Work goes on

It's been a tab nippy down in the deepest reaches of the Apedale Valley over the last few days. Our trusty max/min thermometer indicated a low of -10 deg C, which is comparable to Moscow at this time of year. There cannot be many occasions on which Apedale has been compared to Moscow, although the inhabitants of both (some of them, at least) have a liking for daft woollen hats. Despite this, we have maintained steady progress on site. A key event this week has been the arrival of the Trust's air-braked replica Penrhyn Coach, which has been giving sterling service at the Open Days of Alan Keef Ltd for the last few years. The time has now come for it to be used for the purpose for which it was built - carrying happy punters up and down the scenic Apedale Valley. Meanwhile, the track gang have continued, with the workshop headshunt being extended. This runs down a ramp beside the Aurora North storage shed; spurs off it will lead to a pit road, where cunning re-use of an old weighbridge structure will provide pit access (for working on locos running gear etc) but without the drainage issues often associated with pits. The headshunt will ultimately then have another kick-back, which lead to the bottom yard area; this will form the demonstration industrial railway, recreating locos picking their way through the weeds. As can be seen, with all this to be built, work has continued at all hours.

Finally, this being Christmas, and in response to underwhelming public demand, you can once again enjoy one of the Trustees making a fool of himself on skates. On behalf of the Moseley Railway Trust, can I wish everyone reading this a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

The final push

Hopefully, as I write this, the Moseley Railway Trust's groundworks contractor is getting a nice early night in preparation for sorting out drainage and other soil-related issues in the Bermuda Triangle - the area which will form the initial northern terminus of the Apedale Valley Light Railway. Once he's sorted out the paddy fields, then it will be down with ballast, and out with the track laying team. There's two points and a stack of pre-assembled panels all built and waiting to be craned into place. Meanwhile, we have been progressing various loco and coach projects ready for the railway - the top photo shows the Hudson brake van, now air braked. The winter days are short, and in the Apedale Valley VERY dark, but work still goes on. When will the railway open? We'll have to see, but Easter 2010 is looking promising currently. Watch this space, or get in touch here.

Take a Bow

Every so often, I've updated the blogworld about the activities of the Moseley Railway Trust Elite Fencing Team. Like building the Channel Tunnel, eventually they would finish - and that day has arrived. They have built the fence virtually the entire length of the Apedale Valley Light Railway, enduring a combination of either hard-as-concrete ground or marsh and sometimes both. Above we see the EFT admiring their handywork having reached Apedale Road. Gentlemen, we salute you.

The on-coming headlight which is at the end of the tunnel is now in sight for railway construction at Apedale. All of the necessary pre-fabricated track has been built, and we're just waiting for the groundworks man to turn up. It's been a bit wet, and we understand he has to hire some special plant to assist. The second shot shows a view across the Apedale Road, which we will cross in due course. One can only hope that the owner of the white van returns by then, otherwise it will be a rather unequal contest with a 60S Motor Rail. There's still plenty to keep us out of mischief; if you fancy having a go at mischief, or just a chat, contact us here.

Museum gets Go-ahead

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce that it has obtained full planning consent for the construction of a museum building on its site at Apedale, Staffordshire.
The museum will mark a further step towards realising the Trust’s mission statement of preserving, conserving and interpreting industrial narrow gauge railways. With a floor area of more than 430 square metres, the building will give ample space in which the Trust will be able to display its collection of narrow gauge locomotives, rolling stock and other artefacts.
This will, however, not be just another static museum. Included in the plan is a re-creation of a "real" industrial railway – with lightweight, weed-grown track and locos picking through the undergrowth with trains of skip wagons. By necessity, the passenger-carrying line at Apedale has been built to the very highest standards – consequently, it doesn’t show visitors what industrial railways looked like. The Apedale industrial railway aims to allow the museum exhibits to have outings into an environment typical of their working lives.
Phil Robinson, the Chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust, said "Since arriving on the Apedale site in 2006, we have made great strides. We are confident that the passenger-carrying railway will open in 2010 – this was phase one of our development plan. Phase Two is the museum, and achieving full planning consent achieves a key milestone. Now the real challenge begins – fundraising to realise the dream. We have started dialogue with the Heritage Lottery Fund, but we are also very keen to hear from anyone else who may wish to help. The museum will, when opened, play a major role in the continuing regeneration of Apedale, Chesterton village and the surrounding areas".
Watch the press for details of the opening of the passenger railway – known as the Apedale Valley Light Railway.

