A quietish time!

After a couple of busy days at the Rocks by Rail Museum culminating in yesterdays grass cutting adventures you would think I would have a quiet day. Well I did cut my own grass at WMD HQ but this afternoon was a bit of a quietish time. I did have a tidy up of my man cave and made a bit of space although Mrs. Woody probably would not be that impressed. Then I realised that I had not for some time actually run any trains. So the 009 narrow gauge layout was rejoined to clear the main tracks of the 00 gauge layout and I spent a nice hour or so just watching some trains like this 9F.

 

Joining the 009 narrow gauge layout together again gave me the opportunity to see the whole layout almost scenically nearly finished for the first time. Back in September 2021 it looked like this.

Now it looks like this.

I'm pleased with that progress! I just need to finish it!

Me allowed to drive something at Rocks by Rail Museum.

Yes I was today allowed to drive something at the Rocks by Rail Museum! Was it a steam or diesel locomotive? Was it an excavator? No - something a bit more within my skill range!

Yes! The lawn mower was in my charge today and it was great. It was something just to get lost in for a few hours and seeing the results after gives you a buzz of satisfaction.

I was cutting grass at the quarry end of the museum and believe it or not I have only been up at that end of the site twice before and the last time was in August of last year. So it was a bit like exploring the site again. I saw the drag line excavator.

The cab of the large walking drag line excavator Sundew.

The face excavator and stone hopper wagons.

It was great to see all these again and maybe one day I can drive one of these! However we all have to start somewhere so the lawn mower is my start!

Rocks by Rail Easter Weekend.

A fantastic Easter weekend for the Rocks by Rail Museum despite my assistance! It was a long day and starting at 9am and finishing at 6pm it was almost like a work day but in this case it was doing something I really enjoyed as did the other volunteers. There were a lot of visitors anxious to have a day out and see trains operating and we had two steam and two diesels running together with brake van rides and shunting displays. The drag line excavator at the quarry was also in operation. The only problem with being a volunteer at these events is that you do not get to see much of what is happening but you do make up for that with a sense of satisfaction when you see and hear peoples reactions to their visits. I hopefully will sleep well tonight but work goes on and back tomorrow for another day of manual labour! In the meantime I did grab a few photos as a record of what I did see.

Scrapheap Challenge - Finally finished?

Well the airbrush came out today between various jobs like gardening and car washing and the office building rebuilt from something found in my scrap box was painted. Whilst the airbrush was out the garden shed from yesterdays blog was also painted. Both have had a wash of dilute black paint and could probably benefit from another wash but that is for another day. In the meantime I will consider the office finally finished and set it in place as ready to use.

Garden shed.

A bit more progress on my rather limited garden creating abilities with the building of a garden shed from some scrap plastic card from my stock of junk useful items kept 'just in case'. That together with some 'planting' of foliage and the gardens are beginning to take place. The shed needs painting which will happen when I paint the office for the canal wharf. I think I will be painting the main woodwork in a mid grey and the doors an window dark red - very Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen from the TV programme Changing Rooms if you remember that. In the meantime some photos showing progress.

Postal Easter Bunny.

Out for a drive with Mrs. Woody today we stopped at off at the CoOp - other similar shops are available, etc., etc. - as last weeks 'we only need a few things' shopping at the CoOp resulted in a bill sufficiently large for the CoOp to give us a voucher for £6 off our next purchase of £40 or more to be spent by today. The phycology of the offer is superb as we were duly attracted to make that £6 'saving'. Despite 'only needing a few things'  again, we were presented at the checkout with a £58 bill after the £6 deduction! To rub salt into the wound we received a further voucher. This time for a mouth watering 50pence off sandwich fillers! Oh well, at least we won't go hungry this coming week!

On the drive back we past a post box. Nothing unusual in that but it caught Mrs. Woodys' eye so we went back to look closer.

Someone had obviously a lot of skill and spent a lot of time on making this delightful crochet Easter Bunny to adorn the post box. It brought a smile to both Mrs. Woody and me and I even forgot about the £58 bill until we got home and unpacked the shopping! 

Ground Force - The Woody Way!

Those of a certain age will remember the TV programme Ground Force where Alan, Tommy and Charlie would secretly transform someone's garden over a two day period. That programme was probably single handedly responsible for the growth in the popularity of garden decking and water features in this Country. However, in my World, I cannot call upon the services of Ground Force in creating the gardens on my 009 gauge model railway layout. Given that it is set in the !950's/60's the likelihood of decking or water features in British gardens was remote and most gardens consisted of lawn, vegetable patch, flower beds along the sides and possibly a garden shed or green house. Makes my life easy - well easier - in me creating that and doesn't tax my limited creative abilities - all in all The Woody Way. Mrs. Woody would agree with the limited creative abilities bit! 

A start has been made and the gardens are taking shape with static grass lawns, synthetic fiber hedges covered in scatter and earth coloured patches yet to be textured for the flower beds. All very unremarkable but it does add a bit of life. I may be a bit bold and add a washing line - or maybe that might be too creative!

 

Scrapheap Challenge Part 4 and other matters!

The office building has now been primed in black awaiting its final paint scheme which in itself is awaiting me to make my mind up what that final scheme might be! No wonder Mrs. Woody makes the decisions on colour schemes in the house!

As you can see the office now stands on a paved hard standing and the area around it has been static grassed which has made it look a bit more interesting. A little more interest has been added behind the houses on the other side of the station. The pavement and kerbs have been painted and a coat of brown paint was put on where the back gardens are. In addition the gardens have paths and the thatched cottage garden has had some grass added. I now have more scenic baseboard than unscenic which is progress indeed!

Opening Day!

 

Yes! Today was the first day of the 2022 season for the Rocks by Rail Museum. The gate that I hate having to open and close each time I visit out of season was open so I could drive straight in.

By 10.30 we had our first visitors of the season and whilst not over run with people there was a steady stream of guests which was good.

Even though we are open jobs still need to be done and today it was replacing a rotten wooden sleeper on one of the points on the main line. The track was slightly jacked up and the ballast around the sleeper dug out to enable it to be slid out from under the rails. However it was so rotten that we more or less had it in bits in situ.

There was a replacement in stock. Museums usually have a stock of useful things - much like my collection of 'it will come in handy someday' - out of sight but essential to keep things going. It was soon slid into place from the side.

The sleeper was drilled where the chairs holding the rail where situated.

The bolts were then greased and the holes in the chair fitted with insulating sleeves.

Manual labour then sees the bolts screwed into the sleeper.

Finally the ballast is put and packed back and it is almost ready for the running of passenger carrying trains this Easter weekend when hopefully we will host many visitors.

Scrapheap Challange part 3 - Mr. Blender Time?

I ended my last post with the possible option of introducing the scrap box hut to Mr Blender in the kitchen if it all went wrong! I am pleased to report and unusually for me today things went reasonably well! An hour of cutting plastic card saw a roof and barge boards put on and the window surrounds emphasised with some plastic strip. I have left the windows loose at the moment as it makes it easier to paint them separately and then install. Not sure if I will put gutters on as these may be too much for the model - I will think about it in the same way I think about Mrs. Woodys' list of jobs!

I put the hut on the layout to see how it will look and it fits in well to my mind anyway!

I could probably built a new kit in a fraction of the time I am spending on this but it is nice to take something that would have eventually been thrown out and rescue it - especially when it dates back to my childhood although Mrs. Woody still thinks I am an oversized child now!