Detective work!

Sometimes you have to play at detective to find the cause of a problem. I was going to finish the last baseboard frame today but something just did not look right. Placing it on my slabs which I know are level the frame had a twist. Trying to twist it did not have any affect. one piece or possibly more were not true and straight or one of the joints was at an angle. I discounted the joint possibility as a quick check with a carpenters square showed that my mitre saw had cut all the joints true and at 90 degrees. It was then down to detective work to determine which wood was no true. Literally this was a case of unscrewing everything and then putting it back together and seeing what the effect was as each piece was refastened. Eventually I found that one of the side pieces was twisted. It showed itself at the last joint where a twist of a few mm was enough to affect the rest of the frame. The picture below shows the problem.

Going into WMD stores I found some old timer of the right size and cut a new piece to replace the twisted one. There is still a slight twist in the frame which I now know is due to the other side piece which came from the same length of timber as the other piece. Oh well tomorrow should see another piece cut and everything flat and level. Hope I detect the end of this baseboard project approaching!

Some more progress on the baseboard frames for My Last Great Project. The last frame is half built complete with a dropped are where the viaducts will go. Much head scratching and back of envelope calculations to get to this stage but hopefully my calculations and measurements are correct! 

Looking through the gift box of old model railway stuff that I got last week I found this rather nice GWR open cab Pannier.

I thought that this would be a great runner only dating back from the 1980's. However on the track nothing - not even a buzz of a stuck motor. Time to investigate. This is serious dismantling!

I traced back through the parts to find that the motor was not working which was strange given how well it looked. Putting some power to it it would turn a third of a resolution and then stop. I took it apart and cleaned the commutator.

Back together still no different. Then I looked more closely. What I actually found was that one of the wires to an armature had broken (see the photo below) meaning the motor would not run and probably never will as it is next to impossible to repair - for me anyway!

Time to start searching the internet for a replacement!

The season draws to a close!

I was at The Rocks by Rail Museum today where we had the last Driver for a Fiver event of the year. Just one more event in a fortnight and we close for the Winter. WOW! That all went quick! Today we had an unusual high number of visitors for an event so close to the end of season which was great and there many smiling faces and some lovely complimentary comments.

Back at WMD HQ I had some time servicing the Triang 3F Jinty. I had a bit of a surprise when removing the body to find that there is a syncrosmoke mechanism fitted. This was a novelty that Triang used on some locos. Basically a small container with a heated wire has a small quantity of oil poured into it through the funnel. The wire heats the oil which smokes and there is a mechanically driven mechanism that then emits puffs of smoke just like a real steam engine. Unfortunately it is not just like a real engine, but as a kid it was great fun! I need to find the right oil to test whether it still works - I am sure I have some in my stock of useful stuff!

Moving back to the job in hand, there was a broken pick up and a wire that came off in my hands, so some brass strip and soldering solved those problems.

Broken pickup to the right of the picture.

Repaired pickup and new wire .

The wheels were cleaned with an initial wash of rubbing alcohol and cotton buds and then a brass wire brush. The motor brushes were removed and the commutator on the motor cleaned before the also cleaned brushes were reinstalled. The couplings were bent and misaligned so they were straightened with some pliars. After that a quick wipe over of the body itself removed most of the grime but it could probably do with a wash in some water and detergent.

One coupling off and awaiting to be straightened.

The chassis serviced ready to be reunited with its body. You can see the amount of dirt and filth that was removed from the state of the cotton buds.

Back on the tracks it runs smoothly on plain track even down to a reasonably slow speed without hesitation. However it still has problems going through the points due to the coarseness of the wheels but I will live with that as I do like this model. Just need to do something with the transfers but that is for another day.

Back in time!

After yesterdays gift of various bits of model railway rolling stock, I managed to have a look through some of it today. It is like going back in time for me as I remember as a Child the delight of the red boxes that Triang and Hornby model railway stuff came in. You would walk into the local model shop where there would be shelves upon shelves of the boxes awaiting purchase from your pocket money. Not that the pocket money amounted to much. I recall getting something like 15 pence a week but that was in the days when a comic was two and a half pence so I guess it was all relative. However given that a simple wagon was about 75 pence it took a while to save up for something like that and a locomotive was a Christmas present if lucky! Oh those were the days!

However moving back to reality there were some interesting locos in the box. Most of the stuff has lived a hard life and was obviously played with and shows it but that was its purpose in its day. One or two bits are probably too far gone to save but most can live a second and perhaps less stress life with a little TLC.

I did find some locos that I have always wanted. The first is the 0-6-0 3F Jinty. One of the earliest locos that Triang produced and still it appears in production until recently although somewhat more refined and detailed then in its earliest incarnation. This particular one dates probably from the 1960s given the mechanism and the steam roller type wheels which were designed for a course toy like track system that Triang sold in those days. I tried it on one of my layouts. It lives - just! With a bit of prodding and poking it ran although it stutters which can probably be solved with a good clean and service. It does 'jump' over the point frogs but that is down to the coarseness of the wheels. The body needs a clean and possibly new transfers if I can find some. You can see the crudeness of detail by the fact that the cab is filled with the back end of the motor but I still love it!

