Zerogee
Clencher's Bogleman
It may be a little premature seeing as I haven't actually got the sound unit for it yet, but curiosity overtook me and the new KoF is now in bits to see what needs to be done to install the sound.
Now, why is the KoF like a small toadstool? Because there's not MUSH ROOM INSIDE!! HaHaHaHaHa..... OK, I'll get my coat.
Getting it apart was a bit of a b*gger in the first place - it's definitely not quite as intuitively put together as some LGB locos I've dismantled, and a certain amount of head-scratching was required to figure out exactly which of the many screws visible underneath had to come out. In the end I realised that once the front coupling and its mounting plate is removed, that allows you to get at a couple of very small screws sunk a LOOOONG way down a couple of deep holes - these are what holds the hood onto the chassis. Removing the rear coupling and the four rather more obvious cab securing screws enables you to separate both hood and cab assembly from the rest of the loco, exposing - Ta-Daaaah - a standard LGB onboard loco decoder mounted vertically to an L-shaped weight block.
Now, the GOOD news is that it's already been designed for an easy speaker installation, with a Massoth 40mm square-mounting speaker - in fact there is a groove moulded into either side of the hood just behind the radiator grille, and the speaker is just an easy push-fit into this slot! The bad news, as alluded to in my poor joke above, is that once the speaker is installed in it's designed spot, there is then b*gger-all space anywhere for the actual sound unit to go! The decoder and the weight that it is screwed to basically takes up the full width and height of the inside of the hood, and the back of the speaker is very close to the front of the weight; the only possible space left under the hood at all is actually in FRONT of the speaker, between it and the radiator grille at the front - which is a bit of a silly place, and I don't think I'll be putting it there. There is also no room behind the decoder, or in front of/underneath the cab - which really leaves the only option as putting it IN the cab. Though I don't mind that TOO much (an S module is fairly small and unobtrusive, and if it goes on the cab floor it shouldn't be very visible once the driver figure is in place) but it does seem a bit unfortunate that there is no-where else for it at all.
The other option, of course, would be to dispense with the onboard decoder altogether and replace it with a Massoth LS, but I really don't want to start ripping into a brand new loco to that extent, what with all the fiddling about with re-wiring lights etc.
So, looks like it'll be in the cab, unless anyone else can see any better ideas from the photos here?
Jon.
Now, why is the KoF like a small toadstool? Because there's not MUSH ROOM INSIDE!! HaHaHaHaHa..... OK, I'll get my coat.
Getting it apart was a bit of a b*gger in the first place - it's definitely not quite as intuitively put together as some LGB locos I've dismantled, and a certain amount of head-scratching was required to figure out exactly which of the many screws visible underneath had to come out. In the end I realised that once the front coupling and its mounting plate is removed, that allows you to get at a couple of very small screws sunk a LOOOONG way down a couple of deep holes - these are what holds the hood onto the chassis. Removing the rear coupling and the four rather more obvious cab securing screws enables you to separate both hood and cab assembly from the rest of the loco, exposing - Ta-Daaaah - a standard LGB onboard loco decoder mounted vertically to an L-shaped weight block.
Now, the GOOD news is that it's already been designed for an easy speaker installation, with a Massoth 40mm square-mounting speaker - in fact there is a groove moulded into either side of the hood just behind the radiator grille, and the speaker is just an easy push-fit into this slot! The bad news, as alluded to in my poor joke above, is that once the speaker is installed in it's designed spot, there is then b*gger-all space anywhere for the actual sound unit to go! The decoder and the weight that it is screwed to basically takes up the full width and height of the inside of the hood, and the back of the speaker is very close to the front of the weight; the only possible space left under the hood at all is actually in FRONT of the speaker, between it and the radiator grille at the front - which is a bit of a silly place, and I don't think I'll be putting it there. There is also no room behind the decoder, or in front of/underneath the cab - which really leaves the only option as putting it IN the cab. Though I don't mind that TOO much (an S module is fairly small and unobtrusive, and if it goes on the cab floor it shouldn't be very visible once the driver figure is in place) but it does seem a bit unfortunate that there is no-where else for it at all.
The other option, of course, would be to dispense with the onboard decoder altogether and replace it with a Massoth LS, but I really don't want to start ripping into a brand new loco to that extent, what with all the fiddling about with re-wiring lights etc.
So, looks like it'll be in the cab, unless anyone else can see any better ideas from the photos here?
Jon.
