Drain Dream Team

A remarkably dry and sunny Saturday down at Apedale saw a good turnout of the Moseley Railway Trust's finest for a serious unglamourous job. There's no way to dress this up. The Drains. Specifically, the drains which will ultimately take water from the roof of the museum and into a storage tank, thence to replenish the steam locos. This is obviously a bit pointless, because the steam locos will then boil it, make it into water vapour and chuck it back into the atmosphere, from where it will land on the roof of the museum. One of the many advantages of diesel traction. But we digress. The drains are a critical part of the museum project. The race is now on to prepare the site for the Tracks to the Trenches event - September 12,13 & 14. The museum base needs to be concreted to provide valuable siding space, and the area to the north of the museum will become the fan of track from which the New Field Railway will head off into the wild blue yonder. The drains are Important and Urgent and Critical Path and lots of other things with capital letters. So, many of us spent the day shovelling, barrowing, sawing, levelling and the like. The fleet of wheelbarrows was augmented by two Visiting Wheelbarrows, making for a veritable Wheelbarrow Gala. Next time we do something like this, we really must advertise it in advance. So, after getting 20 tons of gravel shifted during the course of the day using three wheelbarrows, many went home for a Radox Bath. If Network Rail are reading this, we are open to invitations to come and have a go at Dawlish sea wall. Finish the job a week on Tuesday, if that's OK? Network Rail (and everyone else) can get in touch here

Moseley Railway Trust announces two more visiting locomotives for September 2014 Tracks To The Trenches event

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce two more visiting locomotives for the Tracks To The Trenches event. Both are historic internal-combustion machines, and they are being displayed courtesy of the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (WHHR).

Motor Rail 264 was built in 1916. It is a 20hp “Simplex” locomotive, and is the oldest surviving Simplex in Great Britain. These locomotives, known as Petrol Tractors, formed the backbone of the War Department Light Railway effort during the First World War. These Tractors were vital in moving supplies from railheads up to the front lines. They could be used in areas where steam locomotives were too vulnerable to enemy fire. Hundreds were built in Bedford by the Motor Rail & Tramcar Company. This particular locomotive is still fitted with a Dorman petrol engine – many others were converted to diesel engines after the war. Although precise records of its wartime service are unavailable, it seems highly likely that this locomotive served on the Western Front in France. The history of the locomotive after the War is unclear, although it is said that the locomotive worked at the notorious Porton Down camp in Wiltshire. In the 1950s, the locomotive was working at a peat works in Somerset until preserved in the 1970s.

The locomotive was restored to its current original condition at the WHHR facility at Gelert’s Farm, Porthmadog.

Joining Motor Rail 264 on the journey to Apedale from Porthmadog will be Baguley 760. These small, 15hp, locomotives were originally intended to operate close to the front lines. However, they suffered from glowing exhausts when working hard – which made them ideal targets for enemy snipers! Therefore, they were re-allocated to less onerous tasks. This particular locomotive was ordered in Board of Trade’s Timber Supplies Department in 1918. The Timber Supplies Department had the vital task of obtaining the vast supply of timber needed to provide shoring and other materials for the vast networks of trenches so characteristic of the First World War. Canadian troops, with extensive experience of tree-felling, developed a strong association with this type of work.

Again, the war record of this locomotive is unknown, but it later worked for a cement works in Bedfordshire. It was bought for preservation in 1965, making narrow gauge history by being the first locomotive to pass through the hands of Alan Keef, the well-known dealer and manufacturer. After many years, it was restored by Peter Lowe at his Abbey Light Railway in Leeds. Following Peter’s untimely death in 2012, the locomotive passed into the care of the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway.

Phil Robinson, MRT Chairman, said “We very much look forward to hosting these two locomotives in September. Tracks To The Trenches is fast becoming the Must Do narrow gauge event of 2014. The locomotives from the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway will further add to the attractions at the event, and they represent important elements in the story of how narrow gauge railways supported the troops during the First World War. We are very grateful to our friends at the WHHR for their assistance with this”.

The Tracks To the Trenches event will be on September 12, 13 and 14. Keep watching the press for more details, or visit the event’s own website, here or the Facebook page.

Uncertainty Principle

Slowly but surely, the Kerr Stuart "Joffre" at Apedale is coming back together. You may recall that the loco was taken out of traffic due to minor worries about a crack in the cylinder, which turned into serious concerns about several cracks, and which turned into a new cylinder being needed. The owners are pretty confident the loco will be back in business before long - the new cylinder is being cast this week, and will then go for machining. Which is where the uncertainty comes in. The old cylinder was noted to have a slightly puzzling taper of 1/8" front to back - in other words, it looked as though is could be sitting incorrectly aligned to the loco. However, the loco ran quite happily with said cylinder, and the large end bearing was not wrecked or anything nasty like that. So, the question was - should the new cylinder have the same taper machined on it? This caused some thought and contemplation. Eventually, the CME stopped talking about Meerkats, and came up with an answer. The old cylinder was refitted to the loco - a useful practice for fitting the new one in due course - and fitted with two carefully aligned dummy covers. Each cover had a tiny hole in it, drilled such that it is exactly in the cylinder centreline.  A pointer was then equally carefully set-up some way in front of the loco, with a bright light behind it. If one could look through both holes, and see the pointer in the centre of the dot, then clearly the cylinder was aligned correctly. It was, so the new cylinder will have the taper applied. What the CME failed to take into account was the wave-particle duality - was the light acting as a wave or as a particle when it shone through the cylinder? Only time will tell if the failure to grasp basic principles of quantum mechanics will be important when this steam loco is re-assembled. And I'll bet that's a sentence never written before. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch here and tell us all about your pet cat, called (one suspects) Schrödinger.

