If at first.....

Time to put some slabs along the edge of the platform surface that I am building at the moment for my 00 gauge Last Great Project Layout. I had in the back of my mind using some very thin plastic card that I could cut into a long strip and score the individual slabs onto it as well as a bend at the front to go over the edge of the card surface. The theory was, by my standards anyway, sound but it just did not work out. The long strip bent as it was cut and the edge would not fold over in a clean line despite having scored it. 

If at first you don't succeed try again so plan B came into operation. This had me cut out the individual slabs from the strip. Each one also needed the edge folding to go over the edge of the card as the photos below show.

It really did not work! It was a pain and time consuming folding the edge of each individual slab and they did not really stick to the card very well.

If at first you don't succeed try again so plan C came into operation which substituted paper for the plastic card!  

I still cut out individual slabs but no need to pre-bend the edge as they could be glued using PVA to the top surface and once dry the edge of the card could be painted in PVA and the edge of the paper slab bent over - I even surprise myself on occasions with the genius of the plan!

It is time consuming but not as much as dealing with the plastic alternatives and in a way it is therapeutic!

I have done about a third so far but it is looking OK at the third attempt of adding slabs!

Brick Magic!

Time to bring some life to the platform that I am building by using the magic of Metcalfe Red Brick Sheets! 

Having measured up, I cut enough strips to the right width to cover the platform base.

With those cut, PVA was then applied to the rear of the strips and they were attached to the platform base.

I had cut the brick strips so that I could match the mortar lines at the joins and that seems to have worked well. The red arrow shows where a join is.

With all the strips glued on the base looks much more, well, err, base like!

I just need to start working on that platform surface starting with some edge stones but that is for another day!

Lets break in this job!

Its time to fit new brake shoes to Graham the Sentinel Locomotive. Now fitting such things to a car is one thing but the level of work needed to fit to a locomotive is another. Its not so much that there are technical issues its just the sheer mass and awkwardness of fitting heavy metal components in a confined area so its best to break in this job slowly!

David and Derek discuss the breaking in process...

Whilst John just got on with it!

The good news is that the brake shoes are now all fitted meaning that Graham will be running this May Bank Holiday.

Meanwhile at the other end of the Museum site, Pam is continuing the epic paint of Sundews cab. This si not for the faint hearted but she has made som egrea progress.

With both Pam and Pete having strimmed the area and me having butchered the grass with the mower the whole area looks good in this unusual sunshine that we had today!

Meanwhile Rob the Welding Wizard was welding yet more metal into the plant shed roof! That thing will outlast us all!

The Weighbridge Office s looking good with David having cleaned and painted much of the weigh head.

For me the only braking in I did was with my back which suffered as it was a massive grass cutting day but it is one of those jobs where you can see quick and impressionable results like this!

I will be seeing how good Grahams brakes are on Monday when we have a quarry day and I am doing some shunting! That will be great for braking my back in again!

Woody goes Hi-Tech!

For many years I have had a flat screen TV with built in DVD player on my workbench. I inherited it so don't know much about its past. I have never used it let alone even tested it to see if it switches on preferring the less distracting radio or CDs or even showing my age, my collection of cassettes! However, having a collection of railway and model making DVDs which I never get the chance to watch as Mrs. Woody is watching the latest murder mystery TV show on the main WMD TV or I am in the Man Cave listening to the radio/music I thought I would just see if this flat screen TV works - and it dose so I have gone Hi-tech! So I have been watching some Steaming Around Britain DVDs which is great as I have never seen them before and surprisingly not that distracting as I tend to just glance up to see what sounds the interesting parts - just like communicating with Mrs. W - I really hope she doesn't read that bit!

The proof in not being distracted is that I finished the other end of the platform base. As you can see this coincided with a splendid bit of film of a steam train heading for Mallaig in Scotland!

Putting the platform top on temporarily, saw a cab view from a class 156 DMU heading for Fort William!

Finally clamping the platform base to the workbench to avoid it bending in unplanned and unwanted directions happily coincided with the end of the DVD - all very Hi-Tech!

I can now start thinking about adding some brick facing to the bae and some edging stones to the platform surface. Wonder what Hi-Tech method I will come up with for that?

Looking like a girder!

Now Mrs. Woody sometimes comments on my rough appearance looking like some old rusty bit of metal but in this case the delights of cardboard engineering butchery have resulted in me constructing something that does indeed look like a girder!

I have completed one end of the platform base which includes the ramp at the end of the platform. Now someone with skill and technical knowledge could well have calculated the various lengths and angles needed but not being skilled or of technical knowledge - remember the brute force and ignorance post of not so long ago - I just put things together and made rough guesses which surprisingly have worked out OK! Just don't ask me to construct anything which is safety critical!

As the photo below shows further cardboard butchery has also seen the girder type construction finished at this end of the platform.

The thing with cardboard is that whilst it is relatively easy to work with and can bend as you want it, it can also bend as you dont want it whilst you wait for the glue to dry. Now much as the Man Cave is an inviting place for me I had no desire to sit in there for 8 hours waiting for the glue to dry so I could make sure that the structure did not bend the way I did not want it to. I therefore used some clamps and clamped the straigh edge to the work top. Hopefully that will work and I can get on with the other end!

