With working couplers, free running wheels and stability restored this hopper wagon was ready to roll!

Buying second hand/pre-owned/pre-loved or what ever your preferred description is, is always a little bit of a gamble but usually and with experience you can see if something has major issues like the wheels fall out or there is a crack in the body. However, even if the item looks new it is always best, for reliable running, to take a closer look once back in the comfort of your home to carry out a little bit of miniatous. That is what I have done with the USA rolling stock that I bought at the Newark Toy and Train Fair.

The usual suspects to look at are the couplers and wheels. Having already tested the couplers it was time to look at the wheels. The problem is that the naked eye, good as it is, cannot precisely tell you distances. For reliable running the gap between the two wheels on an axle needs to be 14.5mm. Now I could try using a rule but am I really going to see 14.5mm accurately? There is another option which is a back to back gauge. This one cost about £10 is well made and easy to use. You can use it whilst the wheel is on the wagon or as I have done take the wheel out and use it. 

The idea is that you should just be able to slide the gauge between the wheels with just the slightest of resistance. If it is tight or loose you need to slide one of the wheels along the axle. Whilst the wheels were out they were also cleaned with some IPA and a cotton bud and the little bit of what seems like rust on the axle was sanded and polished off..

Next is to make sure the pinpoint axle can freely rotate in the bogie housing. This tool is slid into place and by rotating it, it cuts out any rough areas in the housing.

This is where experience plays its part. This particular hopper can rattled and was unstable. I could tell that when I looked at it before buying but knowing what was wrong and that it was a simple fix gave me the confidence to buy. The problem is a common one on older models of this type. There is a large metal weight glued to the inside of the wagon onto the chassis. Over time the glue weakens and the metal weight comes loose making the wagon almost unusable. Once I had the body off, the weight dropped out. Some gluing later and the weight was back in place and wagon body reaffixed. 

With working couplers, free  running wheels and stability restored this hopper wagon was ready to roll!

Just run your fingernail over the joint and it will pick up the smallest imperfections!

 Whilst the main engine block and gearbox for the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit did not take too long to put together there are, as a highlighted in my last post on this build, about 40 or so additional parts to add. Most of those parts require two to be joined together with the resultant joint line to be smoothed off. For reasons that only Italeri probably know of, they moulded most of the engine parts in a silver type plastic. Whilst it may look a bit realistic if you were not going to paint the model, it makes determining if the joint line is smooth or not almost impossible to do visually. The only real conclusive test is a fingernail. Just run your fingernail over the joint and it will pick up the smallest imperfections.

Anyway, back to the engine and gearbox, and parts have been added making it all look more interesting. There are still parts to add but if you need to glue two parts together you need to let the glue set before you can smooth the joint. It all takes time!

Now, where are the nail clippers?

What does £100 buy you for your model railway? It could be a lot if you are willing to try something different!

Giving some idea of what £100 could buy you for a model railway, the WMD Film Crew have been out looking at how, with some alternative thinking, you can actually get quite a lot! Watch and see!

Engine block time!

Engine block time with the build of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4. Initially, most truck kit engines take shape fairly quickly and with this kit about 6 main parts go together to produce a substantial looking part of the model.

However, there are far more detail parts to go on yet as you can tell from some of the location holes and pins on this closer view of one side of the engine. In fact there are about another 40 parts or so to finish just the engine and all have mould and joint lines to smooth out before they can be fitted. Oh joy!

However, the chassis does look more truck like with that engine block temporarily fitted.

My plan next year is to make my New Year's resolution 'I must buy more model railways and kits"!

Having explained yesterday how my New Years Resolution was somewhat short lived with my trip to the Newark Toy and Train Fair, I better admit to some further bargain purchases. #

These three nicely weathered and loaded hopper wagons join my slowly expanding fleet of such wagons.

£15 for the three of them make them a bargain in my mind!

Still in the hopper mood these 9 hoppers were on for £9 each which was a fair price but a bit of haggling with the seller saw them come to WMD for the princely sum of £70!

