Howard lives! Last night all the wiring (there's not much) was finished, and the wheels given a good clean. Testing with a 9v battery (I still haven't made a controller yet), it works pretty well, and the pickup is good for such a short wheelbase. It could probably do with a little more weight if I'm going to pull more than about 5 wagons at a time, but the plan for it is to be one of the shunters for my planned 6-wagon Inglenook layout, so it should be fine.

It has wooden gears, I'm hoping to have found a way to make plastic ones by the time it becomes a proper kit. Should make it quieter than it is now!
 

Stats:

Miles jogged: 1 (slowly)

Mugs of tea consumed: 5

Cumulative pushups done: 125