The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxhs6ds_IkI
enjoy
B0B
Neat! Thanks for sharing.
Rex
Nice! Is that loco out of the box you did you bash it? What sound unit did you have installed? I may have to get one of those!
I too would ask the same questions as Charles. Very nice indeed!
Hi bobgrosh, Great pics Im thinking of getting one would like your comments on the unit pros and cons. What sound card did you fit? What the max number of cars have you pulled with it
Yes , it is right out of the box, the only bashing was minor stuff (see below)
The sound is a DCC Digitrax Sound-Bug the sounds and custom programing I did myself.
Minor changes:
(1) Part of the rear bottom edge of the tender was broken, so, I fitted the broken part back into the tender shell, and applied epoxy to the inside. Once dry, I lightly sanded the paint at the cracks and applied a clear dull coat. Then, to avoid breaking the thin tender shell again, I epoxied strips of carbon fiber to the inside of the shell.
(2) There are no marker lights on the rear of the tender, but there are brackets for them molded into the rear of the tender. I drilled a hole near the bottom of each molded bracket and fitted pieces of plastic coated large paper clips to hang two LGB lanterns. I then drilled another hole a little lower for wires, and installed micro-bulbs, (white, red and green) in two LGB lanterns. ( I also replaced the one red lens on each lantern with a clear one.)
(3) I made shims for the counterweights, this made it possible to run the loco but not very smoothly. I found that one counterweight had a bent screw, replacing it made the loco run a little better, but the Kay still binds at slow speed. Then I found that the offset shaft on one counterweight is bent( the whole counterweight wobbles.) I found that putting this bad counterweight on the front axle made the loco run smoother than placing it on either of the other two axles. I have counterweights on order, and hopefully replacing the one remaining problem counterweight will finally smooth the loco out completely. If I back up the loco, and slowly come to a stop when pushing three cars, (slow enough that the cars still don’t slack), but, instead, still have froward pressure on the rear of the loco, then… the loco will not move at all in the forward direction. It is bound up. But, as I said, one replaced counterweight should take care of this one last issue. The first scene in the video took eleven takes because the ca
wow thats alot of work for a new engine… almost makes me not want to get one now 
Ash
While Bachmann locos are generally what I consider “Craftsman” type locos, If you are into 1:20.3, or just want a really big impressive loco, the Kay is not much more work than the three truck shay, and certainly a lot less work than the first run two truck shay. I also understand that the currently shipping Kay’s already have the new counterweights. Some users may find that the Kay is completely acceptable. To each his own. I for one, wanted to use the Digitrax decoder because of certain features I wanted. Others have used the QSI decoder and are happy with it.
The only objectionable things I found were:
- The firebox flicker looks like a rock concert going on in there, not the usual fire simulation I am used to with DCC decoders.
- The optical sync just flat won’t work for me.
- The huge filter capacitors cause all sorts of problems, rendering the built in regulator circuits useless. I opted to remove all the existing circuit and do a normal DCC install The regulator circuits are set to drive the supplied LED’s and nothing else.
- Changing the orange LED’s to bulbs can’t easily be done using the existing circuitry.
I found the Kay to be fairly easy to work on, despite it’s size and weight, which usually presents problems for me.
Certainly, if you want a K27, and are running DC, and are not particular about the rock concert in the firebox, or the LED’s, then The Kay should be a simple conversion to your favorite couplers and you will be done. Installing DCC is no more expensive or difficult than any other loco conversion, and simple, once you cut out all the analog and battery stuff they built into the Kay.
B0B
Im sort of new to large scale and so far the only engines I own are Bachmann 4-6-0’s (Annie & Bighauler’s) I don’t have anything in 1:20 all my rollingstock is Bmann big hauler’s and LGB and the main reason I want the K27 is a few months ago I went to Flint Michigan and got to see the real D&RGW K27 464 in action.
I have a framed picture of 464 above my fireplace and plan to display it on the mantel, I do plan on running it and got a few cases of wider radius curves to do just that… I guess Im just scared that all it will end up doing is sitting on the fireplace mantel… I mean thats the reason im getting it but I would really like to run it too without tons of work [B)]