December 22nd 2002

I have got on well today! The coupling rods and motor mounts have been finished and painted, along with the spring stops and axle box keeper plates. The cranks have been drilled ready to be tapped for the grub screws. The motors have had the shaft ends trimmed and gear wheels and shafts have been drilled for the key pins (only broke two drill bits-not bad seeing as I only have a Black&Decker drill mounted in a drill press, these are not renowned for their accuracy!)

I also made some pins for the link & pin couplings.

I used a 150mm nail, bent at 90^{o and cut off to form an inverted L. A washer was then soldered on to form the stop. A 150mm nail is long enough to make two pins.}

The link & pin coupling shown above is manufactured by Ride on Railways (pin not supplied)

These will be used on my Bogie truck.

The Weather has been reasonably warm and dry today, so I was able to take the body and chassis outside to be sprayed with primer. I used nearly two cans of primer to spray just these two items!

The chassis has had two coats, and the body one coat at the moment. I haven't decided on a final colour scheme yet, or a name.