Probably the last day of this year that I will be at the Rocks By Rail Museum!

Probably the last day of this year that I will be at the Rocks By Rail Museum and I finished the year as I will no doubt be starting it in 2026 with more vegetational butchery in the bone yard! It may not be the most glamorous job but you never know what you may find and it is also starting to interest other volunteers who now come by to see what I have unearthed!

Todays junk treasure included this table frame....

,,,,thus ladder....

.....these point rodding parts.....

...and an assortment of metal parts that may well end up in the scrap bin!

Hopefully be March of next year just about all the bone yard will be cleared but there is much to do so the start of 2026 will be a busy one if the weather is kind!

Pavements take shape!

I decided to construct the road section over the bridge/tunnel that was in the photo in yesterdays post. I had already cut the main base to size and painted it with some rattle can grey primer which is a bit darker than my usual brand but it was half the price! What I needed to do was to cut the pavements out of mounting card for either side of the carriageway. As usual, the WMD Stores had card in stock so after some measurements, head scratching and more head scratching the pavements were cut to shape. I then scribed the kerb stones at the edges which will be painted later.

The two pieces of card were then painted using the same rattle can as the road. Given that the shade of grey was far too dark for worn and weathered tarmac I used some light grey paint and airbrushed it in random patterns to give the real life effect that you see on real roads.

Once the paint dries it will look less stark. I then need to paint the kerbs and glue the pavements in place. The dark grey areas will be 'grassed' in some form!

I have plenty to keep me occupied as I keep telling Mrs. Woody!

There is much more to do but I placed one of the scenic sub-bases in place just to see how things were going towards the final scene and I think it fits in well. I need to finish that bridge/tunnel section and paint the 3D printed signal box so I have plenty of things to keep me occupied as I keep telling Mrs. Woody when she adds more jobs to her list of things for me to do!

In the meantime, I have also treated the second of the three current sub-bases to some additional 'wild' vegetation which makes it look more realistic. 

Will I get most of all this scenic work done before Christmas? Who knows but it is a hobby to enjoy so it takes as long as it takes which i also tell Mrs. W!

A 300% increase in price over six years but is it still cheap?

 

I have been using a lot of PVA glue over the past few weeks. This has led to a need to restock the WMD Stores so I have been on the look out at my normal suppliers who all seem to be out of my usual cheap glue. I don't use expensive PVA. The stuff I need it to glue is not structural and it just needs to stick things down or together so the cheap stuff is good for me. I did find some in The Works which is a UK chain of shops that sells books and arts and crafts materials at cheapish prices. The problem is the glue is no longer cheap. Or, maybe not as cheap as it used to be. Before Covid, I could pick up the same size bottle as in the picture for 99pence. Two years ago when I last restocked it was £1.99. Today £3 which is about a 300% increase in six years which is a lot. Or is it? In my mind I am used to paying a very cheap price and a 300% increase over six years makes me feel as though the glue is now expensive. However, trying to get things into perspective, £3 for a large bottle of glue that has to be manufactured, distributed, stocked and sold is still a cheap price when compared to the cost of other model making materials which have all also gone up - a lot more than 300% in some cases. I guess we have to accept that there is a cost to things and these things have gone up in price over time but some, in comparison, are still cheap when you consider what you actually physically get for your money. 

All very philosophical today but there is a logic in all that which I will no doubt find out if it is an understandable logic once Mrs, Woody reads it!

Its all in the browns!

The before weathering the brickwork photo...

and the after photo....

Not  a missive change but enough to give that realism of the aging effects of time and weather and take away that pristine, built yesterday look that make a model look a little toy like. The weathering on the brickwork was just dilute brown paint airbrushed on in random patterns whilst the rock faces were just brush painted with dilute brown paint - all in the brown!. I'm pleased with the overall effect and even Mrs. woody who is hard to impress, made positive comments!

Adding some additional greenery.

Having added hanging basket liner to the scenic sub-base to simulate the wild undergrowth of an unkempt area, it was time to add some additional greenery to break up the scene and add some more realism. The WMD Stores have a good stock of various scenic products and theses were put to good use.

