What have we been saddled with at the Rocks By Rail Museum?

What have we been saddled with at the Rocks By Rail Museum?

Well, it is the saddle tank to steam loco Elizabeth that has returned from repairs at an outside specialist contractor.

Unloading involved lifting slings and the CAT.

And this is where it was heading to - the Lowmac wagon which already had the cab to the loco on it.

Because there are two valves and a number of bolts protruding from the bottom of the tank it has to be rested on some wooden supports.

I got entrusted to move the supports around to miss the protrusions and there was not a lot of margin for error - no pressure then!

Due to my shill or more likely luck, the saddle tank was lowered into place without incident! Richard took the slings off and the Lowmac with its load was taken back to a siding where the tank and cab will await further work.

Whilst at that end of the line I did notice this.

I am informed that these sleepers will be used to demark the edge off the narrow gauge exhibits from the gassed area. The sleepers will stop the gravel which is to be laid from spilling onto the grass.

Back in the Restoration Shed things are progressing with the Southern Brake Van.

John was also bust stripping paint from the grab handles that he has removed.

Whilst walking round the brake van I noticed something that I really should have noticed before.

At various points along the chassis are welded in  markings for British Steel who produced the chassis members - all the wording is upside down though!

Going outside I noticed Andy and Richard working on the mesh to the ballast washer.

They have remade the mesh with stronger stainless steel individual rods which needed tying together.

They have been using welding wire twisted in place - a labour intensive task indeed! As they had done about a third of it I helpfully suggested that rebar gun would be a lot easier! They had never heard of such a thing so I used the wonders of the internet to illustrate and all I got was 'Why could I not have suggested that before they started!' My defence of only just seeing them do the work did not go down well! I think there may be a rebar gun arriving soon!

For me? Well for the first time since June I got Morris Mower out!

He obviously enjoyed his Summer break and started first time before leading me on a vegetational butchery spree!

With the amount of rain that we are now getting it may be a while before Morris takes his Winter break!

Things are coming together and sometimes pictures say more than words!

 Things are coming together and sometimes pictures say more than words!

More to do but I like what I see!

Buffer stops!

 As the work on detailing parts for the station area continues it was time to get some buffer stops sorted for the end of the sidings. 

I had in stock four Hornby items which may not be the greatest buffer stop but with some work they can look better.

First job was to give them a base coat of light grey which actually revealed that they are more detailed than I expected. Once the paint dries I will start the detail painting.

Shunting on a Bank Holiday!

 It was a day of shunting for me at the Rocks By Rail Museum on Bank Holiday Monday.

Whilst many of our guest were enjoying brake van rides....

...the 'action' was taking place in the quarry!

...

That is the coupling between the locomotive and the first wagon of the rake to be shunted.

Mr D was the shunting loco ably driven by John.

This is the face shovel ably operated by Martyn.

Every hour or so we swop the rake of wagons. So this set of tipplers is replaced by these four hoppers.

The hoppers do make an impressive sight.

For those doing the shunting swapping the two rakes over, getting the brake van on the right end of the outgoing rake and the loco at the other can be a hectic time but having done this for many times we can generally swap the two in about ten minutes!

Then the outgoing train sets off back down the line with everyone happy that it has gone well!

My fellow shunter, Gary, took the opportunity whilst being in the quarry of looking over his new purchase...

.. one of only two LIMA cranes in the UK. It needs a lot of work but hopefully Gary will be able to get it into some form of working order in the next few years when it may be able to be on show to visitors!

They look fairly effective especially from a distance which is a point from which most of my modelling should be viewed from!

You may be wondering what these are?

And these.

Well the next picture should explain!

They are of course the coping stones that adorn the top of the wall and pillars. Simply cut from card - the old backing board to a pad of paper, and with pencil lines to denote the joints they look fairly effective especially from a distance which is a point from which most of my modelling should be viewed from!

The airbrush has also been out weathering the walls with browns and greys to take away that pristine look of the brick papers and again I think from a distance it looks OK!

Hopefully I can start to get things back in place on the layout and maybe actually run some trains!

It is a sizable piece of infrastructure!

With the wall section off the layout for cables to be attached and weathering plus finishing off a few other parts to it you can see it is a sizable piece of infrastructure!

It is 6 foot in length and any work on it takes time dealing with that size of modelling.

However, the two cables are in place and weathering is now to commence which should be fun with something this big!

Now what do we have here?

 Now what do we have here?

A number of bits of plastic strip cut to 1cm lengths but why?

Well once painted grey....

..and with the wall section behind the station removed to the convenience of the floor...

...they were glued to the wall. OK! Nut why?

Well, they form the brackets to which the cables will be attached giving a representation of the real life situation where cables along railway lines are attached to nearby walls! More to do but it is getting there!

I do like a nice bit of cake!

 Its a wet and rainy day at the Rocks By Rail Museum!

So what happens on such a day?

Well, it seems as though everyone gathers round something in the Restoration Shed! But what?

It is actually Richard who is the centre of attention using Oxyacetylene to try to separate the mounting flange from the broken chimney of steam loco Uppingham! 

Not sure what is going on here but yet more volunteers sheltering in the Shed!

And yet more!

Even I kept in the dry sorting out some more banners!

However, not put off by the rain, Rob continued work on the Eucild dump truck. However, even he had to admit welding as not a safe option but he could grind and paint in the shelter of the tipper body!

It is birthday on Sunday, Happy Birthday Rob, so he brought in cake!

I do like a nice bit of cake!

Not sure what they contain but it could be some mysterious matter!

 Having had a calming time stacking the pallets with the sacks all included in the Ratio pack it was time to paint.

A coat of light grey was applied as a unifying undercoat.

Then the colour was added. Using a similar technique to that I used on the planks on the Hornby flat wagon wheel carrying wagons, the pallets look worn and used. The barrels probably want another coat of yellow but look a bit brighter than they did and the sacks are in a blue with a yellow dot. Not sure what they contain but it could be some mysterious matter! However, they do add a bit of colour. I just need to add a bit of weathering to them.

Stacking pallets!

 I have enjoyed stacking the pallets with the sacks included in the Ratio pack - most therapeutic!

I just need to paint all the items up ready to find a place on the layout.

Also therapeutic was a bike ride taking in the local canal where the rain of the last week has made an impact! 

The water now touches both sides! I didn't think that we had that much rain but there is the proof!