t would seem that all current civil engineering projects at Apedale involve the word Pit. With the Traverser completed, we have moved on to a re-lay of the inspection pit trackwork. This was laid in a considerable rush a couple of years ago. The reason for the urgency was the discovery that it was not possible to do the boiler exam on the Joffre without access to an inspection pit! Experience has shown a few problems with the layout, mainly caused by the point used being rather too tight a radius for comfort. This has meant steam crews are reluctant to use it to drop their ash - and hence someone ends up having to shovel it out of the yard track area. Also, the long-wheelbase coaches don't like the curve, making their annual pit exams rather more exciting than is strictly necessary. So, the tight point had to go.
And go it has. During a weekend rather more suited for sitting in a paddling pool with an ice cream rather than heavy P-Way work, the existing layout was stripped out, a new point craned in, and the various linking trackwork reinstated. There's a lot of work to do to finish the job, but the key was to re-gain the "straight through" route, since that leads to the end-loading point. Inevitably, there's always time pressure. In this case, it's because the Hayfield coach is off on its annual holidays to our friends at
Amerton for their forthcoming charity weekend. This, by the way, is a very worthwhile endeavour and highly recommended - visit them before (or after) coming to us at Apedale. It's steam at Apedale next weekend, by the way - looks like Hudswell on Saturday, Stanhope Sunday. As ever, get in touch
here.
The shed at Apedale seems suddenly to have rather more room in it than we are accustomed to. Why is this? Because it would appear that the Apedale Valley Light Railway is currently providing locomotives to many of the UK's narrow gauge lines. The Kerr Stuart Joffre is spending the summer on the Golden Valley Light Railway near Ripley in Derbyshire - check their website for the days when this loco can be seen storming the bank on this steeply graded line. We have a Lister-Blackstone loco outbased at the Amberley Museum currently - it's been on an extended visit whilst the owner thinks of a plan to get it back north. The main objective was participation in the madness which was the ListerMania event earlier this month. Finally, Stanhope and the Hudswell have had a weekend away at the Threlkeld museum in the heights of Cumbria. This is a railway which is not so much steep as precipitous. The photo shows them posing with Lilla, which is based at some outfit in Porthmadog. The Threlkeld visit was One Weekend Only, and we are hoping to have these two back in the fold by next weekend. Next steam days at Apedale are the 8 & 9th August - so we need at least one of them back by then! Our new slogan is "Moseley Railway Trust - Reliable Locos for the UK's Railways". Our rates are very reasonable....
