Time Flys By...

Doesn't it just? Where are all the posts then?

My excuse? Well we did have a weeks holiday in Wales, and the usual preparation beforehand and sorting out on return meant I lost about a fortnight of modelling in all. But we had a ride on the Festiniog and bought an Ivor the Engine book, so not all was lost! This in turn prompted me to buy the Ivor DVD on return from said holiday and that in its own turn prompted me to buy the Trumptonshire DVD box set. So thats probably where the modelling time went. As they say, "Time Flys By..."

Back to the workbench and I need to get this D49 thingy cracked and then bang on with the layout. Through Edward, I am looking to get Alan Smith to make a "baseboard kit" for Brafferton to give a professional job. If I do it all myself, it's going to be rather rougharse; woodwork was never a strong point for me. Whilst I wait on that, better progess the D49 hadn't we?

Next job on the list was to insert the worm and complete the drive train. This was relatively straightforward; I'd done worms and stuff before. However the kit includes etches to manufacture the universal joints; a new idea to me. So these needed building up.

No, these aren't to deter 2mm vampires. They're the two halves of the ball part of the joint which are each made up of three layers of etch. The two halves are then soldered around some spring steel wire and the whole slots into the slotted tubes on the drive shafts.

What is not overly clear in the instructions is that these etches need a fair bit of meat taking off once assembled to enable them to work in the joint. Once one end had been done, I tacked half of the second assembly to the other end and check for length before fully soldering all parts together. My guestimate was quite good and I didn't need to shorten or lengthen the assembly after the trial run.

Once fully soldered, I gave the lot a right good clean and a dab of oil before checking the finished assembly for fit...

A quick wobble up and down the test track (no weight yet!) proved success. Now onto the loco body. I've done a bit this afternoon, and I'll try and post an update tonight or tomorrow. I'd hoped to get to Glasgow this weekend to see Mick and co at Model Rail Scotland. This is now looking unlikely due to work and family commitments. Shucks...