Lots of Locks.

 

For several reasons WMD found itself on a road trip to Foxton Locks in Leicestershire. It is a wonderful place to visit and as Mrs Woody was off work it was a good excuse to visit again. From a modelling view I am going to be modelling a canal wharf on my 009 gauge layout extension so some research was required including whether the ice cream shop at the top of the flight of locks still sold the same mouth watering ice cream. It did! That means I will need to include some form of ice cream selling establishment on my model although Mrs W is of the view that all of the visit was just an excuse to have an ice cream!

The locks themselves are a fantastic piece of Victorian engineering that still operates as it did today. The Canal and Rivers Trust have a short video which is far better than anything I can do!

Here are a few photos that I took. Everyone on the barges and around was so relaxed - a great way to escape everyday life! The lady at the helm of this barge said it took about an hour for her husband to get them down the 10 locks whilst she did the important job of steering! Mrs W seemed to think that this was the way in which barges should be run.

The white building at the top of the hill is where the ice cream is sold. A good incentive to walk up what is quite a steep hill.

A cargo barge that sails the canals and sells coal, wood and gas to people living full time on barges.

A wonderful bridge - the lines are just perfect.

There is a Museum, mainly open at the weekend and there are some interesting old signs and other canal related items dotted about.

A horse drawn ice breaker. Drawn by a team of 8 horses this was towed through the canal to break ice during the winter.

The site is also home of an old disused canal incline. To avoid the 10 locks and the time taken to traverse them an incline was opened in the early 1900s. Basically a barge sailed into a large water filled tub that then went up rails to the top of the hill where the barge sailed out into the canal. It only operated a few years and I do not know the full history to it but it s now scheduled as a historic monument. More details at the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust website located here. 

The pictures below show just what a sizable piece of construction this was and just how steep the hill was that the incline went up.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area of Market Harborough and Mrs W and myself even discussed the possibility of a canal holiday - I suspect if we do I will be the one opening the lock gates though! 

Take 5.

There has been a bit of a gap since my last post dealing with other matters. A couple of friends of mine are going through some life changing issues at the moment and my thoughts and hopes are with them. 

It has been a case of Take 5 for me for the last few days in model making terms. For those wondering what Take 5 is it is a term that is used to tell someone to take a rest for a few minutes. There is also the Dave Brubeck jazz classic that is Take 5 here. 

I did, however, this evening do my own version of Take 5 by completing the build of 5 MiniArt Russian Tank crew members that came with T-80 tank kit. I don't just throw these posts together you know! They just need fettling now and painting.

As you can see they are resting in the shadow of the K5360 Mustang truck that still awaits finishing! What will get finished first? Think I will Take 5 whilst I figure that out!

Cab painted.

 Yes I can confirm that the K5350 cab is painted! Finally! Its done! Finished - well the painting anyway.

The picture sequence below shows my untidy but as I would call it, functional masking, the cab and doors in primer (don't tell Mrs Woody they are posed on the cooker top which I need to now clean), then with additional 'functional masking to allow the green to be airbrushed and finally the finished cab. Note I had already painted the headlight units in silver so a ball of Blu Tack (other similar type products are available but this just happened to on the desk at the time) was applied to each one. Being involved in other matters over the past few days has given the paint time to harden before I give it a coat of gloss varnish to allow the decals to be applied and then sealed with a coat of matt varnish. Following that the glazing, mirrors, lights and windscreen wipers need fitting and some weathering to match the chassis and cargo body. Then it will be finally complete!

I won't tell you how I dropped the cab on the way back to the man cave AKA The Room of Gloom but it only broke a couple of pieces off and I must have been that relaxed that the swear jar did not need topping up!

A bucket list item done!

A strange term 'bucket list'. Most of my 'bucket list' items would probably fit in a jam jar! Not that I don't have many but I am never going to be an astronaut, a World class cyclist or similar so I have a modest list which does included driving a tank and going back to the USA to see friends that Mrs W and I haven't seen in nearly 16 years. 

However on Sunday another visit to Rocks by Rail nears Cottesmore saw me fulfill a long held desire and 'Bucket list' item to drive a railway engine. I have been incredibly privileged to have ridden on the footplate of an F Unit in the USA, stood on the footplate of one of the steam locos at the Sumpter Valley Railroad in Oregon and climbed into the cab of a massive cab forward loco at the Sacramento Railroad Museum in California. I have however never driven a loco. However that changed on Sunday.

Every so often the museum hold a Driver 4 a Fiver event which allows you to drive, with supervision, a diesel locomotive down the line and back. Five pounds for that - bargain! I was last to go as we arrived in the afternoon and there was still a long que and probably a good thing as the supervisor probably needed a strong drink and a lie down after having me at the helm! 

The locomotive was a 0-4-0 Sentinel shunter called Betty which is one that Hornby measured up to produce their model of the loco. The name Betty did evoke thoughts of the long ago comedy TV show Some Mothers Do Have 'Em which older readers will probably remember.

This is the loco.

Surprisingly the controls are very simple and duplicated on both sides of the control panel which means the supervisor can step in - very useful with me at the helm! From the left the lever that selects forward and reverse, in the middle the accelerator or throttle with the horn button underneath and on the right the brake.

If you got in my way you would see this coming towards you!

