You cant get me I'm part of the union!

More track packing and jacking at the Rocks By Rail Museum as we get ready for the grand opening of the 2026 season on Easter Sunday.

It is a long and labour intensive job with jacks used to left the rail and sleeper until level using sighting boards and then ballast is rammed under using Kangos!

Pam was giving the Plant Room a last coat of paint.

The new Admission Price Board is up in the cafe with a very modest £2 increase just for the Quarry Operating Days.

The locomotives are being tuned up!

And tested with the brake van.

The Weighbridge Office is ready to be opened on Easter Monday with Bill of Quantity ready to answer questions!

The office has some great artefacts from the 1950s such as this clocking in clock.

And this notice board with phone numbers for emergencies!

And even a union membership card! Brings to mind that hot for the Strawbs in the 70s - You cant get me I'm part of the union!

My contribution to getting ready? Well it was out for a session with Morris Mower and Sammy Strimmer who now seem to travel together on my wanderings around the site!

Hopefully it will be a good weekend as long as the weather holds!

At this point it looks a bit interesting but it was time to make it look a bit more interesting!

 With the acrylic mud dry on the diorama base for the tank transporter, it was time to add some more scenic treatment. First, PVA glue was applied to the wheel track areas.

This was then covered with kiln dried sand and a dilute coat of PVA glue was applied over the top to make sure it all stuck down.

Once dry the whole base was airbrushed with sand coloured paint.

A trial 'fitting' of the transporter was undertaken and the track spacing is right! Phew!

At this point it looks a bit interesting but it was time to make it look a bit more interesting!

So out came some scenic materials. a mix of static grass using mainly light greens and yellows was added.

Just the rest to do now! But that is a job for tomorrow!

Pizza base to diorama base!

Having built the tank transporter it was time to make a base for it to stand on as it is too fragile to be left sitting on a shelf!

My usual base is one of the styrene pizza bases that used to accompany a supermarket pizza. No longer supplied I do have a stock in store!

First job is to cut it to size.

Then the acrylic mud came out!

Applied with a stiff brush I created two sets of tracks and accompanying verges which turned this...

Into this!

That now needs to dry ready for the next course of scenic treatment!

Triumphal Tank Transporter Tuesday!

Triumphal Tank Transporter Tuesday brings you the completed, well, as far as I am going with it, IBG 1.72 scale Scammel Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank! it was started back on the 11th February so n early seven weeks to build although to be fair I have done a few other things as well!

The last parts to fit were the door mirrors, winch ropes for the trailer loading ramps and a shovel on the side of the cab of the Scammell.

So what does seven weeks bring me?

I'm pleased with that!  In fact I feel triumphal in having finished this kit that pushed me to the limits on occasions! Maybe I should call it Triumphal Tank Transporter Tuesday!

Much as I would like to have a go in one of these!

Seen whilst out on a bike ride...

Much as I would like to have a go in one of these, this is probably the closest that I will come! It is a road/rail capable excavator together with a couple of rail trucks to carry the excavated material. The yellow rail wheels are lowered onto the rail once the excavator has manoeuvred itself onto the track using its road wheels. I did look if there was a model of this at the Bingham Model railway Show but there was none so my 'haul' was a modest selection of 3D prints from my friends at the 3D Printing For Charity stand.

In amongst that lot is a lineside hut, a lathe, some pallets and crates as well as a Nissan hut! That should make an interesting build.

Bingham Model Railway Show 2026

I took Mrs. Woody on one of favourite wallet watching trips (that is my wallet she is watching) which was the Bingham model rail exhibition which is held at the Cotgrave Miners Welfare Club which is a big building built back in the day when Coal was King as the saying went and there was obviously a fair amount of money.  

Being like a theatre, there is a balcony which gave a good overall view as well as an unusal opportunity to photograph  layout from above.

From normal levels this n gauge layout, Barnwood, looked like this...

There didn't appear to be as many layouts as in previous years but never the less there were some interesting ones.

I was taken by this North American switching layout, Oliver Hill.

There is something very calming about a switching layout and the scenery was well executed too!

Little cameo scenes can add a lot of interest such as this of some grounds clearance operatives.

Hazelby Ballast Loader, was another n gauge layout that had a fully operating loader that filled wagons and that kept the younger visitors entertained!

Some very atmospheric lighting on a small engine shed layout Drinkallby West was well done.

Interesting to see some tram models working on a small layout.

 Porth Llechen, an 009 layout, was voted best in show and it is certainly spectacular scenery wise.

However, Mrs. Woody and me voted for St. Mary's, a 0 16.5 or NG7 gauge layout.

A simple three point loops with a siding was all the trackwork.

There was nice detail such as the station building. 

And the rolling stock was very nicely done to.

That was the first show of 2026 but Mrs. W will have plenty more to wallet watch over during the rest of the year!

Did I actually manage to buy anything? Well a few bits but more on that another time!

Another one sorted!

With the mechanicals finished it was time to put the Lima Prairie tank back together. However, before reattaching the body to the chassis, the opportunity was taken to give the body a bit of a clean.

In fact it had a bath! Using a brush and a popular brand of washing-up liquid, the fairies managed to remove most of the dirt!

Looking better after being dried off with Mrs. Woody's hair drier!

I had missed one thing though. That was, that there was another ballast weight in the coal bunker which had been hidden by the footplate. Looking at it revealed that the dreaded zinc rot had been busy. In fact, left much longer it is likely that the plastic body may well have split as the weight expanded being held in place on those two plastic lugs.

There was nothing else to do but remove it and that took some doing as it was well edged in place!

With it out, it was clear that this was beyond saving. The structural integrity has gone past the point of being safe so I have left it out of the loco.

With the body and pony trucks reattached the loco went back on the tracks for a final testing and it still ran well! Another one sorted!