Yesterday I discovered another problem when running an ‘up’ GWR train into the through line at the General Station. The locomotive could not receive power into that section of track.
The day before I had been gluing sleepers into the gaps throughout the up lines in the station area. This must have caused the problem although it was difficult to find why. I looked closely at the power feed joiners in the affected section – they looked OK to the naked eye but using a short length of wire I was able to show that the ‘red’ connection was causing the problem.
There was no other way forward than to get the soldering iron out and solder the two pieces of track together. That action restored electrical connectivity to the whole length of line within the section, and once again I was able to run the trains normally through the station.
It really does pay to continually test the layout when attempting to perform the finishing touches to track laying (i.e. before you glue the ballast in position).
Model of 1960s Leamington Stations 