Fast Freight

Back with the trains.  Just for a change, instead of passenger workings, today we have some fast freight workings.  The oil train is being hauled by my old Hornby 9F.  This is a tender drive version of some considerable vintage and runs surprisingly smoothly.  Except for one section of track (out of shot) which it consistently derails on.  The fitted van train is in the charge of another venerable locomotive, my Hornby unrebuilt 'West Country'.  This one was heavily modified more than twenty years ago, using the long unavailable Crownline detailing kit.  It also has a five pole motor instead of its original X04 motor - it is an incredibly noisy motor, albeit powerful.  Too powerful for the chassis, I suspect.  Watching the video back, I can now clearly see the way the back end of the locomotive sways from side-to-side when cornering, possibly as a result of too much power being put through the driving axle.  I currently have another unrebuilt 'West Country', constructed from Hornby parts, nearing completion - this has the original X04 motor fitted, so it will be interesting to compare its performance with the current model.

Getting back to the 9F's derailing problems.  This is undoubtedly due to the fact that, following my major track relaying and realigning efforts, most of the track isn't pinned down, resulting in some unevenness.  This also accounts for the sometimes halting progress of the 'West Country', which stops a couple of times, usually restarting itself.  The track won't be permanently pinned down again until I've finisher rewiring the layout.  Right now, only the two mainlines are connected up to the controllers.  Hopefully, now that I've got the materials I need, I'll be able to start installing a form of 'cab control' which will allow trains to run anywhere on the layout.  But before I solder any wires or connect any switches, I have to sort out the isolating sections, which means taking some of track apart again to install insulated track joiners.  Initially, only two of the controllers will be wired in, but eventually, I hope to have all four operational, so that trains can be run on both mainlines, whilst either or both yards are shunted simultaneously.  All of which will, without doubt, require copious amounts of swearing on my part before it is all sorted and working.