Fitting drivers in the Kernow Models D600 "Warship" class
By Chris Rix
The new limited edition D600 Warship from Kernow is indeed a splendid model. Perfectly proportioned with crisp detail, spoked wheels and, in the case of the model I bought, very nicely finished in rail blue. It has etched nameplates fitted as standard and it runs very smoothly with just a whisper and a purr from the motor. You could almost say this is the perfect model straight out of the box.....except, to the discerning eye, there's a small problem.....
In the last few years we have all been educated about the benefits of driverless cars, its the future and something, we are told, to look forward to.... well, the model railway world are streets ahead of the motor industry in this respect as they have been producing, with one or two exceptions, driverless locomotives for years.
Sadly the Kernow model is no exception and this stands out like a sore thumb. For the sake of a couple of quid drivers could have been included.
Now, this would not normally be an issue for the more adventurous modeller who would simply remove the body and cab and fit the missing personnel. However the job has been made more difficult because the wiring loom is welded to the underside of the cab making it impossible to remove without cutting the two wires to the code boxes. I found this out the hard way as on springing the cab from the body the two aforementioned wires detached themselves from the solder pads on the back on the code box!
So this workshop is a tale of how I went about fitting the missing drivers and getting everything working again...
BEFORE YOU START PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE MODS WILL INVALINDATE THE GUARANTEE
By Chris Rix
The new limited edition D600 Warship from Kernow is indeed a splendid model. Perfectly proportioned with crisp detail, spoked wheels and, in the case of the model I bought, very nicely finished in rail blue. It has etched nameplates fitted as standard and it runs very smoothly with just a whisper and a purr from the motor. You could almost say this is the perfect model straight out of the box.....except, to the discerning eye, there's a small problem.....
In the last few years we have all been educated about the benefits of driverless cars, its the future and something, we are told, to look forward to.... well, the model railway world are streets ahead of the motor industry in this respect as they have been producing, with one or two exceptions, driverless locomotives for years.
Sadly the Kernow model is no exception and this stands out like a sore thumb. For the sake of a couple of quid drivers could have been included.
Now, this would not normally be an issue for the more adventurous modeller who would simply remove the body and cab and fit the missing personnel. However the job has been made more difficult because the wiring loom is welded to the underside of the cab making it impossible to remove without cutting the two wires to the code boxes. I found this out the hard way as on springing the cab from the body the two aforementioned wires detached themselves from the solder pads on the back on the code box!
So this workshop is a tale of how I went about fitting the missing drivers and getting everything working again...
BEFORE YOU START PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE MODS WILL INVALINDATE THE GUARANTEE
This is what you find once the body has been separated from the chassis. Note the two black blobs on the underside of the cabs where the loom is welded to the plastic
The body neatly unclips from the chassis and instructions are included as to how this is achieved. Carefully note the position of each wiring loom plug on the main board and gently prise off with a screwdriver. The cab is attached to the body with two screws and the
lighting panel for the driving direction leds is also held in by two tiny screws which again are easily removed. A plus point is the cab is not glued to the body so should easily pull away.... But hold on.... before you do this you will have to cut the two wires that feed the code boxes. Red and black at one end and white and green at the other. Do this either side of the point where the loom is welded to the cab floor. Carefully withdraw the cab and fit your driver. At this point and in my case I had to solder a couple of short wires onto the solder pads to replace the ones I had inervertanly pulled off.........Now you won't have to do this since you would have cut the wires before yanking the cab out!
lighting panel for the driving direction leds is also held in by two tiny screws which again are easily removed. A plus point is the cab is not glued to the body so should easily pull away.... But hold on.... before you do this you will have to cut the two wires that feed the code boxes. Red and black at one end and white and green at the other. Do this either side of the point where the loom is welded to the cab floor. Carefully withdraw the cab and fit your driver. At this point and in my case I had to solder a couple of short wires onto the solder pads to replace the ones I had inervertanly pulled off.........Now you won't have to do this since you would have cut the wires before yanking the cab out!
The red and black wires on the right connect to the code boxes
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The lighting panel for the driving direction leds is lifted away after removing two small screws
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This shows the green and white wires that were severed when I removed the cab
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Cab out and ready for its driver
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Driver in and ready to go
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Red and black wires soldered to the code box and ready to connect to the severed white and green wires on the loom
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Reassemble the cab and thread the code box wires back into the main body of the loco.
To join the cut wires back again by can be a bit tricky as they are very thin. I used the heat of the soldering iron to burn the plastic insulation off before tinning and rejoining since stripping the wires could easily break them and reduce their length. Some sleeving or tape will protect from short circuits and you are now ready to plug the loom back into the main board. Do this carefully as the plug and sockets are quite fragile. Test the loco to make sure all the lights work before refitting the body.
To join the cut wires back again by can be a bit tricky as they are very thin. I used the heat of the soldering iron to burn the plastic insulation off before tinning and rejoining since stripping the wires could easily break them and reduce their length. Some sleeving or tape will protect from short circuits and you are now ready to plug the loom back into the main board. Do this carefully as the plug and sockets are quite fragile. Test the loco to make sure all the lights work before refitting the body.
The opposite end of the loco where I had cut the loom, removed the cab to fit the driver and then reconnected the loom
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This shows the red and black wires from the code box joined back into the loom via the white and green wires
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Loom is connected back to the mother board
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The opposite end connected back into the main board and ready to test
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In addition to adding drivers I also fitted a DCC sound decoder complete with a mega bass speaker. As the picture shows there is plenty of space available for this.
Don't forget to test everything before refitting the body...... Job done and time for tea and biscuits......
The new ESU sound decoder fitted to the main board
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The complete installation showing the new decoder and mega bass speaker
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Body back in place, sound and lights all tested okay. Job done
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