I'm Baaaaacccck

So, what did I miss then?

Its been a while since I've been round. other projects (scale and gaming) have been attracting me, and I have felt that I didn't have much to contribute to the scale for the last year or so. Not being on facebook (by choice) means I'm out of much of the NZR modeling group, though I get some 2nd hand information (ie NZ48 would be the new thing if the finescalers would let other people play, and where have all the S scale kit makers gone?).

So to start up again with something railways related, on Sunday I biked the Rimutaka incline both ways on a $10 mountain bike off Trademe.

Starting at the Wairarapa end, the uphill goat track into Cross creek was a challenge and I was stuffed when we got to Cross creek.

Down hill

Up Hill

 From here it got worse up the 1 in 15. My blood pressure pills did me no favours (a dry hacking cough) and the bike was pushed most of the way. I did query my companions CPR skills at one point.

Towards the top the views get more spectacular.

Onto Summit and after some lunch and a rest I felt much better.
The collection of rusty rubbish at the top was interesting.

 This appears to be the remains of an S class single Fairlie.

No idea about what the 2 small boilers come from (bring on the anorak brigade..). I thought that the larger fireboxes might have been marine ones, but closer inspection revealed that they had identical fitting holes so are more likely to be original A or Ab boilers replaced after WW2 by re-boilering (takes anorak off again).

 The turntable and water tank base.

 Obligatory shot of the summit tunnel.

We then headed down the hill to Kaitoke. 4-5 km down the hill, my bike head tube (the bit that the front forks run through) started making rubbery squeaking noises. 3km further on I thought "maybe I should have a look". On being confronted with a ball race with holes where 1/2 the ball bearings used to be, I thought to myself "this probably isn't good". and the best place to find this is the furtherest point from the car...
Fortunately it wasn't terminal and it turned out that alterations I had made the previous day were a fault (and not the $10 spent on Trademe). Turning round I found that riding up a 1 in 40 hill is far easier than a 1 in 15 hill.
Back down the incline was also entertaining. The bike brakes were not up to much, so the descent was mostly focused on not allowing threbrakes to lock up, while pondering the best way to dismount a bike backwards if it headed off over the edge. I also involved me going far faster than was sensible with everything rattling o a dodgy cheap bike while laughing like an idiot. The trip down took10-15 minutes (and could have been quicker but for waiting to see that my more sensible slower friend was still on the track).

At the bottom, we paid a visit to the loco depot.

Engine shed back left and brake van pit front right

It was only left to ride the goat track back to the car park (with a 40 meter drop on one side with plenty of big rocks on the track) to finish up a 34km day. Padded bike shorts might look silly but are indeed gods gift to your ass.