Monday, June 28, 2021

Worth its weight in stones

 

A big show like the NGRS means a bit of preparation. All the stock I planned to use needed to be checked over, batteries replaced, and bearings oiled. 

Along the way, I found a surprise. The little IP Engineering diesel that did so much work at the last event was full of gravel. I'd forgotten that when I first set it off around the track, it struggled to haul itself along with two coaches. The solution was to add weight over the driven axle - and all I had to hand was the stones sued to ballast the line. 

Of course I meant to do the job properly eventually, but as the train worked a treat for the show, no more was thought of it. Until now. 

The stones were put on the scales and then replaced with slightly more weight of lead. It's not dusty and should stay put better. Of course, it's also the "right" thing to do. Sometimes though, bodge repairs will do the job!



No comments: