Made in Staffordshire

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to announce details for the 2011 September gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The gala, entitled “Made in Staffordshire”, will be held on September 10 and 11 2011.

The event will focus on the Staffordshire-based locomotive builders. Staffordshire supported a variety of railway engineering companies, and most of these will be represented. From Kerr Stuart of Stoke-on-Trent will be the resident “Stanhope” and, all being well, the MRT’s newly restored “Joffre” locomotive. The restoration of the “Joffre” is now in its final stages. There have been a number of last minute snags, as is inevitable on a locomotive which has not steamed since the 1950s, but the owning group are very much hoping that these will be resolved in time for the September event.

Representing the WG Bagnall company of Stafford will be “Isabel”. Built in 1897, “Isabel” is normally based at the Amerton Railway. This locomotive was for many years preserved in gardens near Stafford railway station. The MRT is very grateful to the Amerton Railway and to Stafford Borough Council for allowing Isabel to visit Apedale.

However, it is important to also be aware that there is still a vibrant manufacturing industry in Staffordshire – and one which still builds steam locomotives. The Hunslet Engine Company will loan one of the recent build locomotives to the classic “Quarry Hunslet” design – 108 years younger than Isabel, and demonstrating that Staffordshire remains a centre for engineering excellence. Again, the MRT wishes to thank Graham Lee, Henry Noon and the team at Hunslet for facilitating this visit.

The final major locomotive builder in Staffordshire was Baguley of Burton on Trent; the MRT has two Baguley locomotives in the collection, built over a 54 year timespan. There may also be a special surprise additional Burton-built locomotive – details are under negotiations currently.

Building on the success of previous years, there will also be a supporting cast of model railways, vintage vehicles and a wide range of traders. The MRT would be pleased to hear from individuals or groups who wish to exhibit – particularly anything with a Staffordshire theme.

The event will be open from 1100 to 1700 on each of the days. Admission this year will be £6 for adults, £3 for children – each admission ticket will also include a train ride on the railway. Further rides can be purchased if required. There is a buy-in-advance option available for the first time this year – this gives a worthwhile discount on the on the gate price. Further details are available here. Get in touch here.

Behind The Scenes

Behind any organisation like the Moseley Railway Trust lays many levels of support. On one level we have our visitors, who part with their hard earned cash in exchange for a train ride to the scenic delight of Apedale Road (and back, if all goes to plan). Then we have the members of the Trust. Many support us by paying the membership and receiving our splendid magazine "Moseley Matters" every so often. Others contribute by volunteering at Apedale. The members in this category tend to be the most visible in these pieces. However, there are also the members who are less regular at Apedale, but nonetheless make a major contribution behind the scenes. One such is Brian, who looks after the website and internet and stuff like that. I have a vision of him entering cyberspace to advance the Moseley Railway Trust cause, a bit like some charecter in Neuromancer. Brian has been busy of late, and has now developed the Apedale Valley Light Railway's own website, here. The idea is that this will give simple-to-access information to the casual visitors, whereas the hardened railway enthusiast will click appropriately and visit the main MRT website. Cute, eh? Both websites need include the details of the September Gala. A new feature this year is the ability to book in advance, which offers a useful discount on the pay-on-the-day price, will avoid the queues, and helps our cashflow situation. All of which are Good Things. So, well done and thank you, Brian - MRT's own Jonny Mnemonic. I'm afraid I can't include a photo of the internet, beacuse it's too big and wouldn't fit in the view finder, so we'll have to settle for Stanhope and Ruston No.37 last Saturday. Jack-in to the MRT here.

Internal Combustion Update

It's probably about time we had a quick update on happening with the internal combustion fleet at Apedale.

Ruston No.37 has been a long-term resident of the workshop suffering from a rather porous coolant system. It's now been reassembled and seems not to leak, which suggest two possible options. Either the holes have been fixed, or someone has changed the laws of physics to increase the viscosity of water. Given the size of the holes in the radiator tanks, my money is on the second one. Either way, it's good to see it back. The bent-frame Motor Rail 2197 has had a bit of spruce-up in preparation for a visit to Wicksteed Park. It's Steam in the Park combined with Wicksteed at War. As you can see, the loco is not going unarmed, and expects to be able to hold its own in any foreseeable Kettering-based conflict scenarios. Rumours that the boxes contain Enhanced Paveway IIIs "borrowed" by the CME can be neither confirmed nor denied. Finally, Sludge (the ex-Minworth Simplex 40SD) has had its starting problems hopefully fixed (again). The photo shows it surveying the site of the pit. Before long, most of the foreground will be submerged under fill.

In between times, we still managed to operate the Apedale Valley Light Railway. It's a Steam Weekend this Saturday & Sunday 11 & 12 June - 11.00 to 1630 both days with (all being well) some of the IC fleet stretching its legs on the Industry trains on the Saturday. Get in touch here, or better yet come and see us.