However, in true Woody style it has not quite gone to plan!

Sometimes you find a project that you are working on just does not seem to flow. You have done similar things before so it is not as though you don't know what to do and how to actually do it. But, for what ever reason, the project just does not come along and your mindset is not with the project either. That is the way I am with the bridge/tunnel structure I am building at the moment. It is not the first time I have or indeed other modellers have gone through such a thing and it won't be the last. We all have different ways to deal with the problem. Mine is to usually put the project to one side and do an easy and quick to show results project which usually gives me the lift and inspiration to get back to the original project.

So that is what I have done! However, in true Woody style it has not quite gone to plan! The plan was to DCC chip a Class 150 DMU that I had bought second hand/used/pre loved (take your pick!) about 15 years or so ago.

I payed just £85 for it which was a good price then and considering that the new ones today are £200 to £250 even Mrs. Woody would have to say it was a good buy!

The detail and paint finish are superb!

To fit a chip was simply a matter of taking the top off. However, the two screws at the rear are small and deep set down a narrow opening. Finding a screw driver that fitted was a pain but eventually the screws were undone and the top came off revealing the circuit board.

Access to the chip socket was easy and it was all marked up which was a nice touch.

The blanking pug was removed and a 21 pin DCC chip fitted.

Everything was going great! Or so I thought!. Testing on the track revealed that it ran like a stuttering rabbit! It would go, then stop then go, stutter, then go and so on. Clean the wheels I though. No difference. Lubricate the motor. No difference. Eventually I traced the issue to the electrical pick up system.

The bogies transfer power by copped uprights arrowed with the horizontal arrow. These 'wipe' on the copper strips on the green circuit board with the vertical arrow. The system is not good and despite cleaning it and a slight improvement in performance there needs to be a better system which I will have to think about! At least it has taken my mind ff the bridge/tunnel structure!