Long Term Projects!

What better way to spend a warm May day than at the Rocks By Rail Museum. Mrs. Woody probably has different ideas but for me it was an ideal day! First off I found that there had been some movements in the Restoration Shed with the long term project by John of the rebuilt 3 plank wagon now in service as a coal wagon. I just hope it looks as good in a few months time!

So what has filled the space in the shed? Well Mr. D, another long term project, is now inside and being worked on.

Main attention is to his engine at the moment.

As with all long term projects where the item was dismantled years ago by people no longer with the Museum it is difficult to pick up what needs to be done and what goes where! However with knowledgeable people about like Richard, Andy, John and John, it should eventually get there....

Especially when Riley the dog is on the case - I think he was wondering when lunch was going to happen!

For me it was another day of the long term project of grass cutting - once I fixed the mower which jammed up doe to a stone!

Things are moving on with Sundew's cab with Pam and Pete getting to grips with the outside paintwork which should make a real difference, again on this long term project!

I have also started to dismantle this slightly oversized pile of branches and hedge bits that has been created over three years - mainly by me as my long term project!

I filled one of those one ton builders bags with off cuts and dragged it down to the burning pit. It is going to be a slow job but if I do a bag a week I might have cleared it by the end of the opening season! Now that is a long term project!

 

The edge!

I am usually on the edge of something - normally a calamity like hitting my thumb as I continue splitting these logs....

Much to the amusement of this nest building pigeon! However, if he builds his nest at the rate of one bit at a time going by what's in his beak, then I may well finish my platform before his nest is built! 

Moving onto model making, today the edge in question is on the platform I am building for my 00 gauge layout. I have already put brick paper on the base but today I added an additional edge that most real platforms have to support the edge slabs of the platform surface.

I started by gluing some more brick paper to mounting card and let that dry.

I then cut strips four brick courses wide. The edge of the strip that would show, although unlikely to be noticed as it points downwards, was coloured in with an appropriate pencil.

 
The edge was then glued to the upper edge of the base.

At the ramped ends the strip was cut as needed.

The end result is what I hoped for.

Points, brakes and couplers - all in a day at the Rocks By Raill Museum!

Woody has been videoing again at the Quarry day at the Rocks By Rail Museum with a YouTube video about points, wagon brakes and couplers.

Back to model railways, the platform edge slabs are now finished and a first coat of grey primer has been applied to most of the platform surface. If it was not for having to replace a central heating pump, cutting the grass and having to go to the recycling centre I might have got further but certain jobs have to be given priority as Mrs. Woody tells me!

Once the slabs are painted a stone colour it should begin to look a lot better.

Its the volunteers who make the Museum!

A shattering day for the volunteers at the Rocks By Rail Museum today but a good one! I am particularly shattered after a day of shunting so should sleep sound tonight! 

Hard work it may be but there is always the odd moment of humour or relaxation for the volunteers as these pictures show. John certainly dresses appropriately - look at that T shirt and those socks with the British Rail logo! Nice one John!

We are lucky in that we have some young blood in our volunteers with George doing his best to try to keep clean but being Fireman that is not going to be possible!.

Taking a break from operating the dragline Rob enjoys an ice cream - it was getting hot!

Derek was more traditional with a nice cup of tea!

Geoff giving the green flag to another incoming train.

Mick thoughtful as to what the next project he will under take will be like.

Eric looking happy and why not as he is driving the train!

If I didn't volunteer I would never meet all these other people and share a common interest that centres on the Museum but it is the volunteers who make it what it is!

Finding Time!

Things are progressing with my platform, but not as quickly as I thought they might! Finding time to do everything is an issue! The photo below shows my method of joining the two parts, well actually three, of the platform surface. Because of the girder like construction of the base there is no room for a thick piece of card under the platform surface otherwise there would be a hump in the surface! Not having the time to carve chunks out of the base to make room I needed something else. My solution - paper! Just a small piece glued to overlap the two parts and with some glue also applied to the card joint. It wont be strong but as long as it holds until I finish the slabs and then the surface and base are glued together that is all I need.

Part of why progress is not as quick as I would like is that these lighter evenings and good weather (well better weather!) see me cycling a bit more (1400 miles this year so far) and catching up with a mess of a garden. However there are always things that delight like this young blackbird that I took a photo of having had a fill of apple!

Tomorrow wont see much time for model making either. A day of shunting at the Rocks By Rail Museum at the Quarry Day Event and then I need to go and change the banners for the next event a week today which I only just found the time to alter from last years date! That will be a long day then! When will I find the time to do Mrs. Woody's job list!

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?