Tracks to the Trenches 2014

The Moseley Railway Trust will mark the centenary of the start of the First World War with a major event, entitled Tracks to the Trenches – 2014. The event will be on September 12, 13 and 14 2014. The Trust is confident that this will be one of the major narrow gauge and First World War centenary events of 2014.

The First World War was one of the key turning points in European history – and narrow gauge railways played a major part in the war. All combatants made considerable use of tactical 60cm gauge railways, supporting the colossal demands which the first truly modern war put upon logistics systems. This moment in history helped define and standardise the gauge of many post-war industrial railways (Ashover, Nocton, Leighton Buzzard, etc), through the use of readily available War Surplus materials.

The Trust is pleased to be able to confirm the booking of the first visiting steam locomotive to the Tracks to the Trenches - 2014 event; Baldwin 4-6-0T No 778 from the Leighton Buzzard Railway in Bedfordshire. No 778 has not made many visits to other lines since restoration was completed in 2007, so this event will provide some unique locomotive/rolling stock combinations and photographic opportunities.

These 10-12-D class locomotives (the classification designated by the manufacturer) were supplied en-masse to the British War Department from 1917 onwards in all theatres, eventually totalling nearly 500 by 1918. They were the most common steam locomotive operated by the War Department Light Railways during the Great War. Based on a very similar design previously supplied to the French Army in Morocco, they had a limited life expectancy on the Battlefield of a mere 6-8 months.

Gareth Roberts, one of the event organisers of the Tracks to the Trenches event commented - Today, only a very small number of these machines have survived and an even smaller number are operational. We are extremely grateful to the Greensand Railway Museum Trust and the Leighton Buzzard Railway for making available this locomotive, fully restored to original appearance, for this important WW1 Centenary commemoration.

A website has been set-up for the Tracks to the Trenches event – it’s here. The Trust would be very pleased to hear from individuals or groups who wish to participate in the event – contact can be made via the website. The Trust is also seeking sponsorships for elements of the event – there are opportunities from main event sponsor to individual donations.

Museum Progress

There's been a lot happening on the museum project at Apedale of late. Mostly below ground level. Visitors from last year may recall the steel piles which appeared, resembling an installation art work (although sadly the Arts Council grant cheque never arrived). They have now been cut back, and are now all joined up by large amounts of concrete to form what are known as Ground Beams. The next steps are to start building the walls up to just below the damp proof course level, apply an inert fill and an insulation layer between the walls, and then pour the concrete slab. Railway tracks will then be laid on the slab, and then a further concrete pour to create a level floor. Sounds easy when you say it quickly - but what it doesn't sound is cheap. So, the appeal continues - if you've recently won the Lottery/premium bonds/work sweep we'd be quite pleased to hear from you. In the meantime, winter maintenance work continues elsewhere on the railway - the winter PWay maintenance programme has been completed in record time, allowing attention to be switched to the construction of a much-needed new siding near the Station. Because Parkinson's Law applies particularly to railway preservation schemes. It is a well known fact that the wagon fleet expands to fill the siding space available to it. As ever, get in touch here (especially if you have a few thousand bricks going begging).

Big Brother, Little Brother

The Moseley Railway Trust has recently taken delivery of a pair of bogies which will form part of the restoration of a "Pershing" wagon. Used extensively by American forces in World War One, these are very much narrow-gauge sized versions of the classic three-piece bogie. The three-piece bogie has been around for donkey's years - and is still widely used. For example, a derivative is shown under a DB Schenker HTA coal hopper. In its purest form, one of the clever features of the bogie is that there are no threaded fasteners whatsoever to come loose. As you will see in the photo, the Pershing bogies do deviate somewhat from that principle, but we'll forgive them this time. On the downside, Railway civil engineers loathe the things, since the whole of the bogie side castings are unsprung mass. And, as you well know, unsprung mass = track damage. We can only hope that the Apedale Valley Light Railway civil engineering department haven't twigged that, otherwise the track access charges for the Pershing will go northwards. Which would be a pity, as it will be a nice wagon, and a key exhibit at the 2014 Tracks to the Trenches event. Which we must tell you about in more detail sometime soon. Watch this space. As ever, get in touch here. Oh, and as a PS, don't forget that the countdown to Operation Santa is now well under way - you can book to come and see the Great Man at Apedale here.