There was also this sign that says STOP, so I did!

A truly glorious day weather-wise at the Rocks By rail Museum today which made everything seem a bit easier to do. 

I brought Morris Mower out of his Winter sleep for a bit of action and to join Sammy Strimmer. He started after a few pulls of the starter cord so was soon awake unlike me!

Andy was bringing the oversized washing machine out of its Winter hibernation after I had used Sammy Strimmer to cut back the vegetation. It is now ready to wash more ballast.

John and Alex shunted a few wagons about to get the ballast wagon ready to be loaded with washed ballast.

It is now in the platform siding awaiting its first use this year.

Having gone down to the oversized washing machine with Sammy Strimmer I could look back up towards the top of the Bone Yard and appreciate just how much undergrowth is still to be cut back.

Being at the other end to Bone Yard with the strimmer, I used the opportunity to do a bit of clearance work and discovered the following in my usual weekly treasure Junk Hunt.

Fist off a dustbin with what looks like a wheel barrow tyre in the water that has filled the bin!

An empty plastic blue barrel.

Some interesting electrical equipment that may have worked but that is now unlikely having been left outside for years!

There was also this sign that says STOP, so I did!

I didn't stop for long though!

A combination of the strimmer and mower cut back undergrowth on the approach to the Museum entrance which brings a bit of symmetry to the approach. The cut back bit is the brown part to the right!

The thing I noticed again was the number of ladybirds that were out. These were down by the oversized washing machine

It should be a good summer!

On the other hand our regular Robin was having a great deal foraging in the cut back areas.

And as I left for the day these two pheasants were fighting out their territorial aspirations!

 

As with previous work in the Bone Yard this session had its share of excitement!

It is only a few weeks until the Rocks By Rail Museum opens its 2026 season of events despite recent weather suggesting that we are still in the midst's of Winter!

Work in the Restoration Shed on the retubing of steam loco 1931 goes on with some the footplate being de-rusted and pipework reinstalled.

John carries on with work to refurbish the Southern brake van with painting of wooden parts...

...whilst work on de-rusting the floors has more or less been completed.

Meanwhile, outside the Restoration Shed, this van awaits some work!

That work mainly will consist of a new roof and floor"

Back in the Bone Yard I was assisted by Gary in the seemingly never ending clearance work of unkept overgrowth or as I like to term it, vegetational butchery!

As with previous work in the Bone Yard this session had its share of excitement with Treasure Junk Hunt and this sign that Gary uncovered was perhaps the best!

Other finds included more sleepers, fence posts and various pieces of what had been good wood but was now rotten!

We also discovered some concrete platform edge blocks which will be useful if we ever get to construct the long planned platform at the end of the line.

We certainly have cleared away a lot of stuff and the back of the cafe is now very visible as well as being able to look through to the Exhibition Centre which is a view that has not been available for many years!

 Stepping back after another hard day of butchery it is looking a lot clearer!

Things have, for one of my projects, unexpectedly moved along a lot!

There is usually something going on at the Rocks By rail Museum when I visit. Sometimes it is expected things but occasionally there are the unexpected things happening which was the case on my latest visit to continue my work clearing the Bone Yard or operation Treasure Junk Hunt as it has become known!

First unexpected thing to catch my eye was this addition to the side of the Exhibition Centre...

Now, whilst it may look as though this should be like a porch to the entry door but built in the wrong place it actually is built in the right place to serve a completely different purpose!

It is actually a shelter for the Crossing Keeper on days where the Museum runs trains. In the past if it was raining the Crossing keeper got wet and on occasions very wet! However, as Andy demonstrates, the cavernous nature of the structure should assist in keeping future Crossing Keepers somewhat drier during inclement weather! By the way, much of that wood is what came out of the old WMD kitchen that was updated about 18 months ago. That wood is seeing some good use with the floor of loco Mr. D being made out of other parts as outlined in this post. Good to see it all have a second life!

Talking about inclement weather drew me to the second unexpected thing which was this work at the back of the Exhibition Centre.

The blue arrow is a newly lad drainage pipe that goes into the buildings main drainage system. Why has this been laid? Well where the red arrow is pointing locates what was found a few days ago.