Crossmembers!

Having got my platform surface to the right shape as highlighted yesterday, it was time to add to some sides and crossmembers but not happy members! There are some specifications which real railways follow as to platform heights and roughly interpreted these amount to a 17mm highwall in model form. I have cut some mounting card walls to this height and also some crossmembers.

Just to get a feel for things I placed the platform surface on top which shows it is looking OK!!!

Having checked that my measurements and shaping were correct it was possible to start some more constructive work on the crossmembers. Hopefully the mix of right angle and diagonal crossmembers will keep things both flat and strong.

My glue of choice at the moment is this special card glue made by DeLux Materials and very good it is too.

I have progressed but this will take a few days to build but I am in no rush as whilst doing it I am also running trains on the layout - I just don't tell Mrs. Woody that bit!

However I did tell Mrs. W about these tulips when we called in at Easton Walled Gardens. 

As Mr. Beecham, he of cycling prowess and model making skills, pointed out to me when I sent him some pictures, the red of the tulips is the colour of the paratrooper's berets. It is of course the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden which took place in September 1944.

Doing something different!

Whilst not fully finished by any means, I am at a point with the track laying and wiring on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout where I can leave that work alone for a while as I let my brain unfuddle itself from the various issues and mundanity that this work is! I can run trains which is the important thing and I am in no major rush to finish this layout. It is supposed to be a relaxing hobby after all!

I am therefore moving over to the different aspect of platform building which is indeed doing something different! I cannot use commercially available products as the layout of the track is unique so no ready made platforms fit. I could use one of the plastic or card kits but again they would need a lot of work to make them fit. That leaves scratch building one and my material of choice is mounting card of which there is some in stock in the WMD Stores - they seem to have everything!

Work strarts by getting the platform surface to shape which may seem a bit strange in that it is being built from the top downwards. However, getting the shape right is crucial.

First piece trial fitted.

The ends now cut to shape and eventually the ends will form ramps. What I forgot at this stage is that I need to trim back further at the curves to allow for the overhang of the coaches.

An overall view showing that the platform will just take a 4 car DMU which is just what I wanted.

Looking from this direction I will also need to trim a little off the width of the platform surface but that will be done when I cut back on the curved parts.

Doing something different like this has actually been good for the mind! Too much track laying and wiring can make life somewhat repetative!

Talking of something different, here in the UK there has been some unseasonal agricultural activity. I have never seen ploughing and harrowing going on at the end of April before but I guess this is the consequence of the very wet Winter we had - in fact yu can still see some water in the photo below. Not sure how this affects food production but I suspect the price of certain things will be going up in price again.

86 Wires!

 Whilst these two WMD HQ moggies look as though they are wired together as they curled up in the comfort of one of the many cat baskets that have appeared over the years, I was busy finishing the some wiring in the cold of the Man Cave!

To make life easier where the rails go over the copper clad strips I had pre tinned them.

With everything in place, the track had been glued, it was time to add solder and wires!

And there you have it - the final wires of the 86 that I have soldered in place on this board! Once I cut the rails so that the baseboard is free I can turn it over and cconnect all the wires - all 86 of them - Gulp!

Headless?

There is always something that attracts my attention when I go to the Rocks By Rail Museum. Whilst cutting the grass....

I noted that David had arrived and had a rather unusual passenger with him.

Don't worry, there is nothing sinister! This mannequin is destined for the weighbridge where he will be clothed and sat at the desk looking as though he is noting down the weights of passing wagons as they go over the weighbridge. Just one small problem - he will need a head and I am not volunteering for that! In seriousness the head should be easy to find but apparently male mannequins in a sitting position are rare. David went to a specialist who has a barn full of the things but they are mainly ladies. I never knew there was a market for such things but the film industry do hire many of them.

This where the mannequin will end up - once it has a head!

Wonder if there is ahead in that safe????

A lot of plys!

I had to ply this baby bird out of my garage. It flew in and decided that for 20 minutes it was going to explore the inaccessible rear regions of the garage that I haven't seen for years. Eventually my encouraging sounds and gestures for it to leave paid dividends but it stopped on the way out for a photo opportunity. Not sure if it is a baby blackbird or thrush but I do hope it survives.

With one end of the baseboard having all its track wired and soldered in place it was time to think about the other end. I had already determined that I needed to thin down the sub base plywood to lower it and avoid a hump in the track. I had done this on the first two parts by using an electric sander ti sand off one ply of the plywood. However, in my never ceasing ventures of brute force and ignorance I thought there must be a speeder way of doing this and decided I could simply ply the one ply of ply that I needed off the plywood sub base! That is a lot of plys but I trust you see what I mean from the photo below!

My idea actually worked! Must tell Mrs. Woody!

The now one ply less ply was glued in place.

The glue was going to take some time to dry so I amused myself by going to the middle section of the baseboard and applyed myself  to adding some more track power feeds before gluing the track down

I better apply myself to getting Mrs. W's dinner ready!