However, in true Woody style it has not quite gone to plan!

Sometimes you find a project that you are working on just does not seem to flow. You have done similar things before so it is not as though you don't know what to do and how to actually do it. But, for what ever reason, the project just does not come along and your mindset is not with the project either. That is the way I am with the bridge/tunnel structure I am building at the moment. It is not the first time I have or indeed other modellers have gone through such a thing and it won't be the last. We all have different ways to deal with the problem. Mine is to usually put the project to one side and do an easy and quick to show results project which usually gives me the lift and inspiration to get back to the original project.

So that is what I have done! However, in true Woody style it has not quite gone to plan! The plan was to DCC chip a Class 150 DMU that I had bought second hand/used/pre loved (take your pick!) about 15 years or so ago.

I payed just £85 for it which was a good price then and considering that the new ones today are £200 to £250 even Mrs. Woody would have to say it was a good buy!

The detail and paint finish are superb!

To fit a chip was simply a matter of taking the top off. However, the two screws at the rear are small and deep set down a narrow opening. Finding a screw driver that fitted was a pain but eventually the screws were undone and the top came off revealing the circuit board.

Access to the chip socket was easy and it was all marked up which was a nice touch.

The blanking pug was removed and a 21 pin DCC chip fitted.

Everything was going great! Or so I thought!. Testing on the track revealed that it ran like a stuttering rabbit! It would go, then stop then go, stutter, then go and so on. Clean the wheels I though. No difference. Lubricate the motor. No difference. Eventually I traced the issue to the electrical pick up system.

The bogies transfer power by copped uprights arrowed with the horizontal arrow. These 'wipe' on the copper strips on the green circuit board with the vertical arrow. The system is not good and despite cleaning it and a slight improvement in performance there needs to be a better system which I will have to think about! At least it has taken my mind ff the bridge/tunnel structure! 

More to do but going in the right direction!

A bit of a lazy weekend but I have managed to mock up on the layout the various parts constructed so far for the bridge/tunnel structure. It looks OK to me which is good as I really don't want to start from scratch again!

So, more to do but going in the right direction!

Faced up!

The tunnel section has now been faced up! No I haven't had an argument with it but it now has Metcalfe brick paper covering the outside. I cut various off cuts of paper to make up the shapes required safe in the knowledge that abutments and similar will cover them when they are added.

Just need to face up to finishing this rather long winded project bt I need to finish painting the lounge before that happens!

More brick paper!

Like the painting of the lounge that is my current Mrs. Woody's job list priority, the building of the bridge/tunnel section for my layout is taking its time! But there is some progress on both projects!

More brick paper has been added with the paper for the underside of the tunnel now glued in place and the side walls are also now covered in brick paper.

At the moment it all looks a bit strange but once the bridge section and tunnel section come together it should all begin to look god - I hope!

Which would you choose?

Whilst the painting of the lounge continues I have been taking a bit of time out for bike rides which recently been interesting from the point of view of seeing two extremes of transport. I spotted this Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter up at Belvoir Castle.

Nice to be able to hop in your helicopter and go and visit friends!

I also saw this!

It is a DAF 55 coupe. These were made between 1967 and 1972. Done up as a rally car may seem a bit optimistic but DAF actually rallied these as did some independent rally drivers with some success. A 55 won the 1968 Alpine Rally, and in late 1968 Rob Slotemaker finished 17th out of 100 contestants in the grueling 16500 km London-Sydney Marathon.

Now, which of these two extremes of transport would I choose given the choice? Well it would be the DAF on the basis that: -

1. I can drive a car but cannot fly a helicopter!

2. The DAF is a lot easier to park and you can keep it on your driveway unlike a helicopter unless you live somewhere like Belvoir Castle!

3. The DAF is a lot cheaper to run!

4. I just like the quirkiness of that little car!

Meanwhile back at WMD HQ, more time taken out to make progress on the bridge/tunnel for my 00 gauge layout. Not much progress to report as I don't want Mrs. Woody getting ideas I have time on my hands! However the tunnel structure is now coming on with the 'mouth' formed. After lots of frowning as discussed in my last post on this subject, I had to take the central pier out - it was just a lot easier doing that! However, that makes life easier as well and this is what it all looks like now.

It is ready for sme brick papers to be attached which will be an interesting task given the angles involved and that will no doubt lead to more frowning!

Tunnels and frowns - all in a day working on my Last Great Project layout!

