The Saturn chassis is in its own league. It also runs so very quietly. I would argue that my CJM class 60 could quite easily pull a real Brush class 60 

Quote from: OwL on August 11, 2020, 12:42:03 AM
The Saturn chassis is in its own league. It also runs so very quietly. I would argue that my CJM class 60 could quite easily pull a real Brush class 60 

Miniature Wunderland have done something similar in HO:

https://youtu.be/vC-dmKHiCnY

I think you might need to double head your CJM class 60!

Steven B

Quote from: njee20 on August 10, 2020, 10:56:08 AM
It didn't have a saturn chassis to be fair - many of the BO-BOs have a Kato chassis, which is obviously very good still. I think anything with the Saturn chassis is inherently more valuable.

Is the Saturn chassis not built using mainly Kato components, then? I'd assumed that it was.

Pretty sure it's a Kato motor and flywheels.  I don't know the source of the geartrain etc.  It has lots of weight and is held together with brass sheet shapes.

Quote from: Trainfish on August 11, 2020, 12:25:49 AM

Quote from: njee20 on August 10, 2020, 06:43:19 PM

Quote from: msr on August 10, 2020, 06:15:10 PM
I remember those 59s and bought one of them. This was 6 years ago and the model had been sold by Chris 4 years earlier. It looked really good, finished in Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation mustard/grey livery along with a rake of bogie wagons resprayed in a comparable livery.

I remember those too! Although didn't ARC stand for Amey Roadstone Construction...?

Taken from this link, "1972 – the business was taken over by Consolidated Goldfields and was renamed Amey Roadstone Construction". I only looked it up because I always thought it was Amey Roadstone Corporation 

I only remembered because I also thought it used to be Amey Roadstone Corporation, and had previously looked it up!

Quote from: davidinyork on August 11, 2020, 10:07:36 AM

Quote from: njee20 on August 10, 2020, 10:56:08 AM
It didn't have a saturn chassis to be fair - many of the BO-BOs have a Kato chassis, which is obviously very good still. I think anything with the Saturn chassis is inherently more valuable.

Is the Saturn chassis not built using mainly Kato components, then? I'd assumed that it was.

Not sure. But the bo-bo chassis is far more Kato than the co-co ones. It wasn't sold as a Saturn chassis.

I picked up this mint 47 for £60 almost exactly 1 year ago. I think it was a steal just for the chassis.

Quote from: njee20 on August 11, 2020, 11:44:02 AM
Not sure. But the bo-bo chassis is far more Kato than the co-co ones. It wasn't sold as a Saturn chassis.

The Saturn chassis page on the former CJM website (courtesy fo the Wayback Machine) states that:

"In addition, a Bo-Bo version is available for the class 26, 33, 67 and 73 with a small number of HST units also available"

I asked Chris explicitly with regards to my 67, his quote:

QuoteThe chassis was indeed a reworked Kato unit. I had a BO-BO Saturn design but with so few applications it wasn't cost effective, all Saturn chassis do have many Kato parts anyway

Photo here, very different to the Saturn, by which I meant the co-co ones, I can't say definitively that there wasn't a 'proper' bo-bo Saturn used under any of the models. Hence saying "most" had a Kato chassis.

Quote from: njee20 on August 11, 2020, 01:57:28 PM
I asked Chris explicitly with regards to my 67, his quote:

QuoteThe chassis was indeed a reworked Kato unit. I had a BO-BO Saturn design but with so few applications it wasn't cost effective, all Saturn chassis do have many Kato parts anyway

Photo here, very different to the Saturn, by which I meant the co-co ones, I can't say definitively that there wasn't a 'proper' bo-bo Saturn used under any of the models. Hence saying "most" had a Kato chassis.

Thanks - must admit I've never taken my 67s apart so can't say what the chassis looks like from the top, but that one does look like Kato- seem to recall that they have a bespoke DCC decoder board which replaces that brown-coloured blanking piece in the photo.

I have a class 73 with a CJM custom chassis.

Quote from: davidinyork on August 11, 2020, 02:13:55 PM

Quote from: njee20 on August 11, 2020, 01:57:28 PM
I asked Chris explicitly with regards to my 67, his quote:

QuoteThe chassis was indeed a reworked Kato unit. I had a BO-BO Saturn design but with so few applications it wasn't cost effective, all Saturn chassis do have many Kato parts anyway

Photo here, very different to the Saturn, by which I meant the co-co ones, I can't say definitively that there wasn't a 'proper' bo-bo Saturn used under any of the models. Hence saying "most" had a Kato chassis.

Thanks - must admit I've never taken my 67s apart so can't say what the chassis looks like from the top, but that one does look like Kato- seem to recall that they have a bespoke DCC decoder board which replaces that brown-coloured blanking piece in the photo.

Yep, a Digitrax DN163K0B, among others. I fitted one to the 67 just after I took that picture! Same as used in the Eurostar. A very easy install as there are no lights to worry about.

Quote from: njee20 on August 11, 2020, 02:17:14 PM
Yep, a Digitrax DN163K0B, among others. I fitted one to the 67 just after I took that picture! Same as used in the Eurostar. A very easy install as there are no lights to worry about.

Didn't he advertize a Lenz decoder when he fitted them? Guess there might be room between the chassis and the roof but the usual decoder position on CJM locos (inside the fuel tank on the bottom is filled with a weight on the 67s.

This is my 73.  Several recognisable Kato parts (motor, pickup strips and board, bogie blocks etc.), but to me the chassis block looks like a custom casting as Kato are usually a split chassis block design.

That looks terrible this is the one I have

Quote from: davidinyork on August 11, 2020, 02:21:51 PM

Quote from: njee20 on August 11, 2020, 02:17:14 PM
Yep, a Digitrax DN163K0B, among others. I fitted one to the 67 just after I took that picture! Same as used in the Eurostar. A very easy install as there are no lights to worry about.

Didn't he advertize a Lenz decoder when he fitted them? Guess there might be room between the chassis and the roof but the usual decoder position on CJM locos (inside the fuel tank on the bottom is filled with a weight on the 67s.

Yes, but again the 67 explicitly is different - taken from his site:

Quotehilst most locomotives can be converted by customers, it is not recommended and may invalidate your warranty.

Class 67's must be chipped by CJM to maintain guarantee. (Tampering with the CJM class 67 will almost certainly end in tears and a large repair bill)