The Moseley Railway Trust has one of the UK's largest collections of narrow gauge locos and other vehicles - the stocklist counted more than sixty at the last round-up. Following the move-out from the Cheadle school site in 1998, all of this rolling stock has been in store at various locations around the UK (and, in a few cases, overseas).
An overarching priority for the development of the Apedale site has been the construction of a large storage shed, which will allow the collection to be brought out of storage at the dispersed locations, and re-united again. We are also fairly sure that a few of the UK's railway enthusiasts may be pleased for the opportunity to see locos which have been out of the public gaze for a decade.
The shed was seen as a prerequisite to allow all of this to happen - some of us have some experience of restoring vehicles which are then parked outside - they rot as quickly as they can be restored!
Finally, it's all beginning to happen. After a lot of debate, and no little soul-searching, the building is finally happening. The first photo shows the scene on Saturday 15th March, after the first phase of concrete pouring. The three linear strips are where the three shed sidings will be placed. The next phase is for the MRT volunteers to install the trackwork in the shed. This is no little task - it's a big shed, and there are almost 150 yards of track to be laid. The track has been made up from rail unfit for mainline use welded to steel to form panels, each 18 feet long. The second photo shows your author welding these panels. The eagle eyed will note that the panel is dual gauged 2'0" and 2'6" gauge, as the MRT and its members have stock of both gauges.
Hopefully, the shed will be finished shortly after Easter, which will be good news for the haulage contractors of northern England as the big influx of rolling stock starts!
The MRT needs more of everything at the moment - more volunteers, more money, the list goes on. If you can help in any way, please contact us here.
In any case, keep an eye of this website (have you bookmarked it? If not, why not?) - there are a couple of big announcements in the offing, and you'll read them here first. We try to update this every weekend, so keep coming and looking - it WILL be worth your time!
