North Ings Farm Museum & Railway

Maintenance Day 31st March
Following further work on the yard sidings last week, today was spent preparing the museum for next week's public open day. 'Swift', the Lister and two wagons were moved onto the new track allowing full access to the main line and shed.
'Bullfinch' and the coaches received a full spring clean, and a test train run ready for next weekend.

Maintenance Day 17th March
Following a wet weekend when indoor work on the wagons took place, this Sunday saw a mostly sunny day. Progress resumed on the yard track, and two rails were curved using the powered bender.
By the end of the day, the sleepers were placed roughly in position, and the rails laid on top. Next week the sleepers require final positioning and the rails spiked down. The rest of the siding will be laid on steel sleepers so that the ground above a water main will not need to be disturbed.

Finally the day is near! Sunday 7th April 2019 the Railway and Museum will be open to the public. £3 Adults and £1.50 Children. Come and check out the work volunteers have gone through over the winter months to re-open the railway for April. Don't forget your camera and maybe even a picnic by the lake! Failing that our Pear Tree Junction Cafe remains open selling hot and cold drinks and light snacks. Take a look in the working signal-box, tractor and locomotive sheds. Please note due to operational reasons, trains might be DIESEL hauled. Hope to see you there!

Maintenance Day 3rd March
A damp morning did not stop work in the yard. The track received a dressing of ballast to eliminate the various holes and trip hazards. A curved panel of track we were going to use has developed a broken rail, so it will be out with the rail bender next time.
By lunchtime, the rain was quite heavy, so a little indoor painting was carried out, before an early finish was called.

Maintenance Day 17th February
Today's task was to extract the two locomotives from their shed, and to start preparations for relaying the track. Two closure rails were cut, and the task proceeded well. By the end of the day, the old track had been removed and the track bed levelled.
The new track will be aligned with the centre of the gantry (yellow painted uprights). We now have to fabricate some track panels for the job.

Maintenance Day 3rd February
A small team continued work on the yard track work. The track-bed for the line to the steam bay was scraped clean of old ash and accumulated soil, and a temporary panel of track laid towards the shed.
The next task will be to extricate the wagon and two locomotives to allow the full siding length to be relaid. Both locomotives will have to sit outside for a few weeks.

Maintenance Day 20th January
The last two weeks have seen progress with the installation of the second point, and temporary connection of the next length of track. The next task is laying track up to the shed where the steam locomotive is housed. This will require fabrication of new track panels, so several weeks of work involved.

Maintenance Day 6th January
Work progressed on installing the second set of points in the yard. With various drains in the way, two volunteers spent the morning hand digging the final part of the point area. Meanwhile the point rails were spiked to new sleepers and the unit placed into position. Final adjustment will be needed once it has had some ballast packing, and a new blade tie-bar fitted. Various redundant bits of old metal sleepers still need to be removed.
Meanwhile the Christmas period has seen major progress on the Fordson Super Major tractor. Following a full mechanical overhaul, painting is nearly complete.

Happy Christmas from all of us at North Ings Farm Museum. Hope you have a great dayHappy Christmas from all of us at North Ings Farm Museum. Hope you have a great day

Maintenance Day 23rd December
A miserable wet day saw the workforce deciding that indoor activities were better than the track work outside. The new post for the distant signal was sanded and primer painted on three sides. Other jobs included replacing the fluorescent tubes in the exhibition hall with LED versions, and repairs to the cafe stove chimney.
Wishing all our Facebook friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Maintenance Day 16th December
The gang continued work on the yard relaying job. A spare left hand point which is no more than a kit of parts was brought to site and placed roughly in position. The first photographs show the site preparation and the track to the shed which was ballasted last weekend.
Following confirmation that the point would fit the site, it was moved and assembly started on new wood sleepers. One of the stock rails will need bending back to shape, and rusted parts of old metal sleepers removed.

Maintenance Day 2nd December
The two closure rails were cut and drilled, and the line to the shed re-connected and tested. Further levelling is required and then ballasting. The next phase will be construction of a new point to allow access to the steam bay and the yard area.

A short clip of the rail bender in use. The screw thead is tightened to adjust the rolls, and the rail is then passed through several times as this was the final bend. Thanks to Tracey Brown for the clip.

Maintenance Day 25th November
Reasonable weather saw work on the yard relaying continued. The rest of the ballast base was spread out, further sleepers cut, and rails selected for connecting up the shed line. A chance to use our recently acquired hydraulic powered rail bender. It took about 10 minutes to bend each rail, rather than hours with a Jim Crow.
By close of play the rails had been fishplated to the shed line, and the inner rail spiked to the sleepers.

Maintenance Day 18th November
Last Sunday saw a major tidy-up in the stores, while your correspondent was away operating the local watermill.
Today, outside work continued with the Y-point placed on new sleepers and fastened down by drilling holes in the steel plates using a Mag-drill, and fastening with coach screws.
... The day was completed with the point fishplated to the existing track. It now requires levelling and ballasting.
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Maintenance Day 4th November
Despite occasional light drizzle, work continued on the track in the yard. The dig was finished, and a layer of crushed brick and concrete rubble spread over the clay and mud. This was then compacted, and the levels checked. An initial layer of ballast was laid ready for the sleepers. Meanwhile a separate gang went tree-felling, removing the majority of 3 dead trees.
The next job is to prepare the Y-point and sleepers for laying.