Hudswell Update

The race is on....The Moseley Railway Trust's Hudswell Clarke steam loco is approaching completion off-site, and at Apedale, the 1930 diesel loco by the same maker is also getting there. Not perhaps on the finishing straight, but maybe the last lap (provided the lap is some really long track, like Le Mans or the Nurburgring). The cab is now in place. Bodywork on vintage locos is always an entertaining element of the project. Whatever one does, it never quite fits together. In this case, the issue manifested itself as a slight inability to close the cab doors. After some deliberation and debate, a solution was worked out, albeit one unlikely to find favour with the British Coachbuilder's Association. The cab doors now close with (to paraphrase Douglas Adams) the smug air of a job well done. With that little task complete, attention has turned to refitting the cab with the various controls. The cab is a little snug, especially after a Heritage Centre All-Day Breakfast, and some of the controls are a little peculiar. In particular, the throttle control is a tad over-engineered. We suspect that Hudswell Clarke may have borrowed the design from the Death Star.The next steps are to finish fitting out the cab, install the fuel tank and its cradle, and replace various pipes which suffered rather horribly during the dismantling phase. There is also a small problem with ensuring that the coolant system is leak-proof. So, come on, steam team - the gauntlet is down. As ever, get in touch here (unless you are Darth Vader wanting the throttle back).

High Speed Link

The subject of high-speed railways running through the Midlands is quite a popular one currently. Down at the Apedale Valley, we have been doing our bit to prove some of the technology. The curve leading to Apedale Road (scene of the new Transport Interchange) had been quite troublesome with expansion in warm weather. We did have to check the records, and apparently warm weather is what happens when it isn't raining. The resulting expansion produced more of a corner than a curve, which could be rather uncomfortable for our passengers. If they'd wanted a white knuckle them park, we'd re-brand ourselves as Apedale Towers and charge ten times the price. Now there's a thought.  Anyway, whilst we remain a Light Railway, something had to be done. So, the elite P-Way team swung into action and re-laid the affected section with the curvature spread over a much longer transition, and decent expansion gaps left. Hopefully, this eased curve will solve the expansion problem. Better yet, it has allowed the lifting of a speed restriction, bringing the linespeed to a consistent 110mph or the maximum speed of "Stanhope". The obvious lesson to learn is that HS2 should be built to 2'0" gauge and operated with Kerr Stuart steam locos. But will they listen - no. Closed to new and novel technology, it's always the same. If anyone from HS2 wants to offer a consultancy contract, get in touch here.

The end of an era

Today has seen a little bit of history made down at Apedale. Silverdale Station East Sidings are no more. This temporary group of sidings were conceived and executed in a big hurry back in 2010 when it was suddenly realised that having the mainline chock full of wagons was not conducive to the safe and efficient operation of passenger trains. Hence, any passing piece of temporary track was pressed into service along with a couple of points and levers. The area later found fame at the 2012 Gala as the entry point to the Field Railway which gave everyone so much fun and enjoyment. However, time marches on, and the Museum project is now encroaching on the area. So, goodbye SSE Sidings. In between the torrential thunder storms (a rarity in January, surely?), we have cleared the sidings and dismantled the track ready for lifting. A few panels have made new homes for themselves in the wagon store, but most of the rest will be stored for now. A final train to remove the last couple of wagons attracted no interest whatsoever.No wreaths, no speeches from local dignitaries, no strongly worded editorials in the local press. Just Mick and "Sludge" sauntering off into the distance. But, it's all change. Goodbye SSE, Hello Museum North. For in the place of the bodgy temporary sidings will be the fan of tracks for the museum approach - proper points, proper track and maybe even ballast. From this fan will also spring Field Railway Mk2, which will hopefully play a key role in September's big WW1 event. Meanwhile, if you wish to contribute to the fledgling Silverdale Sidings Preservation Society, please get in touch here.

Riveting

It's a strange thing, but somehow it always seems to be that, on a cold day down at Apedale, there is always an urgent job to do which involves the gas torch. And so it has proven to be this weekend. The rear cab sheet on the Hudswell diesel was pretty badly corroded, and quite a number of the reinforcing members had either rusted beyond use, or had their joints forced apart by corrosion. So, all had to be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned or renewed. It was then just a question of putting it all back together. This involves riveting. Riveting is a job for which subtlety and delicacy of touch are NOT the key attributes. A certain level of experience, effective teamwork and a large hammer are, however, essential. If we had been building these locomotives on a production line, it would have been worthwhile setting up an air riveter, or maybe investing in a hydraulic rivet closer. Neither were necessary for the thirty or so rivets in the cab.  The first phase of the job was to straighten the cab sheet - wavy steel doesn't sit well on straight steel sections. And then away we went with the gas torch and the big hammer. The end result is pretty good, and smug feelings all round. Next weekend, it's back to mending the track. Let us hope the weather forecast is wrong. As ever, get in touch here.