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.
