Sit back, relax and watch!

I go through stages in my model making where I can be creative and productive yet at other times the spirit is willing but the ability is not! At moments like that I tend to sit back a bit and actually get some enjoyment from what I have made. This has been the case just recently and I have been playing operating my 009 narrow gauge layout Chalkdon. I had not realised that I had not run anything on it in about 6 months so there was a need to do some track cleaning but other than that I could sit back, relax and watch! 

Sammy therefore was ambulanced to a local Strimmer Hospital!

 Only seems like a few days ago I was at the Rocks By rail Museum but of course it was! However today was more about doing things rather than providing a show although there is a good show of plants in the platform planters.

In the Restoration Shed work continues on the Southern Region brake van where what was going to be a cosmetic restoration is turning into something much deeper with a lot of wooden and metal parts needing replacing. Work has started on one of the rear verandas. 

I'm not sure. with the obvious nature of missing timber, that notes like this are needed though!

On the missing wood front, it was good to see Andy and Martyn replacing this gate post that had been missing for a while.

The Museum also has been given this wrought Iron panel from the estate of a deceased member.

You cannot see it very well nut it is an industrial loco and two wagons. It needs to be set in the open once repainted where it should look good.

My day saw Sammy Strimmer and me turn this...

into this...

Not bad but then Sammy started to play up. He would run for a minute and then cut out. Back to the Restoration Shed and my thoughts were fuel filter, air filter or a ballast resistor in the magneto. The fuel filter was dirty but I cleaned it out. However the air filter was filthy and wet as was the housing for it.! 

The best way to clean the air filter was to blast it with compressed air. Luckily the Museum has such facilities in the form of this 1939 compressor!

The only problem is that it has such a big tank that it takes about 10 minutes to get to a good pressure!

However, once pressured up an air gun cleaned and dried the air filter which when refitted saw Sammy running smoothly again. However, after 30 minutes Sammy was back to his old tricks! I knew when I was beaten as the problem was probably related to the carburettor which was something that I was not going to start fiddling with! Step away when you know it makes sense. Sammy therefore was ambulanced to a local Strimmer Hospital where it is hoped he will be well in 7 to 10 days! 

Ben Nevis!

No time for model making today so a look back some 15 years ago when I built this Tamiya Churchill tank in 1/35 scale. This was the second tank kit that I had built in this scale and I still like what I achieved all those years ago.

Built out of the box with only some stretched sprue aerials added, it looks big and mean although it did not look the most modern of tanks. After WW2 it was used in the Korean war where it was one of the only vehicles that could successfully negotiate the steep hills.

The tanks overall design was so successful that it formed the basis for a number of variations including the Crocodile which was a flame throwing tank. The Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) was a mortar tank where a 40 pound demolition charge nick named the flying dustbin could be fired at concrete structures such as pill boxes. There was also a bridge laying version which carried a ready made bridge that could be laid over obstacles. 

I have a few more kits of the Churchill in my stash which hopefully will get built one day when I have time!

In the meantime, Ben Nevis, as this tank was called by its crew. remains one of my earliest builds in this scale but also one of my favourites!

Salvaged screws!

After a busy Bank Holiday weekend some progress has been made with the control panel for my Last Great Project 00 gauge layout.

I found an off cut of a suitably thin ply wood to allow switches to be fitted through it and that was cut to size before being given a coat of paint to match the rest of the carcase,

I then mounted the connector blocks in place using of all things screws salvaged from VHS video cassettes that I took apart years ago! 

Because I had screwed the carcase together, I could take the front off making it simple to drill holes and tighten screws. I also mounted the CDU - Capacitor  Discharge Unit - which will provide an electrical kick to the solenoid point motors once the wiring is in place.

Next job is to design the track diagram to go on the top so that the switches will make sense when they are mounted and wired in. 

Another Bank Holiday Quarry Day at the Rocks By Rail Museum!"

