This one is for a very special customer who was one of the engineering brains behind the conversion of a metre gauge, French tunnel-dwelling tamper into a two foot gauge machine able to survive life in the Welsh mountains.
The process begins with making the component parts for the cabs at either end and the main central frame members which you can see laid out here...
This is the cab for the non-powered end of the machine...
The motorising unit for the tamper is a Kato 'Shorty' chassis. Its dimensions and arrangement are prefect for the job.
Just like the real KMX only one end is powered, and the trailing bogie can be removed and mounted independently at the other end of the machine. But crucially it also has built in pick ups allowing us to run wires through the model connecting it to the motor unit.
That motor unit is also a perfect fit for the engine / generator compartment of the KMX, give or take 1mm, and I mount it on a frame made from a piece of 0.60" styrene with a hole cut for the unit to fit through, to which the other cab is mounted...
These cab sub-assemblies are then bonded to the two main frames and the outline of the complete machine can be appreciated for the first time.
I shall post more updates as the project progresses.
Superb job so far! Interesting machines. :)
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