Happy Birthday!!

Another busy weekend down at Apedale, with many pre-season jobs coming towards their conclusion. Which is fortunate, otherwise they wouldn't be pre-season. Unusually for the time of year, a loco was in steam. This was a charter to mark the 70th birthday of a member's father - Mr Dick Knight. All concerned seemed to have a good time, so happy birthday, Mr Knight from everybody at Apedale. Meanwhile, the point to form the new Silverdale Station West siding has been completed, and has now been delivered to site courtesy of a flat wagon and Isaac Newton's gravity thingy. Next job is to to cut into the run round loop at Silverdale station and insert the point. Sounds easy when written quickly. Down by the Red Shed, some of the younger members were occupied cleaning and generally preparing the Tin Turtle - Motor Rail 1369 and the water tank for their forthcoming loan period to the Dutch National Railway Museum at Utrecht . "Spoorweg" is such a nice word, and it is to be hoped that our humble kit is not overwhelmed by the splendour of the new surroundings. Don't worry, though - they'll be back at Sunny Apedale later in the year, when we'll need to work out how there was ever shed space for them in the first place (as the Law of Shed Space Conservation will have kicked in). Not long to go now until the running season starts on Easter Saturday with the Easter Egg Hunt, and we all have the AGM to look forward to inbetween times. Get in touch here.

The Return of the Native

The flagship of the Apedale Valley Light Railway locos fleet - Kerr Stuart 2395 "Stanhope" - has been spending some time on its holidays recently. A visit to the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland railways produced some epic exploits, and these have been well documented elsewhere. But it's back to reality now, and Stanhope once again rests safe and well in the locomotive shed at Apedale.  The cognoscenti will note the rather splendid new paint job, courtesy of the Boston Lodge paintshop, and a revised "Penrhyn Quarry" lining scheme. All in all, the roving ambassador has done a fine job at raising the profile of Apedale amongst the Welsh - and all done without a Ferro Rocher in sight. Which is a pity, as the Owner is not known to refuse chocolate of any sort. Which brings us neatly to remind everyone that the first trains for 2013 at Apedale will be on Saturday 30th March for the Easter Egg Hunt when all concerned will be OD'ing on Cream Eggs and suffering the behavioural consequences. Get in touch here for more details or to tell us about your behavioural consequences.

Hudswell Clarke Update

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to report that significant progress has been made on the restoration of Hudswell Clarke steam locomotive no. 1238, built in 1916. This locomotive was diverted to Ghana (or Gold Coast as it was then known) from a batch of locomotives ordered to support the First World War effort. The locomotive was repatriated from Ghana in 2008 with the support and assistance of AngloGold Ashanti, for whom the locomotive worked. The locomotive was withdrawn after an accident left it upside down in a river, where it lay for 48 years. Tragically, this accident killed its driver, Kofe Asamoa. The loco was rediscovered in 1996, recovered from the river and displayed at AngloGold Ashanti’s mine complex. Colin Laidler, a UK geologist, was working at the mine at the time, and has told the Trust of how he discovered that the rear coupler, a bar of some 4 feet in length with a hook, was now being used to hold cooking pots over a fire in one of the local villages. Colin re-acquired it in exchange for a bottle of schnapps.

Since the locomotive returned to the UK, it has been placed on display at the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale site, and also with the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway before moving to a workshop for restoration. Stripping and examination of the locomotive showed that it was in a very poor condition – unsurprisingly, given its history! However, a small team of Moseley Railway Trust  volunteers have worked unstintingly, and the locomotive has now reached the point where it stands on its wheels, with the motion, cylinders etc. complete and in place. The vast majority of the motion has been manufactured from scratch.

Although there was some hope that parts of the boiler could have been re-used, expert examination recommended that a new boiler would be the most cost-effective solution. To that end, the Trust has now placed the order for the new boiler with Israel Newton & Sons Limited.

The project has been funded through a number of sources. These have included a significant legacy in memory of Terry Stanhope, a lifelong enthusiast of narrow gauge railways. Secondly, a PRISM grant was awarded in recognition of the locomotive’s importance to the UK’s industrial heritage. However, there remains a funding gap of £20k which needs to be raised in order to complete the boiler.

 

Phil Robinson, Moseley Railway Trust Chairman, commented:- We are pleased to have entered the final phase of the restoration of this fascinating locomotive. There is very little work left to be done once the boiler is completed and fitted to the locomotive. We very much want the Hudswell to star at our Tracks to the Trenches event in September 2014, which will commemorate all aspects of WW1 military railways. These Hudswell locomotives were a key part of this story. However, to allow that to happen, we must raise the last £20k, and I would delighted to hear from individuals or organisations who can help us make this final push to complete this project.

Contact us here (we accept cheques, cash, paypal, most negotiable currencies and bank bonds (not from Iceland)).  However

Cranein' 'n' paintin' 'n' trainin'

The absence of snow this weekend allowed a return to normality at Apedale this weekend. This is, of course, a relative term. Lots of members were seen progressing lots of different jobs. The Crane was very gainfully employed extracting a number of turnouts from the trackwork store - these will shortly be departing for pastures new. The opportunity has also been taken to extract some of the more "deep stored" items for assessment. Meanwhile, two of our younger members were seen to be taking advantage of what was always known in the North as a Good Drying Day by getting yet more paint onto the body of one our rarer skip wagons. One of the less young members was also seen wielding a paint brush (or near equivalent) on the Baby Orenstein petrol loco. Finally, it being the first Saturday of the month, it was  Training Day - courses were running on shunting and on driving, with attendant assessments taking place. So, congratulations to newly qualified Yard Driver and Basic Shunters - you know who you are. If you don't know who you are, get in touch here.