Friday, August 11, 2006

On the right track


Wheel
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
One of the benefits of belonging to a model railway club is the chance to test a locomotive on a layout without the effort of building one. OK, you might join in the team but it’s always going to be less work than going alone.

So it was very handy last night to be able to test the Navy chassis in our O gauge layout. While I was happy it worked in a straight line, real layouts have curves and points and even gradients. And this is a real layout.

It worked. There was the occasional spark but nothing that I can’t fix easily. The bogie needs a spring to push it onto the track harder than its weight alone does. But it works. We ran it around without derailments or any embarrassing incidents for me.

The audience approved as well. The downside of club modelling is that you can’t sneak a test like this without someone spotting. Half a dozen people made comments containing varying amounts of useful advice. One person looked at it and commented how he wished he could build a kit. This resulted in a quick run down of how easy kit building is and passing on a few hints and tips. That’s what club life is about, a bit of give and take.

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