Worklist:
Fit name board.
Fit new control panel diagram.
Test everything.
Practice shunting movements.
Review figures, vehicles, oil cans etc.
Homework - Stephen (and Christine) had previously made the name board panels from laminated foamboard covered in black vinyl and Geoff had used his 'Silhouette' cutter to produce the lettering. Geoff and Stephen then had a long evening session to bring it all together and it had looked very presentable. The first job today was to offer-up the three panels and check that they fitted ok and that the proposed fixing method worked. The panels all had horizontal pieces on the back that sat on the pipe brackets. Strips of black duct tape were attached to the panels, with Velcro pads engaging on reciprocal pieces on the pipes. Flexible, solid and easy to remove.
Geoff had also produced a paper overlay sheet for the control panel. This was attached with double-sided tape. Essentially a stop-gap solution until we can have a proper panel made, but it really set the panel off nicely.
We then went around testing points, switches, lights, magnets etc. Worryingly, one or two faulty items were found, but fortunately spares and/or solutions were found. A few more items were glued down. The coal lorry had the owners name added (much to Laurence's delight). Geoff had fixed a few more figures he'd been working on over several weeks, which added a good 'feel' to the layout. The layout is set during the inaugural Easter Open Day of the Supporters Group running of the passenger service. A few early visitors are wandering the site and a few more may well appear before our show. It was all looking good.
For the rest of the session we tried out some of the train movements Geoff had prepared, which showed up some interesting issues, but they were eventually worked out to everyone's satisfaction. We also discovered a problem with the one uncoupling magnet on a slight curve in the platform. We spent a long time checking couplings and adjusting the magnet without finding a specific fault, but finally, an adjustment to the magnet achieved a working solution.
We'll take everything apart tomorrow and pack the cars ready for the drive to Littlehampton on Friday afternoon.
