PUASHP Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I thought you might find this of interest. It's a few pics and notes for the conversion of the Kernow Models class 02 from 00 gauge to EM gauge. Warning - this is not for the faint hearted. First up was the disassembly. Remove the coal load and the 2 screws in the coal bunker. The body in the clipped on at the front also so I had to remove the front coupling and the front screw holding the chassis to get to the clips. You also need to free up the various pipes which may lead to some breakage, easily fixed later. Remove the motor weight which should lever off, they are not screws fixing it. Remove the rear bogie. You can now get to the remaining screws, one from the top and one from the bottom to remove the running plate. Now lever off the wheels, remove the bottoms keep plate and disassemble the gearbox. You are now ready to start the conversion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Ok next up clean the chassis and gears with brake cleaner or similar to remove the grease. The wheels fit over the main gears and onto a square shoulder. Due to the wider gauge tis cannot be pushed all the way home so needs to be glued to the gear. Add some 4mm washers to reduce side play and carefully super glue up one side wheel, chassis block and gear. Note please have super glue remover ready in case you glue up the axle as I did on one wheel. Reassemble the gears, grease up and then assemble the feast on the chassis, gluing the wheels in checking to the correct back to back. Make sure it runs freely at this stage. The coupling rods are a bit flimsy so they will bend easily but can be straightened out. The rear bogie is easy as the axles fit into a central plastic spacer. Again add washers to reduce side play. I changed the brake pull rods to brass ones as the plastics were rubbing due to the wider gauge. I also painted the wheel spokes green. Running trials proved all was ok so the chassis was put back together and I can not start on the body. I plan on adding a crew to the cab and possibly cutting out the doors so you can see inside a bit better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nile Posted March 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 20, 2016 Warning - this is not for the faint hearted. Indeed! It's a right b'gger to get appart. If it wasn't for the one screw inside holding the chassis on it would be much easier. I've done this conversion myself on one of mine. It runs ok but one driving wheel has a slight wobble, so I was going to have a rethink. Did you find a way of keeping the wheels straight? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Warning - this is not for the faint hearted. Indeed! It's a right b'gger to get appart. If it wasn't for the one screw inside holding the chassis on it would be much easier. I've done this conversion myself on one of mine. It runs ok but one driving wheel has a slight wobble, so I was going to have a rethink. Did you find a way of keeping the wheels straight? Mine has a slight wobble as well. The design makes life very difficult as what you really need are new wheelsets with a longer axle. The split chassis design makes it impossible to use replacement wheelsets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 ....The split chassis design makes it impossible to use replacement wheelsets. Looks pretty unfriendly. Maybe it was deliberately designed that way to stop people fiddling about with wider gauges? See also Beattie Well Tank.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete55 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 And odds on the much hyped Hattons King and the J94 will be similar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 And there was me thinking that these super-detailed chassis meant that buying or building a new one for EM and P4 conversions wasn't necessary. I hope no one produces an RTR loco like this, that I want to buy! And that includes LSWR versions of the O2! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Be careful what you wish for.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Be careful what you wish for.... The only DJM designed product I really want is the GWR Railmotor, that will need converting to EM. Everything else I can live without, and this problem will help me to avoid temptation! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Perhaps I should have gone for the Alan Gibson kit. Having said that the detail on the body and in the cab is excellent so I will persevere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 The only DJM designed product I really want is the GWR Railmotor, that will need converting to EM. Everything else I can live without, and this problem will help me to avoid temptation! The only alternative is either the scratch-aid body-only pack from Worsley Works (how you sort out a motor bogie with valve gear is anyone's guess) or the long-unavailable Blacksmith kit, now under the control of, er, Coopercraft. Recent eBay values of said kit (Diagram R, I think) have gone as high as £175 for an unbuilt one. I should warn you also that if you come by one that has already had the body sides folded up 90 degrees from the undeframe, then your heart will be in your mouth as you try to work out how to render the curvature without distorting the brass or, worse, detaching the sides completely.... Perhaps I should have gone for the Alan Gibson kit. Having said that the detail on the body and in the cab is excellent so I will persevere.I seem to recall that the AGW kit has "issues". The ideal would - if it had been available - have been the Kernow O2 body on a purpose-designed chassis kit of some kind. Maybe SEF could fill the bill with the pack from their own O2 kit? As Mr. Jones is away doing his donkey work for who knows how long, he won't be able to say if body spares or a diagram are in stock, and what the prices would be if there is spares availability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nile Posted March 21, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 21, 2016 Looks pretty unfriendly. Maybe it was deliberately designed that way to stop people fiddling about with wider gauges? See also Beattie Well Tank.... The well tank is relatively easy compared to the O2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 The only alternative is either the scratch-aid body-only pack from Worsley Works (how you sort out a motor bogie with valve gear is anyone's guess) or the long-unavailable Blacksmith kit, now under the control of, er, Coopercraft. Or a scratchbuilt matchboard sided one. But there's no rush, so I'll wait and see what the DJM/Kernow one is like, as it will be ready painted in original livery! