An Away Mission

Just occasionally, we get time off for good behaviour, and the Moseley folks are allowed to leave Staffordshire. Such an event was last Saturday, when we took the NGRS/Moseley sales stand to the open day of Alan Keef Ltd, down near Ross on Wye. Another splendid day, with three locomotives in steam - vertical boiler locos "Chaloner" and "Taffy", plus the Kerr Stuart Wren "Peter Pan". The Hayfield coach, one of the stars of last weekend's Grand Gala Opening, was in use. The yellow colour seems to work well in sunshine. Strangely, we hadn't noticed that at Apedale. The elite sales force managed to empty the pockets of a few willing customers, and we saw lots of old friends. The next outing is to Expo NG, Swanley, Kent. Apparently that's in the South, so we will start saving now for the Dartford toll. See you there, or come along to Apedale? Get in touch here.

What a Weekend!

The Grand Opening Gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway has been and gone. And what a weekend! We welcomed more than a thousand people through the gates. The passenger train service began to resemble the Circle line on a busy day! It's really difficult to pick out the highlights, but for me it was seeing many, many happy people on the train. A lot of them were local to the North Staffordshire area, and we look forward to seeing many of them again.

Saturday saw the marking of a twinning arrangement between the Moseley Railway Trust and the Frankfurt Feldbahn Museum in Germany. Two senior members of the FFM had journeyed over to see us. There were the speeches and unveiling of plaques. Sunday saw the formal opening of the AVLR by Sir James Hawley, the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, with the Mayor of Newcastle Under Lyme, Councillor Mrs Ann Heames also in attendance. Sir James drove the loco "Stanhope" through a paper banner. Unlike certain railways, we managed to properly rip our banner thanks to judicious use of a Stanley knife beforehand. Sir James seemed rather keen on driving the engine, and it was looking as though we could send the regular crew home at one stage! Once extracted from "Stanhope", Sir James and Councillor Heames unveiled yet another plaque.

If you came to see us over the weekend, I'd like to say a big thank you. If you're one of the MRT's volunteers or one of our exhibitors, I'd like to say an even bigger thank you. It's been a real team effort to get us this far.

And now onto the next challenge. With all these plaques, we need some more walls on which to mount them - and that means building a museum. All we need is somewhere between £250k and £500k. So, if you can help, get in touch here. We accept all major credit and debit cards.

Grand Opening Gala - Day One

Well, Day One of the Grand Opening Gala dawned sunny and bright, and it's all gone very well. We've been busy all day, the passenger trains have been full with with happy customers, the freight trains have run up and down entertaining people. There's been no great dramas, so all is well in the world. Have a look at a few photos, and we'll see you tomorrow?

Quorate

The final steam loco of this weekend's trio has now arrived safe and sound at Apedale - it's the vertical boiler loco Paddy. Along with Stanhope, Paddy will work the passenger trains. We have a challenging freight duty lined up for the Hunslet quarry tank "Edward Sholto". All we need is the crowds and a bit of sunshine! Be seeing you?

Getting Ready

The Grand Opening Gala is now less than a week away - and the plans are beginning to slot into place. We've spent the weekend testing and confirming that everything works as it should. This has included the Kerr Stuart steam loco "Stanhope" which has been test-run on passenger trains (for real next weekend!). We've also assembled our entire stock of passenger coaches into one train for the first time, and tested that formation. All remarkably undramatic - it even fits the platform - just! The mixture of shapes and colours makes for a characterful train sauntering down the Apedale Valley. Certainly the biggest, and the brightest, amongst them is the Toastrack; after a herculean effort by the team building it, the vehicle should make its debut next weekend. All this to see, and just a fiver to get in? We must be mad. The event is on both days, from 11.00 to 17.00 - see you there. Get in touch here.

Preparing for the Big Day

As the big grand opening weekend draws closer, some of the visitors have already started to arrive. First was a coach on loan from the Hayfield Railway Group. This coach was constructed to serve the annual visit of Peter Pan to the Hayfield Sheepdog Trials, but unfortunately the trackbed has not been available for use over the last few years and hence the coach has been based at the Amerton Railway. It has also been out and about with Paddy, a vertical boiler locomotive built by Dave Potter and friends. Coach S is essentially the same design as our own Penrhyn slate quarry coach, with the addition of a roof, a luxury not afforded to the quarrymen. As we are still constructing some of our own coaching stock, this coach will provide(hopefully) much needed capacity at our open day.

More recently, we have cleared the workshop out to make room for two former Penrhyn steam engines, Edward Sholto and Stanhope. These have now both arrived from Hesketh Bank, where Edward Sholto was visiting after a spectacular photo shoot at Threlkeld Quarry. Stanhope has, of course, been resident at the West Lancashire Light railway since the completion of its restoration in 1999. Now, Stanhope becomes the first permanently resident working steam engine at Apedale, and it will be in action at the September open weekend and on the second weekend of the month for the rest of this season and in 2011.

Stanhope and Edward Sholto loaded up at Hesketh Bank bound for Apedale.

As for Paddy, we are expecting it shortly, giving us three working steam locos for the open weekend on 18-19 September. Added to the other attractions including vintage vehicles, model railways and other displays, there should be plenty to interest any of our readers who fancy a visit in person. We look forward to meeting you both there. Details can be found here.