At the end of the second week, progress has been significant but nothing to show just yet.

As mentioned last time, the locomotive chassis and body have to be assembled in tandem to be sure that the motor is positioned within the firebox. The original plan was to complete the chassis before starting the body, but instead I have half completed the body and almost completed the chassis during the past week. But the chassis is not yet to the point where it can be tested under power. The basic frame is ready to prime but the weather is too cold (I have to spray out of doors) so it will have to wait for a warm day.

The loco body kit design is similar to that of the Jinty but there is more work to do, particularly in the area of the wheel splashers which are fiddly to say the least. Burned fingers bear testimony to that!

There is a lot of cleaning up to do on the body which is why there are no photos (!) As noted above the chassis is stalled waiting on the primer to go on. Then the pickups will be fitted and the DCC wiring cradle assembled ready for the chip (I have decided to follow the example of the Jinty and have an 8 pin socket so that the loco can be easily converted to DC running. Then the motor will be refitted and tested.

The white metal castings have yet to be unpacked for the locomotive so there is at least two weeks more work to do to get a primed running model. And that may be optimistic.