RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 15, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 15, 2019 Hello, despite my best efforts I have been unable to identify the motor/chassis combination and a second motor that I bought as part of a collection last month. I am really a RTR man, so am a bit at sea with these. However, the chassis runs so smoothly that it has got me thinking about what I could attempt to build with it. I was thinking possibly a privately owned locomotive for a mine as it is really smaller than any OO gauge 0-6-0 loco I have ever seen. I photographed it next to an 08 Class Hornby shunter to give an idea of scale. Any help with identification would be very much appreciated. Kind regards, Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 The chassis is for a powered tender;K's, I think. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 15, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 15, 2019 I checked some Keyser kits online and it could possibly be the tender for a GWR Dean goods engine. Thanks Fat Controller Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 The motor is the Tri-ang XT60 originally designed for the TT gauge range, but also used in the Singles. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 The chassis is a K's tender drive produced, if memory serves me correctly, for motorising the Kitmaster tender loco kits. I think there could have been two different wheelbases but it was a long time ago ! One of the teachers at my school used one in a Kitmaster 'Biggin Hill' We were all very impressed. They disappeared when the motor design was changed. The K's Dean goods had the normal K's brass loco chassis with the motor in the loco. Rodney 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 15, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 15, 2019 Oh lovely. Thank you Rodney, I like the idea of motorising a kitmaster kit. That could be a nice little starter project in kit building for me. I'll do some research for the tender wheelbase lengths and see what I can come up with. I wonder what kits are still available?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 15, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 15, 2019 Thanks Bernard for solving that little mystery! I shall put it aside then as a future spare Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John Isherwood Posted June 15, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 15, 2019 22 minutes ago, Alexander H said: Oh lovely. Thank you Rodney, I like the idea of motorising a kitmaster kit. That could be a nice little starter project in kit building for me. I'll do some research for the tender wheelbase lengths and see what I can come up with. I wonder what kits are still available?! Be aware that motorising Kitmaster kits in this way was never really successful. The unpowered loco is VERY unlikely to roll without skidding on its plastic wheels with plastic valvegear, even if heavily weighted. You'll end up with a (very obviously) powered tender pushing a skidding loco, which derails at every opportunity. A lot of us learned this the hard way back in the 1960s! Save yourself the angst - regard the chassis and motor as interesting historic artifacts; much better ways of doing things are now available. Regards, John Isherwood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 15, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 15, 2019 Thank you John, I had just set my eyes on the City of Truro kit, but everything you say makes sense and your experience if gratefully received. I don't want to relearn lessons from the 1960s if I can help it. What else can I do with the motor and chassis? I was thinking about bashing a suitably small RTR body to make a small private tank loco...a bit of fiction and fun...but I have never seen a body small enough, so I shall probably set the chassis aside for now as you suggest. Kind regards, Alex Holmes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 16 minutes ago, Alexander H said: Thank you John, I had just set my eyes on the City of Truro kit, but everything you say makes sense and your experience if gratefully received. I don't want to relearn lessons from the 1960s if I can help it. What else can I do with the motor and chassis? I was thinking about bashing a suitably small RTR body to make a small private tank loco...a bit of fiction and fun...but I have never seen a body small enough, so I shall probably set the chassis aside for now as you suggest. Kind regards, Alex Holmes How long is the chassis? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyS Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 I'm afraid I must agree with John. A lot of the things which appeared in the 60s were not very good but then there was not much else. You could have a go just for the experience and enjoyment as long as you are not expecting it to be anything other than a museum piece. If you wanted to use the chassis under a steam loco then you would have to fit coupling rods which would be almost impossible and not worth the effort. If it runs well it might be better under a diesel loco. I remember an article in a magazine many years ago in which someone motorised the Airfix Drewry Class 04 diesel with a motor bogie. To hide the bogie he fitted side plates like the ones used on the Wisbech and Upwell line. I think the Airfix kit is still available under the Dapol name so, if the chassis fits, that might make an interesting project and give you something different. The side plates would hide the fact that there are no coupling rods and the wheelbase is wrong. Rodney 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 I like the Drewry suggestion: Should be a relatively easy bit of kit bashing, although the 'cowcatcher' looks like a bit of a challenge The kit is still in the Dapol range Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 16, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 16, 2019 The chassis is almost exactly 3" long....and Richard, thanks for the photo of the Diesel Loco. It really looks enticing, but for the future I think as I am firmly in a GWR period at the moment! Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alexander H Posted June 16, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 16, 2019 21 hours ago, RLWP said: How long is the chassis? It is almost exactly 3"...just a fraction under Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLWP Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Ahh, too long for a K's LNER Tram loco That's a shame Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 On 15/06/2019 at 22:27, Alexander H said: Thank you John, I had just set my eyes on the City of Truro kit, but everything you say makes sense and your experience if gratefully received. I don't want to relearn lessons from the 1960s if I can help it. What else can I do with the motor and chassis? I was thinking about bashing a suitably small RTR body to make a small private tank loco...a bit of fiction and fun...but I have never seen a body small enough, so I shall probably set the chassis aside for now as you suggest. Kind regards, Alex Holmes Alexandra I have plenty of K's locos and the Mk 1 motors are fine, not up to today's standards, but then you hopefully have not paid upwards of £60 for it. The first question is does it work? The second is after a clean and oil how well does it work There are plenty of tender drive locos about, the trouble with motorising a Airfix City class loco, firstly is the cost of buying a decent set of metal wheels, then sorting out the quartering of the outside cranks. You might be better off (if the wheelbase is correct) buying a cheap Keyser Dean Goods loco or one of the 4-4-0's where the motor is dud and rebuild it as a tender drive. Or just advertise it on eBay for what it is and free up your cash to buy something you will use As for the motor unless you have locos that it fits into if it runs again sell it on eBay to someone who will use it and put the money towards something you will use 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted June 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 17, 2019 On 15/06/2019 at 22:27, Alexander H said: Thank you John, I had just set my eyes on the City of Truro kit, but everything you say makes sense and your experience if gratefully received. I don't want to relearn lessons from the 1960s if I can help it. What else can I do with the motor and chassis? I was thinking about bashing a suitably small RTR body to make a small private tank loco...a bit of fiction and fun...but I have never seen a body small enough, so I shall probably set the chassis aside for now as you suggest. Kind regards, Alex Holmes I've got a spare Truro kit, proper airfix in black plastic etc. It's been started but all the bits are there if you change your mind Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now