Kernow Model Rail Centre - Bulleid Diesel

[Georgeconna]

Mine came in the door when I got back from a Holiday in Dorset last Friday. The box arrived with no damage but the front windows on one end and the Steps had worked loose on the way from Cornwall to Ireland.

 

A quick open up and the item gently pushed back into place did the trick and shes running quite and quietly smooth now. A lovely model in all aspects. 

 

Legomanbiffo did the sounds for Kernow from the Bumf that came with the model and I think there could be a bit more rumble from exhaust but other sounds are nice. I am happy with the Model for sure.

 

I see there was different exhaust ports on a picture above, Whats the Reason behind that pary tell?

 

Next Packet the Stirling Single!

 

Now out for a play again!

 

Regards

 

George

Cork

Ireland.

[mvwilson]

Managed to do a spot of testing with the rolling road and it looks like on one bogie only one axle is reliably picking up power.

 

Giving Kernow a couple days to respond before having to try and find time to phone them during work but its looking like I got the Friday afternoon special

Mine was the same only picking up on one axle at each end. I had to remove the plate on the bottom of each bogie and adjust 12 pick ups. Once done it is running beautifully fitted with sound.

[Big James]

I bit the Bullet and bought 10203 in Br green. She arrived just as I was walking out the door for work so I’ll play about with her tomorrow. Although to large for my BR(SR) branch line I couldn’t resist and compared to my 33 & 73 she’s a big beast.

 

Big James

[Gwiwer]

I'll have to send mine back.  It's all dirty.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2018 by Gwiwer

[SRman]

I'll have to send mine back.  It's all dirty.  

 

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You know, you really should wash your hands before handling your models, Rick. 

[skin_2]

Mine was the same only picking up on one axle at each end. I had to remove the plate on the bottom of each bogie and adjust 12 pick ups. Once done it is running beautifully fitted with sound.

 

I recently bought one of these and at least four of the pickups didn't work - you could clearly see daylight between the pickup and the back of the wheel. This seems to be a particular issue with this model, although I've had a number of Chinese made models, particuarly the Dapol Class 22 and the Steam Museum special D1000, that have had pickup issues. I think if we're paying £180 for this model then it's not unreasonable to expect that it will work correctly from new. On a point of principle, I was tempted to return it and ask for a replacement but there's no guarantee the replacement would be any better. Kernow can hardly be unaware of this issue, so I should have thought that in the interest of good customer relations, it would be an idea to take a look at every model before despatch - it took me only a matter of seconds to see the faults. Having corrected the faults, the model now runs just fine, it's quiet and very powerful. It would have been nice not to have to spend time dismantling the bogies to realign the pickups before I could use it. My old Tri-ang models never seemed to have these issues...

 

Keith

[SRman]

I recently bought one of these and at least four of the pickups didn't work - you could clearly see daylight between the pickup and the back of the wheel. This seems to be a particular issue with this model, although I've had a number of Chinese made models, particuarly the Dapol Class 22 and the Steam Museum special D1000, that have had pickup issues. I think if we're paying £180 for this model then it's not unreasonable to expect that it will work correctly from new. On a point of principle, I was tempted to return it and ask for a replacement but there's no guarantee the replacement would be any better. Kernow can hardly be unaware of this issue, so I should have thought that in the interest of good customer relations, it would be an idea to take a look at every model before despatch - it took me only a matter of seconds to see the faults. Having corrected the faults, the model now runs just fine, it's quiet and very powerful. It would have been nice not to have to spend time dismantling the bogies to realign the pickups before I could use it. My old Tri-ang models never seemed to have these issues...

 

Keith

 

If it is any consolation, Keith, just about every Heljan loco I have ever bought needed the pickups adjusted, with Bo-Bo diesels generally having only four or five out of the eight actually touching the wheel backs. At least the Heljan ones are easier to adjust because most of them have the bogie side frames on spigots, allowing them to be simply pulled off.

