0031 T Gauge: ballasts, soldering & train detection

I've been trying different approaches to ballasting T Gauge track - it took a while to find materials and an approach that I think looks good enough - most of this video is about those experiments.

In my previous T Gauge video I had trouble soldering wires to the stainless steel rails - this time I try the acidic flux and solder that contains silver, to see if that solves the issues.

As a bonus I try out some infrared proximity sensors that I bought a while ago for automatic train detection.


Links to things I bought and mention in the video:

White grout: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

Gloves: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZMPZLKG

Plaster of Paris 2.5kg: https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/plaster-...

Manhattan grey tile grout: https://www.screwfix.com/p/mapei-ultr...

Aggressive flux: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CJMDX33...

Solder with silver: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CRP4PYM

Soldering iron: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

5 infrared proximity sensors: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

Raspberry Pi Pico with headers: https://thepihut.com/products/raspber...

Current sensors: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...