Friday, December 13, 2013

Decoder Work Update 12/13/13

I've pushed the last couple of engines across the work bench I can push before I stagger headlong into the Christmas Season.  There's family to see, highways to travel, and a million things that are going to be a higher priority than tinkering with little wires and blobs of solder.

I do have a break from work for about 10 days, so it's possible I might fire off one or two easy ones, but I doubt I'll be able to do that, so I won't promise anything.

You can check back at the November post for updates to the completion/shipping schedule after the first of the year to see how things are shaping up.  I'm feeling good about the progress I'm making, especially on some older ones, such as this trio that first came into my life in the fall of 2011.




Their owner had requested a fairly complex installation to provide for rotating beacons.  After a couple of months, I finally got the small LEDs I needed, then I took them apart to prep the frames, then they sat and sat and sat while I pulled myself through the muck of straightening out my personal life.

Well, they're done!  I had dreaded all the tinkering the beacons would require, but once I got the first one done, the rest of them went pretty easily.  So they're in the mail tomorrow morning, heading home to Michigan.

So, onward and upward, and into the New Year.  I'm looking forward to finishing the remaining handful of engines soon, so I can feel better about accepting a few new ones to work on at a more leisurely pace.  I'm also plotting and scheming about developing a new, albeit smaller, layout project.  As always, stay tuned.  Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!