The Killer Tea Cups of Apedale

The European Rail Heap is no more. It has been replaced by the considerably tidier, and less muck-encrusted European Stack of Rail. Once again, quite a few of the Moseley Railway Trust members went home with no need to go to the gym this week. One member was viciously attacked by a Killer Tea Cup and ended up in A&E, where it was pronounced that they could save the Tea Cup, but individual in question would have to be sacrificed. Still, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few tea cups. Hopes still remain high that the Museum can be entirely funded by finding gold in the muck of the rails, and the CME has now resorted to gold panning. He is nothing if not optimistic. Meanwhile, preparations for the new Halloween event are taking shape elsewhere on the site. This prompted an overheard phrase "I must go and check if my gravestones are ready yet". Now there's something you don't hear everyday. For further information on gravestones or Killer Tea Cups, get in touch here.

Back to reality

Putting all the fun and glamour of the Stoke Steam Special behind us, it's back to reality for the good people of the Moseley Railway Trust down t'Valley. It's been a week of intense lorry traffic to and from the site, with various vehicles coming and going, but also rather a large consignment of rail doing a lot of "coming". It has been acquired from a gold mine in Scotland. Apparently, the driver of one of the lorries had never been this far south, and his boss explained that Stoke on Trent is just a "little further on" from Cumbria. Which would explain why the driver rang from Carlisle with that "put the kettle on, we'll be there in ten minutes" tone of voice. Despite geographic reality, and being Scottish, the delivery was executed swiftly and professionally. However, gravity was the main driving force of the unloading, leaving the European Rail Mountain for the MRT to sort out. Saturday was spent sorting, de-scaling and stacking more than 10 tonnes of rail - and that's only just over halfway. There was a number of members who went home and slept well that night. Being from a gold mine, there was some excitement about what was being knocked off the rails. That excitement was tempered by the words Iron Pyrites, and the revelation of how much gold had actually ever been extracted from this mine in question - precisely nil. Not a sausage. Zippo. Still, hope springs eternal, eh?

Meanwhile, at the other end of the railway, work was continuing on the new Apedale Road Hauptbahnhof. Having seen our previous efforts at bricklaying, we got Proper Workmen in to do the job, and consequently the tea room sugar bowl is significantly denuded. But they've done a nice job. The light coloured heaps in the foreground of the photo is the spoil which has been knocked off the Scottish rails. So, whilst there may be gold in them thar hills, there may also be gold in this 'ere platform. As ever, get in touch here.

 

 

That's another Gala knocked off......

Well, folks, that's another Gala completed. I know we called it the Stoke Steam Special in a brave attempt to avoid using the G word, but it rather failed the Duck Test. It looked like a Gala, and it felt like a Gala - so it's a Gala. The rather dire weather forecast meant that the crowds were somewhat absent on Sunday, but we still saw plenty of people, and the plenty of people saw plenty of trains. Many of the vintage diesels had outings on the main line - in some cases hauling their first trains for donkey's years. The promised downpour did not materialise until just after 3pm, at which point the traincrew were heard asking if anyone knew a Noah. So, we had most of the day not wet, and you can't really ask for much more. This weekend, of course, marks the official launch of the run up to the Tracks to the Trenches event of Setember 2014 - and that REALLY WILL be a full-on Gala. Once feet stop aching, we'll start looking forward to it! In the meantime, just to show that the MRT is a gennuine and serious organisation, I can reveal that original scientific research has established that dead wasps are less dense than diesel engine oil. The Nobel prize is as good as ours. Anyone got a street map of Stockholm?

Stoke Steam Special - half done

We've survived Day One of the Stoke Steam Special, and a jolly good day it has been too. The weather has been kind to us (so far), and we have seen lots of people riding lots of trains. Aurora North is packed full of model railways and trade stands, and many of the diesel fleet have been having rare outings on mainline goods trains. The visiting steam loco is "Jack Lane", kindly loaned by Statfold. If my lottery ticket comes up, Statfold needn't bother sending the lorry to collect it - it's a right little cracker. We have also entertained the editor of Railway Gazette International for the launch of the War Transportation re-print project. It would seem that the gentleman concerned is no stranger to narrow gauge railways. Anyway, it's all happening again tomorrow, and we very much look forward to seeing you.

Nearly Time

The team at Apedale have spent the weekend preparing for the annual Big Weekend at he Apedale Valley Light Railway - this year christened the Stoke Steam Special. If can be be tidied, it's been tidied, if it can be cleaned it's been cleaned. One of our volunteers sat still for too long and ended up in a bin bag. These weekends have always been memorable, and we are sure next weekend will not disappoint. We have, for example, a record breaking collection of model railways, and for the hardened enthusiast, the last remaining parts of the rare Rhiwbach loco have  been re-assembled (but don't get too excited!). The photos are reminders of previous years - hopefully next weekend will also produce a set of nice pictures.  As ever, get in touch here.

Nearly the Big Weekend

It's nearly the Big Weekend - the Stoke Steam Special weekend - 14th and 15th September. It's the annual weekend when we get to show off a few of the things we've achieved down at Apedale. As a regular reader of this column, you will be very well acquainted by now with all that type of thing, and hence inspired to come along and check that is actually true and not just random cyberspace rantings (or Wikipedia). However, there's a couple of recent developments you won't have seen. The Dick Kerr skip wagon has completed its restoration, and jolly nice it looks too. Good to see a skip wagon painted something other than grey or black. All it needs now is the Zorin Industries logo. Meanwhile, the recent(ish) restored petrol Motor Rail 5038 has now become a Namer. How exciting. The owner was a bit cheesed off, because he thought he was getting Duke of Gloucester, not City of Gloucester. I'm sure he'll get over it. Find out more about the September Shenanigans here, and, as ever, contact us here.