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Has anyone bothered to ask Kernow if they would consider producing replacement driving axles in EM and P4 gauges? Or maybe sell some spare bodies so we can carve them up to fit Brass or Hornby chassis with proper Romford wheels and axles or even create G6s. I think I'll wait for Oxford rail to produce one, give me a chance to save up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shed Driver Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Hi Not a method available to everyone. I have EM gauged many of the original split chassis Bachman locos by turning plastic bushes and therefore insulating the axles from the chassis. I think that I used PTFE or Nylon 66 ? With the chassis completely insulated, I fitted Romford or Gibson wheels with wiper pickups. Also I am surprised at this method of mounting the wheels to the axles. It looks very similar to the method used by Mainline many years ago and they had problems with the wheel to axle fixing disintegrating. Hopefully new methods and materials. Norman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 It may be possible to turn up some new axles to fit over the plastic gears and then turn the other end down to fit Gibson wheels. As the chassis runs ok I may leave it for a while until it fails. Does anyone know what arrangement the Oxford Rail locos use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 Back together. Doors removed. Just waiting to have a DCC chip, a crew to be fitted, other detailing parts and a bit of weathering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete55 Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 It may be possible to turn up some new axles to fit over the plastic gears and then turn the other end down to fit Gibson wheels. As the chassis runs ok I may leave it for a while until it fails. Does anyone know what arrangement the Oxford Rail locos use? Oxford's Radial uses 2mm driving axles running in brass bushes, plus 1.5mm bogie axles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpleymodeller Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Very interesting to see how to convert steam locos to 'EM', it looks far more fiddly than my 'EM' conversions which are all Co-Cos with no side rods or quartering! Lewis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 The finished loco looks really good - especially once the toy like metallic bits have been painted over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUASHP Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 I also blackened the tops and bottoms of the coupling rods to give the impression of being a bit thinner. This was after I took off the horrible silver paint on them with a fibreglass brush. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 That is a teeny-weeny motor alright! Pardon my prejudice but does it really have to be that small? A little bit more heatsinking in the motor never goes amiss... ... I have EM gauged many of the original split chassis Bachman locos by turning plastic bushes and therefore insulating the axles from the chassis. I think that I used PTFE or Nylon 66 ? With the chassis completely insulated, I fitted Romford or Gibson wheels with wiper pickups. As the chassis castings look to have a metal bushing for the axle to run in, I should think this model's construction will be better suited to your modification than the rather vague axle locations on Bachmann split chassis models. Then it will 'only' be the problem of mounting the axle gears on the new wheelset's axles. Must admit that even as an OO'er, the moment I saw the split chassis construction was the moment I thought 'just as well he's not offering anything for my modelling interest'. There's just too many ways for this construction to lack longevity and robustness, as compared to well proven steel axle + wiper pick up drives. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Has anyone bothered to ask Kernow if they would consider producing replacement driving axles in EM and P4 gauges? ... Why would they want to do that? They only cater for OO. The more accurate gauges are "not their department". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Why would they want to do that? They only cater for OO. The more accurate gauges are "not their department". Money, lets face it a packet of two axles for say £20 would have a reasonable profit margin. The chassis design is actually quite good as the gearing should turn the wheels evenly and keep the admittedly horrible toylike coupling rods level. Its a shame they don't do a 14XX with the trailing axle geared to the drivers using this system of pinions and idlers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ghost of IKB Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Surely the attitudes of rapido - APT-E designed for easy conversion, and SLW - available rtr in EM or P4 should be the way forward? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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