That large pipe was unknown about before a few days ago when the area around it suddenly started gushing water. If left unchecked there was a real possibility of the foundations towards the rear of the Exhibition Centre being undermined hence the new pipe was laid to deal with the issue.

Not unexpected, was the fact that the Bone Yard project had not progressed any further since my last visit so I was back to the Junk Hunt! 

This time I went fully armed with both Sammy Strimmer and Bobby Brush Cutter! A bit more done with more chopping back of the large saplings at the rear of the Bone Yard.

Which means the back of the cafe is becoming more visible.

Whilst it may not seem like much progress when compared to what it was like back at the beginning of November.....

...things have, for one of my projects, unexpectedly moved along a lot!

A variety of finds in the Bone Yard!

And todays Rocks By Rail Museum Treasure Junk Hunt items include these fish plates with nuts and bolts used to join sections of rail together...

These concrete sleepers that the joined rail can be laid upon.....

In fact there must be 50 or so of these sleepers just laying around.

Finally the find of the day, this delightful laundry basket that could grace any home - well maybe not but there has to be something in it once i fully uncover it!

Having brought Sammy Strimmer out from his three weeks off, we made some progress beating back this vegetational wall...

 

...to this. Lots more to go but it is slowly getting there!

That water pipe that found and blogged about a few weeks ago has already found a purpose. It is being used as cable ducting for the colour light signal that will be erected later this year. Eric and Derek are installing said cable.

Good to know that the uncovered treasures junk that I have found are being used even if not for their original purpose!

Well, everyday is a school day!

A dry day meant it was back to Treasure Hunt Junk at the Bone Yard at the Rocks By Rail Museum! At the moment Sammy Strimmer has been left in the cosiness of his shed as I have been dealing with the various saplings that have grown over the years. I am not sure of what sort of saplings they are but they have sharp spikes to them which seem to be able to penetrate any protective wear! 

Any way the day started with this mess...

...and ended with this lesser mess!

The back of the cafe is now much more visible and hopefully opening up the area behind it will help maintain the building by getting some sunlight and air around the back of it. You can also get views like this which has not been seen for years!

I had some very welcomed assistance with Alex, Gary, Martyn, Richard and Steve doing the burning. I think they were quite keen on this as it was a cold day and the fire offered some warmth!

That large heap was continually topped up over the day but eventually it had all burned down.

Was there any junk? Well I did uncover this rather strange looking thing.

I am informed that it is a Casting Table. It would have been used when casts for objects were being made before molten metal was poured into the cast. Well, everyday is a school day!

I also discovered that there was another set of tracks behind the first set I found a few weeks ago!

Not sure if they will ever be used again but at least we have a pair!

Not sure what I will discover next time I am clearing the Bone Yard but it is always a surprise!

Darth Vader at the Rocks By Rail Museum?

Did we really have a visitation from Darth Vader of Star Wars fame? Well despite having had some celebrities visit over the years, this was actually Steve who was fully PPE'd up to the eye balls (literally) whilst cleaning up the footplate of steam loco 1931. Oh well but may the force be with you Steve!

At the other end of the footplate Gary and Richard were heads down whilst also cleaning up the footplate so things are moving on!

Meanwhile, John is getting to grips with stripping paint off the Southern brake van which despite looking like a neglected garden shed before coming into the Restoration Shed, has survived fairly well once the paint is removed. There is a need to replace some wood and metal but not as much as first thought.

Steam loco Barrington is coming along well and David was preparing the cab for the various gauges to be reinstalled which will bring some life back to the cab. Will this loco ever steam again? Well if you had about £100K you might achieve that but if not, then just making the loco presentable and preserving the structure is a good budget alternative! 

 

I was back in the Bone Yard on a mission of vegetational butchery and to rescue the water pipe that so many saplings had grown through trapping it from liberation.

Having cut all the saplings down it was possible to get the roll of pipe out of its resting place.

And then it moved onto a new resting place where it is at least visible so it may come in useful now we know we have it!

It was then back to the slow job of cutting down each sapling and clearing them out of the way but at least I can see more of the back of the cafe so things are progressing!

Hopefully next time I get a chance to clear some more saplings the view will be even better!