Going back in time.

At my age I can do a lot of going back in time posts but for this one I am only going back to around 2012. On holiday with Mrs. Woody in Norfolk that year a trip to Sherringham was undertaken. A walk down the main street towards the sea front saw us pass a model shop which at that time was called AutoLoco. Despite the name implying otherwise the shop had a lot of second hand radio controlled boats of various degrees of quality. However there was model railway stuff in there as well although you sometimes had to search through other stuff to get to it. Over the years I have had several things from that shop searched out amongst the boats but in this particular year something caught my eye in the shop window.  A Bachmann Class 108 2 car DMU in early British rail green. Its price of £79.50 sounds like a real bargain given at the time it was retailed new at £95.15 and at todays prices even more of a bargain with similar models well over £200. Given that it already had had a DCC chip fitted as well made me reach for my wallet. 

I am ashamed to say that apart from having a look at the time at the model it sat in its box for the next 10 years. This weekend however it came out of its box and despite its overlong hibernation it ran superbly at the first application of power. Good job I guess as it would be a bit late to take it back and the shop has changed ownership as well! It is a wonderful model and I recall just why I was captivated when I saw it. Hopefully it will be seeing more of the tracks on my layout where it belongs.

I am not a fan of the so called 'unboxing' posts and videos but I did include a couple of pictures of the box here to remind me of what the model was and its price! You can see my skills at doing a 'unboxing' item are somewhat limited as I have a picture of an empty box. I forgot to take the photo with the model still in the box and I really could not be bothered to pack it away again, take the photo and to then put it back in the box only to get it out again, if that makes sense? So here is the empty box!

You just have to love the description ' With Speed Whiskers"! Wonder if my cats have those?

So without any further delay here are some photos of this beautiful DMU.

It has illuminated destination blinds with Bedford at one end and Hitchin at the other. This was a branch of the Midland Railway where this DMU would have run in the 1960's at which time it would have been a cutting edge train. 60 years later and similar DMUs are now running on Heritage railways. 

 

So that concludes this trip back in time but there are lots more things in the WMD HQ collection yet to be unearthed from back in time so stay tuned - my blog is the ultimate cure for insomnia!

Am I the Paparazzi?

Out on a bike ride this afternoon and going towards a high class wedding venue there was a wedding car stopped at the side of the road with the happy (I presume) couple having their photos taken with the venue in the background. It was certainly a good afternoon for it although I suspect that with all the rain the Bride was probably sinking rapidly into the grass verge if she was wearing high heels. I shouted congratulations as I passed which was acknowledged by the couple and thought nothing more about it apart from wondering if the Groom will have a list of jobs to do after the honeymoon similar to my list from Mrs. Woody. 

However going further up the road I got stopped by one of the staff from the aforementioned wedding venue. Had I seen a white van, was his question. I answered no, but I had seen a newly wed couple having their photo taken further down the road. The response I got was that's OK then - its a Society Wedding but we had reports of some Papparazzi in a white van. I did point out that in my lycra cycling clothes the possibility of successfully hiding a telephoto camera was remote so he should discount me from his concerns. However I had to ask - who were the couple? Apparently that was information too secret, until its probably in the papers tomorrow, to divulge! Apparently they were expecting helicopters later in the day so it must be some famous couple. Having completed conversation I rode but as I headed back the wedding couple were still there having more pictures taken. I did think the Bride looked a little shorter then before - probably was wearing high heels then! Passing by I thought why not. So Pretend Papparazzi Woody took this distance shot with his phone which shows - well it shows very little! Certainly nothing a paper or magazine would pay for and I didn't want it for that. One day though, I may actually find out who the couple were although I am that uninterested in celebrities, their names will probably mean nothing to me but Mrs. W may well know. In the meantime I can say my career as a Paparazzi has been short lived and unsuccessful so Mrs. W can rest easy!

The happy couple - who ever they are.

The zoomed in low resolution shot that shows - well not a lot and that my career as a possible Paparazzi was doomed from the start!

Testing.

