A tale of two engines - twice!

Almost sounds like something from Thomas the Tank Engine but it is not so I will explain. First off it was another day at the Rocks by Rail Museum with yet more ballast washing on the agenda. With the temperature just above freezing and water flying about it was always going to be a tough job. However we were not expecting the screen over which the ballast passes when it comes out of the mixer drum to partially collapse nor for Harriot the JCB to develop an oil leak. So whilst we did not get much ballast cleaned we did get cold! Despite these set backs things are repaired and its the knowledge, dedication and determination of the guys at the museum that makes this all possible. Now moving onto the engine reference. It was the turn of Betty's sister loco, Jean to come out for some exercise today. They both look like twins apart from the nameplate as you can see in the photos below, but it was nice to see the other half out in the open air even if it is only the nameplate which shows the difference.

Back at WMD HQ I had time for an hour of model building. As I cannot do anything on the narrow gauge layout or the Heller Scania 141 LB at the moment I had to do what all modelers do and start another project. I have started the Italeri Scania Streamline 143 H and the beginning for me is the engine. Now this is interesting as the Heller kit engine is still not in the chassis so I can compare the two kits interpretation of what is more or less the same engine. The additional level of detail with the Italeri engine even though it is the early stages of construction, is obvious looking at the two together and the part count for the Heller engine is only about half that of the other engine which sort of confirms that observation. Whilst there may be more parts to assemble in the Italeri kit hopefully they will not have the twisted, warped and mis-moulded issues that the Heller kit has and the time taken to fix those. 

A tale of two engines - twice! What more could you want! Well a nice warmish day to finish spraying the Heller kit, the model water on the narrow gauge layout to dry, finish Mrs. Woody's job list, a lottery win...............and off to the land of fantasy I go!

Another day in Paradise!

As I went through the gates at the Rocks by Rail Museum that beautiful and emotional song by Phil Collins came on the radio - Another day in Paradise. For me it was another day in paradise. Although frosty the sun was shining and the museum had that inviting look and I was going to spend a day in a stunning, to me anyway, place with a group of great guys! 

Paradise for me is also being at the end of a shovel (it takes all sorts but at least my needs are simple! ) and todays task was to dig out all the spillage around the oversized washing machine ballast washer so that Harriot the JCB could get its bucket under the screen to collect the washed ballast. As the ballast comes out of the drum and down the screen the fine material goes through the screen and should drop into a couple of wheel barrows underneath. Some of that fine material inevitably misses the barrows and over time you get to the point where the barrows can not get under the screen so you have to dig out the spilled material. Despite the frost it was soon T shirt time!

 After that job was over it was time to start spreading the washed ballast where it was needed. Having had a full week of track leveling and packing over last week, looking down the track to where the loco and ballast wagon where was a bit of a shock and a bit of a walk! There has ceratinly been some major progress made. 

After the hard labour of the day I hitched a ride back up the line in the cab of Betty the loco which was nice as I can say I travelled in a Rolls Royce - well a RR powered loco anyway! 

Back at the other paradise of WMD HQ the Heller Scania 141 LB has progressed slightly. The various joints in the front wheel arches were filled early this morning with Vallejo acrylic putty. 

As I had a spare half hour before preparing Mrs. Woody's dinner I rubbed down the joints which just require a little more tidying tomorrow and then that will be ready for paint.

Hopefully the Sausage Hot Dogs for tonight's dinner will see a continuation of my day in paradise!

Yes - its good to be alive!

One of those days where you think yes - its good to be alive! I got the hoovering and other jobs off Mrs. W's chore list done early this morning, got a 10 mile bike ride in and then off to the Rocks by Rail Museum. One of the things that you have to do when you arrive is safety related and that is sign in - you also sign out when you leave so you hopefully don't end up left locked in a wagon or some similar predicament! The signing in hut is near the entrance and then you have to walk down to the tracks where todays task was more use of the oversized washing machine cleaning ballast. As the loco sheds are open I always walk through them rather then walk outside on the way down to the tracks - why would you miss the chance to walk past so much history? On a day like this with the sun shining the sheds take on a whole new appearance.

Apart from being sunny the weather was also warm if you were in the sun but the ground was still frozen in the shade. I was soon down to a T shirt - not muscle shirt if you read yesterdays post - and noticed this on the nearby gate.

