Pit Progress

Another very productive weekend at Apedale has seen significant progress on two fronts. Firstly, an elite team has been working on finishing off the station building interior; it is most important to us that this looks as good as possible. This will be, both figuratively and literally, our shop window - the first point of contact the public has with the Trust. Secondly, a slightly less elite team has been working on the pit project. This has included using skip wagons and locos to move fill material from elsewhere on site. As you can see, the track layout includes another Point to Certain Oblivion - these have been something of a feature of the Apedale track layout over the years - but they are always there for good reasons. The photos show some of the Civil Engineering gang, who gave their names as Raymond Throat-Wobbler Mangrove and Jethro Q. Walrustitty. Or at least that's what I wrote down. Using these wagons as God intended has given us a bit of an idea for the September Gala. Keep watching this space. Get in touch here.

Busy weekend

It's been a very productive weekend at Apedale. Rather cynically, it was decided that the unseasonally warm weather is unlikely to last much longer, so everything with untreated water in it was drained.This has probably raised the local water table level by a about a foot, which may provoke complaints from our mining colleagues at the Heritage Centre. The first track was laid on the made-up land which leads to the site of the inspection pit, and a loco was duly parked thereon. The voices of doom expected the loco to sink into the mire, never to be seen again. However, the mire seemed rather unresponsive today, and precisely nothing happened. If there's one thing we're good at it's making sure that nothing happens. The more well-informed may wish to note which locomotive was used for this little piece of exploration. I'll tell you more about that when I get another moment. Get in touch here. 

Down t'pit

The major winter engineering project at the Moseley Railway Trust site at Apedale is the conversion of what was, at one time a weighbridge, into an inspection pit. This project has taken on a certain degree of urgency with the realisation that the newly-commissioned Joffre steam loco needed a pit in order to be able to carry out the annual boiler exam. Hence no pit would lead to the loco being newly de-commissioned. It's been a big job so far, with a new retaining wall built, and then the land built up by backfilling behind the wall. A slight hitch was encountered just before Xmas when it was noticed that the existing sheet-piled wall alongside the weighbridge was bulging in places where bulges should not be. Although not on the scale of the Chicken Curve and being completely unrelated to poultry, action was needed. The root cause was the land slipping into the pit, particularly ballast from an adjacent siding. As a first step to curing the problem, concrete sleepers have been placed and then pinned into place to reinforce the top of the bank. The next step is to reinforce the sheet piling, and hopefully that will solve the problem. As ever, get in touch here.

Happy New Year

1. Firstly, the second part of the Quiz. I've seen three correct sets of answers, and I have to say I'm most impressed. I didn't think anyone would get all of them. The 2012 Xmas quiz is going to have to be really fiendish - "Spot the Fishplate" or something. Anyway, the answers are:
2. 6:- WHHR Porthmadog
3. 7:- Welshpool and Llanfair, Llanfair Caerinion
4. 8:- Cappy, Froissy, Dompierre, France
5. 9:- Durango (Durango and Silverton), Colorado, USA
6. 10:- Kelmsley Down, Sittingbourne & Kelmsley
7. 11:- Jenbach, Austria - home to the Zillertalbahn and the Achenseebahn.
8. It's been a funny end to the year, with big "Ups" and big "Downs". The Santa trains at Apedale were extremely successful, with very full trains loaded with happy, and fare-paying, passengers. Even the Treasurer was heard to be muttering positive comments about cashflows and business models and the like. But then we heard of the death of a long standing and much respected member, John Lucas. John is seen in characteristic pose at Amberley in 2008 (thanks to Cliff Thomas for the photo). John will be greatly missed within the railway family. Hopefully 2012 will see plenty of Ups and not many Downs. We re-open to the public on Saturday 31/3/12, and look forward to seeing you then. Keep checking in here for all the latest news and Apedale happenings, and maybe the odd giggle. Get in touch here.