The Blocks-a-Go-Go tables (yes they do seem to be breeding) have become the go-to place for modellers with broken trains or to get advice on tricky builds.
Ray spent some time with Tony, disusing how to bend minute pieces of etched brass to become a power pick-up for his Lisbon tram. Allan proved to be no help at all and advice was sought from Malcolm – the modelling sage of East Grinstead.
While he was not very helpful on the tram conundrum, Allan quietly continued with the wiring of Test Board Three. He started connecting the eight wires (four sections, two wires per section) of the oval to the GX16 socket. Allan even remembered to put the shrink wrap on the cable before soldering it to the socket. We won’t mention the time he put two shrink wrap sleeves on the same wire.
Once the wires and sleeves were in place a hot air gun was used to shrink the wrap onto the socket connections and wire.
Taking time to admire his work at the end of the afternoon, it was only then that he noticed his faux-pas.
A job for next week!
One of the linear test tracks was running throughout the afternoon. An Automatic Train Control unit (module with a red chassis in the photo) was used to send the loco back and forth along the track. The second track would also have been used as well if Allan has remembered that he had previously built a second connecting cable!