More rocks at the Rocks By Rail Museum!

Arriving at the Museum I popped my head into the cafe where I found several volunteers trying to put together the recently purchased flat pack flat pack display case for the various fossils recently donated to the Museum. They were having problems as not only were the instructions in Italian, they were for a completely different display case! Add to that that there were too many fastenings and the whole episode was becoming fraught!

However, at last the case was together and the fossils are now on full display ready for next year opening.

What should also be ready for next year is the additional drainage system being installed to link up to that installed earlier this year. Hopefully that will go a lot more quickly and should make the site around the toilet block somewhat less like a paddy field after a few days of rain.

Having actually got to the signing in room I found John being studious for a change. Apparently we have a manual for loco Mr. D which is very helpful as John needs to order some parts for the braking system. Not sure where he will get them from as the loco is over 50 years old!

For me, it was a day of being reunited with Sammy Strimmer as I continued my task of clearing the boneyard of overgrowth so that we can actually see what has been stored away for years and may actually be of use and save buying in new things! This was the start of the day.

Todays main find was not more rocks or fossils but bricks! Hundreds of them! Now nicely stacked, apart from the broken ones which can be used as hardcore, and that was a back breaking job, at least we know how many and where they are although I suspect there are still more to find  in the rest of the yard! It does look a lot more accessible now!

Richard gave me a hand in clearing out the strimmed vegetation and built this rather fine looking bonfire pile!

 There will no doubt be several more piles to go yet as there is a lot more bone yard to clear!

Some jobs at the Rocks By Rail Museum are constructive and produce superb results!

Some jobs at the Rocks By Rail Museum are constructive and produce superb results such as the repainting of Elizabeth which Mick has been doing over the last few weeks.

Mick still has one side to paint but Elizabeth looks fantastic!

Other jobs, which usually involve me, are less constructive, even destructive in nature! Take for example my latest escapades in clearing the undergrowth in the. as I have termed it. 'Boneyard'.I did make a failed attempt at clearing out his jungle last Winter but hopefully this year will see more progress but it is all very destructive. Sammy Strimmer is my weapon of choice along with cutters.

In that lot there are some interesting artefacts to be discovered!

It is all very destructive at the moment but hopefully as the vegetation gets cleared I can begin to sort out just what lurks under it all and put it into some order. Well that is the plan!

A sign of the times?

Catching up om things at the Rocks By Rail Museum showed that signs are proliferating! No idea why but obviously a sign of the times!

There was this old tea triolley.....

...now repurposed as a, as the sign says, work bench!

Paintiing on steam loco Barrington continues and the wet paint sign was, well painted in wet paint!

There is an awful lot of scrap at the museum but we now have a sign to tell us it is scrap!

Eric has done a great job on painting the narrow gauge skip wagon....

...and really brough the detail out with the sign on it.

Meanwhile, Back in tyhe restoration shed, John seems to be stopped!

The purpose of this sign was not as a signal to me to stop, but it was a sign to attach to the track to indicate that all traffic on the track should dtop whilst Richard and Hazel were doing some maintenance work.

Despite all these signs, work on other projects continues. Alex was back to chipping cement and crud off Ketton No1. Why he is smiling is anyones guess as this seems to be a never ending job!

Back outside, progress is slowly being made on refurbishing this van. New floor and roof are needed and that is a winter project but which winter?

And for me? Well I took it that as the weather is chanmging it is a sign of the timeds that I need to get some final grass cutting done this year!

That's all folks!

 That's all folks! No, it is not the end of WMD, but as the cartoons used to say, That's all folks, refers to the end of another season of events at the Rocks By Rail Museum. Where has a year gone as it only seems like a few months ago we  closed the 2024 season!

Anyway, whilst previous years final events have been blessed with Autumnal brightness, this year we had wetness! The morning was dry but by about 1pm the clouds had opened and we all got soaked! The prospect of rain had not put visitors off and there was a good attendance and the volunteers all had fun so it was a winning day!

I was shunting, as seems the norm these days, assisted by John, Pete and Dave as well as Martyn operating the face shovel and with Mr. D as our shunting loco.

