Staying on track

Hi Everybody...

After a long day of replying to students' emails (the dreaded TMA03 due in next week... argh!) writing out job applications forms and such like.. I finally got to sit down this evening for a bit and do something to my loco.

For those of you who don't know, I have spent almost the last 4 years working (when I can) with my dad on building this loco called Hingston (named after Hingston Down quarry in Cornwall). She (yes trains are always female... dunno why!) is a 7.25" gauge petrol electric... this means that the distance between the rails is seven and a quarter inches and she is powered by a 3.5HP petrol lawnmower engine that generates the electricity for the motor.
Here is a picture of her in the garden... she has changed a bit since then, but you get the picture. Last year we managed to pull 6 fully grown men around the half mile of track at our local club. This was the highlight of the year I think as the rest of the year we were constantly fixing problems, breaking down... fixing different problems... breaking down... you get the idea...

So... tonight I was making a start on a new improved circuit board for the controller... I won't go into details, I'll save that for another blip ;) but I needed to copy some software I had written from an old hard drive, so I plugged it into my computer 'test bed' (some computer components mounted on some plywood) and turned it on... it worked for a little while and then... BANG! my power supply blew up! I've never had one do that before... they've died in a quiet manner, but never quite so dramatic as that! sparks and all!

Anyways, I have so many things I like to do... and I really want to get Hingston into a running state at the start of the season in April (times running away fast!)... so I have decided that you'll all have to put up with Hingston related blips for a while! unless of course I take some time out to go out with my camera... or I see something that inspires me.. it's just that time wise it seems to make sense to combine my two hobbies!

Well, if you got this far then well done for reading through all that waffle!

As always, thanks for looking!
Shaun