Chitterne’s outing to Salisbury Railex in Thruxton on 17th and 18th May was a success. The unfinished scenic extensions and new fiddle yard worked reliably and we had many positive comments from visitors.
There were a few niggling issues which we will need to address. Couplings again caused frustration and some engines were not running very reliably but out biggest problem was with point motors. After running without issues for two previous exhibitions, three of the motors started to overrun; producing a loud clicking noise at one end of their travel. The reason for these simultaneous failures remains a mystery, but after the event we identified some possible fixes.
Chitterne’s next outing will be at Wilton Railex on the 20th September where Navigation Road will also be on display. Considerable effort is now underway to get Navigation Road extended to its new round-and-round configuration and finish the Chitterne extensions in time for this show. To this end, Jeff has been hard at work producing a whole set of new boards for the Navigation Road end curves and fiddle yard whilst Chris H continues to add scenery to Chitterne.
This report – written by Richard Simpson – appears in issue 245 of the EM Gauge Society newsletter.