Sunday 17 October 2010

Une Petite Loco

I decided just over a week ago to dust down my boxed rpi kit for an 042 T Weidknecht-Decauville, having bought it from the late Mike South some time back. It has always struck me that the kit was largely RTR, based solely on the fact that the chassis was complete. However I suddenly realized that there was a bag of bits in the box, some of which didn't mean anything to me.

A quick call for help on the 7mm NGA Yahoo! Group, and within hours Eric Fresné of Voie Libre had provided me with the instructions. My French is not brilliant, but once I'd realized that BabelFish and Google Translate were more of a hindrance than a help (neither could cope with 'portemine' - a pin-vice), I got stuck in. In fact as Eric had done before me I found that there were errors in the original (despite sneers from the distaff side that it was more likely to be my translation that was wrong).

Two 0.6mm drills have been consumed so far, having only been obtained earlier in the week from Pennyfarthing Tools in Salisbury (local Aladdin's Cave). And more by luck than judgement only one small part has been lost in the tufts of the carpet, ironically given that at the said Pennyfarthing Tools someone had talked about losing small items, and I'd confessed that I was still to get around to making a jeweller's apron!

Poor photograph I know, but the work so far is here ...


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