After a day of smiles at the Rocks By rail Museum my face frowned a bit as I got back into the Man Cave to progress the bridge build for my Last Great Project Layout. Having got the bridge structure right I need to get a top on it and that will also incorporate the tunnel mouths into th storage loops. I know what I want shape wise and a top has been cut out.

I then cut out a 'trial' set of tunnel mouths.

Whilst it looks right to me the central pier is catching on passing trains so I will have to see if there is a way of keeping that pier or having to make the tunnel mouth a single four track one rather than two two track ones. Lots of frowning will be going into that decsion!

I seem to spend a lot more time building layouts rather then playing or should that be operating them!

I seem to spend a lot more time building layouts rather then playing operating them! So that I did just that! I ran some trains and it was a really relaxing fulfilling hour or so!

What was running? Well, this 8F was in charge of the mineral wagon train. I do like the the looks of this loco with its 8 main wheel configuration, black paintwork and a look of power!

It certainly had no issues with the 24 wagons behind it.

Next up, another powerful loco in the form of the 9F. Again, with a 10 main wheel configuration and that classic black paintwork it oozes the power to haul freight as the real loco did.

The classic Class 25 diesel which was the mainstay of much of the freight operations of British Railways in its early days and well into its Corporate Blue era. Many of these locos are still alive and well thanks to the preservationists. 

Finally, the Class 58 which saw a great deal of action hauling coal hoppers especially on the so called Merry Go Round operations to the power stations when they burnt coal. A great model in EWS livery hauling a rake of Turbot wagons.

I really must play operate the layout more!

It may well be make believe but is that not what model making is about ?

Sometimes, when a project is taking a while and progress seems slow, it is worth taking a step back and just seeing how things have actually progressed and if that progress is leading to an end result that is worth the work. I did just that!

The bridge project that I am currently working on is taking some time to do but with the main structure together it does alter the character of the station area of my layout . Put together with what I have already done the atmosphere and character of a small urban station and goods yard, hemmed in by walls is really coming along just as I hoped as these photos illustrate - well to me anyway! 

Class 153 and Calss 156 in Central Trains livery stand at the platform whilst the goods yard plays host to a rake of BOC bogie tankers.

Having just arrived in Platform 2, the Class 153 has cleared the single line out of the station so that the Class 156 can depart.

Which it does!

Meanwhile, the resident Class 08 shunter is topping up its tanks at the refueling point before moving some more wagons around the goods yard. 

All the above descriptions of what is going on may well be make believe but is that not what model making is about - creating your own World?

Another day and another side of the bridge covered in Metcalfe brick paper!

Another day and another side of the bridge covered in Metcalfe brick paper!

I thought that I had better see how it looks on the layout before going any further and yes it is as I hoped. It gives a good scenic break as trains come into the station on the inner loop whilst the antics of those trains on the outer two loops are visually separated.

Lots more to do so I better get on with it!

Oversized clothes peg!

Sometimes you see the strangest of things such as this oversized clothes peg in a local park that Mrs. Woody and I went for a first walk in.

I do seem to have a fascination with oversized sculptures as I have blogged about on previous occasions. Not sure why this is. Maybe it is simply doing the opposite of making miniature models and making oversized models of things? Whatever it is, I did like this a lot. But no, I won't be creating my own version for display in the WMD Towers garden! However, with some lateral thinking, what about making a miniature model of the oversized clothes peg? I could simply take a peg out of the peg bag and use that!

Back to more miniature mode items and the bridge that has featured in the last few posts slowly comes together as the underside of the arch has been covered in Metcalfe brick papers which match the other brickwork that it will adjoin to on the baseboard.

Slowly but surely this is coming on!

THe bridge moves on!

Model making time has been at a bit of a premium at the moment but I have grabbed the odd few minutes here and there to get some progress on the model bridge I am building. Having got the two sides fasten together it was time to infill the top of the bridge arch. As this is a semi curved area, I cut several lines part way through the card infill on its upper surface where it needed to curve. The picture probably explains better than my words!

I also cut out some additional cross members to strengthen the structure. Gluing everything in place I used masking tape to hold everything in place until the glue sets.

Once set in a day or so I can start looking at getting a top on it and some brick papers.

And now it begins to look like a bridge!

IN amongst the various maintenance jobs going on at WMD Towers I have found a few minutes to get a bit further with the construction of a bridge for My Last Great Project layout. With two sides cut out of mounting card the side parts could be attached.

And now it begins to look like a bridge!

As usual, much more to do but never enough time! 

I see an opening!

