AGM High-Jinks

Saturday was the Annual General Meeting of the Moseley Railway Trust. Once again, this meeting allowed the Membership to hold the Trustees to account using the mighty sword of Democracy and the Equally Mighty Shield of Accountability. Despite which, it all passed off quite amicably, the biggest debate being of a columnar nature. The AGM is traditionally followed by Member's Playday. This year, we put a bit of effort into this, and the Engineering department made the fatal error of seeking requests as to which locos people wanted to operating. Needless to say, the most obscure and difficult to extract from the shed are always the one wished for. Still, the People have spoken. The ex-Ireland Ransomes & Rapier loco "Ghost" had a prolonged outing. This loco has rubber tyres fitted to improve grip, which gives a rather unsettling feeling of imminent disaster at each and every set of points. Opportunity was taken to run the loco with the three peat cars which accompanied it when it returned from the Emerald Isle, and also on trackwork from the same peatworks.


The World's Slowest Railtour was a strictly member's only trip which toured most of the system, including the new Field Railway. This train used a newly arrived manrider and two unusual locos. The petrol Orenstein & Koppel Class MM displayed the truculence only to be expected of petrol locos, but ran nicely when it finally started. The yellow Hudson loco Chaumont showed off its 3 1/2mph top speed in fine style. The photo runpast was more of a photo crawlpast.
Next weekend we all have to start behaving properly again, as Easter Saturday will be first public operation of the 2015 season - it's the Great Easter Egg Hunt. It'll be steam all three days using the Joffre. Hopefully see you then? As ever, get in touch here.

Padarn Railway Lives

Obscure quiz question of the week - what do the two pictures have in common? The tanks are from Velinheli, an 1895 Hunslet which worked on the Padarn railway. This line linked the great Dinorwic quarries at Llanberis with the sea port - nowadays called Y Felinheli, but known as Port Dinorwic back when the railway was running. The other picture is the newly completed wagon traverser at Apedale, complete with traverser car sitting in all its splendour. The answer, of course, is that both ran (or now run) on the unusual gauge of 4'0". This led to the intriguing question being asked - how long is since anyone in the UK built a new 4'0" gauge railway? After some head scratching, we think the answer was probably 46 years. In 1969, Fire Queen - the unique surviving Padarn Railway locomotive - was relocated to the National Trust museum at Penrhyn Castle. To display the loco, some track must have been built to suit the loco, Unfortunately, we do feel it is unlikely that the National Trust would loan us Fire Queen to run up and down the traverser pit. Pity really, as the traverser car is a bit stiff and a little locomotive assistance would be quite welcome. If you're reading Mr National Trust, we'd be ever so careful and always sheet it down each night. Just get in touch here - even if you're not the National Trust.

Training Day

At Apedale, we take training pretty seriously. There's a number of reasons for that. Firstly, we need trained and competent people to be able to carry out the various safety-critical tasks on which the operation of the railway depends. Having a training and assessment regime for such people is not only the Right Thing to do, but is also legally mandated. And apparently the Chairman doesn't like prison food. Secondly, having a structured training regime is a means by which volunteers can work through the various operating grades. So, a bright day down t' valley saw a good turn out of bright young things (perhaps not young...) all eager to build on previous training. The day was spent with several locos buzzing round the site, as the trainees built up their confidence and knowledge. And they soaked it up pretty well, which allowed a record-breaking crop of new Yard Drivers to be signed off. So, congratulations to Peter, Mike, Richard and John, all of whom are now entitled to carry out Yard Driving on Rustons and Small Motor Rails. I imagine that they all drove home, eager to update CVs and dreaming of the day that we sign them off to drive Black 5s on the mainline. Sorry chaps.....
Elsewhere, frenetic activity on the steam fleet preceded a visit from the Boiler Man this week. Stanhope was suffering from a perforated fire tube, and this has been replaced; the loco was steamed to prove the repair as it's embarrassing if it leaks whilst the Man with the Clipboard stands there with his overtime clock running. Quite why the fireman has pink hair is a little beyond us. He may having been drinking the boiler treatment again. As ever, get in touch here.

Moseley Railway Trust scoops double win at Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce a double win at the recent Heritage Railway Awards. Presented at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry(MOSI) on 7 February, these awards recognise achievement by Heritage Railways.

The Moseley Railway Trust was award the John Coiley Award; this recognises achievements in locomotive restoration, and was awarded to mark the completion of the rebuild on a 1916-built Hudswell Clarke locomotive no.1238. This locomotive was repatriated from Ghana, where it had worked at a Goldmine until a derailment in a downpour led to it falling into a river, sadly killing its driver. The locomotive lay in the river for 48 years before being rediscovered and eventually returned to the UK. It was then lovingly restored by a small team before being launched back into traffic in 2014 at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. This locomotive, built in Leeds, will be one of the centrepieces of the May 16 and 17 Locos from Leeds gala at Apedale.

The Moseley Railway Trust was also jointly awarded the Heritage Railway Association Annual Award for Small Groups, sharing this award with Northern Ireland’s Downpatrick and County Down Railway.

The Moseley Railway Trust won the Small Groups award in recognition of the September 2014 Tracks to the Trenches event, which marked the centenary of the start of the First World War. This much-praised event saw the Apedale site transformed into the Western Front for the weekend, complete with replica Trenches and a railway network to serve the troops on the front line. There was even a replica of a First World War tank!

Phil Robinson, chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust said “It was an honour to attend MOSI to collect these awards on behalf of the Trust. The fact that a small organisation like the Moseley Railway Trust can win not one, but two of these prestigious awards just shows what small groups can achieve. These awards are recognition of the hard work out in by Trust members”.

The operating season at Apedale commences on Easter Saturday, and will then run to Remembrance Sunday in November. The annual railway Gala will by the Locos from Leeds event on May 16 and 17. Get in touch here.