With a bit of work today the arched structure of the second Metcalfe viaduct is built. This means that I can at least run trains without them disappearing into an abyss! More to be done to them yet but things have moved on in the last few days which is unusual for me! Maybe Mrs. Woody's list of jobs to do has not received the attention from me she believes it should, but I have put the time to good use on my to do list!
Back at the Last Great Project layout the trains are running again but that gap in the baseboards where the dropped section is needs filling with the viaducts before I can go much further or a train decides to make a break for it and meets the floor. I have had trains do an Evil Knievel impression before but unlike the great showman those trains did not make a successful landing! So today the second viaduct has been started which will be side by side with the other. Having done the main structure on one viaduct the construction of the second moved on at twice the speed as I supposedly now knew what I was doing! How true that is, is open to some debate as Mrs. Woody would no doubt have a view. Anyway there is the substructure constructed with the underside brick work in place as well. I like the view I can now get of trains going over the viaduct and I am really looking forward to the final scene coming together.
Moving forward with My Last Great Project now that the baseboard frames are built and installed it is time to put the track back. The baseboard tops are not fully in place and some parts are missing but as they will need some cutting yet I am leaving them like that at the moment so I know where the track will be.
The basic track plan is the same but there are some changes which mean that I will need to amend certain parts of the layout. For one thing it is a foot wider and secondly the dropped section means what was going to be my locomotive depot will have to move. So far I have only put the track back loosely to get the right pieces in the right places - or as near as I can remember! Luckily I did dismantle it with some thought about organising it so that I had some chance of getting it right! Working smarter not harder as I get older!
I should clarify that the price of shirts is not connected to the viaduct build I am currently doing. However given the current economic climate and the squeeze on the cost of living I was slightly taken aback by this 'offer' in Stamford today where Mrs. Woody and myself had lunch out and a look around the town today.
I have no doubt that the shirts are of a quality but just how many people can afford £120 for four? Luckily my wardrobe does not need any further shirts, although, as Mrs. W would claim, most of my shirts could be from the costume department of an 1980s TV program, so my rather thin looking wallet remained shut!
Anyway back in the sanctuary of the WMD HQ Man Cave, further work took place on the Metcalfe viaduct that is currently being built. The brick sheets have been added to the substructure. As with most Metcalfe kits the fit is good and the parts all went together easily.
One of the issues with a card kit is that the edges generally show the white of the card they are made of because the card is scored on the outside to enable a sharp edge to be created. Anything white tends to stick out on a model so the way to hide it is to use an artists pencil in a suitable brick colour and run it along the edges. The 'before' and 'after' photos below show the results.
With a bit of weathering later on those joints will all but disappear. Dropping what is built so far into the dropped baseboard gives me a better idea of how this will eventually look. I'm liking it - certainly more than I would 4 shirts for £120!
Getting back to My Last Great Project I need to build a couple of viaducts to span the dropped area in one of the baseboards. I had decided to use kits to build these. I have to accept that life is too short to get involved in complex projects that I could actually get a better result from using a readily available kit rather than scratch building. The kits of choice for me in this case are cardboard and produced by Metcalfe.
I have built some of their kits before and always been impressed by the quality and ease of construction. Card kits may not be everyone's choice but with care and some weathering they can make really great structures.
The Metcalfe lit has a plain card core that is then covered with an outer sheeting of brick printed card.
Having built the four sections it was time to see just how accurate or otherwise my baseboard frame measurements and construction were. To my utter surprise the various components slotted into the dropped section with no gaps or tightness! Unbelievable! Maybe I should have more faith in my abilities?
Flushed with success I started the job of cladding the sub-structure with the brickwork. This involved some thin printed card with a series of flaps that are glued to the sub-structure. All very clever and the pictures probably show it better then my words can describe it!
The final day of the season for the Rocks By Rail Museum today. The metaphorical curtains are now closed but our guests got a great show. Two steam engines and two diesels running, brake van rides, shunting wagons and excavators working all on a gloriously warm and sunny Autumn day. Wonderful!
I got to know this point lever very well today!
All very different from my usual role but so very interesting and educational. I have to admit by the end of the day I was shattered. Good job Mrs. Woody had a lovely dinner prepared on my return!
A short video just to give a flavour of today.
5200 miles was the target I set at the beginning of the year for the distance I was going to cycle this year. It is mid October and I clocked that mileage up today well actually 5201. That leaves me with about 11 weeks before the end of the year - that is frightening in itself as to where three quarters of the year has gone and no doubt someone will tell me how many days to Christmas before to long! So I could simply put the bike away and have a restful and warm time staying inside until 2023 when I start cycling again. Or, I could stretch myself and try to break last years total of 5544 miles. Or I could actually do something a bit more stretching and go for 6000 miles. Despite the attractions of the first two options the Woody mind (and remember according to Mrs. Woody that is a strange place!) has decided to go for 6000 miles by the end of this year. So I have 799 miles to do which is not that much when the weather is warm and the winds light but as Winter approaches and the temperature drops and the winds rise, getting out becomes at my age harder! So it will be a good challenge!
Meanwhile back in the warmth of WMD HQ I had to deal with a victim of my recent Man Cave upheaval. It is almost inevitable when you do such work that something will get damaged. In my case I was pleased that all that has been damaged is one wagon that fell off the USA switching layout. The strange thing is that it actually did not really break. It just broke into component parts which was very lucky! It was even luckier that I found the two pins that hold the bogies to the base.
With the news full of doom and gloom and will anyone get sacked in the Government Mrs. Woody decided she wanted a trip to the seaside to get away from it all and knowing my place I was not arguing! We ended up at Skegness. If you have been there you will have your own views about the place but one thing you cannot argue with is that it is by the sea even if that is a long way off if the tide is out as it was today! Being at the seaside Mrs. W had to walk on the beach although I noted her shoes stayed on so she didn't get that sand between the toes. Mind you although it was a warm and sunnyish day for October I don't think atmospheric conditions were quite right for bare footing it.
In contrast to this new technology what remains of the once 1,844 ft (562 m) long pier provides a taste of the old historic Skegness. Much of it was destroyed in a bad storm in 1978 and like most piers in this Country the money was never there to rebuild.
Despite the almost apocalyptical atmosphere there were still open topped buses offering a tour around the town although why is a question I probably will never find an answer to!
One thing you have to recognise is that Skegness knows how to look after our canine friends as this Dog Bar illustrates!
Following yesterdays upheaval, comparable to a small earthquake or localised tornado, of my Man Cave today has seen some calm restored. The base board supports and frames are now installed and things moved around a bit. To say I never actually drew a plan for all of this, it was all conceived and thought out in my head (which Mrs. Woody says must be a strange place and who am I to argue?), it all fitted remarkably well. One board only has a slight gap on one side with its adjoining board which I can sort out once I have done a few measurements to find which board has the discrepancy. I still need to add the tops and four more legs but the bulk of the disruptive work is now done - hopefully!
Meanwhile my narrow gauge 009 layout and the USA switching layout now live on a reduced wheeled trolley that used to support the old layout.
Down to my brilliant planning or more likely just luck, the trolley can be turned around so that I can work on or use one layout or the other or if I turn it lengthwise I can get to both!
I still have much to do including sorting out and clearing out more rubbish but it is nice when what you plan works out and I feel the room is a bit bigger and easier to navigate. What Mrs. Woody would think is another question but if it keeps me out of her way whilst she is viewing the latest murder series on TV she will be happy!
