Kernow Adams O2

[Thebigshot]

Hi Guys

 

I just wanted to give credit to Kernow for promped delivery of my 02 I orderd it Wednesday morning and it was in the sorting office waiting for me to collect it this morning id say that excellent service

 

 

Thanks

Alan

[ChrisG]

I have 5 of these locos on my IOW layout (representing Cowes to Newport. They have been a fairly constant source of vexation, beginning with the fact that there are no spares available. It is all too easy to loose the microscopic screws and the springs for the trailing bogies. They are also poorly engineered for a long life: plastic gear train, and a motor which clips in place but once unclipped will not go back reliably to exactly the right position, because the mountings are strained by its removal. 

 

I have also been trying to get to the bottom of the lack of "oomph" that these locos have. Most of my rolling stock is kit built, and pretty heavily weighted according to the usual guidelines from experienced modellers at the finescale end of things. The five of them are all different, but wheel spinning is pretty constant with all of them if pulling anything more than 3 coaches or half a dozen wagons. I have adapted one by removing the weight that surrounds the motor, re-wiring the DCC chip so that it fits in the bunker (I have no ambitions regarding sound), which has meant that I can fill the boiler and side tanks with lead, plus a strip of lead along the bottom of the chassis. This has increased the weight by around 30 grams, and importantly, placed more of it over the driving wheels. There is room for more if it seems like a good idea. 

 

In the process I believe I have proved that the small motor is under powered. There is no slipping (the extra weight has done a good job). Instead the loco just stops - clearly the motor does not have the power to turn the wheels. I'm not sure what to do next, except that it confirms my desire to replace them all with kitbuilt locos over time (my 2 kit built O2s are now more than 20 years old and going absolutely fine).

 

One useful side effect of all this is that it has released the two screws which held the original weight in place, and these have now replaced other missing screws!  I am still hunting for the right size of spring for the rear bogie. They are proving elusive!

 

 

 

 

Chris Gardner

 

[JSpencer]

Watching on line videos like these, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OxEUXAIe2Qs We see these locos lifting 6 maybe 8 coaches.

 

I did some tests with mine:

O2 - max load 5 Hornby Hawksworth and 1 Hornby ex LSWR coach but will slip on slight inclines

Hattons P - same as above but gets an extra 6 inches up the slight incline

Hornby H - only 5 Hawksworth!

 

Edit: additional testing

Hornby Adams radial - easily managed 10 at which point I gave up

Oxford Adams Radial- not enough play on both my examples, went into slip mode at slightest transition

Dapol B4 - 4 coaches, 3 coaches up slight inclines

Hornby Terrier - 5 coaches, 4 up slight inclined

(Coaches used, 5 Hawksworth first then 2 ex LSWR and finally 3 birdcages)

End edit.

 

The OO works I3 out pulls these by a huge margin but the is really more like an RTR kit built loco.

 

Agree the O2 model motor itself is underpowered vs the P or H class but maybe that allowed the O2 to have more weight concentrated over the drivers, a weakness of H which Hornby could avoid if the front half of the boiler was Diecast,

 

Robustness, my pair are still fine, but my pair of Beattie Well tanks are out of service until I can get parts. DJM has parts for the Well tank and J94 since Xmas but has not had time to price them yet.

 

Other IOW models on the way are 1/ ModelRail has announced the E1..... For 2020. This will be by a Rapido and if it is like their Stirling single, should be capable of pulling a house down.

2/ new Terriers by Dapol but if like the B4, they could end up being on the light side albeit with a gutsy motor.

Edited June 17, 2018 by JSpencer

[RichardLong]

Other IOW models on the way are 1/ ModelRail has announced the E1..... For 2020. This will be by a Rapido and if it is like their Stirling single, should be capable of pulling a house down.

2/ new Terriers by Dapol but if like the B4, they could end up being on the light side albeit with a gutsy motor.

All we need now is some R-T-R IOW carriages for them to pull!

[jamespetts]

Neil - thank you: that is most helpful.

[jamespetts]

I have finally got around to trying to fix the problem that I had with my secondhand O2 described a few posts (and months) ago.

 

It turned out that the trimming off the end of the NEM pocket that the previous owner had done for cosmetic reasons actually made no noticeable difference to its ability to accept an NEM Kadee coupling. Fitting a no. 18 allows it to couple to a similarly fitted gate stock carriage nicely as shown in the attached picture. A no. 17 coupling was not quite long enough to engage with the coupling on the carriage, although it might have been different if the locomotive and carriages had sprung buffers.

 

I had thought that the NEM pocket as cut off had only gone in a few mm, but apparently there is more depth to it than was apparent.

Edited November 13, 2018 by jamespetts

[JohnR]

I am looking to buy and renumber one of Kernow's O2s as 30199, an engine that was allocated to Exmouth Junction almost continuously from 1948 to November 1961. 

 

Would I be right in saying that Kernow K2106 30193 would be a suitable donor model?

 

Also, does anyone know when 199 received the late crest? 

[ANT]

Hello John

 

Here is a link to details on 30199

 

http://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&type=S&id=304402023&loco=199

 

As you can see the loco had a livery change in 1952.

 

Though I have just seen that generally for all locos the late crest was from 1956 to 1965.

 

Thanks

SEEYA
ANT

Edited February 18, 2019 by ANT
Incorrect Link

[Steamport Southport]

Careful with using general dates to cover all as many locomotives never received a repaint.

 

30069 still with early crests in 1966 for example.

 

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/usa_01.html

 

Best idea is doing a Google search with the identity of the one you want. Plenty of hits for 30199. Most of them seem to be late crest in the same condition as K2104 30225. I haven't found an earlier photo, but it had a late crest in 1959.