The intention is to introduce various different greens and other vegetational colours along with suitable textures. Whether I have achieved that is down to the viewer but from a distance I think it looks realistic.

Even getting in close their is realism - it certainly looks like the WMD garden! 

Next job is to weather the brickwork and paint the rock faces which will se a switch from greens to browns!

Time for some retaining walls!

Having constructed the retaining walls for the area where the signal box is going in the scenic sub-base I needed to make some corner and end piers which would both strengthen the joint and hide the join in the brick paper. Some mounting card was cut to shape and then covered in brick paper. At the same time I also cut some strips of brown card and marked it up to represent joints in coping stone that would go on top of the retaining walls.

With that done it was time to glue all the components into place on the sub-base.

Looks OK to me and when I posed the yet to be painted signal box in position it really began to show promise!

 

At the end of the destruction session I looked back upon the scene of devastation with a warm glow of achievement!

More junk treasures discovered in my continuing vegetational destruction in the bone yard at the Rocks By Rail Museum! Actually there was one treasure, a gradient post which must be a few years old. It was hiding deep under the vegetation and Andy seemed interested in getting it out.

Once dragged out its in reasonable condition for something probably about 100 years old and it will find a place trackside once restored.

Other finds included this which initially looked like a mudguard from a motorcycle to me!

But once dragged out along with several other similar items it was clear they were all street light units!

This metal box had something looking like a coin slot mechanism in the bottom but what it is is anyone's guess but it must have had some use in the past.

An unusual find, as they usually disintegrate after time, was this plastic bag that contained steam coal many years ago. You cannot actually get this anymore since the UK coal mines have all closed.

The large stone blocks are from an old platform edge and will be needed when the Museum constructs its platform at the end of the line so they may still be in the bone yard for some time!

One thing that there is an abundance of in the bone yard are concrete sleepers which will come in useful in the future. Martyn is already using the CAT to haul out the revealed ones and there are a lot more to go!

At the end of the destruction session I looked back upon the scene of devastation with a warm glow of achievement!

Lots more to do and lots more to discover!

 

A floating shunter!

More progress with the scenic sub-bases and this time I am creating the retaining walls to go around the cut out in the landscape where the signal box will be. All I need is card cut to size and then cover it with brick paper - just like this.....

Once the glue is all dry and the brick paper trimmed to size it will fit into the cut out something like this.....

I still need to give the vegetation a hair cut on this sub-base but I wanted to wait until the walls were fitted before doing that.

Despite Mrs. Woody's list of jobs I have had time for a few bike rides and I was passing the local canal where much activity was in progress.

Regular readers will know that I blogged earlier this year about the canal drying up to a trickle and the abundant growth of vegetation that took place.

Well, much of that growth has gone as the canal workers take advantage of restored water levels to dredge the area. fascinating to see the process with various vessels used along with excavators. All the dredged material is put into the open boat which I think technically is known as a butty. That is then towed to the right hand bank where the other excavator digs it out and places it in the large trench that has been dug - presumably to dry out before something else happens to it.

I was quite taken by the small boat which from a distance looks like a floating diesel railway shunter from the Rocks By rail Museum. In effect it is a shunter as it shunts the butty from one side of he canal to the other. A close up also revealed its fitting canal like name of Heron.

Wonder what it would look like on rails?

Hair cut sir?

 Although Mrs. Woody will gently 'hint' when I need a hair cut, I am not in need at the moment or at least there have been no hints given! However, the scenic sub-bases do indeed need a hair cut. With the  hanging basket liner glued in place and glue now dry it was time for that hair cut. Now my hair cut method would not see me employed at a top salon, but for the liner it works well. Firstly, the top layer was gently ripped off leaving a mix of different length strands and colours much like the wild vegetation that I am trying to create. You can see what was removed in the picture below.

It was a little too wild though....

....so my hair cutting implements came out - scissors and instead of a hair dryer a vacuum cleaner!

