The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce that it has obtained full planning consent for the construction of a museum building on its site at Apedale, Staffordshire.
The museum will mark a further step towards realising the Trust’s mission statement of preserving, conserving and interpreting industrial narrow gauge railways. With a floor area of more than 430 square metres, the building will give ample space in which the Trust will be able to display its collection of narrow gauge locomotives, rolling stock and other artefacts.
This will, however, not be just another static museum. Included in the plan is a re-creation of a "real" industrial railway – with lightweight, weed-grown track and locos picking through the undergrowth with trains of skip wagons. By necessity, the passenger-carrying line at Apedale has been built to the very highest standards – consequently, it doesn’t show visitors what industrial railways looked like. The Apedale industrial railway aims to allow the museum exhibits to have outings into an environment typical of their working lives.
Phil Robinson, the Chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust, said "Since arriving on the Apedale site in 2006, we have made great strides. We are confident that the passenger-carrying railway will open in 2010 – this was phase one of our development plan. Phase Two is the museum, and achieving full planning consent achieves a key milestone. Now the real challenge begins – fundraising to realise the dream. We have started dialogue with the Heritage Lottery Fund, but we are also very keen to hear from anyone else who may wish to help. The museum will, when opened, play a major role in the continuing regeneration of Apedale, Chesterton village and the surrounding areas".
Watch the press for details of the opening of the passenger railway – known as the Apedale Valley Light Railway.
MRT Heritage Railway Museum Building V2 -
