Stoke Steam Special - half done

We've survived Day One of the Stoke Steam Special, and a jolly good day it has been too. The weather has been kind to us (so far), and we have seen lots of people riding lots of trains. Aurora North is packed full of model railways and trade stands, and many of the diesel fleet have been having rare outings on mainline goods trains. The visiting steam loco is "Jack Lane", kindly loaned by Statfold. If my lottery ticket comes up, Statfold needn't bother sending the lorry to collect it - it's a right little cracker. We have also entertained the editor of Railway Gazette International for the launch of the War Transportation re-print project. It would seem that the gentleman concerned is no stranger to narrow gauge railways. Anyway, it's all happening again tomorrow, and we very much look forward to seeing you.

Nearly Time

The team at Apedale have spent the weekend preparing for the annual Big Weekend at he Apedale Valley Light Railway - this year christened the Stoke Steam Special. If can be be tidied, it's been tidied, if it can be cleaned it's been cleaned. One of our volunteers sat still for too long and ended up in a bin bag. These weekends have always been memorable, and we are sure next weekend will not disappoint. We have, for example, a record breaking collection of model railways, and for the hardened enthusiast, the last remaining parts of the rare Rhiwbach loco have  been re-assembled (but don't get too excited!). The photos are reminders of previous years - hopefully next weekend will also produce a set of nice pictures.  As ever, get in touch here.

Nearly the Big Weekend

It's nearly the Big Weekend - the Stoke Steam Special weekend - 14th and 15th September. It's the annual weekend when we get to show off a few of the things we've achieved down at Apedale. As a regular reader of this column, you will be very well acquainted by now with all that type of thing, and hence inspired to come along and check that is actually true and not just random cyberspace rantings (or Wikipedia). However, there's a couple of recent developments you won't have seen. The Dick Kerr skip wagon has completed its restoration, and jolly nice it looks too. Good to see a skip wagon painted something other than grey or black. All it needs now is the Zorin Industries logo. Meanwhile, the recent(ish) restored petrol Motor Rail 5038 has now become a Namer. How exciting. The owner was a bit cheesed off, because he thought he was getting Duke of Gloucester, not City of Gloucester. I'm sure he'll get over it. Find out more about the September Shenanigans here, and, as ever, contact us here.

An unexpected (but welcome) guest

As the old saying goes, all guests at Apedale are welcome. Some when they arrive, others when they go. Falling firmly into the first category is Hunslet quarry tank "Sybil Mary", which is a very temporary visitor. The team at Statfold Barn - where "Sybil-Mary" normally lives - have very kindly stepped into the breach left by the cylinder problems on the Joffre. We have a commitment to a photo charter later in the month - which requires two steam locos. The Joffre problem left us with a slight shortfall in the chuffa department. "Sybil Mary" and resident "Stanhope" are both ex-Penrhyn, and look a right picture in their similar liveries. This is certainly the fist time they have been together in preservation, but (at one time) they were both owned by the late  Colin Pealling, who was instrumental in the preservation of a number of the Penrhyn locomotives. The author vividly remembers visiting "Sybil Mary" when it was in store on a farm in rural Leicestershire and being told that it seemed unlikely that if would ever be restored. Ironically, the loco was, whereas the farm is now a housing estate. We understand that that there are still a few vacancies for the charter day - contact us here and we'll put you in touch with the organisers.
Meanwhile, tearing ourselves away from the glamourpuss end of the operation, work has continued on the Parkinson's Law siding, and this is nearly complete. Which is a good job, since the Stoke Steam Special weekend is closing fast - it's September 14 & 15 - and we'll need this bit of track to give a bit of much-needed flexibility in how we operate the railway. Look forward to seeing you then?

Moseley Railway Trust announces line-up for Stoke Steam Special weekend

Plans are well advanced for the Stoke Steam Special weekend at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, operated by the Moseley Railway Trust (MRT). This weekend will be the 14 and 15th of September. This weekend will be a celebration of all things narrow gauge railway. An intensive service of steam trains will run on the Apedale Valley Light Railway. In addition to the resident steam locomotive “Stanhope”, a visiting engine is expected to be “Jack Lane”. This locomotive will be visiting from the Statfold Barn Railway, and the MRT wish to express sincere thanks to Graham Lee and the Statfold team for providing this locomotive.

