In the bleak mid-winter

Mother Nature was indeed bountiful in her distribution of a large amount of the white stuff on Friday night. After battling their way into the site at Apedale - with varying degrees of success, Moseley Railway Trust members couldn't help but notice the absence of the entire railway under a blanket of snow. It was also important to carry out a shunt in one of the sheds. So, Mr Plow to the rescue. Those who followed the link to Dowlais Top last time will have noticed that, when BR went snowploughing, it took a couple of wedge ploughs and about 3,500hp-worth of Class 37s. There is a very good reason for the ample supply of horsepower. The reason became abundantly clear when the 20hp Ruston rather ran out of puff at anything other than the smallest drift.
In response to this, another member is developing an alternative approach to snow clearing, which involves a 9" angle grinder. He does accept that it is early days yet, and the method is rather slow. We think it's just that he's not working hard enough.
If we had some serious snow, we might be able to call on our friends in Germany to lend the little solution which they have to the issue.
As ever, get in touch here.

Battling the Snow

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the UK is blanketed by a layer of the white stuff, leaving chaos and disruption in its wake. The traditional railway response to a suggestion of snow is to start overhauling the snowploughs, thereby ensuring that they are scattered around the workshop in a million pieces at the time when they are actually needed. The Moseley Railway Trust, determined to break away from this tradition, actually managed to find the snowplough. We've never actually fitted to a loco before, so it was a voyage of discovery. The observant will notice that we didn't actually NEED the snowplough, as the snow was no-where near deep enough. Consequently, a SnowPlough Test Environment had to be constructed on a siding. So, with the plough rigged onto loco 29, our intrepid test pilot was sent out into the cold. We though it best not to mention the frequent occasions when snowploughs have encountered buried objects with disastrous consequences. I am pleased to report that the plough passed its test with flying colours. The plough itself is a historic artifact in its own right. It was built and used on British Aluminium's Lochaber Railway which served hydroelectric installations above Fort William - which is place which knows a bit about snow.
There's a few pictures of real snowploughing here. The point lever igloo is an indication of what real snow looks like! As ever, get in touch here.

Unglamorous

With the excitement of the 2012 Santa campaign behind us, the team of volunteers are Apedale have settled not into hibernation - tempting as that may be - but into the unglamorous but very necessary programme of jobs which are necessary to sustain and improve the site. So, for example, works recently in progress have included: Moving a fence. Machining parts for the valve gear on the ex-Ghana Hudswell Clarke steam loco. Manufacturing joggled fishplates. And this weekend's big push - re-organising and de-junking the stores area in the Workshops. Now, we would be the first to agree that re-organising the Stores is never going to set the pulses racing for most railway people. But this and all the other winter works are vital tasks, and it is a mark of the quality of the team at Apedale that people turn out and work willingly on these unglamourous tasks just as much as when the steam trains are running. It has also to be admitted that re-organising the stores is not the most photogenic activity in the world - so you can have a nice photos of some steam trains just to make up. If you're not feeling glamorous, get in touch here. If pink feather boas and sparkly dresses are more your thing, also get in touch. Diversity is important.

Happy New Year

Firstly, a slightly belated set of season's greetings to both the readers of this. And now the moment you have all been waiting for - the answers to part 2 of the Quiz.

Number 9 was Hunslet 2207/1941 plinthed at Blaenau, newly restored at Boston Lodge
10 is  the vertical boiler Paddy, normally at Amerton Railway (although the picture was actually taken at Keef's open day)
11 is the Festiniog's diesel Criccieth Castle
12 is one of the electric power units from the Post Office Railway in London. It is English Electric Co Ltd, Dick Kerr Works 761/30 and is now at Launceston, Cornwall.
13 is  Joan KS 4404/27 at Welshpool
14 is Talyllyn -  FJ 42/1865
15 is the air pump of  the new-build steam Bagnall-inspired steam loco Joan, based at the Golden Valley Light Railway.
Finally, 16 is  Harrogate P2050/44, photographed when visiting the South Tynedale Railway in 2012, but normally resident at Statfold Barn.

The Judge's Verdict is that nobody got them 100% correct without a few clues, so it looks like the 2013 Quiz will be a Roll-Over. I bet you can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, winter works continue at Apedale, but Easter will soon be here when we are back running trains. As ever, get in touch here.