It was a long day but the final train of wagons left with Mike the guard waving goodbye for the last time this year!

Then it was time to put Mr. D to bed in the shed at the end of the day but we still had visitors!

That's all folks! But it won't be that long before we start again!

All in a day at the Museum!

The Rocks By rail Museum cannot be accused of not being innovative. I have posted before about the oversized washing machine, otherwise known as a concrete mixer! This is used to wash ballast and if you wonder if ballast can get dirty you should see what comes out of the mixer apart from the clean ballast!. One of the weak areas of the concept has been the discharge shoot. Various concoctions have been put together over the years but all have eventually failed. So, this Winters task is to sort that out with a bespoke heavy duty shoot and welder ace Rob is getting on with it.

A good strong frame of L shaped metal attached to the mixer itself means it should be strong enough to put up with the battering it will get.

 Of course, with any such project, there is a need to admire the work as Andy, Alex and Rob do!

For me, I was not admiring the overgrowth in the two storage sidings.

So, out came Sammy Strimmer and vegetational butchery ensued!

Now, I do have to admire that! Just need to get between and under the wagons next! All in a day at the Museum!

Boiler gone!

A most welcomed rest from painting the lounge with a day at the Rocks By Rail Museum !

One major change since last week is that the boiler from loco 1931 has gone! Not stolen but taken off to a boiler specialist who will be fitting the tubes and doing a few other jobs which will push the return to steam well along! It also gives the opportunity to tackle some rust hidden by the boiler as Martyn is doing.

A bit of an unusual view from the cab footplate to where the firebox should be. Hopefully that lump of coal in the bottom right of the photo will find a use once the boiler has returned!

Meanwhile, paintbrushes have been busy on Barrington with top coat green looking good on the saddle tank and starting on the cab sides.

The front is now finished in top coat yellow which is how this loco was finished when in operation. I believe there are green wasp stripes to be applied yet!

Moving elsewhere, the cab of the monster drag line Sundew, has had more ancillary parts fitted like the electrical distribution board that to the side of Rob and Alex.

Rob also spent some time on greasing the drag line ready for next week. Never an easy or clean job but very necessary!

Rob was also keen to show me his now 'fitted' out van after I made comments to him last week about how unorganised it was! Looks good bit that Barbie bag is still there!

And finally, for me, it was a few hours of lawn mower pushing!

Most relaxing especially after days of painting!

Painting and smiles - all in a day at the Rocks By rail Museum!

Always good to be met by a smiling face when I arrive at the Rocks By Rail Museum, and Rob had one! Probably he was smiling because he was nearly finished with painting the Plant Shed or, as it is becoming known, the Hanger.

He has achieved a great finish which is amazing given Robs paint brush.

Apparently, rather than cleaning it after last weeks session, he just left it in the tin of paint, put the lid on and then retrieved it at the start of this weeks session! Well, it seems to work for him!

However, in the Restoration Shed, new volunteer Clair was helping out on painting steam loco Barrington which will have a yellow wasp stripped front and rear as it did in its working life.

More smiles!

Unlike Rob, Clair has a more caring approach to paint brushes! This cleaning system she has put in place means that brushes are left suspended (hole drilled through the handle and then a metal rod threaded through), in white spirit in a jar (left in the picture) where the paint leaves the bristles to settle on the bottom of the jar leaving a clean brush ready to use next time. The sediment can be removed into the Sediment bottle on the right leaving clear white spirit for more cleaning! Brilliant and certainly brought smiles all round to have clean brushes!

Further down the shed Andy was not painting but was discussing some work on 1931 with an outside contractor to speed up getting this loco back into steam which will bring a smile to his face!

Outside, more painting by Pete, who was finishing off the Quarry Office buildings' exterior finish and very nice it looks too! No wonder he was smiling too!

Looking from a distance it does take on a different look from when it was painted brown.

Meanwhile, Pam seemed t think I needed a helping hand in keeping the grass under control and was busy with the strimmer and was doing that with a smile!

Wherever I looked she seemed to be bringing neatness to an otherwise vegetational free for all!

I did get a fair amount of grass cut though and looking at the finished product always brings a smile to my face!