MRT Heritage Railway Museum Building V2 -

What's the point?

Well actually it's the large thing loaded onto the wagon seen in this week's photos. The more observant will have noted that, in last week's photos, one of the two points for the Apedale Road loop was more of a self-assembly kit than the finished product. Indeed, if IKEA ever start doing components for 2'0" gauge railways, then this is the sort of thing they would sell. Only with an included Allen key and instructions in Swedish. Unfortunately, we had neither Allen key nor instructions in Swedish, so we had to do our best. So, some of this weekend has been spent making the kit into one lump; we have also changed out all the bolts and generally fettled the component parts - the point will, in time, form part of the passenger running line, so we need to be 100% sure of the condition of all its parts. The subject of the photos has been heard to concede that he may be getting a "tad thin" on top. If you know of a miracle hair restorative, or just want to get in touch, we're here.

Apedale Site Update

As late Summer turns to Autumn, the devoted volunteers of the Moseley Railway Trust are making steady progress with completing Phase One of the Apedale Valley Light Railway. You will recall that this runs about 470 metres from a station at the Apedale Heritage Centre to Apedale Road. The Apedale Road terminus will have a run-round loop, and is located in an area colloquially known as Bermuda Triangle. A team are progressing steadily northwards with erecting fencing to protect the Innocent public from our vicious trains (or perhaps the other way around). The next step is the groundworks; as you can see in one of the photos, the need for land drains is obvious! Apedale Road, by the way, is marked by the electricity pole visible in the background.

Meanwhile, another team has been pre-fabricating the pointwork and track ready for installation once the groundworks are completed. The photo shows one of the rather splendid Alan Keef Ltd points (on the right) which will be installed at the "passenger" end of the loop, and another point which needs some rebuilding; this will go in at the north end of the loop. There's a lot to do, and all help, in any form, is greatly appreciated. Contact us here.

Hurrah for Hudswell!

One of the more prolific, and long-lasting, of the British private locomotive builders was Hudswell Clarke & Co Ltd. From their Railway Foundry works in Jack Lane, Leeds, they turned out 1,851 steam locos. Moreover, they recognised the trend towards dieselisation early one, and did pioneering work in this field - but the inevitable came and the works closed in 1972. A good proportion of the output were narrow gauge and the Moseley Railway Trust is fortunate to have representatives of both diesel and steam narrow gauge Hudswells in its collection. The diesel representative is loco D558 of 1938. This loco worked at Beswick's lime works near Buxton; it was built with a McClaren engine, but now has a Dorman 4LB fitted. It has been recently returned to active service, albeit in need of a cosmetic make-over. The photo shows it hauling the MRT's restored WW1 tank wagon during the September 2009 open weekend. D558 is of considerable historic interest, as it was the first Hudswell diesel for the UK market. Hudswell didn't build many small diesels of the type which predominate in the MRT collection - after WW2, it focused on locos for the coal mining industry, and output included some monsters, such as a 300hp triple-unit.

The MRT's steam Hudswell is 1238 of 1916 (photo courtesy Leighton Buzzard Light Railway). This was exported to Ghana, from where the MRT repatriated it in 2008. This loco is currently on loan to the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway, where it is seen smartly turned-out by LBLR staff. We hope to be able to release some exciting news about this loco's future in the next few months - watch this space for information. Suffice to say that if you haven't seen this loco, a trip to Leighton Buzzard may be a good idea! As ever, contact us here.