Consultation!

 It is not unusual theses past few months to go to the Rocks by Rail Museum and find the engine cover on a piece of plant open as some issue is dealt with. Today was no exception with Harriot being the subject of attention today.

Following a joint consultation it was diagnosed that as everything else in the fuel system has been proven to work or been replaced the lift pump must be the issue. A new one is on order!

Down by the recently commenced drainage works there was more consultation going on as a number of volunteers watched the action.

And the action was Andy in the trench!

Meanwhile, in the restoration shed lots of progress with all of the tubes in 1931 taken out ready for the whole thing to be washed out ready for inspection.

Meanwhile, on the viewing platform project that I am involved in, more progress has been made! The ends of the Heras fencing have been fastened to two posts hammered into the ground and then concreted in, the Teram sheeting has been unrolled and the path edges chamfered.

Following the unloading of the platelayers trolley by throwing spadefulls of  material up over the viewing platform barrier a layer of suitable cover over the Teram began to form.

Standing on the platform gives a great view of the quarry sidings - just hope that it is appreciated! 

Not much left to do now to finish this project so hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be finished ready for the grass cutting season!

Viewing the progress on the viewing platform!

There are days when things come together and the slow but steady progress of many weeks of hard work suddenly comes together giving a sense of achievement. That sense of achievement is what I got at the end of today at the rocks By Rail Museum where I volunteer. Having started back in mid November 2034 with the aim of building a viewing platform so that visitors will have a better view of the quarry sidings and the shunting that we do on event days, that project is nearly complete. The hard work of shifting rocks and spoil to build the platform is done and today we just about finished installing the last of the barriers around it. We had two Heras fencing panels found in the Museum's grounds which we cut down by about a foot and set them against the existing barrier at the front of the platform. We had dug trenches either side of the platform so that the panels could be set in the ground which gives them some rigidity.

Alex illustrates that the barriers are perfectly safe to lean against!

There is just a need to add a thin layer of fine material for drainage, top that with the white Terram sheet that is presently rolled over the front barrier and finish off with some gravel over the top. Hopefully we should be finished by mid March.

What won't be finished by mid March is this!

The works to install drainage under the platform track continues but the corner has now been turned with the drainage pipes actually now being installed.

Next job is to build a manhole where Andy is stood in the hole. As I pointed out, he wont get much of a view from down there but he could on the new viewing platform if we can get the trains to run for Easter! I couldn't hear his answer because of the mini-digger starting up!

Another good day at the Museum!

Progress at the Rocks by Rail Museum today with the last of the track around the platform area having been lifted ready to be re-laid once some drainage has been installed. The digger for that comes next week after which, hopefully things can be put back in place.

With the wet weather that we have been having at the moment it all looks a little bleak and muddy.

Meanwhile, in the restoration shed, the work on Loco 1931 and its retube continues. Although not really visible, there has been considerable progress with 21 of the 134 tubes having now been removed. It gets easier as you get into the job, so I am told which means that the remaining 113 tubes should be no problem to get out!

The tubes come out through the smoke box with the door open.

Having been hammered through from inside the firebox.

These are some of the tubes that have been removed and they show that the water treatment used in the water that is put into the locos saddle tank has prevented any limescale buildup.

And these are some of the tools that are used to put into the tubes in order to hammer them out. I have no idea how the whole process works but luckily there are those that do!

For me, it was another day f moving backfill for the viewing platform. Luckily, Alex had been in earlier in the week and had added to the backfill so we started with this....

and finished with this....

Next stage will be to add some hardcore type material to the top to provide a solid standing area. We have moved a lot of material as this replenished spoil pile shows. All that work will be worthwhile though and all in all another good day at the Museum!

More back filling!

 The work on the track at the Rocks by Rail Museum continues! 

From a higher viewing point the extent is clear to see.

Of course we do have mechanised assistance - when it works! Harriot did decide to break down for a short while but luckily had a change of mind later on!

Meanwhile, working on the viewing platform continues with more back filling to get a level approach.

This where we got to last week.

Following some intense quarrying of some conveniently placed spoil nearby which Alex and David are gigging through in this animated GIF we got to this.

It may not look much different but there is about two tons of material dug out, wheel barrowed and tipped which is not bad going for a cold and damp day!