In a bit closer and these are very nice wagons which with 9 of them make up a nice rake  to be hauled round the layout.

£14 bought me five wagons in the form of these old Hornby flat wagons with wheelset cradles. Not prototypical in any way but with a does of weathering they can be made to look authentic and even if it all goes wrong, £14 is not a major loss!

And finally! I really don't need anymore kits but this just stood out to me.

It is a conversion based upon the chassis of the old Centurion tank as you can see in the artwork on the side of the box.

The kit does contain my dreaded etched brass parts but nothing appears overly small or fiddly from the pictures on the box. I just hope that is actually the case!

Well, that is me spent up for the year as I have been advised by my Financial Monitoring Department in the form of Mrs. Woody! A good haul especially as I only bought a die cast truck last year! 

Thinking about the whole episode and the breaking of a resolution so quickly my plan next year is to make my resolution' I must buy more model railways and kits!' .That way when I break it I will achieve the real objective!

The resolution that lasted all of 12 hours!

2026 comes in, Woody's New Years resolution - No more kits or railway stuff! Well that was doomed to failure as I took Mrs. Woody to buy some cookies on our annual visit to the Newark Toy and Train Fair. Well the cookie stall was there as usual with some very nice cookies that came home with us. However there was a lot of other non-cookie related things that were also very nice and some of those came home with us as well! As usual there were lots of stalls and lots of people.

So, to the items that came home. Well, these three USA freight cars with Kadee couplers cost me all of £15 for the three!

Then there was this ten high stack of boxes which cost me £40.

And once the contents were out I ended up with these.

 

And these.

And these!

There was also this that just needs the bogies added and a few parts.

I also saw these three n gauge USA coaches which were £5 each.

Now why buy these Woody? Well about 15 years ago I bought these with the loco for £20!

So the three additional coaches add to that train to make up this! 

There were a few other bits but that is for tomorrow but in the meantime I am appreciating the USA related bargains and thinking it was a good way to break that New Year resolution as these were bargains just too good to miss! Oh! The cookies were good too!

Happy New Year!

 Hoping that 2026 is a good one for you!

This always takes time but is worth the effort to build a better model!

s 2025 draws to a close (and where did that year go?) the chassis of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 takes on some interest with the drive axle now in place along with its air bag suspension and the leaf front suspension is also attached. 

There were lot of mould lines to clean up and smooth off like these on the front leaf spring.

This always takes time but is worth the effort to build a better model which is probably a proverb that I should take forward to 2026! Talking of which, tomorrow is 2026 so have a Happy New Year, build some models and stay safe!

Chassis comes together!

After  yesterdays strange sights, today was much more on stream with the chassis of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit coming together.

At this stage there is not a lot to show for the work put in but hopefully over the next few days things will become more visually exciting!

A day of unusual sights!

It was indeed a day of unusual sights! 

First off the sight of a model truck chassis being constructed on the workbench!

It must be about two years since the last one of these appeared on the bench! However the chassis rails have been assembled. Strangely, each side is in two parts which makes it tricky to join them so they are straight and level However, they are now glued and the various cross members and parts that fit in between the chassis rails are coming together.

Second strange sight was seen out on a drive with Mrs. Woody. I may have posted about this some time ago but I am sure that the collection of railway memorabilia in this garden has got bigger and very impressive it is too!

Finally the third strange sight seen on the same journey as the garden above was a herd of deer which suddenly came out of a field hedge and about a dozen of them then crossed the road in front of us, jumped the ditch and headed off into the distance!

I would normally associate deer with being near some wooded areas for cover rather than in the open fields of Lincolnshire but this lot appeared unbothered about needing cover.

A magnificent sight but it was not until we looked at them on the horizon that we saw the stag with some amazing antlers.

Mrs. Woody normally complains about my 'slow' driving but had we been going a bit quicker and arrived a few seconds earlier we could well have had deer's on the bonnet of the car!