Small update

I have updated the rolling stock page to include the new loco and a small update on the no. 1 loco.

Damn Hot!

We are currently in the middle of a heatwave. Usually the good weather would enable me to get cracking on the railway but mixing concrete has proved to be an exhausting job for somebody who does not have a cement mixer and who drives a bus for a living (very unfit). I am hoping to get a bit more dome over the next few days so that the blocks can begin to be laid on Sunday. Once that is done the resulting 'tub' will be filled with rubble and then a concrete layer added and finally a cement top before the track and station can be added.

I hope to have something running by the end of August, with the next phase started shortly after.

Station progress

I got just over half the foundation concrete for the station in, the 30 degree temperatures stopped be going any further as I was just a ball of sweat and quite de-hydrated. Hopefully I will get the rest done sometime this week leaving Sunday to get the blocks mortared in.

The blocks are just placed on the dry concrete to make sure it is all level

Loco complete

I have done a little bit of work on the Fenor and have finally sorted otthe mounting and fixing of the chassis and body to the frame. The pictures below document the changes.

The electronic are in the loco and the changes to the body
mounting has given me more room.

The body is now fixed to the chassis using a screw through holes drilled in the
buffer beams at each end. The screw heads will be painted black.

Nuts have been super glued inside the body

The chassis is mounted with screws through from underneath into nuts
superglued to the frame.

These changes mean that the body can be removed without the chassis falling off and also it removes the need for the mounting brackets on the inside of the body. The two screw heads in the buffer beams are a drawback but they will be less noticeable with a coat of black.

Another advantage of this mounting system is that it makes the buffer beams more secure as the epoxy glue used to mount them has failed to hold firmly.

Now I just have to tidy the wiring, glaze the windows, add a driver and add some details and weathering.

At last a chassis

Had another go at building a chassis for the IP engineering loco and this time it seems to work. The motor has been fitted (not in the picture) and the loco frame altered to take the different configuration.
Hopefully it will be working again tomorrow.

Overhead view of the chassis. The shafts are sticking
out because they are 45mm gauge ones
The 32mm ones were bent!

The long shafts dont matter as they are hidden under the
loco frames

Quick update

Having dug the foundations and added hardcore I have been at work and have not had time to continue. However today (4th July) I hope to get the concrete in or at least some of it.

I have also had a go at the rather bad chassis that came with the IP engineering loco I purchased at the Peterborough show. In the end I attempted to build a new chassis from some L shaped aluminium bar I have. I glued two bits together to give a U section but found it impossible to accurately mark and drill holes and I have very little metal working equipment. I will have another go with plasticard soon and hopefully get the loco working correctly.