 20-strong class found further work in industry, with some surviving well into the 1980s before being rescued for preservation. Highly regarded by crews for their Rolls-Royce engine, all-round visibility and unique (for a BR locomotive) rear platform for shunting staff, they continue to play a useful role in shunting and engineering work at heritage railways. One locomotive, D2860, was even claimed by the National Railway Museum as the perfect shunter for its Great Hall in York.