Gala Day One

It's been a terrific Day One of the Contractor's Delight Gala. Glorious weather, lots of trains, lots of visitors. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Field Railway with the Triang No.2 curve linking it to the rest of the system. The field railway looks & feels like a real Industrial Narrow Gauge railways, which is actually what it's all about. So, the forecast is good tomorrow as well, so slap on the sunblock and head on down to Apedale Valley Light Railway Contractor's Delight Gala.

They're here!!

"GP39" "Marchlyn" and the Mystery Diesel Loco all arrived safely today. Weather forecast is good - all we need now is to be rushed off our feet by the visitors. That's where you fit in......

Nearly Time

An epic weekend spent shunting has seen virtually every vehicle at Apedale turn wheels several times. There is a plan, but it is too complex for mortal man to comprehend. We believe it was produced by someone who used to work on the Enigma code at Bletchley Park and fancied something more difficult. Why? All preparations for the Contractor's Delight gala this coming weekend. The objective of the shunt was to place on display some of the more obscure locos, and get the runners all in accessible places. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it!) the runners hugely out-number the non-runners, so space can be at a premium.

Meanwhile, the new Field Railway is looking like a real industrial line - rough track, grass everywhere. Everything anyone who ever visited an industrial narrow gauge railway will remember. The visiting locos are all loaded and en-route - the Mystery Ruston (never seen before at a public site), and the steam locos "GP39" and "Marchlyn". All in all, it's shaping up to be a great show. All we need now is YOU. We're open from 1100 to 1700 both days, £6 adults and £3 kids. What's not to like? The photos are a couple of scenes from last year. This year will be similar but better!! Get in touch here.

Marchlyn comes to Contractor's Delight

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce a second visiting steam loco at the Contractor's Delight gala on September 8 and  9. "Marchlyn" is a delightful Avonside side tank. She was new to Durham County Water Board for a dam construction contract. Like Apedale resident "Stanhope", when the project was complete, it was sold on to Penrhyn Slate Quarries, arriving there in 1936. In 1965, it went for preservation in the USA, returning to Statfold Barn Farm in 2011. The Moseley Railway Trust is very grateful to Graham Lee and the Statfold team for exhibiting this locomotives, and the other visiting loco - Hudswell Clarke "GP39".


Contractor's Delight is shaping up to be a classic Apedale event. A key attraction will be a newly built link across the site between a recreated industrial railway and the main railway network. This link runs across the site of the Museum at Apedale - and work will recommence on the Museum immediately after the Gala. So, if you don't see trains on this track at this event - you probably never will. Two visiting steamers, the home fleet, lots of other attractions and entry only £6. How can you go wrong? There are a few "Access all Areas" passes left when I write this - check out here for details of these and all other Gala matters.

It's all just too exciting......

Fresh from our triumph in the Olympic Pit Building championship, the Pit has been put to the test; it was built to allow the Joffre boiler exam to be done - so until the Joffre had been on the pit, it wasn't Finished. As you can see from the photo - it's Finished. The Owners are pretty confident that the Joffre will pass its boiler exam given that it's only a year since restoration. If not, they'll be hoping that they remembered to post off that Warranty Registration Card to some obscure address in Harpenden or somewhere. Meanwhile, preparations are progressing apace for the Contractor's Delight gala - September 8 & 9 - see here. The Pikrose battery loco has been poorly for some time with a motor problem. Fortunately, maintainability was obviously a key criteria when the loco was designed. Hence it was necessary to strip the loco almost completely down to extract the traction motor brushes. Obviously no-one could ever reasonably expect to need to change the brushes on a DC traction motor. Clearly the designers didn't have Triang locos when they were kids.  Anyway, the Pikrose is back to full health now and running nicely on both motors. It has a rather hyperactive suspension - a run down the mainline at speed is a bit like a cross between a ship crossing the Bay of Biscay in a Force 10 and a Virgin Pendolino (but not for much longer). The Pikrose (and the Joffre, but not the Pendo) will be in operation at the Gala. See you there. Finally - watch this space for an exciting announcement on the Gala later this week. Contact us here.

There's nothing quite like a deadline.....

...which in this case was the proverbial ticking clock on the Joffre's boiler ticket. Due to a slight design oversight at Kerr Stuart, the only way to access the firebox is from an inspection pit. And the inspection is almost due. Hence there have been some very late nights and achy arms finishing the inspection pit. But it looks like we've made it. The final big task was to block up the approach tracks to their required levels and then drown the whole area in ballast. Finally, the ballast is tamped into place.  Meanwhile, the pit steelwork is fettled and the rails levelled. Finally, it's time to test run the first loco onto the new structure. Wise heads comment that the calculations have huge factors-of-safety built in. Fine say others, but have the safety pins been removed from the Ruston ejector seats? Sorry, but it's like this..... 

The Return of the Deutz

Deutz loco no. 10050 has always been one of the stars of the collection at Apedale. It worked at Dartford Main sewage works before preservation at Gloddfa Ganol, then Cadeby and now at Apedale. It has a large single-cylinder horizontal engine, and owes at least some of the mechanics more to steam practice than to internal combustion. It was last run in 2008, when it suffered a major engine failure. Sadly, its owner suffered an even more terminal failure and did not live to see the Deutz return to service. Hopefully, John is watching what we have done from somewhere and deems it Good. With the help of Eddie Draper at the Golden Valley Light Railway, the big end was remetalled. Skilled engineers then rebuilt the engine, cleared the damage caused by the failure and dealt with a few other minor defects. And today saw the loco run for the first time since 2008 - and it ran a treat. Well done chaps, take a bow. There's still quite a bit of cosmetic work to be done, but the major, and risky, hurdle has been cleared. With a following wind, the loco will demonstrated during the Contractors Delight gala on September 8 & 9.  As ever, get in touch here.