The Third Rail

Lekker cosy eksê!!!!!

Got all the lights coupled up. Got the wiper motors and cabinets in. Done their plumbing. Dashboard lights connected and working fine. Seat air suspensions done. Wipers in.

Now the end is in sight.

Lekker julle!

Chris asked the other day where that handbrake mechanism goes.

It goes there…….

I am getting there. Got the lights on the dashboard in. That is a bit of a difficult job. Will show you when the interior is done.

Lekker julle!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/18CHezJKFX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This man is 90 and still building model trains. I would love to meet him. When his documentarycomes up on Kyknet, would somebody be so kind to record it and send it to me.

I tap inspiration out of dudes like this.

Lekker julle.

90-year-old railway veteran keeps history alive with model trains | Roodepoort Record Neusol 'Soon' Klee has spent decades building model locomotives – a passion that will soon see him featured on national TV.

Young dude walks in here this morning. He is a model builder. Star Wars and stuff like that. About 24 years old. Now, I was not overly friendly because I am busy catching up. Loose ends everywhere.

So I just carried on while he was explaining what he wanted. And then he kept quiet and waited for me to finish and put together the handbrake assembly in the cab of the CG1 class 35GM.

“Maar oom, hoekom sit oom die ketting in as jy dit nie gaan sien nie?” he asked.

“Want netnou fokken kyk iemand” I replied.

And with the wisdom of youth he said to me that if 100 people looked at this model, only two or three will see it. “And those two are normally the judges” I replied.

He looked at me and said that there was a cabin in the Millenium Falcon he is building currently that he wanted to fit a light but he could not reach unless he broke it out and rebuilt it.

“Oom” sê hy “ek gaan nou huis toe en ek gaan daai liggie daar in bou. Dankie oom.”

And he left.

And just like that……. insanity was born. It can only be a good thing…..

Right?

Well well well, I was man-down for the best part of a week. Shingles, gordelroos…… call it what you want. I do not wish it on my worst enemy.

I only started assembling stuff again yesterday. This loco was supposed to be done tomorrow. 4 weeks. It’s not even close yet. Problem being that the medication I am on gives me the shakes.

Ek bewe soos ‘n ou man. Today was a bit better as I stopped taking the pain killers. So I could mask and paint the stripes on the nose. Tomorrow I will do the long bonnet. I have cut the windows. Painted the interior and printed the decals. I reckon by Friday I should be done.

Lekker julle!!!!!

Dudes! I had some health issues. So things were going way too slow. But inbetween I ordered a couple of tubs worth of Artesania brass rivets and I pinned the whole train.

I have better drawings now and much more photo reference than ever before. Redid the roof oil cooler too as it was way too small.

Today, I am making the inter-bogie connections and then it is paint time.

Lekker julle!!!!