Demonstration freight trains will be in operation, and the popular Field Railway, debuted in 2012, will once again be running.
The Aurora North shed will be packed with model railways and other displays – more than ever before. An innovation this year is that the entrance ticket will include unlimited train rides. Entrance will be £6 adults, £3 children.
The Stoke Steam Special will also see the launch of the run-up to the Tracks to the Trenches event in 2014 – this will be a major event marking the centenary of the start of the First World War, a conflict which changed the world, and one in which narrow gauges railways played a key role. As part of this, the Trust will be launching a new publishing venture in partnership with Railway Gazette International.
The popular “Access all Areas” passes will be repeated – these allow interested railway enthusiasts unprecedented levels of access to non-public areas of the site and outside normal opening hours – get in touch here for details.
Sadly, the second Apedale resident steam locomotive – the Kerr Stuart “Joffre” – will not be operational at the Stoke Steam Special. During preparation for a visit to the Golden Valley Light Railway in Derbyshire, cracks were noticed in one of the two steam cylinders. Recognising that the locomotive is almost a hundred years old, the decision was taken that the best interests of the locomotive would be served by taking it out of traffic for these cracks to be attended to. The locomotive owners are currently considering the best course of action, but a complete new cylinder is one option currently being explored. The “Joffre” will be available for public viewing at the Stoke Steam Special weekend, and provides an unusual sight as it currently has the affected cylinder removed.
The Stoke Steam Special promises to be another great event at Apedale. It will be open from 11am to 5pm on Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th September.

Parkinson's Law

Cyril Northcote Parkinson postulated his famous law in 1955. In exactly the way that work expands to fill the time available, a similar situation appears to exist at most heritage railways. The issue is that rolling stock collections expand to fill  the siding space available. Apedale is no exception, although we have not helped ourselves by having to lift two long sidings to make space for the museum foundations. Consequently, we have found ourselves rather clogged. Some time ago, Silverdale Station West siding was schemed, and that is now becoming reality. You may recall that the access point was inserted some time ago - the siding leading from it is now emerging. The SSW will give us much-needed extra storage space. It is opposite the platform at Silverdale station, so it can also be used to stable restored vehicles on display to our customers whilst they await their train. The difficult bits progressed well yesterday - the fiddly curved bits leading onto the point, so next weekend should be relatively plain sailing. We'll see. As ever, get in touch here.

 

Book Launch

This column normally focuses on the activities of the Moseley Railway Trust at it's Apedale base, and also leans towards the engineering side of things. That's because the author is an engineer (and has a sistificate thingy to prove it). So, the other activities of the Trust are sometimes overlooked. Unlike many such bodies, MRT takes the "museum" side of things very seriously. The production and publication of books and other learned treatise is a key part of this element of the Trust's work. Probably the best-known such work is the legendary A Guide to Simplex Locomotives book, described as the definitive work on the subject (not by the authors either, which makes a nice change). This book, into its nth reprint, is still available. However, the point of all this is to bring your attention, dear reader, to the MRT's latest venture in this area. We have teamed up with Railway Gazette International who publish a very grown-up magazine about proper trains to reprint their 1920 special edition on War Transport. Back in 1920, this would have been the first time that most readers would have become aware of the machines and techniques used to achieve the recent victory – much of it had been secret until then. Since 1920, copies of this special edition have been highly prized collectors’ items. We have had the original professionally scanned and enhanced, to maximise the reproduction of the many pictures. New colour covers and a foreword have been added. The book is “A4” size, and contains 160 pages. We currently expect the book to be published in mid-September 2013. This, therefore, is your Big Chance to get this book at a worthwhile discount in advance. Call in at the Apedale shop if you're in the area for the pre-publication offer, or get in touch here and we'll e-mail you the flyer.