What did you do to your trains today?

For the loco-tender connection, I went with a tiny piece of wire tie folded into a "chain link" (which can be opened or closed at the top/bottom). It's loose enough to provide the best articulation while still keeping the tender away unless the loco is at a very sharp angle, like when the tender pushes it sideways when running "off-rail". It reduced the stalling compared to the pin type I previously tried (screw or skewer), but didn't stop it entirely. One of the tender's front wheels was reglued, which also helped. Apart from certain track joints that cause it to "jump" and realign itself, I won't have to add extra weight to the front. Too bad it won't be strong enough to also pull a train, unless the coaches would be very light and/or loosely coupled. However, the tender did manage to push my unfinished smoking engine (which currently weighs 80 grams) despite the underpowered gearing, so I won't really know until I've built one coach.



Also ran it with the light feature on for the first time, and it looks brilliant for a separate coin cell, minimum voltage and no resistors; especially in darkness. It took a few tries to get the footplate to press the battery down and make a stable connection, (unintentionally) resulting in a cool firebox effect when not looking at the headlamp. There were no voltage drops or cutoffs even when it ran over the bumps, giving a steady light throughout the whole circuit. Worked fine even when I turned the lights on and off while it moved. It also naturally projected the cab windows as it chugged around, which would've made silhouettes of the crew had I put them in.



There are times when the "laziest", most low effort technique is actually the most practical. Trying to fit the coupling rods how I wanted only worked on one side, while the other side could've potentially broken the guide bars. Rather than making a new crosshead like it initially had, I extended the rods to make them slide in and out of the cylinders; drilling holes in the sides of the OG plastic cylinders cracked one and got the screw trapped in it, so both were removed and replaced with new cardboard ones. The old guide bars were retained but are no longer functional (merely glued to the sides). Unlike my previous "valve rod" methods, it happens to give the illusion that the rods really are connected to the front drivers like they are at the rear.

Now it will need the details it had before the rebuild, as well as some new ones it didn't have. I should perhaps rebuild the tender chassis again and find how to make its front wheels stay on without a real bogie. With the size of the spark arrestor, I also thought about replacing the coal load with wood (a pile of cut up matchsticks). Good thing I won't have to give up after the frustrations I've had with it.