The search for rock continues!

As a Museum dealing with the iron stone quarrying industry, Rocks by Rail has remarkably little rock which when you are filling Gabion baskets/cages is somewhat frustrating! The Gabions form the supporting structure for a new viewing platform that will bring visitors closer to the action in the quarry on operating days. However, if you know where to look, there are pockets of suitable material available and I have previously posted about the ten tons of hardened cement bags that are spread around the site. The trouble is that most of what is left is covered by things - usually those things are particularly heavy in nature!

However, we also have a CAT! A big CAT!

Moving some of the stuff onto pallets made the process a lot easier for the CAT .

There was a slight problem in as much as these very heavy steel plates were straddled over two pallets and we decided that the likelihood of moving those without a major calamity was next to zero so we left them in place. 

Although far from idea, there was sufficient clearance to get under the pallets and mine the loose cement bags which is something that the others decided I should do for some reason!

With mining work having managed to get a bout a ton of material it was time to get a Gabion filled! However we did have to construct one first but that was soon in place.

Then the rather laborious task of getting the rocks from the other end f the line and pushing them up to site using the platelayers trolley started followed by actually getting them into the Gabion.

By the end of the day the Gabion is about half full, which is good going and David and Alex are obviously pleased and no doubt ready for a rest - just like me! We still need to find some more rock though but that is something for next week.

Greenish - mainly!

This is where things suddenly move on - getting some more colour on the scenic sub-bases which in this case is greenish - mainly! I tend to use static grass for most grass areas on models. Static grass is made up of short fibers, usually between 2 and 8mm long, which are deposited onto a glue spread on the area to be grassed using a static grass applicator. What this does is to give the fibers a charge as they leave the applicator and as the applicator has a connection to the glued area the idea is that the fibers land upright imitating grass. First thing to do was spread some glue. This is special glue which is supposed to be conductive to electricity - well that is what it says on the bottle!

That is the applicator on the left. Powered by a 9volt battery it can still give you a jolt if  you end up touching the wrong part - who said model making was without risk!

I don't just use one colour - its a blend of colours and lengths!

This is what it looks like mid way through application - messy!

Application on this sub-base finished.

Getting the sub-bases on the layout it begins to take on a whole new look!

I also ' planted' the barn and created a mud track and apron around it using acrylic mud of all things - that was the bit which was not green!

The WMD film creww have been recording my escapades so far and there are two YouTube videos that cover some of what has been going on recently.

 

Tree repairs!

Tree repairs? Before you wonder if I have become some form of arboriculturalist this was a model tree that was repaired! I bought these Woodland Scenic Silver Birch trees some time ago. They were second hand and I paid £20 for the four of them which is well under half the new price. Always worth having a look in the boxes under traders stalls at exhibitions where these less glamourous items are usually kept. The only problem was that one of the trees had a brken stub at the end of the trunk that pushes into the tree base. 

I could have just glued it back in place but I suspected that given the size of the tree it would most likely fail. Therefore, out came some trusty brass wire and my pin vice drill and holes were drilled in both the tree trunk and the stub. The brass wire was then glued into the trunk with some super glue and the stub threaded onto the protruding wire and glued to that and the tree trunk.

Once dry, the excess wire was cut off.

With the tree repaired it was time to place it and its fellow trees on one of the scenic sub-bases. I had temporarily placed these on the base some weeks ago giving me a chance to look and think about their positioning. I was happy with what I had been seeing so it was time to fix the bases down.

I mixed up some filler and used this to bed in the bases.

With that out of the way it was time to resolve the other end of the sub-base where there is supposed to be a tarmac area serving the sidings and goods shed. It was just a white piece of card and to get the required level I  needed to add a second layer. I cut this to size, tested it for fit and then gave it a coat of grey primer from a rattle can.

And this is how the goods shed will look - eventually! Still more to do but hopefully some more progress over the coming days.

Giving some colour to icebergs!

Putting the 09 gauge project to one side for a bit, it is back to My Last Great Project 00 gauge layout. Having constructed the bare bones of the scenic sub-bases towards the end of last year, it was time to make some progress and stop looking at, what look like large icebergs which given the recent weather was probably quite fitting, and get some colour on them. This what they looked like - large icebergs!

The starting point was to be to get some colour on the rock  faces. A light brown was the required colour. Now I could have raided the WMD Stores model paint supplies but given the amount of paint required it made more economical sense to raid a tin of white emulsion from my decorating chores and then mix in some Burnt Umber acrylic paint to get the required shade. A handy empty jar made a good container/mixing pot.

That's the colour that I got too. Paint always dries lighter then it looks when wet.

Just to test out my mix I chose the smallest sub-base first - always best to test before going too far!

You can see the painted two thirds against the remaining third of the plaster finish in the photo below. The paint also seals the plaster for further painting, which there will be to get to the desired finish.

And to get to that desired finish a dilute mix of the Burnt Umber paint was made up in a smaller jar at a ration of about one part paint to five of water. I didn't actually used bottled water, it just happened that the bottle was empty and handy to fill up with tap water. I'm not made of money which appears to be Mrs. Woody's belief!

Starting off with a soft brush, the paint was quite literally just dribbled onto the rock faces and being dilute, the pigment found its way into the crevices giving a nice shadow effect.

The rest of the sub-base was treated to the same process. It took a few applications of paint to get the required tone but it  is beginning to look a lot less like an iceberg!

Keep those wagons rolling!

Keep those wagons rolling! Well, up until now those wagons on my 09 gauge project weren't able to roll as they had no wheels! However, robbing three sets of wheels off some old n gauge wagons let those wagons roll!

The wheel sets fitted in easily into the 3D wagons.

With that done I placed them on the track.

Its not often that you can fit an oval of track on a workbench as small as mine but this did fit. As you can see it is about 12 inches wide....

By about 18 inches long!

Size isn't everything and small can be beautiful as I hope this short video shows!

A long gone era!

Mrs. Woody gave this to me as a Christmas present back in 2023. 

It is a beautifully presented train pack of one of the pioneering locomotives along with some appropriate rolling stock from a long gone era at the start of railways.

.

Apart from looking at it, I sadly admit to never having run the train. However, that changed and it was unpacked and although the background of Gailston, my 00 gauge terminus layout is perhaps not quite the right era, it did at least allow me to enjoy seeing the loco and rolling stock on the track and running.

Getting it out of its box, two things strike you. One is how small it all is and secondly just how visually stunning the whole train is. You won't see something like this roll into your local railway station! Even Mrs. W was impressed by its looks!

The engine, Lion, even comes with a driver and fireman dressed in the style of the day. I guess that they really did not like any bad weather with the lack of any cab to protect them.

Meanwhile, in this long gone and different era, if you had the money a First Class ticket would get you the luxury of an enclosed carriage very much on the lines of the old horse drawn stage coaches that at the time were still being used.

Luggage would go on the roof!

Regardless of the weather, a third class ticket would get you a ride in this!

Little more than a wagon but I guess for those able to afford even the third class ticket it was a luxurious way to travel! I think I will be grateful for the luxury offered even with my second class ticket on todays railway system!