Western: JLTRT and Heljan.

alcazar

alcazar

Guest
I had the chance to compare the two on Sunday at Telford.

My thoughts: neither is the perfect Western. The JLTRT offering lacks the crispness of the grilles and details that the Heljan displays, plusm the window surrounds appear to be over-stated.
The bogies are very good.

The Heljan one has a superb body moulding, but you need to live with the gap between body and front skirt.
The bogies aren't bad, but the brake-gear is just a representation, and poor compared to the JLTRT one, and the wheels are plain/fla, . This latter, to me, is a HUGE mistake, since the wheels on a Western are VERY visible.

The ideal would be a Heljan body riding on JLTRT bogies....

Any comments?

I know Pete Harvey does etched windows for the JLTRT Western, which would add to their offering, but what of the grilles? I thought the JLTRT ones looked OK...then looked at Heljan's and was blown away.
 
Phill Dyson

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
I did exactly the same as you at Telford & came to pretty much the same conclusions............

20130907_163311.jpg



20130907_163658.jpg

In the last pic you can clearly see how much better the grills are on the Heljan....I think there is something not quite right about the face of the Heljan though, which is more apparent on the full yellow end version :confused: I did also wonder if the Heljan windscreens were slightly too tall ? although the window frames were much better than the JLTRT one.

Phill
 

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Phill Dyson

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
alcazar said:
I know Pete Harvey does etched windows for the JLTRT Western, which would add to their offering, but what of the grilles? I thought the JLTRT ones looked OK...then looked at Heljan's and was blown away.
Click to expand...

Does Pete Harvey do the windscreens or just the cab windows?
 
Ressaldar

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
it appears that in the first picture they are both on the same surface, the Heljan one is a lower 'ride height' than the JLTRT, but the roof level seems almost the same - check clearance between cab underside and top of wheel.

cheers

Mike
 
lancer1027

lancer1027

Western Thunderer
I too had a look at the two along with Phill and both have possitives and negatives. I would probably have gone for either but because of going radio control the heljan's are two power draining so i think my best option is the JLTRT.

Rob:)
 
alcazar

alcazar

Guest
The ride height difference was noticeable too, not sure which is right?

The pic doesn't really show how MUCH better the grilles are on the Heljan one.
 
Phill Dyson

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
alcazar said:
I know Pete Harvey does etched windows for the JLTRT Western, which would add to their offering, but what of the grilles? I thought the JLTRT ones looked OK...then looked at Heljan's and was blown away.
Click to expand...

I had a look on Pete's website & can't find any reference to 7mm Western windows:confused:
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
alcazar said:
Strange, it opens for me.
Click to expand...
I think that's because your link seems to reference an attachment in your gmail account. When I click on the link it takes me to my gmail account and then says it can't find the attachment.
The other alternative is to save the attachment on your PC and then attach it to a reply here.
 
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