Having purchased a new desk for the home office, I've relegated my old one, which was basically some kitchen cupboards minus the feet with a side panel for a desktop, to the roof. This gives me a dedicated (but cramped) area to work on the locos properly and means I can set up the vice, soldering station, Dremel and a small test track, whilst removing the dumping ground / test track that had become the centre of the layout.
This was my first proper trip to the loft since all the work we did on the portable layout in February. Basically I'd spent so many hours that I'd sort of lost interest in it all, plus the weather's been too cold.
Hopefully with the new work area I can get cracking with the loft layout, I now have sufficient track for both layouts so no more pilfering of the loft layout, I can get on and build the damn thing.
To test my new workstation I revisited my Bachmann DMU that I'd converted ages ago but was never overly happy with its running. The driving motor coach is much lighter than the newer EMUs and that, combined with the resistance from the Marklin skate, caused slippage and derailments on corners. I managed to modify the pickup, removing the original Marklin backing to the skate and soldering it straight onto a small peg board, which is then screwed to the bogie. Removing the backing piece moves the skate a few crucial millimetres upwards, reduces the tension and stops the derailments and slipping.
Job done...
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