Small jobs and bigger jobs!

A nice small model railway job today, changing the coupling on one of the coaches for the HST set. The coach for some reason had couplings that look more like 009 couplings. The problem was that it did not couple up with the other coaches. The solution was to change the couplings for conventional Hornby type ones. Luckily the coach is a modern one fitted with NEM coupling pockets that mean standard compatible couplings can just be slid into the NEM slot. Equally luckily was that within WMD stores suitable spare couplings were in stock!

The old couplings on the left easily came out.

The replacement Hornby type couplings now attached.

With the replacement couplings in place the coach could be put into the train and coupled to the ther coaches. I just need to convert the power car to DCC but more about that another time.

Bigger jobs see me returning to the conservatory rebuild that happened at the end of last year. The garden was devastated by the building work and I am only just getting grass to grow back where mud was spread by the digger. Having at last got a surface where I can walk without sliding or sinking I now need to reinstate the edging blocks that got dug up when the foundations were dug. They disappeared with the spoil dug out so I have bought replacements and today started the job of replacing them. 

About half way through so hopefully tomorrow will see the blocks in place. 

 I also need to finish the step and reset some slabs on the far side of the conservatory so still much to do! As long as Mrs. Woody doesn't make this job any bigger I should be OK though!

HST and that is not short for Hot and Sunny Today!

Although it is hot and sunny today the HST I am talking about is the train type. Introduced way back in 1976 and only just being withdrawn the High Speed Trains or Class 43 to use their official designation were so advanced when they came into service back in the 70's and still, in my view, look modern today. Having ridden on so many other the years I am not quite sure why I did not have an 00 gauge model of one before now but last year I started to look about for a second hand example as I was not paying out the £300 to £400 just for the two power cars that the new Hornby models are selling for. Instead I managed to find a Hornby Train Pack from about 2007 with the revised body modelling which is much better then the ones from before the Millennium. It still has the old Ringfield and non DCC ready motor in it and only one of the power cars has the motor but I was happy!

The pack not only contained models of the two power cars but also two coaches. Whilst the contents of the box does not make up the 8 plus car trains that the HSTs ran in it certainly starts you off.

I do like the Intercity Swallow livery that these trains wore - I think it just looked so right even now.

Over the past few months I have kept an eye out for the right coaches second hand to extend the initial set. Learning about the various marks and production runs of coaches has certainly been an education and but I have ended up with one coach that is completely wrong as it is the old style 7 window coach from the 80s Hornby HST model. That is staying in its box for the moment. Two coaches are actually designed for a Class 91 and DVT and have two small windows side by side at one end of the coach body instead of one at each end - it just gets complicated - but I am going to run them in this set anyway on the basis that unless you know you will never spot this! Two further coaches are actually the right ones being the buffet car and the guards end coach. The end result is that I have an eight car unit which is big enough for my needs.

Looks impressive - to me anyway!

I need to change the couplings on one coach and put a DCC chip into the power cars so that I can run it but for an outlay of roughly half the price of two new Hornby HST power cars I have an eight car formation that looks the business. 

Mrs. Woody would be proud of my budgetary skills and savings but probably not pleased that I bought it in thye first place - I cannot win!

The Peco 6ft Way Gauge.

It may actually look more like a gardeners plant pot label that you stick into the soil of your newly planted item so you know what it is or in my case what it might have been if it had not deceased due to my poor gardening sills! It is however probably not an item on most modellers 'want' list but is actually a very handy tool. Turn it over and the wording begins to reveal its use.

The two sticking out rectangles on each side fit between the rails of standard 00gauge track. The gap between them sets what is termed as 'the six foot'. This is the gap on real railways between two tracks on a real railway. Any closer and there are dangers of impact when two trains pass each other. 

The question you may have is why do the rectangles on each side have a different gap between them. As the wording says the wider gap is for Setrack which are the pre-shaped pieces of track. Because of the sharp radius of the curves in set track, there needs to be a gigger than scale six foot gap between the tracks to avoid long wagons and coaches catching each other as they pass each other going round the curves. The smaller gap is for Steamline track. This is the flexible track which allows you to create any shape of track that it will physically bend to. Obviously the intention is that the curves are a lot gentler then Setrack  and therefore the scale six foot gap can be created without rolling stock hitting each other as they travel through these gentler curves. The interesting thing to note is that Setrack points when joined as a crossing will already put the two tracks apart at the Setrack six foot gauge whilst Streamline points will join together at the scale six foot gauge.

