Diesel Delights preparation

A busy day at Apedale getting ready for the Diesel Delights event next weekend. We have already taken delivery of three visiting locos from our friends at the West Lancashire Light Railway - a large Motor Rail, a Hunslet and a very charecterful petrol-engined Lister. The Lister is almost returning home, as it worked at Springfield Tileries, which was not too far from us. A key attribute of the Diesel event will be the chance to allow some of our small internal-combustion locos to work passenger trains, and this is being accomplished by means of a portable air-brake system. This is carried around the driver's neck. We took the opportunity today to test the system and it worked pretty much as expected, which is always encouraging.

Santa Claus is coming to town

We are pleased to announce that we are now taking bookings for the Santa Specials for this year. We are running on five days - 9th, 10th, 16th, 17th and the 23rd of December. Book ahead prices are £7 for children and £5 for adults. There are seven trains per day. Full details and on-line booking can be seen here. You can also make bookings in-person at our shop at the railway, which is open every Saturday plus Sundays 8th, 15th and 29th October. These trains have become extremely popular, and were completely sold-out last year - this is why we've added a fifth date to try to avoid disappointing anyone. The dates nearest to Christmas always sell-out the quickest, as to trains in the middle of the day. The Trust volunteers very much look forward to celebrating this special time of year with you and your family.

Lord Austin

Saturday saw intermittent torrential downpours, which rather limited passenger numbers, despote being able to ride in enclosed splendour in the FR coach. We steamed "Stanhope" this weekend, in what will be one of its final appearances before being withdrawn for overhaul. Hopefully, "Stanhope" will not be absent for too long. The loco has been well-cared for, and is in generally good order. Some boiler work is needed in additional to the expected re-tube.

Most sensible people stayed under cover, and this resulted in a fair bit of work being done on the cab of the Motor Rail petrol loco "Lord Austin". It's been invited for a jolly outing to the Amerton Railway at the end of the month, and there's nothing like a deadline for getting things done. The cab is now built, painted, glazed and fitted with a tin roof sheet. This will keep drivers dry, warm and especially snug. Especially the latter - a jar of vaseline will be made available at all times to aid our stouter drivers in gaining egress from the locomotive.

High Speed Link

A busy weekend has seen a couple of current projects making progress. The new high-speed rail link to the Diesel Container has been completed. This means that locos can be moved in and out without the need for a 76 tonne crane and/or a battalion of the Royal Engineers. This will be of great use during the Diesel event on 7 & 8 October, as it seems the Royal Engineers are washing their hair that day (they said). Meanwhile, Motor Rail 1320 has been regaining its wheelsets - this was proving to be a lot more challenging than expected, but hopefully we will have a mobile loco before much longer. It's an awful long way off being an actual locomotive again, since the engine remains under overhaul, but it's the important point in a project where bits are being put back together rather than always being taken and tutted over.