Rocks By Rail opening at Cottesmore in Rutland

We are opening to the general public for operations this Sunday the 16th September after a major site rebuilding phase. We are pleased to annonce that from the 16th September 2012 and every Third Sunday throughout the year we will be carrying out authentic Quarry working to our 'first cut' rail served Ironstone face along with passenger operations through the site. Please see our new website www.rocks-by-rail.org/ for the latest information.

Andrew Barclay 2088 Sir Thomas Royden will be operating along side Rolls Royce powered Sentinel JEAN for the opening event along with Quarry tours our re furbished cafe and Shed tours.

We hope to see you all very soon!

Gary
http://www.rocks-by-rail.org/

 

Yep I will be there. :smile::smile:

 

try this Rocks by Rail | The Living Ironstone Museum Cottesmore | Rutland

 

Hi Ralph

Sorry about that should work fine now.

Glenn remember to say hi when you come will look out for you!

Should be a fantastic day and one the volunteers have really being looking forward too! WE have gone through a major site rebuild after years of running on worn out and below standard infrastructure, its a very exciting time for us at Rocks By Rail as we push to make the site self sufficient and most of all an enjoyable and interesting day out! All of our visitor facilities have had a major make over along with vast improvements to our track layout and standards of construction and maintenance, which can go for our Rolling Stock too! During the rebuild the organisation its self also got a make over including the new name, a more up to date and robust Safety Management System and a more focused collection policy. Plus the all new Website which now you can actually interact with it should set us in good stead for the future.

This is just the beginning on wards and up wards as they say!


Gary

www.rocks-by-rail.org/

 

Having seen this news and the Press Release in the latest Steam Railway I have seen no reference to HE2411 / 1941. Can anyone advise the current status of this venerable Austerity which was not only the progenitor of the Austerity family but also the progenitor of S&L's famous "Uglies" ?

 

It moved to Blunsdon a couple of years ago. According to uklocos it has been dismantled as a source of spares for the Swindon & Cricklade's other Austerity tank.

 

I'm gutted !! Not only was this loco one of my early driving experiences but it had a place in history being from the progenitor Hunslet batch of 6 locos on which ALL subsequent Austerities were based. Did no-one realise the history of this locomotive before its demise ?

 

Here's a pic I found of the loco:

not looking good

(NB: Not my pic - I think it belongs to Steve who posts here as 'bestieboy')

Regards,

Keith

 

I suppose it's a case of "Thanks for the memory!" - ta muchly for the info.

 

Photo 10 of that collection certainly isn't what it says on the caption. It's a Barclay but I'm not certain which one.

 

There are two ex-S&L Barclay 0-6-0STs at Blunsdon - 'Salmon' and 'Swordfish'. As 'Salmon' is a runner I would think that the photo is of 'Swordfish'.

 

Quick video from Sunday...

Rocks by Rail Reopening 16.09.12 - YouTube

Steve

 

Thanks for the video Steve, good to see you again! Very pleased with the day a good bench mark for us to build on.

Gary

 

Just to bring this thread up to date

We had a very successful opening event yesterday with the site the busiest I have ever seen it in 9 years as a volunteer there. A very positive reception to the improvements made to the site over the last 2 years or so. We now aim to keep the improvements coming and make Rocks By Rail The Living Ironstone Museum a thriving open air museum to this lost industry. Plans to extend the operational track layout have already been proposed in our most recent development plan including the provision of a larger Quarry face plus the erection of a weighbridge and viewing platform area in order to demonstrate this part of a Quarry railways operation. Andrew Barclay Sir Thomas Royden 2088 and Ex OI Sentinel Diesel JEAN both performed admirably on Sunday and we look forward to Andrew Barclay 1931 returning from the Deeside Railway in Scotland after its loan spell there to give our visitors the chance to view both these locomotives in our Quarry area.

We are also aiming to upgrade and develop our current running line and the OOU Northern site to allow our passenger system to move our visitors around the museum to view all the stages of the process of Iron Ore extraction.

For more information or to plan a visit please view our new website at www.rocks-by-rail.org/

 

We had a fantastic day yesterday at our opening event! The site was packed full of happy visitors all day with a great deal of positive feed back received regards the new look open air museum site and its new or upgraded facilities. It was the busiest I have ever seen the site in 9 years of volunteering there and was the best day of my volunteering career! Everything worked as we had hoped but a few things to take on board as we move forward as a new site.

Andrew Barclay 2088 Sir Thomas Royden and Rolls Royce Sentinel JEAN worked a treat with the Barclay doing the honours on the brake van trips down the site and JEAN making an impressive display in our Quarry. Some things to learn for the 21st October but what a start!