No, not my sweaty top but a fleece that covers the batteries that power the various water pumps - don't ask why the fleece covers them probably they are old and cold -  which you can just see in the photo is steaming in the heat of the sun as it dries!

The Museum may be Rutland's largest railway museum (and only) but it runs on the goodwill of a lot of volunteers and their ability to repair the older equipment that keeps it going.  Harriot, as the JCB is known, has a bit of a fuel issue at the moment and every so often just stops. People with magical mechanical skills then need to get her going again - not easy when you have to lean into the engine bay but they know what they are doing and we got about 10 tons of ballast washed today ready for more track packing and levelling.

Back with my own vehicle issues on the Heller Scania 141 LB, some more progress. Its actually beginning to look like a truck chassis!

So all I have to do now is get Mrs. W's dinner right tonight and it certainly will be a good to be alive day!

Not all that glitters is gold!

Back in the 1970s and 80s the pronouncement on a kit box that it contained chrome parts was a guaranteed selling point for many kits. The reality was and still is, is that the chrome is a plastic paint that at best is reasonable but usually it is poorly applied and can look simply terrible - just like me! The other thing is that you cannot sand it or abrade it to deal with the inevitable joints in parts which have to be joined. The result is that you either live with parts that have a clear and unrealistic join in them or you do away with the chrome. You can get special chrome paints that you can spray and these can look good but you both need an airbrush and know what you are doing.

For some reason three sprues in the Heller Scania 141 LB kit are chromed. I can understand doing the chrome for the fuel tanks and wheels but the sprues include such things as the seat cushion bases for inside the cab - comfy! This glittering array of kit parts is not gold to me! I am going to be dechroming the parts as it was rare for a 1980s truck to have any such items unless they were a custom truck and back then they were not many of those. Believe it or not i will be using oven cleaner to do the dechroming - but don't tell Mrs. W as she may hope that the oven gets cleaned too! 

In order to cement the chrome parts together you have to remove the chrome from the surfaces to be cemented.

The kit is that old that the parts are warped. This is an end view of one of the fuel tanks.

To try to straighten it up I have tempoarily put the ends in.

The progress for today!

In the morning it was back to the Museum and more track leveling and straightening! Its less than 3 months to opoening so its got to be done!

We must be getting somewhere as the photos are taken from the same point but it looks so much further than a few weeks ago!

Steamy Saturday!

It might have been cold, it might have been windy, it might have been wet, but I had a smile as wide as the track gauge on my face at the Rocks By Rail Museum Members Day today. There was a engine in steam and with attached brake vans I got to ride the section of track where I have been involved in digging out, washing and repacking ballast to level the track. I am told it was a lot smoother than before so suddenly the back aches and creaking joints become even more worth it! 

Not going to say much more other than the photos and a film clip (produced by the WMD HQ Film Crew who still need to hone their art) show what some determination and hard work by the guys at this museum can achieve. The Museum opens to the public at Easter so I hope visitors will come and enjoy everything on offer, hopefully in warmer and drier weather! Have a look what's going on in 2022 by clicking here.

The passenger accomodation!

Can be luxurious for a chosen few!

Anyone order fog?

Steamy Times!

Another day at the Rocks by Rail Museum. The temperature had dropped from about 14 degrees Celsius yesterday to a more chilly 4 degrees today. However the sun was out and further shoveling work kept me warm if not at times steamy! Yes more track leveling and straightening work. There was a slight bend in the track which was straightened by using a block and tackle attached to a conveniently located wagon on the adjacent siding and then using this and pry bars the track was straightened.

After that more shoveling and packing of ballast.

Talking of steamy times, there is a members day soon at the Museum, so one of the Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 steam engines, Sir Thomas Royden, was brought out of the shed by Betty the Sentinel diesel engine to have its water tanks filled ready to be steamed up.

I took the opportunity to look in the cab - every boys dream of a certain age to drive one of these!

Built in Scotland in 1940, it is not that old by steam loco standards.

I will look forward to seeing this loco in steam.