The second loco for this blog is the Hornby Hymek. A model of British Rails Western Region diesel hydraulic loco which existed along with the Westerns and Warships. It was a mainstay in the Hornby catalogue through the 1960's and 1970's and was a loco that many a young model railway modeller wanted - including me! Well now I have this and crude as it is compared to the modern release by Heljan I still love it and no parts fall off like the more modern detailed models! Placed on the track it runs without prodding but again could do with a clean and service which I will do at a later stage. In the meantime here are some pictures of it.

More interesting stuff to come!

Seeing some friends and a gift for me!

Today was a day about not doing too much. A bike ride this morning brought my total for the year up to 4909 miles. Then this lunchtime I met up with some friends and it was great to catch up with them after in some cases not seeing them since before the pandemic.

I was very fortunate when one of them, knowing my interests in model railways, presented me with two boxes of model railway rollingstock and controllers! I need to have a closer look but there looks to be some really interesting stuff in those boxes. Something to do later on today! As with anything coming in the house the two kittens had to investigate!

More good timber gets the chop!

My continued cutting of good timber into what I hope will be a god set of baseboards for My Last Great Project continues. I now have nearly three frames complete.

You can see how they fit together in this picture below. The gap will be filled with the fourth baseboard which I said would be a simple build but I forgot I want to incorporate a viaduct which will need some interesting woodworking. The overall dimensions will be 11 feet by 6 feet which makes the layout a foot wider than at present but as I will now have a central operating well I need the additional width - or I could go on a diet!

This photo shows how the base board will be supported by the framework I built some weeks ago before I got Covid. Note to self - make sure you pose the baseboards the right way around before taking photo!

I still need to add the legs to the supporting frames but hopefully by the end of next week things should be about ready to install in the Man Cave - famous last words!

A more productive day!

After yesterdays bug that left me somewhat less then engerised today I woke up ready to take on the World! Well not quite but I was ready for a 30 mile bike ride and then a bit more wood butchery on My Last Great Project. I am rebuilding the baseboards and hopefully these will do the job. There has been much head scratching with measurements and how to get the most out of the lengths of wood I have but I have one frame complete and the second one started. This is easier to do as it is identical to the first so all I have to do is take the measurements from the first. What could go wrong????? These are the two more complex boards so the other two I need to make should hopefully be even less taxing on my arithmetic!  

Another day of achieving little!

In yesterdays post I said I hoped I was more energised today. However I woke up feeling a bi sick and before too long I knew I had a bug and migraine. So much for being energised! Most of the day I was in bed feeling sorry for myself but I did manage to spray the cab and tipper body for the Foden Haulmaster. The tipper body needs another coat of paint but it is looking much more like a real truck now.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be as energised as the new kittens who I caught taking a rare relaxing moment from causing chaos!

A day of achieving little!

It was one of those days when despite doing things I did not have a lot to physically show for it! I think I am still somewhat lethargic from my mild dose of Covid I had a week ago when strangely enough I felt better during the Covid then I do after it! 

I did do a bit more wood butchery for My Last Great Project model railway baseboards but nothing really to photograph. I also moved the Foden Haulmaster kit build on a little more with the chassis painted and the wheels just about painted. The chassis was airbrushed with a home brewed mix of Vallejo Red and Earth to produce a sort of dark red colour. The exhaust pipe was picked out in silver and will need rusting up later. The repairs to the tipper body have been completed and the areas that broke seem to be all glued back successfully (strange saying successfully in relation to one of my projects!) and sanded smooth. The cab body is also nearly ready to be painted with the various joins filled and sanded. However it is a day at the Rocks by Rail Museum tomorrow so unfortunately not a lot of model related activities will take place but then there is Wednesday when I am hopefully feeling a bit more energised!

More cats and one step forward and two back with the Foden Haulmaster!

Firstly the WMD HQ is now slightly larger in population with the addition of these two kittens who needed a home - Mrs. Woody is as much a sucker for cats needing a good home as I am for model railway stuff!

Marty and Monty join the other WMD cats which makes my life as Chief Litter Box Cleaner even more interesting!

Talking of interesting, once I had managed to get out to Man Cave having cleaned out the litter boxes, I carried out further work on the Foden Haulmaster kit. I was hoping to finish it ready for painting but that idea was a step too far not that you would guess from this photo which shows an almost complete model.

In trying to get the cab pieces to fit together as the parts are so poorly moulded and don't fit properly I decided to use the wonders of an elastic band to pull the part stogether to where they should be. The theory is relatively simple. However in my execution I obviously over tightened the elastic band. It was like some episode of the Road Runner Cartoon where Wylie Coyote stretches an oversized Acme elastic band across the road and then ends up flattened as the band pulls the two rocks together that it is fastened to together. The four parts of the cab went flat and the swear jar ended up a bit fuller then before I started! That was the first step back. However, as with Wylie, I started over again but unlike Wylie my second attempt did work. However the fit of the panels still needs work with filler and files and the arrow on the photo below shows the area that this is needed in. The other side is the same.

The other step back was with the tipper body. the sides splay out too far so that the rear tailgate did not fit properly. I could soon remedy that with a little gentle persuasion on the body sides to bend inwards. There was that snapping noise and a sudden loss of grip that indicated the persuasion had been too much and part of the side of the tipper had snapped off. I had to glue that back together and it will need further filling and sanding to make the repair invisible as the picture below shows. That swear jar did well tonight!

Hopefully tomorrow will see the glue hardened and work can recommence!