 Another Bank Holiday Quarry Day at the Rocks By Rail Museum. I'm not going to say a lot as I am shattered from shunting all day but happy but it was a great day for attendance and takings which was surprising given the weather was dull. However, talking to guests they all seemed really impressed and entertained which is what it is all about after all!

For me the highlight was seeing Museum Legend Ray get back behind the controls of the drag line excavator. Only Ray can do that at 95! And he still makes it look easy!

Signs not in use!

You sometimes just wonder! 

I spotted this on the roadside and thought does that refer to the sign itself, other signs, or what? 

It does remind me of an episode of the Simpsons where this appeared!

Anyway, back to the WMD HQ were I was not in the mood for anything on the bench so I had a look at my Accurascale Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 loco that I got for Christmas 2024. 

A wonderful loco, just like the ones at the Rocks By rail Museum. However, it was one that had the classic issue of the motor mount failing meaning the motor ran but the loco didn't!

Removing the body from the chassis was not too taxing although there is some cosmetic pipework to undo.

The culprits causing the issue are the two clips either side of the motor. They were not clipping the motor in place, hence the motor did not mesh with the rest of the drive gears. Although Accurascale supply a rectified replacement, I just bent the clips inwards and the motor clipped in place.

Body back on it was tested on the track and runs beautifully! 

A nice quick job with a satisfactory ending! Nice!

Woody attends another birthday party!

Yet another Birthday Party at the Rocks By Rail Museum and amazingly I was again invited with Mrs. W accompanying me just to make sure I behaved! 

This time it was Mick (on the left) who turned 80 today and had decided that just like Ray a few weeks ago, the Museum was the perfect place to celebrate!

He had a fantastic cake in the shape of the Janus locomotive that he painted some years ago as a first project with the Museum.

It was a shame to cut it up but it was and delicious it was! There were plenty of people about celebrating Mick's milestone birthday to consume the cake! as well.

And no birthday party should happen without train rides and this was no exception!

What a great day! Thanks Mick and wishing you many more to come!

With seven to do that occupied me for a couple of hours!

With the new connector blocks for my control panel now in my procession i just needed to fettle them as they were a bit tight to separate. Some careful work with a pair of pliers and some needle files loosened them off nicely. With seven to do that occupied me for a couple of hours!

 

Repeating myself!

It was another year of Mrs. Woody's sentence completed today! That is another year married to me! She did get some reward for that time though in the form of this rocking lounger where she will be able to lounge in whilst directing me doing chores!

We just went out for a random drive and instead of repeating ourselves and just driving by Wymondham Windmill we actually stopped for a look round. 

Although there are no sails the windmill looks impressive on the outside...

and on the inside where the original workings have been retained.

There are a number of shops and businesses on site as well as a café.

These two came home with Mrs. W  from one of the shops as a anniversary gift.

Despite being a random drive we repeated ourselves and ended up at lunchtime exactly where we were one year ago - at Café Ventoux and you can read about that in this blog here.

Just as last time, the food was delicious. Mrs. W had the fish finger roll 

Whilst I had the Full Ventoux Brunch. There is bacon and sausage behind the toast  and tomato!

Having repeated where we went to a year ago I also repeated to the same lady what I said last year which was that it was that good that if it wasn't considered bad manners I would have licked the plate clean! Mrs. Woody, repeated last years reaction by  just rolling her eyes at that! 

Will Mrs, W repeat another year with me after that?

Connecting blocks

With other jobs to do there has been no time for model making related matters today. However, I did get a delivery of some connector blocks for the control panel to my Last Great Project layout. Ordered yesterday morning from Electech Components who I have always had good service from, they arrived this morning which is great service.

I do like these connector blocks as they offer a solid solution to joining cables at a good price.

I just need to find the time to fit them now! Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at things, the weather has been good and encouraging growth of a vegetational type which means time is spent dealing with that. It is not only at the Rocks By Rail Museum that I carry out vegetational butchery -  the hedges at WMD HQ also get the same treatment!