 

I think that with such a small staff, it would be too time consuming for Kernow to check and adjust every single model. It is easier for them to let the models out and for the relatively few customers who cannot adjust the pickups, to let those customers return the models for fixing. It would be a type of risk management strategy to minimise costs - staff time costs money too.

 

[No Decorum]

If it is any consolation, Keith, just about every Heljan loco I have ever bought needed the pickups adjusted, with Bo-Bo diesels generally having only four or five out of the eight actually touching the wheel backs. At least the Heljan ones are easier to adjust because most of them have the bogie side frames on spigots, allowing them to be simply pulled off.

 

I think that with such a small staff, it would be too time consuming for Kernow to check and adjust every single model. It is easier for them to let the models out and for the relatively few customers who cannot adjust the pickups, to let those customers return the models for fixing. It would be a type of risk management strategy to minimise costs - staff time costs money too.

 

 

I addition to that, the e-bush telegraph lets us all know when models are in stock, resulting in furious activity to post as many of them as possible before people start complaining about the delay.

[royaloak]

 in the interest of good customer relations, it would be an idea to take a look at every model before dispatch - it took me only a matter of seconds to see the faults. Having corrected the faults, the model now runs just fine, it's quiet and very powerful. It would have been nice not to have to spend time dismantling the bogies to realign the pickups before I could use it. My old Tri-ang models never seemed to have these issues...

 

Keith

A couple of seconds to remove the loco from all the packaging and check all the pickups, yeah okay! 

You were ale to adjust them without issue, did that take seconds or a couple of minutes?

Multiply that by a coupe of thousand and you will see the issue for Kernow checking them all,of course if you would be happy to pay an extra £20 per loco I am sure Kernow would check them all, time (to check them all) costs money and somebody has to pay.

 

Kernow are as much a customer as we are and to expect them to check every model is frankly ludicrous, they might be £180 but they are still a mass produced item and most of these (even brand new cars costing £15,000) will need adjustment of some sort.

 

I dont have an issue with having to carry out these adjustments myself because i realise these things happen.

Edited August 15, 2018 by royaloak

[JSpencer]

I suppose I could complain about a wire touching a drive shaft causing a clicking sound and sand box being missing on one bogie, but the former was easy to put right and the latter, Kernow kindly sent me the missing part. So I won't.

 

My point is, there are so many little things to check over that it would take time. Handling the models would probably see more becoming damaged especially as fatigue sets in and the pressure to get them out quickly is required. They are not easy models to put on the rails to test either, the bogies being too long to use any form of rerailer. Some models might even become damaged as they are replaced in their boxes following testing.

Maybe the QC in China should be better, but at what cost for what gain?

 

They did avoid those bearing pickups which cause me constant grief on my Dapol class 73.

[skin_2]

It's certainly true that there are a lot of small and fragile parts on this model so maybe the less it gets handled the better. Clearly better QC in China is needed as it would obviously be easier to check the pickups before the bogies are fitted. For most people the least hassle way to deal with these things is just to fix the problem as returning the model involves a trip to post it off and of course it also involves the retailer in the expense of refunding postage charges and having to fix or replace the model and send it out again. It took me around half an hour to sort the pickups out and I haven't so far come across any other running issues, the motor is smooth and quiet and the model pulls 11 coaches with no problems. It's just that these little niggles rather tend to spoil things. The only other issues were that one of the pipes had fallen out of the buffer beam and a handrail had also dropped out. Both these were loose in the package and so it was easy enough to deal with them. I seem to remember that one of the DJ model locos was supposed to have had every model personally inspected by Dave Jones - a rather tedious job I should think. I don't buy locos all that often but I think it would be nice to get one that worked correctly straight from the box.

[JSpencer]

 I seem to remember that one of the DJ model locos was supposed to have had every model personally inspected by Dave Jones - a rather tedious job I should think. I don't buy locos all that often but I think it would be nice to get one that worked correctly straight from the box.

 

He did indeed, but he missed an issue with my Well tank which would seize up after running 2 minutes in one direction. So it proves that despite additional checks, it does not cover every faulty one.

