Sorting the sidings!

It is now time to finish track laying in the sidings of my 00 gauge layout as at present they are a bit short! I selected some short off cuts of track which was a good way to use them up rather than on the main circuits. Once selected they were airbrushed with weathering paint.

The photo below shows how much track was needed.

With the tracks in place the sidings look far more railway like!

As planned (?!?!) or more by luck (more likely) my longest rake of wagons that will use the sidings just fits!

I now need to wire the sidings and then strip the plastic sleepers at the baseboard joints and put in copper clad ones to which the rail will be soldered before I can cut through them. Then it will be fully sorted!

Happy!

I am generally a happy person despite what Mrs. Woody would tell you! So my mood of happiness continued as I powered a train around the inner circuit of the newly laid track on my 00 gauge layout. In facat I got a bit carried away and spent a couple of hours playing operating trains! Now that makes me even more happy!

Will my happiness continue as I move onto the rest of the trackwork? I hope so as it means I am doing it right!

Large Scale Model Making!

Whilst out on a bike ride I came across this very nice wooden play tractor and trailer set up in a children's playground. Now to my mind this is great and I can remember that the young me of years, decades ago, would be very excited if this were in my local playground! However I resisted the urge to revert back to my childhood and to sit in the drivers seat - I wouldn't fit probably! But this is just like a large scale model - brilliant but I don't think Mrs. Woody would allow me to build one in the garden!

Gauging it!

 As I progress with the track laying and wiring of my 00 gauge layout those little red sticks have come out again! But before they could I had to finish gluing some track underlay and wiring some more track.

With that done it was time to glue the track in place and as glue does make later adjustment just about impossible without breaking something - my heart and wallet usually - I needed to make sure that things were right. The eyeball is usually good at seeing slight deviations but these track gauges also help. 

If you look at any real railway track it will never be absolutely straight so I am not worried too much about a slight kink but at least I should end up with something that doesn't look as though it was laid whilst wearing a blindfold!

With the track glued and in place I used some pieces of plywood to spread the weight of some suitable heavy objects to keep the track flat.

If I am gauging it right I might actually get to run a train soon and hope that it runs without derailing on my straight and flat track! 

Are their tigers in there?

A second day this week at the Rocks By Rail Museum and I can confirm there are no tigers in the Sundew drag line excavator cab but there are these tiger orange electrical components now adorning the wall making the cab look a lot more interesting thanks to Rob

Rob is continuing his wizardry with the exterior of the cab preparing it for a repaint in preparation for its celebration this year. It is the 50th anniversary of Sundews Greta Walk when it walked from Exton quarry in Rutland to Corby. The story is on the Museum Facebook page and you can see it by clicking here.

Are their tigers in there? That is what someone asked me today at the Rocks By Rail Museum as I battled to get the mower through the somewhat thick and over long grass. There may not have been tigers but there was an assortment of largish tree branches lurking, hidden in the grass.

Back in the comfort of WMD HQ where I could rest my mower battered body, things move on slowly with the 00gauge layout. The last of the track underlay on this section of baseboard has been glued down. One of the issues with glue is that you have to wait for it to dry and unlike instantons superglue, PVA takes some time to dry! At least it gives my body some time to recover from the mowing unless Mrs. woody finds a job for me to do!

Soldering on!

Time to solder some sleepers on my 00 gauge Last Great Project Layout. The track and wires were put in place after PVA glue was spread where the track was to go.  . 

The rails were then soldered to the copper clad sleepers.

Then it was al weighed down to make sure it was flat whilst the glue dried. 

I still have over 50 copper clad sleepers to do so this is going to take a while but at least it is a start! I just need to solder on!

Back at the Rocks by Rail Museum I am soldering, sorry soldiering, on with the grass cutting. The wet warmish weather has accelerated the grass growth so it is hard going. As Rob said, looks like you created a grass path to the dump truck!

Meanwhile, back in the restoration shed, John is adding the final bits to the 3 plank wagon with these supports for the drop sides. They are sprung which means the sides should lower without slamming down and hurting anyone, but equally important help in raising the sides back into position.

John and Andy deep in discussion about a latching mechanism to hold the drop sides in place when upright. I think I may have disturbed the train of though when I took the picture! However I am sure they have it worked out!

Being Curious!

This box caught my eye as I walked out of the Bingham Model railway exhibition. It was the end of the day on the last day so there was not much left but there was something about the description on the box, wired for chip but no chip  and that low price which made me curious!

It was a 44 ton switcher as the box confirmed.

This was inside.

Even has a driver.

So, my curiosity as to exactly what was meant by the description on the box was raised even further. Luckily the seller was on the stand and confirmed that the only thing wrong with this never run model is that he was going to use the chassis for a kit built body but that did not work out but he had cut the wires to fit a DCC chip but had never done the final work. Well that final bit of work is exactly what I would be doing to this model anyway so for the bargain price of £25 this came home with me!

Whilst actually in the show I came across the guy who does the resin prints that I bought some of at the Sleaford Mode Makers Show last year. He is expanding his range and all profits go to the Lincs Air Ambulance so a great cause to support as I told Mrs. Woody as I selected these items!

The narrow boat will go on my 009 narrow gauge layout Chalkdon. 

These line side telephones will go on my 00 gauge layout.

This rather nice crane will probably also go on Chalkdon.

As will this gantry crane.

 Lots more projects to complete for me then! I really should not be so curious!

Bingham Model Rail Way Show 2

Continuing on from yesterdays look at the Bingham Model Railway Club 2024 Show we have an usual concept that is brilliantly executed. Blue Heron is a USA switching layout but built to be displayed in the dark! Great lighting and audio affects along with the use of an electrical mechanism from an opticians examination laboratory that allows the layout to be raised and lowered makes this a great layout.

Proving that you do not need a lot of space for a layout, Littlepoint Wharf comes in at around 4 foot by 1 foot in size. Get close up and lost in the scene you forget about the small size.

Another small layout was Bridges. 

Although 009 narrow gauge it did habe some standard 00 gauge track as well showing the skill of the builder with this hand built dial gauge point. Now that is skillful!

The rest of the layout was to a high standard and novel with its trackwork design.

Well those are the layouts I really liked.

I did find myself parting with cash for a couple or three items, but more of that tomorrow!

Bingham Model Railway Club Exhibition 2024

An unexpected visit to this exhibition that nearly didn't happen. I was only reminded about it this morning when I looked at an email and suddenly had to inform Mrs. Woody that I was taking her out for the afternoon. I didn't say where but getting near the venue I think there was a realisation for Mrs. W as we followed the signs to the 'Model railway Show' that her afternoon out was not going to be for afternoon tea!

The Bingham Club show is one of those small but cosy and friendly shows and it was again this year - well worth the £5 admission. 

There were around 20 layouts, some demonstrations and several traders - more than enough for Mrs. W to enjoy!

Most of the layouts were modest sized ones that individuals had built. There were a couple of club layouts too and most scales were represented.

In 0 gauge, Denton Sidings showed that you don't need a massive space for an interesting 7mm scale layout. Just under 12 foot by 2 foot wide and packed with details. A real credit to its builder.

Lets get the focus right!

That piano is not going to fit in that house!

I believe there are over 500 individual bricks in that foundation!

Another layout that took my eye was this n gauge layout, Burdock, which whilst being nothing more than a tail chaser was actually operated as such with only a few seconds between trains. A great selection of prototype locomotives featured on the trains as well as the ducks! And there were a lot of them!

Some other interesting layouts and I will look at those tomorrow.