For spares or repair and it all got very wet!

For spares or repairs is the advert I would put on this lot, which if you read last weeks post (available here) are the remains of the wagon that broke up as it was being moved! Off the track the remains are now being stored awaiting their fate!

A day at the Rocks by Rail Museum today where the plan was to give the Euclid dump truck a wash down. Rob had got the pressure washer out, filled a large water container and rigged up a power supply. Now at the best of times water and washing generally have some wetting probability for those engaged in the task. Add a pressure washer to the mix and the probability of wetness goes up and then add rain, heavy rain at that, and it is just inevitable that those engaged are going to get wet! However there is a point at which you get so wet you just carry on as you have already got wet and cannot get any wetter! So it was hat Rob, John, Pete and myself got soaked but the Euclid looked a lot better.

John surveys the cleaning products - I don't think my suggestion for polishing and waxing the paintwork after washing went down too well!

Rob arrives with the water and pressure washer. We got water pressure by raising the water container up in the air - clever!

Rob's enthusiasm sees him clambering all over to get the dirt off.

even to the point of getting inside the dump body - I did suggest we take the ladder away and leave him in there!

It may not have been muddy dirty but the amount of dirt that had just gathered on the truck from the weather shows in this picture where the pressure washer has cut through to reveal clean paintwork and rust!

What does the inside of the tipper body look like - well here is a photo but without Rob in it!

Finished and cleaner looking. Rob mentioned painting but that is definitely a job for a dry day!

Flushed or should that be soaked, with the success of cleaning the Euclid, Rob suggested doing the same with the drag line. We started but as the rain got heavier the enthusiasm wained and we called it a day!

This is how wet it was getting with flood water everywhere.

And to think I could have been inside in the dry helping Pam paint Harriot the JCB

Or Alex paint the ceiling of the cab of Ketton No1.

Or David and John fitting a makers plate to DE5.

Or Pete cleaning up a bench drill. Even Riley the dog is sensible enough to be inside - but not me!

Oooops and back to vegetational butchery!

A really great day at the Rocks By Rail Museum today where vegetation clearance was the days task but first I had to look at the 'Ooooops' situation out on the sidings.

Not sure quite what happened but obviously moving this wagon was not the best thing to do! It will never ride the rails again as it is too far gone in terms of deterioration to be restored but the metal parts may provide spares for more savable wagons.

Meanwhile the aim of the vegetational butchery was to clear around the back of the cafe and hopefully solve a damp issue such as that caused by the blocked gutters.

It took a while to get to this point and even longer to get to the point below!

Like all vegetational butchery activities there is always something to be found that has been lost to the overgrowth for years and this was it today! No idea what it is and no one else knows either. I suspect it may have been a coaling point for steam engines but no doubt its true use will be found eventually!

And all this clearing and butchery to try to prevent the cafe gutters blocking up like this! There is almost a mini garden of growth in there!

Talking of clearing, it will be back to clearing magazines from the Man Cave tomorrow - Oh joy!

A cold and wet day!

Trying to get over the loss of Smudge cat yesterday evening and it will take time but she will always be remembered by Mrs. Woody and myself.

Yesterday will also be remembered for my morning at the Rocks By Rail Museum where the cold and wet were bone chilling You just had to look outside to see that it was  - well wet and cold!

By the end of the morning Rob looked as though he was ready to go to the Artic with his cold weather gear!

Even Riley was coated up!

Despite the weather things have progressed on with things in the restoration shed with firstly the CAT (not Smudge but the mechanical type) needing fixing as it did not move. The fault was eventually traced to a blown fuse which Rob found as I had sat in the cab with my foot on the brake just in case! It was also interesting to see what life behind bars could look like as the windscreen is protected by bars across it just like a prison cell! Maybe that is why Rob is trying to entice me to get into the cab!

Once fixed it was back to painting Harriot the JCB.

Before yellow undercaost...

 

And with yellow undercoat!

With the bonnet up w even checked the oil!

Not a very big engine for such a vehicle! It could also do with a clean and paint but that is for another day!

Lets get covered!

A great day at the Rocks By Rail Museum where I came away with a sense of achievement. The achievement was working with the rest of the volunteers in almost getting the new roof fitted on the plant shed. About three quarters of it is now in place and it should only need a few more hours work to finish it and get covered! 

With a group of us working together it was a case of bringing in a roofing sheet, raising it in place on the elevating platform and then fastening it to the steel roof framework. Sounds easy but a great deal of hard work and I am shattered this evening!

This is where we started this morning with half of one side already done.

By mid day we had one side finished. That elevating platform made life a lot easier!

By the end of the day we were just over halfway up on the other side.

Looking good from a distance and hopefully it will be finished in the next few days!

As I had to get some things from the Restoration Shed I took a few minutes to admire John's numbering on the newly bodied three plank wagon. It does finish it off very nicely. Not sure what his reaction will be when this ultra clean wagon goes into service and gets dirty and scratched! Maybe it should go in the plant shed getting covered by the new roof?

Back to the Museum!

Much as Mrs. Woody has threatened to put me in a museum in the past for my archaic ideas, I do actually venture into a Museum voluntarily on a regular basis. In this case the Rocks By Rail Museum where I am a volunteer and I cannot believe it is now only a few weeks before it is open for the 2024 season. During the closed winter months there are still many things going on and work on various projects proceeds such as the repainting of Harriot the JCB. Although the last painting she saw was just before Christmas I did manage to get some more rust ground off and some more primer painted on meaning this project is coming closer to completion. This is no complete strip down restoration - more of a tidy up and make presentable from a distance of probably 50 meters! Today I was still working on the back actor. Starting off with a lot of rust...

The angle grinder ans sanding pads saw some shiny metal emerge.

Then that shiny metal was covered in grey primer. Makes it all look a lot cleaner.

The afternoon saw the move of the roofing panels for the new plant shed from the bottom of the site to the upper part. Unfortunately, they are that wide that the CAT could not get them through the gaps on the slope up to the new shed so we had to transfer them into a van.

With a strap around the end the load is ready for its short but epic trip up the yard!

Good job we had that strap on!

And this is what they are destined to roof.

All panels safely delivered!

One thing that did worry me as I looked in through the soon to be roofed plant shed door was this noose! Failure is not an option! I am sure it is there for an alternative use though.... like hanging your hammer or lunch from! Wonder if Mrs. W has had anything to do with this? Think I will keep out of that shed in the future just in case as that really would be putting me in a museum!