Edited August 16, 2018 by JSpencer

[JSpencer]

All green 10203s are sold out. Now only a few black 10201 and 10203s left.

[Big James]

Makes me glad I purchased my green 10203 when I did.

 

Big James

[JSpencer]

Apparently they have a few green ones left due to people not paying and responding to any attempts to contact them.

[ikks]

Apparently they have a few green ones left due to people not paying and responding to any attempts to contact them.

Poor souls, this is one brilliant model!. hope it's not financial reasons for them.

 

Mike

[PrestburyJack]

Poor souls, this is one brilliant model!. hope it's not financial reasons for them.

 

Mike

Hopefully it IS for financial reasons and not because they are no longer with us.

[bigherb]

Hopefully it IS for financial reasons and not because they are no longer with us.

After 7 1/2 years thats a possibility.

[The Stationmaster]

Hopefully it IS for financial reasons and not because they are no longer with us.

 

I understand from various reasons that it is not unusual for pre-orders not to turn into purchases when the model becomes available.  The percentage shortfall seems to vary and the reasons are not usually at all clear but it does happen, to the occasional potential benefit of those who have missed out.

[Holmesfeldian]

The website is showing sold out for non-sound version.

 

So how does one obtain one of these last chance saloons?

[Kaput]

Pleased to say my replacement was collected from the sorting office today and unlike the first attempt, runs great. Little bit noisey but its getting sound fitted eventually so probably won't matter - at least it can make it round an oval without stalling

[ikks]

Are they doing 10201/2 in green or am I missing something?? Also slightly off topic is anyone aware if Bachmann are doing 10001 in the same livery as 10000?

 

Mike

[rembrow]

Are they doing 10201/2 in green or am I missing something?? Also slightly off topic is anyone aware if Bachmann are doing 10001 in the same livery as 10000?

 

 

 

Kernow haven't announced that they are doing 10201/2 in green, but when they displayed the first eps they confirmed that the factory had produced the tooling changes for 10201/2 in green,which is primarily the connecting doors that stand proud of the cab fronts, which were installed for double heading on the London Midland.

As the first run is on the verge of selling out, including the first green version, I would expect Kernow to do a further run using the alternative tooling. Would be a lovely sight to have 10201 and 02 double heading a Royal Scot with forthcoming Bachmann maroon Porthole coaches and/or maroon Mk1s.

Edited August 26, 2018 by rembrow

[JSpencer]

Pleased to say my replacement was collected from the sorting office today and unlike the first attempt, runs great. Little bit noisey but its getting sound fitted eventually so probably won't matter - at least it can make it round an oval without stalling

 

If it is the motor whirr that is normal, but I only really hear that when I crank the speed up to values they would never have touched in real life. If it is a slight clicky noise, it means a wire is touching a drive shaft. 4 screws takes you to inside the body and easy to put right. I only questioned that on one of mine, because I have 2 of these locos and the first one did not make the same noise. Strangely, I always had a slight clicky noise on my Dapol/Hattons 10001 which would disappear as soon as it hit a bend. And inspired by the Bulleids, I opened this and found it was the same problem after all these years of thinking it was normal!

Edited August 27, 2018 by JSpencer

[JSpencer]

 

 

Kernow haven't announced that they are doing 10201/2 in green, but when they displayed the first eps they confirmed that the factory had produced the tooling changes for 10201/2 in green,which is primarily the connecting doors that stand proud of the cab fronts, which were installed for double heading on the London Midland.

As the first run is on the verge of selling out, including the first green version, I would expect Kernow to do a further run using the alternative tooling. Would be a lovely sight to have 10201 and 02 double heading a Royal Scot with forthcoming Bachmann maroon Porthole coaches and/or maroon Mk1s.

 

And with both sound fitted, that lovely site will set someone back roughly £600 in locos alone but it would indeed look very impressive on a suitably large layout with inclines and rake of 12/15 behind.