A mixed bag this week as Stephen grabbed the palette, paints and a brush, and carried on painting the checkrails in Edwards yard. Geoff decided to tackle an inexpensive radio-controlled Range Rover he'd bought online to become the motive power for collecting and delivering wagons between the loading dock and the back yard. The car is designed as a 'sliding' street racer, but the drive didn't work. A mis-placed gear was to blame and was soon rectified. However, it was very fast and so thoughts changed to gearing it down. Different options were discussed and will be investigated. The secondary issue was disguising the mechanism and our existing die-cast models were reviewed. A small delivery van looked feasible, but a Commer van looked the best option - big enough to receive the printed circuit board intact while matching the axles/wheels width/length. Further investigations on increasing traction power to follow.
The ground between the rails needed painting as well as the checkrails. These had been set slightly lower to avoid paint being rubbed off when track cleaning. A more 'dusty' rust colour was chosen.
We still await the development of a shunting vehicle with interest...