 

http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/31966/K2104-DJ-Models-0-4-4T-O2-Steam-Locomotive-number-30225

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1366&bih=651&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=t3dtXPveJdaM1fAPvea2KA&q=30199+o2&oq=30199+o2&gs_l=img.3...2210.5197..6189...0.0..0.133.304.2j1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i24.QJcMQipAvTM

 

 

Jason

[decauville1126]

Can anyone please advise what gear module is used in the chassis? I recently purchased at Scaleforum an 02 "without motor" but on dismantling (thanks to the chap on here in another thread doing one to EM) find that also one the smallest 10 tooth gears in the drive train is missing. I'm not overenamoured with the coupling rods either which might eventually lead to milling out the split frames to accommodate a High Level  gearbox and rebushing to 1/8" for conventional Gibson P4 wheels/crankpins/rods and wiper current collectors. I don't actually have a need for it but can't resist a bargain!

 

Or has anyone gone down this route already .... ?  Thanks.

[Torn-on-the-platform]

Apologies if this has been discussed before (possibly on the DJM demise thread, which is very long and full of speculation and negative comments), but what is the future for the O2 and future runs now that the manufacturer no longer exists?

[ndg910]

11 minutes ago, Torn-on-the-platform said:

Apologies if this has been discussed before (possibly on the DJM demise thread, which is very long and full of speculation and negative comments), but what is the future for the O2 and future runs now that the manufacturer no longer exists?

It is my understanding Kernow own the tooling as they do for all their models.

[woodenhead]

Probably the same as when Dave Jones Models was still a going concern - not very likely.

 

The Maunsell Green ones sold out quickly then slowly the others have gone down in numbers with Kernow distributing them to other shops (Hattons for example) to further reduce down the stock.

 

I think the market for this model is probably now too small for another run, but in terms of the question, it was a Kernow Commission so I would hope they owned the CAD, the tools will sit with the Chinese factory who made them - DJM was a middle man he didn't own a factory so really all that has gone is the middleman so I suppose if there really was a market then Kernow could make some more.

 

But Kernow have moved on and with other models in the pipeline re-visiting this model seems unlikely - but as evidence of resurrection the Beattie Well Tank was originally Dapol (under Dave Jones design) and then he took it back on and redid it on a second batch using his factory source.

[Torn-on-the-platform]

Thank you both, sounds highly unlikely that we'll see more. As mentioned, mainland BR black examples remain in stock, but the IoW and Green versions sold well (as these things tend to do!), so I would hope that there is some possibility of a further run even if it were just of the popular variants. I was disappointed to have missed out on Calbourne at the time, I hope I get the chance again in the future.

[Graham_Muz]

Never say never... 

[woodenhead]

13 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

Never say never... 

No, the Well Tank got a second bite but the gestation of the LSWR Roadvan suggests it may be some way away.

[Steamport Southport]

3 hours ago, Torn-on-the-platform said:

Thank you both, sounds highly unlikely that we'll see more. As mentioned, mainland BR black examples remain in stock, but the IoW and Green versions sold well (as these things tend to do!), so I would hope that there is some possibility of a further run even if it were just of the popular variants. I was disappointed to have missed out on Calbourne at the time, I hope I get the chance again in the future.

 

It all depends on how many BR mainland versions they actually made. I would reckon they sold more of those than any of the others. I've definitely seen more of them in the flesh and in magazines than any other liveries.

 

 

 

Jason

[RichardLong]

Assuming the Road Van is still on the way, and given the IOW Terriers now on the way from both Hornby and Rails, and the IOW E1s on the way from Model Rail, not to mention the generic SR 4-wheelers coming from Hattons, one might think there would be an increased demand for (particularly SR-liveried) IOW O2s in the future.

 

Well, I can dream...

[mervyn]

Has anyone rechassied one of these or fitted a better motor as even after tweaking it still  doesn't run very well.slow speed etc...

[woodenhead]

In case anyone is looking for a Southern Green one

https://hattonshobbies.com/products/class-o2-0-4-4t-225-in-sr-maunsell-green-pre-owned-detailed-with-added-crew-and-route-disc-cab-roof-glued-down?variant=30974305796190

[truffy]

Quote

DJ Models (Dave Jones) K2107-PO03

Class O2 0-4-4T 225 in SR maunsell green - Pre-owned - detailed with added crew and route disc- cab roof glued down

It looks more like the cab roof's been glued up!

[truffy]

Reading another thread on Hattons' used prices, I note that this item is selling for £141.00, while there 'as new' price is £124.99.

 

Taking into account depreciation, that's a healthy mark-up for the crew and added ventilation. 

[wainwright1]

I wonder if Kernow's have any plans to produce any more 02s. We could certainly do with some more Isle of Wight examples especially a couple in malachite livery and maybe another couple in olive green.

The only issue might be with the motor and gearing and more critically the weight of the model which on the original examples was insufficient to give the locomotive enough traction to pull an appropriate length Isle of wight train of six coaches. (Ryde to Ventnor).

I was talking with the owners of the Ventnor West, St Lawrence and Merstone Junction layout at a show a little while back and they said that the performance of their Kernow models was very poor in comparison with their South Eastern Finecast kit-built ones.

With Model Rail's E1's coming next year, this would certainly complete the picture.

Any support for this.

Ray

[Bluebell Model Railway]

Have seen people posting about this for a while...  Here and Facebook... Can always hope... A better motor would be nice... Spares would be nicer but one can dream. 

 

Guess it depends on what else they are working on and is their demand.. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Bluebell Model Railway

[roythebus]

I have an ioW 02 and it will happily pull 6 mk1s round my rather undulating layout/test track, but I think i may have put some additional lead weight under the chassis.