The volunteer run museum Rocks by Rail is currently raising funds to purchase the last steam locomotive to haul ironstone in Rutland. Just over 50 years ago the steam locomotive named STAMFORD worked its final shift at Pilton Ironstone Quarry in June 1969 when the quarry finally closed. Initially purchased and preserved at the Bluebell…

The volunteer run Rocks by Rail – the Living Ironstone Museum situated near Cottesmore in Rutland has recently been notified that it is to be offered a grant of £9057 from the Governments Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Culture Recovery Fund to help the museum prepare for re-opening as the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions…

The standard gauge steam locomotive named “STAMFORD” currently resides, on loan, within the exhibition building at Rocks by Rail – the Living Ironstone Museum based near Cottesmore in Rutland. This locomotive was built in Bristol in 1927 and spent all of its working life at work on the mineral railways at Pilton Ironstone Quarries in…

Earlier in the year the pandemic lockdown, social distancing and non-essential travel restrictions caused major dislocation to a number major infrastructure projects being undertaken by the museums volunteer workforce. While the museum remains closed to visitors, our volunteers remained hard at work on these much delayed projects prior to the second lockdown. We hope that…

Seventy five years ago on the 28th August 1945 British Liberator bombers swooped low over the Changi Gaol Prison of War Camp in war torn Singapore. Leaflets fluttered down from the aircraft bringing the first official external news of the Japanese surrender and confirmation that allied help was on the way. The Japanese surrender was…

As a result of the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions on assembly many of the planned VJ commemorations across the UK were either cancelled or significantly scaled back. The Museum decided to have a modest private commemoration for VJ Day within the rules on limited assembly and social distancing. The focus of the event was the…

FEPOW Memorial Locomotive Appeal “to keep going the spirit that kept them going” Emerging plans that would have seen the Rocks-by-Rail* Museum’s Far Eastern Prisoner of War (FEPOW) Memorial Steam Locomotive SINGAPORE returned to steam are under threat following the theft of parts of the locomotives valve gear. The loss of these vital components has…

After the Japanese ignored an ultimatum the Allies dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August 1945.  Four days after the dropping of the second bomb the Japanese Emperor Hirohito issued a recorded statement at noon on 14th August 1945 that hostilities had ended and the war was over. This news…

On the 28th August 1945 British Liberator bombers swooped low over the Changi Gaol Prison of War Camp in war torn Singapore. Leaflets fluttered down from the aircraft bringing the first news of the Japanese surrender. Emotions within the thousands of sick and emaciated prisoners ran high as news of their impending liberation spread around…

Railways have always held a fascination for enthusiasts, authors and artists alike, quite apart from their use by the travelling public and for freight. Although not something we usually feature on the Rocks by Rail website we thought these two artists impressions of quarrying and the associated railways might be of interest.     The…

With a working life of over a century Glendon Ironstone Quarries were the longest lived in the East Midlands.Whilst initial workings at Glendon East were carried out by the Glendon Iron Co, it fell to James Pain Ltd to both modernise and greatly expand the quarrying areas bordered to the MR mainline railway to the…

Glendon East Whilst initial workings were carried out by the Glendon Iron Co, it fell to James Pain Ltd to both modernise and greatly expand the quarrying areas bordering  the MR mainline railway to the west from 1903. As with his workings at Corby James Pain introduced more steam powered machinery to replace the earlier…

  GLENDON IRONSTONE QUARRIES REMEMBERED Forty years ago this month the last workers employed at the Glendon Ironstone quarries in Northamptonshire were sent home for the last time. The extraction of ironstone at the quarries ceased in late December 1979 but the staff were kept on for a few months to help with the close…

This year sees the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Though  sparsely populated, the pleasant agricultural countryside of Rutland played host to a number of ironstone quarries which made an important contribution to the war effort in increasing production of ironstone; a vital raw material with which to make iron, steel…

As rising demand for steel continued into the 1950’s Corby quarries faced ever deepening overburden as the ironstone bed deposits dip towards the east. The introduction of the larger stripping shovels (5360 type) increased maximum overburden digging depths to 60 ft but this limit would need to be overcome if future production levels were to…

The ironstone bed in the Corby area ranged from 4ft to 11 ft thick with an average of 7.25 ft. The bed outcropped at the top of the escarpment and then was to be found under increasing cover to the east. Whilst early workings were carried out by hand the exhaustion of the shallow deposits…

CORBY’s  IRONSTONE  QUARRY  RAILWAYS  RECALLED  Forty years ago the movement of excavated ironstone using internal railways serving the giant Corby Steelworks came to an end when extraction at the ironstone quarries ceased. The network of railways linking the outlying quarries was extensive, being the largest system in the country. The system grew steadily over the…

Changes to Rocks by Rail Programme for 2020: Update – Important Notice – COVID 19  At the time of writing (18.03.20) Rutland County Council has advised that there are no recorded cases in Rutland but that the situation is expected to change. As the smallest County, we share boundaries with other areas only a short…

Please be aware that as a result of the current Coronavirus-19 health concerns, the decision has been taken to postpone the Annual General Meeting of Rocks by Rail, which was due to have taken place on Saturday 28 March 2020. This decision has been taken because the AGM, of necessity, involves relatively close proximity in…

Corby Ironstone Quarry Heritage in Miniature In preparation for new displays at the Museum during 2020 RbR volunteer modellers have been busy at home with models to mark the 40th anniversary of the closure of Corby steelworks and its associated ironstone quarries. To supplement a display of written information and photographs a revised OO scale…

The last Standard Gauge Quarry Train in the UK recalled  Fifteen years ago, on the 25th February 2005, the last standard gauge quarry railway in the UK was operated at the Barrington Cement Quarry in Cambridgeshire for the last time. The standard gauge quarry railway was built by Eastwoods Ltd in 1963 during a major…

Over the winter volunteers at Rocks by Rail have been hard at work preparing the main      passenger line ready for the first Open Days of the season. Fortunately they had the invaluable help of a digger; doing this by hand would have been a tough job. There’s a lot still to be done after…

Forty years ago nearly 100 years of opencast mining for ironstone came to an end when the pits that served the giant steelworks at Corby ceased extraction. The last working day was 3rd January 1980 when three pits at Shotley, Harringworth Lodge and Great Oakley loaded and dispatched their final loads to the steelworks. On…

General Manager, Andy Salmon is marshalling his ‘troops’ for a week of energetic track work to help shift some of the excess Christmas ‘cheer’ while at the same time completing vital maintenance work. Andy has promised to provide soup to keep people going through the day and they may well need sustenance; the message from…

Please note that reminders for membership renewal and details of the Annual General Meeting will be sent to all members during February. It helps the Museum and the Membership Secretary greatly if we are able to do this via email where possible. If you have not yet provided an email address and are able to…