With the track laid and fettled on my Last Great Project 00 gauge layout it was time to test it by having an operating play session! Just really a time to run some trains round and through the various point formations to see if there were any issues. A great way to pass an hour after cleaning the house and doing some gardening just in case Mrs. Woody is reading this. If she isn't reading this then the cleaning house and gardening came afterwards! 

Anyway, the result was that it all seems to work as it should - amazing! No doubt some problems will come about as time goes by but I was particularly impressed that the crossovers seemed to work without derailing any stock.

Even in its less than finished state my favorite part of the layout is fast becoming the viaduct section. I think it is because I can look up to the trains or maybe I just have an obsession for viaducts! Either way I do enjoy watching trains cross like this Freightliner Class 66 meeting a Central Trains Class 156 coming the other way. Something that in real life has not happened for nearly 20 years but I can recreate in miniture just as I used to see when I was out and about - oh dear I am showing my age!

Even though it is far from finished I can visualise how this section of the layout will finally look. Just need to make that vision a reality - now that will be a further test for me!

Fettling the track!

A productive few hours today as I fettled the track on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. Much as it was before in terms of the overall scheme, I now have most of the track in place and although laid loosely at the moment it is operational although my wires are just literally pushed into place awaiting the time when a full wiring will take place. Wonder how long that will take me!

The one thing that I never got round to on my last version of this layout was placing the loco depot. I have always wanted a turntable since I was a kid and that was a long, long time ago. Finally I have the turntable and a place to put it although it is going to need a large hole cut in the baseboard to house it. I also have a series of cross over points to allow trains to move from one circuit to the other.

The cross overs are replicated at the other end of the layout and there will be a point off on the left eventually leading to some storage sidings - well that is my plan at the moment!

The station area will have two platforms and the goods yard/marshalling sidings are on the left.

The dropped section of the baseboard has had the two viaducts separated a bit more which looks better. The track terminating at the edge of the dropped section on the right will be where a shunting loco will be sited whilst waiting to shunt th gods yard/marshalling sidings.

So far I am happy that everything is more or less as I visualised. I now just need to get the next tasks done but who knows what tomorrow will bring especially if Mrs. Woody finds some 'must be done now' job!

Shattered from yesterdays work? Well start the day with a 28 mile bike ride!

After yesterdays hedge hacking at the Rocks by Rail Museum I was shattered. I must admit I ached all evening but I had a good nights sleep probably induced by all that fresh air and work. You would think I would take it easy today and I did have some intention of that (but don't tell Mrs. Woody). But with some sunny and warm if a but windy weather, I ended up doing a 28 mile bike ride as it was so nice and then had a couple of hours doing some more sorting of the junk in my garage in that never ending quest of a junk free life. Well that is what I am aiming for but the accomplishment of that is a long way off. My problem always has been I have collected stuff as it will come in useful at some time. In addition I still have some of my parents stuff to go through. However I am now realising that time is running out and that VHS tape or the SCART lead are now outdated and should go - along with most of what is in there! It just takes me time to let go as I tell Mrs. W.

Being in the garage on a  sunny day I noted that my gravel driveway has taken on a green tone. It is gravel so it is 'green' from the point of view of drainage. However this green was the amount of grass growing in it. Over the hot summer and drought it was nice and clear but with the recent wet weather I am now trying to understand why the grass grows so well on my drive but not on my lawn! Time for action! I was in the right mood and so a quiet hour of weeding saw me manage to clear about a third of it - not that Mrs. W will notice! An hour of this was all I could stand however before my mood waned so the rest will have to wait another day or another drought!

Well it was turning into a day of variety so back in my Man Cave I had a hour or so looking and fettling the track on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. Whilst the track plan is much the same as before, the extra foot of width allows me the ability to install some crossovers between the three circuits. In addition before I finally fasten it all down the various circuits need to be parallel to each other so there is some fiddling to do with to ensure that this is the case. However I am liking the new arrangement of baseboards.

Robin is here but where is Batman?