It all went well and apart from pulling the throttle towards me too much and suddenly revving the engine like a race car! I really enjoyed the experience and yes I would do it again - if they let me back on the footplate!!!! THe best bit - the horn! Very loud and certainly makes people know you are there! Their next and last for this year Driver 4 a Fiver event is on Sunday 3rd October 2021. Details on their web ite which you can visit by clicking here. 

A once a year day!

It only happens once a year and that is my birthday! Age is unimportant I say but whilst mentally I still think I am in my 20's the reality physically is a little different! However I did start the day with a bike ride, which is always a good way to wake up, to the local CoOp to buy a paper. The shop is 3 miles away but todays ride was a round trip of 17 miles bringing my total for the year up to 4020! The bike ride was great but the day just got better. As I was paying for my paper I suddenly noticed several of the CoOp staff around me. Gulp! What had I done? The manager than announced that today was a day of 'Small Acts of Kindness' and I had randomly been chosen to receive a little something which were the two boxes of mints in the picture below. I was quiet taken aback but it really made my day so a big thank you to the CoOp staff and thank you to them to for carrying on as they have over the pandemic. 

Back at WMD HQ Mrs. Woody gave me a fantastic train related card, two pairs of cycling shorts (very much needed as I think my present ones are just about worn out) and this DCC sound chipped GT3 00 gauge locomotive manufactured by KR Models and a beautiful piece of manufacturing it is too! Thank you Mrs. W - You are wonderful!

There is a detailed history of this unusual locomotive here but in summary it was built in 1958 and although looking like a steam engine it was actually powered by a gas turbine engine hence the GT name. It was not as successful as hoped but despite having potential it was eventually scrapped in 1966.

Carrying on with a railway theme the afternoon was spent at the Nottingham Heritage Railway at Ruddington just outside of Nottingham following a Subway sandwich. Never been before and despite no trains on the main railway running at the moment there was a lot to see. Firstly there was a small classic car show with a few cars I have not seen on the roads for years. 

Two nice Mercedes but the convertible TR7 is my favorite in that group. Apparently Mrs. Woody had always wanted one in her younger days but then she met me and could then never afford one!

Three Citroens showing the development of the original 1950's DS into the modern day version. On the left it looks like a Wolsey 6 and then a modded Morris Minor which had Minilite wheels, lowered suspension and probably a few modifications to the engine - nice! 

This rather nice 1972 Triumph Dolomite Sprint caught my eye in its very 70's yellow paint.

A Rover 400 I think. You just do not see many of what was a common car back in its day.

Something I have not seen for many years an original Daimler Dart looking very nice.

Still on road transport there is a collection of buses most of them local to the Nottingham area.

This City of Nottingham bus dates from about 1978 if the number plate is correct but looks more modern.

Much older is this bus from The Felix Bus Services fleet which operated out of Stanley in Derbyshire between 1921 and 2012. It is probably a Bedord chassis with a Plaxton body. The destination board is small and what would have been Ilkeston has been abbreviated to its colloquial name of Ilson.

Barton Transport buses operated in Nottinghamshire between 1908 and 1989. It was sold to Trent Buses and the new company is known as Trent Barton.

Old meets new! One of the bues undergoing restoration.

There are pieces of history all over the site such as this road sign. Many years ago the motoring organizations such as the RAC and AA put up road signs such as the one above as part of their service to motorists.

If you want some inspiration for heavy weathering on a model vehicle you could not do better than this old JCB.

It just cries out to be modelled.

There were also a few old lorries which look as though they are restoration projects. This old Scammell 8 legger probably looks better than it really is because the cab is aluminum and looks relatively solid but the chassis is highly corroded.

Another Scammell, probably a Highwayman, from 1962 is in even worse condition.

The original Ministry of Transport test certificate shows it was last tested in March 1969.

Railway wise there was a lot to see although in this first photo all you can see are some coaches. However there are two power cars for an HST and with theses coaches that would make a great train to bring back into service.

A Pacer. Hated by many but loved by some like me!

A well worn and partly dismantled Class 08 shunter that made it into EWS ownership.

A fantastic break down crane - every railway needs one!

In the pictures of the classic car show the 8F steam loco was in the background and here are a couple more pictures of this mighty freight engine.

Although no main line trains were running there was a miniature railway offering rides.

Ruddington Model Railway Club have a building with three layouts in it including this 00 gauge model of the original station at Ruddington.

There is also an 0 gauge layout with most of the highly detailed buildings built by the late great and much missed Allan Downes. 

A mega post today but it was a great day for so many reasons and one to remember!

Mirror, mirror on the workbench......

If you think that the K5350 Mustang truck model build is dragging on I must agree! However in my defense I keep getting dragged off into other things. Today it was a trip to the scrap yard to get rid of some scrap metal and than this afternoon cutting a very over grown hedge for a neighbour. However I have assembled the mirrors for the truck which are now on my work bench. Zvezda kindly supply some self adhesive ready cut reflective sheets to put on the mirror to imitate the real mirror glass. Looking at the mirror arms and their fragile nature made me think that to put those cut outs on once the mirrors were mounted to the truck was likely to end in a large contribution to the swear jar! I therefore devised a cunning plan of painting the front faces of the mirror bodies first which would give the rubber surround, then mount the reflective sheets and then mount the mirror bodies to the mirror arms. I could then either mount the arms to the doors and paint or paint separately and then mount to the door. Either way some masking tape on the reflective sheet will protect it from any painting. I will have to see if it all works out and will I be the fairest of them all???? I am sure Mrs. Woody has an answer for that!