6029 King Stephen Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I recently bought two Airfix Mogul kits and a Kemilway chassis kit for one. Having read through the instructions I noticed that the plan is for the loco to be powered by a motor mounted in the tender with a shaft connected to the loco to drive one of the driving axles. Given the year of manufacture, 1975 but with instructions revised in 1977 and thinking about most R-T-R at the time by Hornby and Mainline being tender driven, I can see that this method of propulsion was all the rage at the time. For the other kit, I was thinking of using the Comet kit that allows for the motor to be mounted in the loco chassis. With both kits, I intend to use Romford/Markits wheel packs (approx £64) and a Mashima motor. Both will be wired for DCC. Does anyone know if it is possible to modify the Kemilway chassis to have the motor mounted in the loco chassis rather than the tender. I have seen people building kits using a High Level gearbox and motor mount which I suppose could support the motor and gearing clear of the chassis but would there still be enough clearance in the Mogul body to accommodate it and, possibly the decoder? I would be grateful for any advice or comments before I decide to proceed further with the projects. Would I be better off using Comet chassis for both kits and selling on the Kemilway chassis? What gear ratio should I use etc. There was somebody else bidding against me, so I assume there must be a market for the Kemilway chassis, especially as the body kit is still produced by Dapol. Regards, Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 The Kemilway kit is one of the best ever locomotove chassis kits. It is beautifully designed and etched and fits together very well. It is, however, also very complex, the valve gear has forked end and pin construction for example. I wouldn't link it's arrangement to the tender drive RTR mechanisms of the day, many top kit and scratch builders employed tender mounted motors with shaft drive through to the loco chassis. It was a well respected method. From memory, you would need to cut away/down some of the chassis crossmembers to enable a motor gearbox to fit in the loco body. I would imagine that such an arrangement is feasible but whether the work involved is worth it is another question. I built one several years ago with the motor in the tender. I'll dig it out later today and have a closer look at at, post a photo or two, which might make things clearer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Hi Steve, The Kemilway chassis is generally reckoned to be very good, and the approach to powering it with a cardan shaft and a tender-mounted motor would have been quite advanced stuff for the mid-70s. Loco-driven (loco body full of lead) and a big motor in the tender would be a world away from the Ringfield type tender drives. I have bits for a 9F I would like to power like that... You can of course build it in the normal way as 'Brightspark' (Andy) has shown (albeit using a Branchlines chassis kit). His blog is here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/795-brightsparks-blog/ Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Steve I would build the Comet chassis first, then take stock. Do you fancy building the Kemilway one or go for either another Comet chassis or a Southeastern Finecast chassis, selling the Kemilway on a well known auction site with a good description and photos and in the correct section should fund either, which may be easier for you to build Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I've been given a BR Standard 4MT to finescale that came equipped with a Comet chassis and a motor in the boiler. As I'm used to tiny pre-Grouping locos this is a whole new ball-game for me and my immediate reaction was that the comparatively huge tender and the almost totally enclosed cab was perfect for the arrangement Kemilway recommend. You will get a far, far bigger motor in that tender than you ever will in the boiler and no one will ever be able to see the driveshaft in that cab. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePipersSon Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 If you are interested in reading about doing a locomotive with the motor in the tender, can I suggest Plastic-Bodied Locos by Tim Shackleton (Wild Swan). He describes building an original Merchant Navy pacific with that arrangement. Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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