A day at the Rocks by Rail Museum today where with the site closed to guest we busy ourselves with all those jobs that have built up over the year or in some cases years! For me I was given the job of cutting back a hedge that had been left to its own devices for several years. Luckily garden skill required is minimal - just an ability to use a lopper which is good for me! However it was a big job and ideally someone with the powers of Batman would have made short work of it but unfortunately Batman I am not, much to Mrs. woody's disappointed but I did do my best! Note to self - get a utility belt next time to hang loppers from!

I was on my own initially, so my mind was able to wander in my butterfly fashion until I noticed this little Robin who was hunting for food as I was disturbing the ground clearing the debris away. Either that or he had mistaken me for Batman and wanted to be my Robin!

I started off with this.....

and after five hours finished with this.

You can see just how much I cut back with that pole now fully visible! Next year the hedge should fill out but it will be easier to keep in line and to cut the grass.

Back at WMD HQ although shattered and wanting to put my feet up I have had to put my kitchen utility belt on to cook Mrs. Woody's dinner! Batman at least had Alfred to cook dinner!

Butterfly activity!

I messaged Metcalfe Models yesterday (Sunday) and this morning at just after 9am I got a response saying they were sending the missing sheet of parts. Now that is service! So whilst I wait for this to arrive I have, in my usual butterfly manner of projects, moved to another couple of things that have been hanging about for a while.

Firstly the Heller Scania 144 LB needs the cab finishing. So today the decals for the doors were applied. 

I did have in the back of my mind a few months ago making the doors openable but whilst it is more than possible and I did start making hinges, I am not sure I have the patience to do it. So Plan B is that the doors will be closed! In the meantime once the decals harden the door will be given a coat of gloss varnish to seal and protect them. How far the cab gets after that is anyone's guess and I have no idea!

The other project is the Foden tipper which needed a second coat of paint on the tipper body and cab as well as the interior painting. 

The second coat has been applied and the interior painted in that 1970.s brown that was so popular in its day but from what I understand is now referred to as nappy brown! The seats and steering wheel will be painted black once the brown has dried.

I have no idea where my butterfly activity wil take me next but at least these projects have seen the light of day again and moved on even if only by a bit!

Missing parts!

A really wet and miserable day here in the UK. Woke up full of energy to do a whole list of things including some on Mrs. Woody's list and I think the weather just drained that so I ended up doing not a lot! Even those things I did do went wrong but I guess we all have days like that.

However, I did manage to build up enough enthusiasm to abandon the comfort of the sofa and Lara Croft on the TV to go out to the Man Cave where the day continued to go wrong. Picking up on the building of the Metcalfe viaduct kits I found that one of the sheets of parts is missing! I should have checked all was well when I opened the kit but as most of us do we take it for granted these days that everything is there. The missing part has the side wall to the viaduct so is fairly vital!

There should be four of these sheets and when the main brick wall is cut out two of them are glued to a sub structure box.

This then joins the arched section of the viaduct 

 Hopefully Metcalfe will be able to supply the missing sheet and I have messaged them so I should hear from them soon.

In the meantime and in light of so many things going wrong I think I will just call today a bit of a rest day! Just don't tell Mrs. Woody!

Filling that gap 2

With a bit of work today the arched structure of the second Metcalfe viaduct is built. This means that I can at least run trains without them disappearing into an abyss! More to be done to them yet but things have moved on in the last few days which is unusual for me! Maybe Mrs. Woody's list of jobs to do has not received the attention from me she believes it should, but I have put the time to good use on my to do list!

That gap needs filling!

Back at the Last Great Project layout the trains are running again but that gap in the baseboards where the dropped section is needs filling with the viaducts before I can go much further or a train decides to make a break for it and meets the floor. I have had trains do an Evil Knievel impression before but unlike the great showman those trains did not make a successful landing! So today the second viaduct has been started which will be side by side with the other. Having done the main structure on one viaduct the construction of the second moved on at twice the speed as I supposedly now knew what I was doing! How true that is, is open to some debate as Mrs. Woody would no doubt have a view. Anyway there is the substructure constructed with the underside brick work in place as well. I like the view I can now get of trains going over the viaduct and I am really looking forward to the final scene coming together.