Whilst this is a Peco product most of the main manufacturers of track use the same geometry and dimensions so it is equally useful with these as it is on Peco track.

On my layout I have a mix of Setrack curves as they are curved better than I can achieve with flexible track but I do use the flexible track for the straight parts and small curves in sidings usually. Therefore on the straight parts I set the six foot to the Streamline dimensions

Whilst on the curves the Setrack six foot gauge is used.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I can move what I term as My Last Great Project, on a bit more so these gauges will come in very useful.

The DAF on YouTube.

 Not much time for model making at WMD HQ with other jobs to do such as those on Mrs. Woody's list! However I am determined to finish the Italeri DAF 95 Canvas Truck and to be fair it is almost there. The only parts to fit are the windscreen wipers, the mirrors, the cab visor and the side guards. I will be fitting those as the weathering progresses which is what I am currently doing. It will not be a heavy application but more a light dusting in places just to show that it is a working truck. I am going to do that over the next few weeks at a leisurely pace as and when I am in the mood for it. In the meantime here are a few photos and there is a YouTube video on my channel from the What's On My Bench series where you can see in a bit more detail about this build.

Here is the YouTube video.

 

More experience and wisdom at Rocks By Rail!

Thursday. Not my normal day at the Museum but because of works at WMD HQ at the start of the week it was necessary to move my day to today - Thursday! A busy day too with dealing with some donations, grass cutting and putting out some banners on the surrounding road network for the next event a week on Sunday and delivering some leaflets to a caravan site! All in a days work at the Museum. However I did take time to visit the restoration shed where there was a lot of activity going on.

Firstly Thomas and Alex are doing some welding work on the body work of Ketton No1 locomotive. A long-term project, which is another way of saying its been undergoing restoration for some time now, it is good to see it moving on.

Would you believe the loco is being painted Racing Green! With a top speed of about 15mph it should be Slow Green!

Some neat welding there.

The guys have also been busy preparing the cab roof for paint having ground the old paint off.

Now for the experience and wisdom part of this post! John, who I think won't mind me saying he has a wealth of experience and wisdom, always has a way with things that just makes you think yes, why would I not have done that. Well you would not because you didn't have the wealth of experience and wisdom that John has. However, as always, I look and learn! Take today for example. John is bolting the painted running boards to the Shark brake van. He is using coach bolts which had that shiny chrome look to them when I saw the ones nearest to me.

These are the black headed ones - neat!

He must paint each one with a brush after putting them in place - that is a slow and painful job!

The reality is that he dips the head into a tin of black paint.

Then places the bolts in place.

Then just a gentle tap with a hammer and the bolt goes in and the still wet paint resettles around where the hammer hit. That's experience and wisdom!

Hoping it is a long warm summer!

 Having left yesterdays post with Milly the cat wondering what was in the box, Murphy took over. Not so bothered about the box he was testing out the cool slates!

By this afternoon the contents of the box had been expertly fitted to reveal this wood burning stove.

Mrs. Woody is very pleased which makes my life easy but it also means my life is not so easy in the long run as I now have to paint the room! The paint is that faded that I cannot even get away with some patch painting of the new plaster. So, as I will be explaining to Mrs. W, I will await some cooler weather before attempting any pain work. Just hope it is a long and warm summer!

Meanwhile the Italeri DAF 95 Canvas Truck has made a little more progress with the internal cab fittings glued in place and the airhorns mounted on the cab roof.

The heat is building up at WMD HQ!

Although the weather has cooled down a bit WMD HQ continues to develop its strategy to deal with cold winters. After the new boiler yesterday the open fire place in the lounge came in for attention today. A lot of destruction but by the end of the day things have progressed for the final stage tomorrow - hopefully!

Marty and Monty 'helping'!

Marty thinking that it is a very big mouse hole!

Milly wondering what's in the box? We will find out tomorrow Milly!

