The
September gala at the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway will
be held on Saturday and Sunday 8 & 9 September
2012.
This year’s
theme is Contractor’s Delight. This will show how industrial narrow gauge
railways have been used in civil engineering projects and major construction
sites. These railways still exist today. Tunnels for the Olympic Games were
built with the assistance of contractor’s railways, and a new railway is
currently being built to support the construction of the Cross Rail tunnels in
central London. This construction railway will be the third largest railway
system in the UK at its maximum extent.
Central to
this event will be this year’s guest steam locomotive. This is GP39, a Hudswell
Clarke locomotive dating from 1930. It was used by Surrey County Council
Highways Department on road projects in that county. Complimenting GP39 will be
Apedale resident steam locomotives Stanhope and the newly-commissioned Joffre
locomotive. Stanhope was first used on a contractor’s project associated with
the Rosyth naval base in Scotland; it then when on to dam construction projects
in Weardale (where it acquired its current name).
GP39
appears courtesy of Graham Lee of the Statfold Barn Farm railway. The Moseley
Railway Trust wishes to express its thanks to Mr Lee and the Statfold team for
their support. This locomotive is very similar to a locomotive imported by the
MRT from Ghana in 2008.
Negotiations are continuing for further visiting
locomotives. It is also hoped that a diesel locomotive will be visiting the
railway which has never been displayed at a public railway
before.
The
Contractor’s Delight gala will be open from 1100 to 1700 on each day. Admission
will be £6 adults, £3 for children aged 2 to 15.
In addition
to steam and diesel trains on the 2’0” gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway there
will be trade stands, model railways and lots of other exhibits to interest
young and old.
This year,
it has been decided to release a small number of “Access all Areas” tickets.
Likely to be of interest to the serious enthusiast, they will allow access to
the Apedale site out of normal hours and a wide range of other benefits. An
application form can be obtained from the Trust website .
The MRT’s
event team is still keen to hear from vintage plant owners who may wish to
exhibit and hopefully demonstrate their machines.
The film, courtesy of Ian Walmsley, gives a flavour of our previous galas.
