Christmas Quiz - Part 2

Ok, we have at least one set of correct answers to Part 1. They are:-
1 Fleet no 74 - Orenstein 3444?
2 Fleet no 59 - Orenstein 4588 - a tough one, considering it shows the loco partly dismantled, and further dismantling has now removed many of the bits shown in the picture!!
3 Fleet no 29 Vanguard - Ruston 195846
4 Fleet no 50 - Deutz 10050
5  Stanhope - Kerr Stuart 2395
6 Visiting loco Red Dwarf - a Wingrove beloning to the Shropshire Mines Group.
7 Fleet no 6 Genesix - MR 7066
8 Visiting loco Marchlyn - Avonside 2067

In the words of the meerkat, "Simples". Now for something less simples. For each of these, I want the loco and the railway at which it is to be found. Good hunting. Answers to here please. In a few cases, the answers are perhaps debatable. In such cases, answers will be submitted to a carefully selected peer review panel for consideration; their deliberations will then be totally ignored, and I shall use a combination of  bias, corruption and spite as the means to determine who is crowned MRT Smarty Pants of the Year.

No.9

No.10

No.11

No.12

No.13

No.14

No.15

No.16

Christmas Quiz - Part One

Bored? Fed up of hearing your relatives' obnoxious opinions? Beginning to see things after the eighth glass of sherry (don't worry, that's quite normal)? Why not have a go at Part One of the Moseley Railway Trust Christmas Quiz. Once again, a glittering prize is on offer - provided you nip down to Cash Converters with a housebrick. How it works is  simples. All the pictures shown snippets of locomotives which should be familiar to anyone who knows the MRT fleet - or some of the locos more obliquely associated with the Apedale site. All you need to do is determine which loco the snippet is from. Simples. Get in touch here when you think you know the answers. The more incorrect ones will be ridiculed. Round two will be significantly more tricky. Be afraid, be very afraid.

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.5

No.6

No.7

No.8

Ho Ho Ho

The first weekend of Santa trains at Apedale has come and gone, along with most of the population of North Staffordshire it seems. My, but wasn't Santa a busy man? To be fair, a day at Apedale is a stroll in the park compared to delivering all the presents on Christmas Eve - but it was quite close. The toughest bit, of course, is checking with the Elves who has been naughty and who has been nice. A major problem for one of our members is that elves are scared of meerkats, so they just enter a default "naughty" entry on the spreadsheet. We've got it all to do again next weekend. There are still just a few (and I really do mean a FEW) seats left on some trains. Visit here for more details.
In other news, it can be revealed that the Xmas Quiz WILL return this year - more fiendish than a very fiendish thing. So start swotting up now, and check in next weekend. In the meantime, we recommend this for wasting an hour or so. It will certainly improve your knowledge of London!!

Only six sleeps

...until Santa arrives at Apedale. We've had a word, and he's jollier and happier than ever before. So, if you're after a truly ludicrous present - say an Aston Martin DB5, or a Furby - then perhaps this could be your lucky year. Santa trains are running and 15,16, 22 & 23 December, using the Kerr Stuart Joffre for traction. The Grotto is finished. The train has so many fairy lights that it's now visible from orbit, all we need now are the fare-paying hoardes. Many of the hoardes seem to have already booked - so please check out here, as seats are selling out quickly on some trains. Some snow would be nice, too.

Top Gun Trains

There are many activities where it's reassuring to know that there is some form of training regime helping the people do the job better. Obviously, this doesn't apply to any known call centre, but it would be slightly alarming if one thought the pilot of one's Boeing was thumbing through the instruction manual as the aircraft thundered down the runway. I know it sometimes seems that way on certain of the less expensive airlines, but we're not naming names as they have a better corporate legal team than we do.
We've put a lot of effort into revitalising the training regime for members at Apedale; just like the pilots in Top Gun, they feel the Need for Speed. Unfortunately, we gave them the Pikrose battery loco to drive, but life's full of disappointments, isn't it? Tragically, Kelly McGillis failed to turn up as the Instructor, which would doubtless have resulted in significantly more attention being paid to what was being said. Yesterday saw the first fruits of training regime, with two new drivers achieving the much coveted Yard Driver wings. In the photo, we see one of these elite individuals, who is also the MRT Head of High Energy Particle Physics. You will note that he is trying to tame the fearsome swing-wing, after-burning Pikrose, newly renovated and looking very smart indeed (the loco that is, best not say about the driver). The requirement to wear white gloves and carpet slippers when driving it is causing some resentment.

Meanwhile, the Black Smoke Working Group were also active at the workshop, the Ruston "Pluto" saw the bodywork essentially complete; you will recall that this project was primarily the responsibility of our younger members - three of whom are in the team photo below. One of them either lied about his age or has had a very tough upbringing. As ever, get in touch here.