Meanwhile I have had a chance to fit the glass into the Italeri DAF 95 Canvas Truck so there has been some progress with that too! The heat is on to try to finish this project by the end of the week!

New boiler at WMD HQ.

A model making free day as WMD HQ had a new heating boiler fitted or as our American friends call them a furnace. The old one has been leaking water for several years and probably should have been replaced before now. However at least I have been proactive and had it replaced before it breaks down in the middle of a freezing Winter when heating engineers give installation times in terms of months rather than days! Hope Mrs. Woody is impressed by my pro-activeness in this matter. The only down side was that the new boiler needed testing which meant turning the heating on to full blast on a very hot day. However I can cope far better with that then freezing in Winter.

as you can see by the unpainted brickwork in the garage the new boiler is more compact then the old one and there is a fancy magnetic filter installed to catch any metal fragments that have been formed by the metal radiators that may be floating about in the system before they do any harm to the boiler. It took the heating engineer about 6 hours to do the whole job including replacing the thermoset in the house and putting in a new valve for the motorised valve. I am impressed! 

There is some other work being done at WMD HQ tomorrow and Wednesday but more of that later! In the meantime I can tick off 'New boiler' from Mrs. Woody's list of jobs - if only there were all that easy!

When coal really was king!

One of those days which flew by! I had plans to do many things but only achieved some! My plan just to hoover the car out following several months of hard use take rubbish to the tip and auction probably scuppered my other plans as once I had cleaned the carpets the seats needed doing then the door trims and before I knew it I was on a full-scale valet including putting that tyre dressing on to make the tyres look shiny! Anyway my four hours of work concluded just in time for the rain which started and will now no doubt make the paintwork look streaky!

I did have time to take five in the Man Cave where I sprayed the mirrors and windscreen wipers for the Italeri DAF 95 Canvas Truck black. 

Not being in a mood to do much else on this model today I ran some trains including digging my Bachmann Class 20 in Railfreight livery out. Not run for some time it was good to see and hear it on the track. They were known as 'Choppers' by those who used to follow them. They certainly had a distinctive engine sound in real life and this model goes some way to replicating that. They were used a lot on coal trains were they were lashed up in pairs to haul the hopper wagons that were used on the 'Merry Go Round' workings at the coal powered power stations. It all sounds so old and almost unbelievable now but it was only 40 years ago that coal dominated electric power production when coal really was king!

As well as the loco I have some of the coal wagons in the form of these Bachmann HAA hoppers in Railfreight livery. I should have about 10 of them but just took these two out at the moment.

As you can see one of them is pristine and the other weathered which is how these wagons used to look as they were never cleaned.

I think I have three or four of the weathered wagons which I bought second hand from TMC ( The Model Center) who ironically originally did the weathering on them. They certainly look good and fit for King Coal but I will need to weather the others to match - when I get the time!

Cake time!

 Mrs. Woody and me went back to Easton Walled Gardens today. Our last trip a few weeks ago was great but made even better by the home made Victoria Sponge and Lemon Drizzle cakes that we bought. So todays visit was into the ticket office and straight to the cake counter to make sure we got what we wanted again! Having secured said cakes we left them in a bag with the staff and went off for a wander round. It is amazing how much things in nature can change in just a few weeks. The sweet peas had really blossomed and although not my favorite flowering plant I was suitably impressed.

I was also impressed by this smallest shed that I have ever seen!

You could probably store a watering can and a trowel in there or preferably some cakes. Never the less despite its small size it was a quality shed!

Having safely returned Mrs. Woody and cakes to WMD HQ I did some further work on the Italeri DAF 95 Canvas Truck namely the windscreen wipers and mirrors.

Firstly the widescreen wipers had to be reversed to fit the now right hand drive cab. That consisted cutting them in half and regluing at the right angle. The photos below probably illustrate what I did better then I can describe it!

The unaltered wipers on their kit sprue.

The top wiper is the first altered one.

Mirror wise I am using some reflective sheet that needs to be cut to shape. I covered the appropriate area of the sheet with masking tape so that I could apply the sheet to the plastic part prior to painting. Once painted I just need to remove the masking tape so hopefully no problems! Famous last words!

After all that I think I will have some cake now!