Running the HS4000 'Kestrel' (by Heljan)
1This model turned up in the post on the same day that this video was filmed and uploaded. I purchased it from Hattons, the model railway shop in Widnes - a town in the Northwest of England.
After examining Kestrel to make sure there weren't any faults, I filmed her running on the layout in our garage. Also seen (albeit briefly) are my other two Heljan models - the Class 128 and the Class 15.
The following information about HS4000 'Kestrel' was taken from the instruction sheet supplied with the model:
Completed as Brush works number 711 in 1967, 'Kestrel' was a private venture, designed and built by Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd of Loughborough (a division of Hawker Siddeley) in conjunction with Sulzer. It was the world's most powerful Sulzer-engined locomotive incorporating the Sulzer 16LVA24 engine, with 16 cylinders arranged in a 'V-shaped' bank delivering 4,000hp at 1,100rpm.
Kestrel was developed around a BR specification for a Type 5, 3,000hp plus, Co-Co locomotive of less than 126 tons suitable for both heavy freight and express passenger work, the latter with 125mph capability.
The body had a stressed skin without conventional underframe or chassis and the cabs received a streamlined treatment by stylists Wiles and Ashmore. The original single piece cast bogie frames with coil and beam suspension were unusual in having an unequal wheelbase. Later in Kestrel's life (June 1969) these were replaced with Class 47 bogies (which is how the Heljan model is depicted) as BR had discovered that Kestrel weighed 133 tons, considerably over their desired 20 tons per axle limit! The Class 47 bogies reduced its overall weight and allowed its use on higher speed passenger work.
The official 'handing-over-ceremony' took place at London Marylebone on 29th of January 1968. Initial trials took place on the West Coast Mainline, with Shap bank being used for a test of 24 coaches, 660 tons, with 46mph being recorded at the summit. In May Kestrel was moved to Tinsley depot (41A) and started work on coal workings from Shirebrook to Whitemoor, two round trps a day, Monday to Friday loaded to a 1,600 tons. By the end of 1968 Kestrel had completed 26,000 miles of trial running.
Following the fitting of the Class 47 bogies, Kestrel embarked on passenger work from London King's Cross, initially the 1N08 09.00 King's Cross to Newcastle and return 1A30 and later the 1N06 07.55 King's Cross to Newcastle and 1A32 return. Upon completion of these trials a return to less glamorous Mansfield - Whitemoor coal trains beckoned, based at Shirebrook depot.
Time was running out for this stylish prototype. BR's need for a single unit high-power passenger locomotive had diminished with thoughts no-doubt leaning towards the HST concept. The freight locomotive was later dealt with upon development on what was later to become the Class 56.
BR sold Kestrel to the U.S.S.R. Railways. After attention at Crewe Works she was taken to Cardiff Docks and shipped to Leningrad on July 8th, 1971.
At some point the power unit was removed for static tests but the bodyshell remained intact and was ballasted with concrete. By the early 1980's it is reported that the locomotive body was suffering from corrosion and - apparently as late as 1993 - the remains of Kestrel was scrapped. A sad end to an impressive locomotive.