Mmi k27

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
hello everyone.

I bought a second hand MMI K27 , wow!!! nice!!
I will have to reroute several tracks because the model is wider than most Bachmann models.
I'm not a happy camper.
I'm looking for documentation , anyone?

Ton
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
The Ks were essentially standard gauge locomotives with the wheels regauged inside the frames instead of outside the frames, so their clearances are much larger than normal for narrow gauge locomotives.

also this locomotive may require a wider minimum radius than you Bachman locomotives. Bachman works pretty hard to get everything to go around a 18 inch radius, It is my understanding that MMI is much more concerned with the accuracy of the frame members and trucks than minimum radius.


I like locomotives smaller then K's, K's are unnatural creatures in the narrow gauge world

Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
luckily tasts differ....
the min radius for the mmi mudhen is given as 26 inch.
mine does 22 inch perfectly and even 18 with his hind leg up.
But no derailment.
more problematic are the mountains and the tunnel.
The rocks are to close and the tunnel not wide enough.
Is about the same as when the K27's were introduced on the D&RGW.

www.pe2tr.nl

Ton
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Yes, there were places the K's wouldn't go. I model Eastern TN. I allow myself a goose, insulated by painting it Pullman green, but a K wouldn't look at home.


When I started with narrow gauge 45 years ago you had to be a tinkerer, although I'm just now getting good at it (see the hon3 engine shops thread.

Now in On30 with Bachman,. and to a lesser extent HOn3 with Blackstone, narrow gauge is finally ready for the masses.


Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
I always have been into modeltrains as long as i can remember.
My dad had a small layout he started in the fifties.
I still have some of his Fleischmann H0 loco's from that period.
I've always been interested in narrow gauge but it was always difficult to get stuf from the states to Europe plus narrow gauge was always expensive.
long live the internet and 0n30!!
It's much more easy to buy in the states and get it over to europe now a days.
And 0n30 is affordable.
I used to have Athern but i've totally switched to 0n30 , i love it!!!
Just started ripping out track to k27'nise the layout and ordered a tsunami k class sound decoder.

Ton
Holland, Europe
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Ton,

The Tsunami sound decoders sound awesome. The folks at soundtracks are in Durango, so they know exactly what a K sounds like.

My Dad was a train enthusiast all of his life. My Grandfather was a patent Lawyer, and had written the patent on a pump designed to pump water out of the mines. When the pumps were installed near Central City, they didn't work correctly, and the inventor had gone to Europe. My Grandfather was the person who knew the most about the way the pumps were supposed to work, so they sent my Grandfather to Central City to help get the pumps working, and he took his family along.

So my dad, as a kid, was exposed to Central City Colorado, in the twenties, when there were three or four narrow gauge railroads in the vicinity, and he was interested in narrow gauge for the rest of his life. Dad wasn't a tinkerer, or a builder, ( I got that from my Mom's family the Vandyke s, who were Millers and fancy carpenters) ; and didn't find his way into narrow gauge modeling until Lgb started selling large scale stuff in the states .

My dad was a professional Forrester, and when he was in graduate school, he worked in the woods with Shays, and that is where my logging interest developed.


If you have any questions on the Tsunami install the On3 group @ Yahoo has regular discussions on that subject. I lurk there, as I have an On3 CN60 shay, and a Bachman On30 Climax with sound, that I intend to stretch to 0n3 ( My dad raised me up looking at 3 foot gauge track, and the narrower stuff doesn't quite look right to me. I have been wanting to so something simple with the ON3, but after 44 years of HO and 32 years of HOn3, the space needs of O scale keep putting me off.

Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
Bill

I have a 2-6-6-2 with Tsunami and my connie conversion also has a C class Tsunami decoder.
I know the sound is excelent.
As i also am a radio ham , electronics are no problem for me.
Connecting those decoders is a singe.
The biggest "problem" is to fit them inside a small space.
As for 0n3 or 0n30 , i know the discussion.
My wallet says 0n30 LOL

Ton
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Bill


As for 0n3 or 0n30 , i know the discussion.
My wallet says 0n30 LOL

Ton


Many of the Bachman on30 locomotives are easily converted to On3, with the Climax I have there is room to push the wheels out on the axles to get three foot trucks, the Brass On3 Climaxes cost close to $1,000. so the Sound Climax looked like a deal.


Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
More sad news...the motor has gone up in smoke!
The motor, a three pole cassetterecorder motorlike can motor, couldn't handle the extended run.
The contakts, just metal strips, have burnt away.....what a junk!
Ordered two new brushless motors from a local dealer, 15 euro's a piece, not expensive.
If those don't work i have found another five pole can motor in my junkbox.
i burnt my fingers when i tried to stop the motor, so it's strong enough.
The bachmann decoder has also died , had a complete short.
I have asked the seller for a refund for the costs made.
see what happens.

Ton
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
More sad news...the motor has gone up in smoke!
The motor, a three pole cassetterecorder motorlike can motor, couldn't handle the extended run.
The contakts, just metal strips, have burnt away.....what a junk!
Ordered two new brushless motors from a local dealer, 15 euro's a piece, not expensive.
If those don't work i have found another five pole can motor in my junkbox.
i burnt my fingers when i tried to stop the motor, so it's strong enough.
The bachmann decoder has also died , had a complete short.
I have asked the seller for a refund for the costs made.
see what happens.

Ton

When I asked my local RC hobby shop guy about brushless motors, he told me I did not want them for model railroad use. he said the electric RC guys like them because they provide a high RPM with a lot of tourque very efficiently, so they don't run the airplanes battery down. he told me they do not have good slow speed torque.

For good quality motors for locomotives, I generally go to North West Short Line's web side.

It is a shame to have to tear into a new machine, but if the factory motor was inadequate, a factory replacement may be too.


Most of the HON3 folks avoid the MMi products in favor of the Blackstones, but that doesn't do you 0 scale guys much good.


Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
Hi Bill, yes i know what you mean, i thought the same way until somebody told me otherwise.
Those rc brushless motors are three phase motors , you will need a separate piece of electronics to control them.
Thats why they can make a lot of revs.
The one i use is a maxon swiss made professional motor normally used in aironautic instrumentation applications.
It has a normal two lead connection and makes about 8000 rpm max.
Look for second hand Faulhaber, Pitman, Canon or Maxon.
When new they are expensive.
Right , back to installing . It's going to be tight.

Ton
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
OOOO yes!!!
I have installed the maxon this evening and it runs excelent.
I've got Powerrrrrrrrr!!!!
The K27 has run with 60 axels behind, no problem!
still waiting for the Tsunami.........
Ton
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
The tsunami K class decoder has arrived...and i have installed it.
WOW!!! what a difference!
The K27 runs smouth and slow.
What a noise , i had to throttle down the volume....
What a difference a good decoder makes.:thumb:
O, and i repainted the body black instead of green.

Ton
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
Handsome locomotive, glad you found a good motor, and the Tsunamis sound awesome, soundtrax, located in Durango, know what Ks sound like, just like they know the smell of coal smoke in the morning. a good motor is critical to happy modelrailroading, especially if like me, you like to see the wheels go slow!


I just got an invoice from caboose hobbies via e-mail, my Blackstone (a division of Soundtrax) HON3 c-19 -with sound, is shipping!


In the list of my O scale projects, I have a brass static model of a Japaneese 42 inch gauge locomotive ( a Porter Mogul) I have a Bachman 2-6-0 mechanism, my evil plan is to stretch the Bachman mechanism to ON#, cut up the porter Mogul, and install it on the Bachman mechanism, and have a one of a kind locomotive.

If you have the technology, please make a you tube video, so we can hear those cylinders bark


Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
Yes Bill it's awesome however i found a glitch in the chuff sound , it skips a beat after a while.
must be two samples after each other.
I have a BLI C16 in bumble bee livery , it's a nice consolidation.
I ripped out the sound , it was hopeless , on my layout anyway.
Here are some more pics of the K27 and others on the Rozeburg & Waterway RR.
I've tried to make a movie with my photo camera but the sound is not good.
Talking about the smell of coal in the morning....... Can somebody make a coal smell generator?! sign1
Ton
 

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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
..... Can somebody make a coal smell generator?! sign1
Ton


I had a very effective one, a Buck stove with a coal grate. It worked too well though, and I had to take out the coal grate and just use wood due to my wife's asthma.


I take it the chuff is not generated by a cam then. cams are a bloody **** to retrofit in, but they give you the most reliable chuff.


Bill Nelson
 

ton noteboom

ton noteboom
No Bill it's deffenitely the sample , i use the cam inside the K27.
If you want to see and hear my K27 , go to my website
www.pe2tr.nl
Then goto 0n30 model rail road and then movies.

Ton
 
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