 

The scissors trimmed whilst the vacuum cleaner pulled out the strands that did not fall off and I was left with a 'manicured' wilderness! Looks good though and just needs some additional shrubbery adding to add further realism and with my current vegetational butchery of the bone yard at the Rocks By Rail Museum I feel I have gained useful knowledge on such matters!

Now I wonder if anyone needs a hair cut whilst I have my implements out? Hair cut sir????

The hair bear bunch!

Well maybe not so much the hair bear bunch but definitely the hairy landscape bunch! To bring the impression of unkempt and wild vegetation, which is something I am getting very familiar with at the Rocks By rail Museum, I am using hanging basket liner on the scenic sub-bases. The liner is made up of recycled fibres presumably from old clothes which makes a great representation of wild vegetation. Simply glue the liner to the areas that need wilding and wait for the glue to dry after which the top layer can be pulled off leaving the vegetation!

PVA is applied to the surfaces and the liner is pressed into it.

Even without any other work, the landscape already looks more natural.

All three sub-bases have been done now so it is time to let the glue dry.

Real imitation rock!

Things move on as the scenic sub-bases get a coat of plaster sculptured to look like rock or as I like to call it, real imitation rock! My usual method was used, with plaster mixed with some PVA, brown paint and water to a semi sloppy mix and then applied with a stiff paint brush in a stippling motion.

That lot just needs to dry now which with the warmer weather hopefully will not take too long. And as we have relative warmth outside I also primed the 3D printed signal box so that is ready to be painted up.

From contour maps to landforms.

 With my latest capers in polystyrene ready to be carved to shape I set to in the Man Cave - too much mess to do inside the house and I think Mrs. Woody might have words to say! There was a scene like a snowstorm having finished shaping the two sub-bases but I cleared it up and was left with these.

Looking a little more like landforms then a contour map, the next step is the plaster impregnated bandage.

So far one is done and the other about a quarter done. Coming on though which is always a plus point! And whilst it may have been snowy inside the Man Cave at least its not snowing outside of it!

Polystyrene Capers - Take 2!

More polystyrene capers with the last of the scenic sub-bases being constructed for my Last Great Project Layout. Similar to the one I built last week, scrap polystyrene was cut to shape and glued into the mounting card 'box'. Some tooth pick nails and masking tape helped keep things in place whilst the glue dries.

Being somewhat brazen, this was taken into the warmth of house to speed the glue drying and is in the kitchen until Mrs. Woody tells me to move it!

Hmmmm! Soup! Now that's an idea for a wet and cold day. If only it wasn't needed to act as a weight!

Wet, wet, wet!

Wet, wet wet! Not the boy band from the 90s but the prevalent climatic conditions at the Rocks By Rail Museum. 

Given such weather, I could have been sensible and found a job in the dry of restoration shed giving Andy a hand cleaning the running gear of loco 1931....

.....or doing something with loco Barrington....

...or even helping John out with fettling the brakes on loco Mr. D!

I could even have done some of the jobs on this rake of brake vans and wagons where I could have been in the dry of one of the brake vans....

I might even have considered doing something on the cab or water tank of loco 1931 which are temporarily stored on wagons awaiting repatriation with the rest of the loco once the boiler returns from being retubed.

However, being pessimistic and not having faith in the weather forecast I decided to try out Benny Brush Cutter! Similar to Sammy Strimmer, but Benny has a metal cutting disk instead of strimming cord. I thought that this would be a major step forward in the arty of vegetational butchery down in the bone yard. Having managed to awake it from several years of slumber since it last saw action off we went. The rain appeared to be getting less heavy so I thought that I was on a winner. I had to tackle a different area of the bone yard as there were dog training activities going on where I was intending to be but that was not a problem. I did uncover some interesting 'lost items' such as this engine!

There was also a door, some wheels, pipes and an assortment of yet to be identified metal parts!

I also began to uncover part of some remote point control mechanism.

But by this time I was extremely wet and lunch beckoned in the dry of the Snap Cabin! I was that wet that I abandoned going back down to the bone yard and instead sorted a couple of small inside jobs out and them it was home time with the car heater on full blast to try to dry me off! I still had a great day though!