We can actually stand at the edge of the barrier and see the view that visitors will get looking up to the quarry sidings. It should give a whole new perspective as well as giving photographers a nice vantage point. Still more to do but this is one of those projects that has moved forward quite quickly which is nice and gratifying. Hopefully we may get some warmer and sunnier weather next week!

Was it a magic trick? Or was I just an Ailurophile?

Last week, arriving at the Rocks By Rail Museum, the CAT was stood in the gateway in front of the track broken down and unable to move.

This week on my arrival and as if  by some magic trick, Harriot, the JCB, was broken down in almost the same spot!

It appears that there is a spate of fuel issues going through the plant fleet. No one is sure what it is but it could be coincidences with the fuel systems on the vehicles all giving issues or perhaps contaminated fuel. What ever it is we have a team of experts and keen armatures who can make things work - eventually!

Harriot did start but my curiosity as to where the CAT had gone was soon answered - just round the corner where it had yet again broken down in mid movement!

Which is a bit concerning as this pea gravel for the drainage job at the platform siding has arrived and needs moving by the CAT

so that this mess can be sorted out!

I'm sure it will be but in the mean time I got on with some more backfilling to create the viewing platform that I have been involved in since last year - Projects at the Museum tend to take a long time!

Just like trying to find rock to fill the Gabion baskets/cages some weeks ago, there is a hunt for suitable soil type backfill to go behind the Gabions and create the platform. I dug some out near the drag line excavator, including from within the bucket! It was just a long way to barrow the contents.

However, by chance, I spotted a pile of potential backfill closer to the eventual destination of the platform. Hidden behind undergrowth, David cleared that away and allowed access to some good material.

After a day of work we are nearly at the back of the Gabions!

We now have loyal blog reader Mrs. B on Team Gabion. For some reason she showed an interest in the project and was immediately, before she could have second thoughts, shown the source and destination of material together with the wheeled means of transporting said material and the shovel and pick by which said material is transferred into said means of transport! We can't miss an opportunity when someone shows interest! Thanks Mrs. B! 

Mrs. B also managed to confuse or educate, depending upon the individuals state of mind at the time, everyone at lunchtime by proclaiming that I was an Ailurophile! Now that took me off guard but apparently it is  “a person who likes cats” which I do, and the word was word of the day on the Dictionary.com web site back on the 22 August 2022. Don't say that WMD is never educational or indeed magical!

 

Track gone!

Following last weeks day at the Rocks By Rail Museum where track maintenance work was being started, I was expecting some more work but was a little staggered by how far things have moved on with a lot of track gone!

The point has been lifted!

The sleepers are stored on the bank!

And, by the end of the day the rails into the platform had gone to!

There is more to do as a trench needs to be dug by the platform to install a drain and then everything need to go back. Easy to say but not so easy to do especially when the CAT has decided to break!

This is where it inconveniently decided to break down.

The cause is nothing terminal but it appears that the fuel system is slightly clogged as John, one of our mechanical geniuses, demonstrates with this part of a filter housing which ahs a nasty sludge inside.

This is the sludge he dug out - nice!

Not being a mechanical genius, I was back to using the crude tool of a spade - or as you could say, I was putting a spade in the ground, just as the UK Government is presently talking about!

That trench was soon widened with the ultimate aim of clearing a path, level with the existing, to the new viewing platform that has been subject to previous posts, 

In the meantime, David was digging, but in a different way, through the overgrowth, to extract a panel of Heras fencing. Might seem a strange thing to do but there was a logic behind this. 

Once free, we managed to maneuver the panel down the bank and rest it against the gabions. About a metre was above the gabion which is ideal as a barrier to prevent visitors falling off the top of the platform.  

 

Amazingly, using my phone spirit level app, the thing was also spot on level! Amazing! We then wired it to the gabions and in theory, the backfill behind the gabions should firmly secure the panel in place.

Going even further in the pursuit of excellence, Alex is unwrapping a roll of Terram sheeting.

Suitable lengths were cut off and back at the viewing platform we covered the Heras fencing and looped the remaining 7 metres of the stuff over the top. Once the backfilling is done we will roll the Terram back over it and cover it with stone. Hopefully the Terram will stop weed growth!

Looking back from the Heras fencing, David and Alex admire a good days work!

I wonder if we will finish this platform before the track goes back to the other platform?