Heljan 1503 Class 15 D8233 in BR green with small yellow panels - as preserved - Limited edition of 1000

D8233 is the sole surviving Class 15 of a once 44 strong class of type 1 Diesel locomotives.D8233 was saved from the cutters torch in 1984 and has had spells at the East Lancashire Railway, Mangapps Farm and Crewe Heritage Center before returning to the East Lancashire Railway.In February 2006 D8233 moved back to the East Lancashire Railway for the continuation of its restoration, from then and into 2007 the society has concentrated on stripping the cooler group and no.1 end nose compartments for internal renovation and the associated parts to be overhauled ready for refitting - a process that begun in 2007 and is is now complete.August 2006 saw a real boost for the project in the shape of a replacement Paxman 16YHXL power unit purchased for D8233, its own would have been very costly to repair. The new power unit will save the society and its working members a vast amount of money and man hours repairing the old unit. The new engine was installed in the loco in October 2007 and work was done to try and get the first start up of D8233 for over 25 years.The air starter motors were overhauled but sufficient air could not be found to start the power unit. This set back casued the generator overhaul to be stepped up and in late 2009 the generator was sent of to Dowding and Mills for overhaul. The Auxiliary generator will require re-varnishing and stoving and the Main generator needs the inter-poles looking at as well as a lot of other poblems fixing. All of this will not be cheap and a price of around -ú20k has been estimated. A proportion of all of the sales of these models go to helping the C15PS restore the generator to be able to start he power unit and continue restoration of this unique loco.To find out more about the generator overhaul and donate to the society please visit http://www.d8233.org.uk/generator.htm .