Friday, September 01, 2006

Awaking a layout from its summer slumber


flockshed
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
Flockburgh is due out at an exhibition in a couple of weeks. On top of this, next week it will be under the lens of the British Railway Modelling photographer. This weekend is therefore the time to get the layout out and make sure everything is up to scratch.

I hate turning up at a show and trying to fix a fault. Too many people seem to consider sorting out electrical glitches or major track problems to be part of the process of arriving at a show. I prefer to get set up and then clear off to the accommodation or pub. On the day itself people have paid to see trains move and that’s what I want to provide. There will always be occasions when something fails in service but if you start with a working model then some crossed fingers and touched wood ought to mean a trouble free weekend.

First, the good news. After being set up, apart from one sticky point motor that quickly got better, everything worked. No dead spots, or dodgy points. All the locomotives were fine except the Y7 which has always played up. Even that improved after a few minutes pickup tweaking.

The only problem was some slight damage to the top of the engine shed. A couple of people and the water crane had come loose - nothing a touch of glue won’t solve. If it weren’t for the photographs I’d probably just bodge the shed top with a bit of paint, but the evil eye of the camera means a better repair is called for so this board is sat on the workbench for attention. I’ve already tried to remove the barge board but when the shed was built it was stuck in place properly so a bit of care and a nice sharp blade are called for.

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