On the model making front I could not resist poking the model water poured yesterday. It was still wet but at least it has stayed in the river and not leaked out - yet! I am amusing myself cutting the infill cobbled areas for the canal wharf area which is a slow and at times frustrating job. However it has to be done so no point in getting steamed up about it!

Doing the laundry!

Well it feels like he laundry! Another day at the Rocks by Rail Museum with a barmy 14 degrees Celsius at the end of December! First we dig the ballast out, then we wash it and then we put it back just like you put the laundry away after washing!  Each stage involves shoveling and that is where my shovel skills appear to come in handy. Its back breaking work but with a great crew, some interesting chat and a few jokes it soon gets done.

The ballast is transported after washing in the Trout ballast wagon. This has discharge chutes either side and in the middle. The three white wheels on the end of the wagon each control one of the chutes although on this wagon the middle one doesn't work which is a pity as that is where the ballast is needed! However some muscle power sees the piles either side of the track spread in the middle to give a nice even spread of ballast.  

Ballast arrives....

Discharge chute on the wagon is opened with the control wheel..

Ballast is discharged....

Eager crew wait to spread the ballast....

Several hours of shoveling and several tons of ballast later we have some neat looking track!

Only another mile or so to go! That should make 2022 interesting!

It may not look pretty, but it works!

Probably something that Mrs Woody thinks about me! Although having still got a list of jobs left to do from her 'List' the last bit of the title may not be so true! 

However I did manage a few hours of work at the Rocks by Rail Museum yesterday where the ballast washing operation continued with the over sized washing machine that I  talked about last week (go here to see that post). Not looking pretty is something of an understatement about the machine as it looks as though it is a cast off from the Gold Rush TV series! The loading hopper is a case in point - lots of large nuts and bolts, bits of wood and rusty metal all fastened together in a bit of a haphazard manner which would make most advocates of aesthetic design turn away in disgust. However pretty it may not be but it works and that is what counts! In addition it cost a fraction of the £50m that Network Rail spent on a ballast cleaning machine back in 2015 - go here to see details of that and indeed how much prettiness £50m buys!

Anyway, following a day at the museum I also had an hour in my man cave AKA The Room of Gloom. The foam that i had glued to make the substructure for the river banks had dried and whilst not looking pretty, once carved to shape with a kitchen knife (note to self  - remember to return before Mrs. W misses it) it provided the perfect base for the next part of the landscaping work. This involved mixing up a fairly sloppy mix of DIY filler and then using small pieces of kitchen roll laid over the foam and bushed with the sloppy filler until saturated (note to self - also remember to return kitchen roll before Mrs. W misses it). The idea is that you build up several layers of kitchen roll which eventually dry into a hard shell. Again, it may not look pretty but it works. Once it is covered with model foliage it will then look pretty - I hope!

Foam has been carved to shape.

First pieces of kitchen roll and sloppy filler being applied.

 

Most of the river bank completed.

How quickly this will dry is a big question as the man cave can get cold so progress may be slow - but that is the story of my life!

Oversized washing machine!

Last week it was clearing vegetation at the Rocks by Rail Museum but this week it was a chance to use the oversized washing machine to do some ballast washing. Now I generally like to keep away from washing machines as close contact with them can lead to all sorts of unreasonable domestic expectations about me using them from Mrs. Woody. However supersize the machine and put it in a railway setting - well that is a completely different situation that I like to be involved in.

It may look somewhat Heath Robinson in nature but the system is sheer brilliance. The basis of the system is an old cement mixer with a drum of about 4 to 6 cubic meters capacity. Dirty ballast is loaded into it via the hopper at the top.

Add some water from the nearby handy water container that was previously a 14 ton molasses tanker

Let the drum rotate for a few minutes. Put the drum into reverse so that the ballast comes out and it spills down the screen deck where it gets a bit more of a hose down into the waiting front bucket of the JCB. There are two wheel barrows under the screen which collect all the fine material that falls away from the ballast so that it can be reused elsewhere on site. They fill up more or less with each wash cycle and with added water weigh a ton - I know from experience now! It is surprising just how dirty and contaminated ballast can become.

Having been washed the ballast then gets transferred into the nearby Trout ballast wagon ready to be spread around the tracks. I do have a gravel driveway at home which looks a bit dirty - wonder if Mrs. W would notice if I used the washing machine..........