The shell of 821 still resides on blocks at the moment with the chassis hiding in the in the back of the shed, as there is no real hurry to introduce another W class to the roster.
However I have phaffed about with other (non Melbourne) distractions.
Like fitting this powered bogie from a Bachmann San Francisco cable car to this little open platform tram. (Still DC at the moment)
This one of the many static models courtesy of the Atlas release that have inundated the European market and are eagerly motorised by the model tramway community.
We need a bigger tram
Another side project is this obscure steeple cab shunter which was made by Lima. While this does not have any relevance in MMTB operations in history, this will become a per way loco that will be part of the tram depot/museum that is Westside.
A drop in ride height along with new paint, decals and some trolley poles.
A while ago I obtained two Bluerail decoders that operate on the Bluetooth frequency from an app on your smartphone or tablet. One was installed in SW6 870 and after a few teething issues (dirty wheels/track) operates quite well, the spare unit has been fitted into a translucent zippy box with a socket and four LEDs as an ad hock DC controller.
Trying to make it look tidy.
Also it plugs into the 'standard' D.C. Controller socket on Victoria Street.
The red led shows power in, the green led highlights track power going out, and the lower blue LEDs indicate direction. Both the red and green LEDs are fed by rectifying diodes regardless of the power or the polarity. The translucent lid allows the status green led on the Bluerail board to be observed.
This now allows me to operate wirelessly all my DC rollingstock* that I haven't or won't convert to DCC.
* only one at a time!
Looking and doing everything else under the wires except finishing off 821.
Regards Glenn.
