Annual General Meeting Day

A very pleasant spring day at Apedale greeted a throng of Moseley Railway Trust members for the 2012 Annual General Meeting. The meeting duly held the Trustees to democratic account, but everyone seemed to emerge relatively unscathed and most people were still talking to most people at the end. It was observed to have been the shortest meeting on record, which perhaps speaks volumes for the sheer stamina needed for some meetings in the past. It is said that the 2004 AGM went on for seven hours and only ended when a Trustee keeled over through lack of sustenance. You will be pleased to hear he made a full recovery after an emergency Pot Noodle infusion. Today was a very tame affair, and the worst thing to happen seems to have been that the CME managed to break his favourite coffee cup. Shame. After the meeting, the opportunity was taken to run-up a few of the locos which had spent the winter in hibernation. Two battery locos, a petrol Motor Rail and at least seven diesels strutted their funky stuff. Lesser railways would call that a Diesel Gala.  A few members expanded their loco driving skills, and a few got their first chance to test their mettle against a Ruston or a Motor Rail. Next weekend marks the start of regular train services - 1130 to 1600 every Saturday and some Sundays & BH Mondays. We can hardly wait. If you can hardly wait, get in touch here.

Apprentices - old and new

The reasonable (ish) weather this weekend has seen progress on several fronts down at Apedale. Project Pluto was the centre of attention for the Apedale Apprentices, although it would appear that some apprentices are older than others. Try as I might, I have yet to find a photo of the CME doing anything other than drinking coffee and looking mildly bemused. Still, it now has a set of brakes. In the words of the railway engineering adage "Your right to speed is your ability to stop". Speed is a relative concept with Rustons, but when the engine goes it, we shall see. The B&W photo, BTW, shows what it will look like in the not-too-distant future. The photo is at the little-remembered Wey Valley Railway - so obscure it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Meanwhile, some slightly older members carried on with adding the body to the WDLR "D" class wagon - a project which has not troubled the pages of this blog before. It's looking good now, and should be available for traffic to transport troops to the front lines of Apedale Road.  It's AGM weekend next time, so after the Democratic process has been observed (with special thanks to our advisor on these matters), we'll try to have a bit of a ply with some of the more exotic members of the fleet. Get in touch here (unless you're trying to flog us missiles again - we said no, and we meant it).

Easter Enigma

The Apedale Valley Light Railway will be having its first ever Easter Egg Hunt over the holiday! Steam trains will run from 1130 to 1600 on Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. Children will need to keep their eyes peeled if they are to spot all the clues to solve our Easter Enigma. There will be an egg for each child who can solve the puzzle. And all for the bargain fare of £2 adults and £1 for children, with a family ticket (2 adults and up to four children) for just a fiver! The Apedale Valley Light Railway is located next to the Apedale Heritage Centre, in Apedale Community Country Park, off Loomer Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Yin and Yang

There is sometimes a certain super symmetry to activities at Apedale.  So it was last weekend.  Amongst many other activities on site, the War Office Loco Trust 4-6-0 Hunslet 1215 was dismantled in anticipation of a movement for restoration to start in a big  way.  The photo shows the boiler being lifted out of the frames. What is doesn't show is the twitching of bodily parts in the crane cab due to the variations in the estimates as to what the boiler weighed. So, that's one loco reduced to its major parts.

On the other hand, the now-legendary Project Pluto Ruston189972 is rapidly being put back together. As you will see, the wheels, gearbox and frame and now united in one happy lump. The engine was extracted last weekend and now rotates (always seen as a positive feature of a diesel engine). The Apprentice Team are seen re-enacting the Torrey Canyon with the gearbox. All must be well because not only is the CME pointing, but so is the PWE. He must have got over his worrying about rolling contact fatigue. Not long to the start of the season now - we open again to the public on 31 March. Be there - get in touch here.

Maximum Effort

Before you start worrying, I can confirm that the Moseley Railway Trust is not now launching thousand bomber raids to Cologne - the title refers instead to just how much can be achieved in a busy day at Apedale. Time is now ticking until the season starts on 31 March, and there was still a lot to do. Some of these tasks needed access to the passenger railway, so could not be done after 31/3/12.

So, it was time for a Maximum Effort day. Let us review just what was done by a fairly small team of volunteers.

Two steam locos were washed out. The WOLT 460 Hunslet was extracted from the back of the shed in what was (rightly) described as a mega shunt. It was put on display at Silverdale station for the last time before its imminent dismantling. A wagon was sanded down for painting. The Station floor was sealed and painted (for what feels like the millionth time). Ballast was loaded, trammed to site, and dropped on the station loop shoulder and on the workshop headshunt. The wheels for Project Pluto were assembled and painted. The engine for the same Project Pluto was extracted from a stillage, taken to Silverdale sidings, and loaded onto a carrier wagon. The self-same engine was also freed off having been seized hard. The milling machine was fiddled with, reassembled and cried over (but we won't mention that). The passenger coaches all had their annual examination.  After that, we a cup of tea.

So, it is fair to say that we didn't waste our time yesterday. In case you're wondering why it's Project Pluto, the answer is obvious. It's because Project Eagle Claw had already been taken. Get in touch here.

Contractor's Delight

The Moseley Railway Trust (MRT) is pleased to announce that the 2012 September Gala will be themed around Contractor’s Railways. Until the advent of the dumper truck, most major civil engineering projects would have a narrow gauge railway for materials movements on site – and indeed some still do, especially in the field of tunnel construction.


The Gala will be held on Saturday and Sunday 8 & 9 September 2012. It will be open from 1100 to 1700 on each day. Admission will be £6 adults, £3 for children aged 2 to 15.

As usual, there will be steam and diesel trains on the 2’0” gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway, along with trade stands, model railways and lots of other exhibits to interest young and old.

Phil Robinson, MRT Chairman, said "This year, we will celebrate the role which the narrow gauge railway played in building the UK’s infrastructure – roads, dams, housing estates, the list is endless. This is a little known facet of the history of railways in the UK, and part of the mission of the Moseley Railway Trust is to educate and inform our visitors about this aspect of industrial heritage”.

Further details will be announced in time. The MRT’s event team would be particularly pleased to hear from vintage plant owners who may wish to exhibit and hopefully demonstrate their machines. The Apedale site is under continuous development, and the Trust is hoping that it may be able to have some site roads built during the event!

Cold

It was, as they say, reet chilly down t'valley this weekend. But despite this, the intrepid arctic warfare division of the Moseley Railway Trust continued their endeavours. A slight re-plan of the day was needed after the Fordson tractor declined to participate despite best endeavours to produce enough amps to start the thing. So, most members retired to the Station Building for a spot of extreme decorating - and it's starting to look somewhere near finished. Just the floor to paint now, chaps.... Meanwhile, a pick-up goods-cum-rubbish clearance train was seen to set off, stating its destination as Bleath Gill. I never saw it return, and we expect to be able to make a fortune by publishing the memoirs of the traincrew (if they are ever found). The Outdoor Engineering Department seemed to be enjoying making bits for Project Pluto. If you're not sure what Project Pluto is, then you'll just have to keep visiting to find out. Get in touch here.