Classic Cars

Today's Classic Cars Day has passed off really well. In a remarkable break from the traditional downpour of biblical proportion, it has stayed remarkably dry despite a rather dire forecast. We saw 31 cars of all shapes and sizes, including some rather spiffy Jags which conspired to make everything else on site look tatty by comparison. One of our younger members (you know who you are..) decided that his bicycle was a classic vehicle and determined to enter it. To be fair, it has rod brakes and tubes made out of depleted uranium. Just to prove that we did do some proper work, the Red Shed has been emptied and all the locos resident cleaned; this was needed because the building has been re-roofed, and the roofers unavoidably disturbed a lot of rust particles, which inevitably settled on all the locos. The Tin Turtles always live in the Red Shed for the simple reason the they won;t fit through the doors of the main Aurora North building.
The next jolly at Apedale is the September Steam-up on 12th & 13th. See you then? As ever, get in touch here.

Van dalism

A project which has not featured on these pages before is the ex- Ffestiniog Railway van. This was originally van 58 on Gods's Own Railway - see write-up here. The FR has recently been upgrading the PW train fleet, and this vehicle became available. In due course, it joined the fleet at Apedale. We can see why the FR decided it no longer fitted their needs, as it was - to put it mildly - in need of some serious TLC. The plywood sidewalls were life expired, the steel floor was porous and the roof is waterproof in name only. Apart from that..... On the other hand, it was a great starting point for what we at Apedale needed, which is a decent tool and messing van to support extending the railway. One thing we cannot do when we extend is keep coming back to & from the workshops as we did for Phase One. It's too far, and we don't want to be crossing the Apedale Road more often than necessary. So, we must take everything with us. We must also provide somewhere for the gang to ride and to drink tea. Van 58 will do all these things and more. So, where are we? The plywood sides walls are no more, and work is currently in progress to remove the current, rotten, floor. This will be replaced entirely. Whilst the floor is out, we can deal with any underframe issues - although most of it looks in need of nothing more than a wire brush and a good dollop of paint. Both bogies have been overhauled, and the wheels machined to correct the back-to-back to MRT, rather than FR, standards. Still a long way to go, but before long we can start thinking about kitting it out with the on-board jacuzzi and all the other accouterments a modern PW gang deserve. As ever, get in touch here.

Paying the price

In life, there is usually a price to be paid for everything. This axiom is generally true for railways as well (ask anyone who's bought a walk-up ticket in recent years). It has also proven to be true for the Moseley Railway Trust's Hudswell Clarke steam loco no.1238. It had a recent trip to Threlkeld in Cumbria (see post a few weeks back) but the exertions of this severely graded line seem to have taken its toll in a few places. In  particular, examination of the loco revealed that one brake block had worn much more than the other. As anyone who has ever been to Threlkeld will know, the line climbs (to pinch an air force expression) like a homesick Angel; therefore, the descent is quite demanding on the brakes. In the case of the Hudswell, perhaps a bit too demanding. Investigation revealed that a brake pull road had failed, which meant the loco was braking only on one side. Fine when one has a braked train coupled up, but far from ideal. So, it was onto the pit at Apedale for repairs. Thankfully, it isn't too difficult to extract the failed pull rod from the bowels of the loco. Examination showed that this was an original part which had probably just been overloaded. Interestingly, the other side pull rod - again, believed to be original, was a different, and much more robust, design.

A couple of hours fabrication work saw a new end on the rod, and then re-assembly onto the loco. Unfortunately, the worn block had also deposited cast iron particles all over the running gear where it was in danger of becoming grinding paste - this had to be laboriously cleaned off by a group of our younger members. On the bright side, the lower half of the loco is probably cleaner now than it's ever been. Finally, one of the eccentric rods gave a little cause for concern; this was checked and the fit slightly adjusted. There was some debate as to the correct name for this component, and various books had to be consulted. But, in the end, we did prove that at Apedale we do know our eccentrics from our cranks. If you're an eccentric or a crank, or just want to, get in touch here.

And for our next trick.....

Coming up next at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, we proudly present the next two special events. August 30 is Steam Trains and Classic Cars day, which pretty much sums up exactly what the day will be all about! Plenty of veteran metal on both road and rail.
September 12 & 13 is the September Steam-Up weekend. We should have three engines in steam - Stanhope, HC1238 and a visitor - the Jung-built loco Justine from Toddington. There will be opportunities to view the rest of the fleet in the sheds, demonstration trains on the field railway, and drive-a-loco. All you have to do is buy a train ticket and that lets you into the rest of the show. What could be better? As ever, get in touch here.

Teddy Bear Outing

Great day at Apedale - nice sunny day and lots of nice sunny visitors with various toy animals in tow. Perhaps the greatest crowd of visitors since the May gala. Amongst many toy animals, we've seen donkeys, bunny rabbits, minions, indeterminate pink creatures and a ring-tailed lemur. It would appear that the actual Teddy Bear is, sadly, a minority, possibly even a threatened,  species these days. Hopefully you'll prove us wrong by turning in droves tomorrow at Apedale with Bears. We're running from 1130 - 4pm. Don't worry, though, we're very broad minded; virtually any soft toy will count. We might draw the line at car-insurance related  Meerkats, though.