I see an opening in this case is related to My Last Great Project Layout where work is progressing on getting scenery finished or at least to a point that looks like it may be complete! The latest part is to build a bridge/tunnel mouth on the station/storage yard approaches. It will hopefully all work out but at this stage it is slow going as measurements are taken and trial fittings made which all take time. At the moment one side of the bridge over the railway is mocked up in card and it looks good. If I am still happy in a day or so the rest of the bridge/tunnel mouth will be constructed.

Everything worked with no short or dead circuits!

And now back to my Last Great Project layout with the profile boards having been painted and reattached to the rear of the layout and wires connected up I was pleasantly surprised, in fact amazed, to find that everything worked with no short or dead circuits! It must be down to the amount of practice I have had on the previous three boards.

I have left the profile boards off the inside faces of the baseboard to make access a bit easier as I start to form the landscape for the far corner. A small start has been made with the base of the scenic module now cut to shape from mounting card.

This could take some time to finish!

A small step forward.

 A small step forward as I get the profile boards for My Last Great Project Layout painted in the customary WMD Slate Grey. I took them off the baseboard to make painting easier and once dry they can be reattached which will be another small step forward! Mrs. Woody though, is still waiting for steps forward with her list of jobs for me to do!

Time to relax?

Whilst the wiring the that I described in some previous posts is finished on the baseboard the original ballasting that I did some time ago was never finished (not unusual for me) and to be blunt, some parts were not as I would want them to be. That was partly down to the fact that the baseboard was in place on the layout and I could not reach very well. With the baseboard away from the layout I had the perfect opportunity to put right what is wrong and finish the project. Now ballasting is not the most exciting job to do but it can be relaxing so I have had a few hours of soothing work to relax me! And you do see some progress although I will need to wait for the dilute PVA glue that I spread over the top to dry before doing anything else! That should give me some more time to relax or do some jobs on Mrs. Woody's list!

That swear jar is becoming rather heavy!

It is back to wiring on the fourth baseboard of My Last Great Project model railway layout and I am pleased to say that it is done! Well just about. I just need to attach the chocolate box connector to the baseboard and harness the wiring runs together but that is it! The point motors are all installed and working despite me wiring two on the crossovers in the track back to front but that was easily solved after trying to work out for two hours what was wrong! That swear jar is becoming rather heavy! It is amazing how sometimes the most obvious can be so difficult to spot as I often inform Mrs. Woody as she enquires about progress with her 'For me to do list'! 

These two chocolate box connectors will eventually take the wiring to the yet to be built control panel. The great thing about these are they are robust and easy to join and take apart.

Maybe the swear jar contains enough for a custom built control panel?

Another butterfly moment!

Just as I predicted yesterday, I had another butterfly moment and although there is still wiring to finish on the baseboard I decided to make a start on the profile boards! some 3mm ply was used and it was a job and a half to mark everything out so that it matches up to the other already in place boards as well as the scenery modules already constructed. However, the initial job is done.

I just need to paint them grey now! When that will happen is open to debate given my current butterfly mood but at least it is all progress!

It is a bit like keyhole surgery!

Wiring continues on My Last Great Project layout with the point motors having been fitted which is never an easy job. Basically you have to feed the actuation pin from under the baseboard and try to get it through the small hole in the tiebar of the point. It is a bit like keyhole surgery! You then have to ensure that the motor will actually work the point and then mark and drill holes through the mounting plate of the motor into the baseboard and screw it in position. A third or indeed a fourth hand would be useful! However, success eventually came about with all eight now in place.

Further back ache and contributions to the WMD swear jar have seen six of the eight motors actually wired up.

There is still a lot to do once the wiring is finished including things on the surface of the baseboard including profile boards and tidying up the ballast as well as thinking about the scenery. In my butterfly mood at the moment of fliting randomly from one job to another who knows what tomorrow may bring!

A butterfly moment!

In one of my butterfly moments of fliting from one thing to another, I have put aside the oil depot kit for a while to allow me to get on with the wiring of the final board of four on My Last Great Project layout. There is some logic behind this in that I would rather get this job done whilst the warmer weather is with us. Nothing worse then dealing with wires in a cold room! 

The big clear off from the board of rolling stock and yet to be attached scenery saw the board on its side.

A few cobwebs and dust were apparent, must get a new cleaner! However, having already wired up three boards, this last one didn't show anything that I had not already dealt with previously.

A few hours saw the wires connected to the wiring modules which just need to be screwed in place and connected up to the chocolate box connector. 

Next up is fitting the point motors and wiring them up and then the profile boards for the scenery need to be cut, painted and fitted to the back edges of the board. It may be a long while before I get back to that oil depot kit!