Book Launch

This column normally focuses on the activities of the Moseley Railway Trust at it's Apedale base, and also leans towards the engineering side of things. That's because the author is an engineer (and has a sistificate thingy to prove it). So, the other activities of the Trust are sometimes overlooked. Unlike many such bodies, MRT takes the "museum" side of things very seriously. The production and publication of books and other learned treatise is a key part of this element of the Trust's work. Probably the best-known such work is the legendary A Guide to Simplex Locomotives book, described as the definitive work on the subject (not by the authors either, which makes a nice change). This book, into its nth reprint, is still available. However, the point of all this is to bring your attention, dear reader, to the MRT's latest venture in this area. We have teamed up with Railway Gazette International who publish a very grown-up magazine about proper trains to reprint their 1920 special edition on War Transport. Back in 1920, this would have been the first time that most readers would have become aware of the machines and techniques used to achieve the recent victory – much of it had been secret until then. Since 1920, copies of this special edition have been highly prized collectors’ items. We have had the original professionally scanned and enhanced, to maximise the reproduction of the many pictures. New colour covers and a foreword have been added. The book is “A4” size, and contains 160 pages. We currently expect the book to be published in mid-September 2013. This, therefore, is your Big Chance to get this book at a worthwhile discount in advance. Call in at the Apedale shop if you're in the area for the pre-publication offer, or get in touch here and we'll e-mail you the flyer.

Working Week

It's been the annual working week at Apedale. Unusually, it has been baking hot, which makes a change from the more conventional downpours or post-apocalyptic TV series filming. There's been plenty going on. The first part of the week has seen a major drive on adding the second station to the Apedale Valley Light Railway. The imaginatively named Apedale Road station ("change here for Eurostar and the Victoria Line") has begun to take shape. This will allow passengers to break their journey at this sylvan spot, or even just take a one-way journey. This will therefore serve a genuine transport need for the Apedale Community Country Park and hence deprive the Inland Revenue somewhat (they only squander it on schools and hospitals and things). We should express our sincere thanks to the Co-Op Community Fund for their assistance with this, and also to  Balfour Beatty who provided the Universal Construction Medium used (also known as Concrete Sleepers). Also seeing significant progress this week has been the restoration project on the big Hudswell Clarke diesel. The engine and gearbox have now been removed, and the shops of Staffordshire has been cleaned-out of de-greasing products. If Mr Gunk is reading this - you owe us, big time. All that remains now is to remove the rest of the brake rigging and the wheelsets before the frames are shotblasted, and rebuilding can start. Sounds easy? Unfortunately, experience has shown that the brake rigging and the loco are VERY long-standing friends and are most unwilling to be separated. As ever, get in touch here, especially is you know where degreaser can be bought in Staffordshire.

Missing Links

Another baking hot weekend down the Apedale Valley has seen eggs being fried on Ruston bonnet tops and the steam loco crew indulging in the Staffordshire Horsefly massacre - "Death's too good for 'em". Using a firing shovel to batter a small insect seemed like overkill, but the others seemed to get the message. Meanwhile, down at the workshops, The Joffre  has been showing its wounds with pride. The cylinder is now with the cast-iron welding people for their collective sucking in of breath and tut-tutting, and the next few days should give us an indication as to when this loco will be back in business. A number of people have observed that the loco actually looks quite good without the cylinder, and had we considered the advantages which an inside-cylinder version would bring? Meanwhile, the Hudswell diesel is also now missing a rather vital link - the clutch between the engine and the transmission. Opportunities to dismantle 1930 Hudswell Clarke clutches are rather scarce, and we really didn't know what to expect. Clutches can be vicious things, since they tend to contain powerful springs which are looking for the first opportunity to escape their confines. However, with care, the clutch is now off the loco and dismantled, revealing a complex multi-plate arrangements of plates, splines and springs. There was some concern about the clutch slipping, possibly indicating an end-of-life lining, which would have been a MAJOR problem. Thankfully, the linings are actually in pretty good order, so a good clean out and adjustment should sort out any issues. There isn't much more to come off the Hudswell now, although the brake rigging is being somewhat intransigent. As ever, get in touch here (unless you represent the Friends of the Staffordshire Horsefly).

Them's the breaks

We had hoped that this week, we would be writing about the visit of the Kerr Stuart Joffre locomotive to the Golden Valley Light Railway. Unfortunately, when dealing with almost 100 hundred year old machinery, nothing is ever quite straightforward. Last weekend, a crack was noticed in one of the cylinder castings. This led to a considerable debate within the MRT engineering team. Had the crack been there before but noticed? Did we have any data to support a propagation rate? Did the crack really matter - was it a safety matter? Could anyone remember anything from the fracture mechanics option course at University? The eventual decision was to abort the visit to GVLR. This was not lightly arrived, and caused a lot of disappointment and heartache, not only to the loco owners but also to the team at GVLR who were looking forward to the first "new" engine for a while. However, ultimately, these decisions have to be made in the best interest of the asset itself.  To paraphrase someone, we do not own the locomotive, we merely look after for the next owners. And so, a baking hot weekend at Apedale has been spent stripping down the loco and working to remove the offending cylinder. This will now be shipped off to a specialist contractor (in Coalville). Fingers crossed, the Joffre will be back in business before too long. In the meantime, steam services at Apedale will be maintained the "Stanhope" - the stalwart war horse. At least the CME managed to smile briefly yesterday whilst he attempted to  use the Force to weld the crack up. On reflection, we are probably better off with the nice people in Coalville rather than SciFi fantasy. If you disagree, or are wiser in the ways of the Force than the CME, get in touch here.