No flies on this loco!

It may look like Pam had decked John at the Ricks By Rail Museum...

Nut all was well as I just happened to catch John crawling out from under one of the locos as Pam and Pete were passing whilst my camera was out!

Whilst my camera was out I also caught up with the Southern brake van restoration where the two air tanks have been painted smartening things up.

However, the woodwork is not so smart with further cleaning and prodding revealing a fair amount of rot which will need dealing with and new timbers added. 

Steam loco Barrington is slowly coming on with its cosmetic restoration.

Whilst I am aware that insects are attracted to wet paint I thought that the addition of the electronic insect disposal system might be taking things to extremes! A real case of no flies on this loco! However, it appears that this was in the workshop for repair and will be reinstated in the cage once working again!

Loco 1931 is still awaiting the return of its boiler which is away for repairs including additional items found that need dealing with but were not spotted earlier. Always the case but hopefully by mid year it will be back together and steaming away down the track.

My contribution was to steam around the grass areas with Morris Mower. Amazing how quick the grass has grown when its has not been that wet or warm!

Just as we packed up for the say a sudden wind and rain storm hit the site and here Pam is battling to get to her car and shelter. Certainly no flies in that storm!

Masking tape woes!

It was a case of masking tape woes as I head back to building the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 started at the beginning of the year. There are some cab related parts that require painting on both sides. As is my normal way, I attached the smaller parts to a board with masking tape. The problem was that having been sprayed on one side so long ago, the glue on the masking tape had in the recent heat begun to melt onto the parts that were attached yo it! The result was that I had to rub down a number of parts before respraying them and once touch dry, removing them from the masking tape to avoid another similar woe situation!

By hook or by crook!

The Braham Farish Pannier that I got running for Mr. B had no couplings. I did not have the necessary mounting to put conventional ones on the model so I improvised! Some brass wire was bent to a L shaped rectangle.

Then it was superglued to the rear of the Pannier.

And as I had done some careful measurements it allows the hook of conventional couplings to attach to it!

I did paint the brass black but forgot to take some photos before returning to Mr. B! However, at least he can attach some rolling stock to it now.

And for me? Reunited with that point lever!

 With the Easter weekend out of the way the Rocks By rail Museum can look back with some pride in having had a great attendance from visitors and providing a fantastic first show in 2026,

There were brake van rides...

Locomotives running...

Shunting in the quarry...

Excavators digging and cabs to explore...

Bacon cobs and drinks to eat at  the cafe...

A Weighbridge Office that was officially opened...

And for me? Reunited with that point lever! And it must get stiffer each year or I am getting weaker!

But I did manage a ride in the cab of the passenger train!

I was shattered by the end of Monday but it was a great day!

However, both, in their own ways, are very satisfying to do!

If you are reading this on Easter Monday then I am at or have just returned from the Rocks By Rail Museum following a day of shunting so I will be well and truly shattered! Hence I am writing this post in advance so I can just have some dinner and stretch out on the sofa and probably fall asleep! 

I did prepare for my first full scale shunting of 2026 by doing some small scale shunting on my USA Switching Layout. The problem is whilst the small scale shunting allows me to sit in a chair and relax, the full size shunting means dealing with three link couplings, pinned brakes and climbing on and off things! However, both, in their own ways, are very satisfying to do! More on that tomorrow hopefully!

If I were to build another it would probably be the Airfix kit!

 First there was one....

Then there were two!

Now, whilst the sand coloured model has taken me about 7 weeks to build, the green one took me about 10 days along with the tank some 10 years or so ago! 

The green Scammell is an Airfix kit that is in 1/76 scale along with the Matilda tank on the trailer. There were no etched brass parts and it is fairly robust once built.

The sand coloured Scammell is the ING kit in 1/72 scale so slightly larger than the Airfix kit but not overly noticeable unless you know what you are looking for. As you may have seen from my previous posts on this kit there was a lot of brass etched parts some so small only magnification made any sense of them!

So are the two finished models the same? Well apart from the IBG model having door mirrors they both look much the same detail wise from normal viewing distance. Look a bit closer at the cabs and there are differences in the side window sizes between them and I would put money on the IBG one being right! 

You can see the IBG kit is slightly bigger in this photo.

Whilst I like both models and I learnt much building the IBG kit, for the additional time and frustration the IBG kit takes, if I were to build another transporter it would probably be the Airfix kit!

But why two tracks on the diorama Woody?

The diorama base for the Scammell Tank Transporter has now been finished!

Much as I started it, the remaining vegetation was a mix of flock powders and static grass. I think it looks OK!

Add the model onto it and the two come together well complimenting each other.

But why two tracks on the diorama Woody? Well that is a question I will answer tomorrow!

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!