Where is that pot of gold?

According to the old saying, there should be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but in this case which end? Being serious, which will surprise Mrs. Woody, this is perhaps the best rainbow I have seen for years. It just suddenly appeared whilst out on a bike ride and no rain in sight!

It certainly brightened my day as much of it was spent on those admin type things you have to do to ensure the continued functioning of financial matters so that things like Mrs. W's internet and physical shopping activities can continue without interruption and my life is, as a result, relatively blissful!

On a more mundane note more magazines to the recycling centre! You would think that there can't be many left - but there are! However, despite looking there was no pot of gold under that lot!

Mrs. W is impressed with this decluttering so that is all that matters for a continued blissful life!!

Oooops and back to vegetational butchery!

A really great day at the Rocks By Rail Museum today where vegetation clearance was the days task but first I had to look at the 'Ooooops' situation out on the sidings.

Not sure quite what happened but obviously moving this wagon was not the best thing to do! It will never ride the rails again as it is too far gone in terms of deterioration to be restored but the metal parts may provide spares for more savable wagons.

Meanwhile the aim of the vegetational butchery was to clear around the back of the cafe and hopefully solve a damp issue such as that caused by the blocked gutters.

It took a while to get to this point and even longer to get to the point below!

Like all vegetational butchery activities there is always something to be found that has been lost to the overgrowth for years and this was it today! No idea what it is and no one else knows either. I suspect it may have been a coaling point for steam engines but no doubt its true use will be found eventually!

And all this clearing and butchery to try to prevent the cafe gutters blocking up like this! There is almost a mini garden of growth in there!

Talking of clearing, it will be back to clearing magazines from the Man Cave tomorrow - Oh joy!

Something different.

Just for something different to the piles of magazines that I am continuing to sort through, here is a Heljan Class 58 locomotive in 00 gauge. In their very smart EW&S livery, the real locos were once a common sight as a freight loco hauling coal trains to the power stations when coal was perhaps looked at in a different way some decades ago!

In the meantime the pile for the recycling centre is building up. I will be taking Mrs. Woody on my next trip although she may want to leave me there as well as the magazines!

Really!

My clear out continues and I had to send to the unbelieving Mrs. Woody the photo below of the back of my car to prove I was on my way to the tip! Really! and for another really moment read to the end of this post!

I have about 25 foot of bookshelf space in my Man Cave which is all full, or was all full, plus a few boxes of magazines. My plan is to try to reduce that by half! So far I have emptied about 8 feet and two boxes so still some way to go!

This clear out is causing chaos in the Man Cave but I did get to see my USA switching layout for the first time in a few months which reminds me I need to have play operate it!

Clearing out magazines does bring about some interesting things. I used to take a USA magazine called Bicycling back in the 70s.

Some interesting adverts for top range bikes which nowadays look so old - just like me!

The advertising methods are somewhat of the time too!

and I do remember this advert which I think at the time made me say 'Really' and still does! I don't think I need Bummer power!

Are model railways more expensive today then 53 years ago?

Well my great clear out continues with an attack on the garage this morning and items listed on eBay. This afternoon saw more action in the Man Cave with more of my oversized magazine collection being ousted! It is sad in one way but creating space can be liberating as well!

Sorting through the magazines does bring about memories and also curiosity. At the moment, following the closure of the UK's largest model railway retailer Hattons and the decision by the Warley Model Railway Club not to hold the country's largest exhibition at the NEC, there is a great deal of debate on YouTube and social media about the future of the model railway hobby and is it going to disappear. One of the common factors raised is the cost of models. With new models sometimes costing upwards of £250 I fully appreciate that not everyone is in a position to buy. However not all models cost so much and I was interested in see this advert on the back of a 1971 issue of the Railway Modeller magazine for the n gauge Farish Pannier locomotive for £5.19.9 in pre-decimal money which is £5.99.

Apparently £5.99 is now in Feb 2024 worth, taking account of inflation, £85.42. Looking at the price for the similar loco today new it has a retail price of £105 but sells for about £95. Not sure if that proves anything but it is an interesting comparison and one to think about.

Return of the floods!

 Out on my bike I was just amazed by how much flooding there was. It did not seem as though there had been that much rain but I guess the ground was saturated so the rainwater had no where to go. This lake is usually a field!

And this is what was filling that lake - a new stream down the verge!

Back in the relative dryness of WMD HQ it was a sad thing to have to do but Mrs. Woody and myself laid Smudge cat to rest in the garden along with her predecessors. A few tears but happy memories of 19 years together.

It is at times like this that I become very focused on clearing things up so at the moment I am going through my too large model railway and related matters magazine collection. At the time they were an invaluable source of information as the internet did not exist. Now adays if you want to anything out just search for it online making the magaxines rather surplus to requirements. I just find it hard to part with them especially when you start adding up how much they cost! Just don't tell Mrs. W that bit!

Anyway, the initial pile has started but there is a lot more to add yet!

More video capers!

The other day I mentioned that I had done a video for YouTube on Mt Last Great Project 00 gauge layout and here it is!

A cold and wet day!

Trying to get over the loss of Smudge cat yesterday evening and it will take time but she will always be remembered by Mrs. Woody and myself.

Yesterday will also be remembered for my morning at the Rocks By Rail Museum where the cold and wet were bone chilling You just had to look outside to see that it was  - well wet and cold!

By the end of the morning Rob looked as though he was ready to go to the Artic with his cold weather gear!

Even Riley was coated up!

Despite the weather things have progressed on with things in the restoration shed with firstly the CAT (not Smudge but the mechanical type) needing fixing as it did not move. The fault was eventually traced to a blown fuse which Rob found as I had sat in the cab with my foot on the brake just in case! It was also interesting to see what life behind bars could look like as the windscreen is protected by bars across it just like a prison cell! Maybe that is why Rob is trying to entice me to get into the cab!

Once fixed it was back to painting Harriot the JCB.

Before yellow undercaost...

 

And with yellow undercoat!

With the bonnet up w even checked the oil!

Not a very big engine for such a vehicle! It could also do with a clean and paint but that is for another day!

RIP Smudge.

As everyone who shares their life with an animal knows a day will come when you have a hard decision to be made. Having noticed over the past few days some difficulty in eating and a rattling breathing, Smudge was taken to the vets today. Unfortunately it was not good news with a growth around her windpipe which was not going to get better or be treatable. Having shared our lives for nearly 19 years with Smudge it was not easy for Mrs. Woody or me to part with her but it was the kindest thing. Smudge was a rescue cat. She had a kitten when she was about 6 months old just before she came to WMD. She loved a litter box that had just had new litter put in and would literally swim in it before leaving her mark. In later life she became deaf but could still sense when you were about and when food was being served. Later life also saw her take to using a cat bed and that was her favorite ne in the picture.She had a loud rumbly purr which if she came to bed at night would reverberate through the bed. She came to bed last night for the first time in some time - maybe she knew. Like all our cats she will always be remembered and missed so much!

Underlay and filming!

A bit more progress on my 00 gauge layout with the newly aligned track now sitting on my laminate floor underlay. It looks a little more harmonious and at least gets the track on the same level as that n the completed board which should improve running - hopefully!

I have also been doing a YouTube video on where I have got to. It should be live in a few days.