The beast awakens (or not)

With the museum site handed over to the pile driving contractors, the volunteers of the Moseley Railway Trust have taken cover with various workshop based activities. The War Department Light Railways Class "D" bogie wagon has been worked on, and completion is looking close. We have had a set of drop-sides for one of these wagons in store for some years. They were actually virtually the first things to ever arrive on site at Apedale. Hence they were now behind/underneath everything else on site, so extracting them from their storage hole was not the simplest job in the world. But once extracted, they fitted remarkably well, considering that they came from a completely different wagon - and they look the part as well.

Meanwhile, the 2011 entry in the "How many people can look at a Target Trolley" contest was well under way elsewhere. Despite the enormous array of engineering talent which had been deployed on the vehicle, it was looking distinctly dubious for an engine start when your writer drew stumps and went home. But, to be fair, it wasn't quite dark, and it is a well known fact that dubious petrol-driven rail vehicles can only ever operate after dark. Ask anyone who ever worked on the Baguley at Cadeby. The Target Trolley used to be at the Lydd ranges in Kent, and was initially preserved at Bala. There's a lot more information about this interesting little vehicle on the Bala Lake Railway's site here. Get in touch with us here.

No time for posing

A very busy weekend at Apedale has finally seen the site of the Museum building cleared in readiness for the arrival of the Pile Drivers. In preparation for what promises to be rather like something out of a Terminator film, we have had to move yet another container. Even heavier than the last, our more physics-minded member have a theory that they contain miniature blackholes. He has a particle accelerator in his garage, so he should know about these things. It was also necessary to partially demolish the edge of the "temporary" platform which has served us well for our first full season. Trains now stop adjacent to the station building, allowing our hoards of visitors some shelter from the sub-tropical weather for which Staffordshire is noted. The concrete sleepers have been quickly recycled into forming part of the retaining wall for the loco inspection pit project. As can be seen in the photo, the Forklift truck proved remarkably adept at demolition. Because we obviously weren't busy enough, we also took delivery of an ex-MoD van, and a Wickham Target Trolley. If you don't know what a Wickham Target Trolley is, you'll have to come along and have a look. Or you could get in touch here.

The Circle of Life

Whilst the next major stage of the Apedale development plan is due to start very shortly, there are a couple of projects that have recently completed. Last weekend provided an opportunity the show them off as part of our industrial trains weekend. Firstly, of course, the Kerr Stuart Joffre locomotive (No 3014 of 1916) had another opportunity to stretch its legs, this time paired with a couple of authentic World War One wagons. These were our Class H tank wagon and a newly-assembled Class D drop side wagon (although the latter has still to have its sides fitted). The weekend not only provided the last opportunity for visitors who could not make our gala weekend for whatever reason (North Wales Superpower indeed!) to see the new loco in action, but also allowed our staff a little bit more experience with some of the different aspects of its operation. One of these was the Detroit hydrostatic lubricator, an original fitting on this type of locomotive. Having located a suitable set of instructions for this and remanufactured some of the missing fittings, this magical device seemed to operate perfectly. This was probably a good thing as the non-original mechanical lubricator (known for their greater reliability) seemed to have stopped working altogether.

Additionally we took the opportunity on the Saturday to show off our newly-restored "Apedale Apprentice" wagons. These wagons, originally from ICI's Shevington explosives works, have been fully restored over the last few months by our junior members and were operated behind a 20DL Ruston locomotive from the same location. The photo shows two of the apprentices, Nathan and James, posing proudly next to their completed train set.


Next comes the rather more daunting project of constructing our museum building. If you fancy posing proudly next to this or another of our projects, we'd love to hear from you. Follow this link for details.

Finding the Floor

It's been a busy day down at the well-known October suntrap which is the Apedale Valley. Marking out the corners of the site for the new museum buildings, it was noticed that a group of containers were rather inconveniently stood in the middle of the site. With the remarkable foresight for which the Moseley Railway Trust is well-known, it was realised that this could make the pile-driving a tad challenging. So they had to move. Unfortunately, they were full of stored locomotives. So, we spent the day dragging a few of the more camera-shy members of the fleet out into the sunshine, only to dash their hopes of a quick restoration by putting them back into another container elsewhere on site. A Ruston's lot is not a happy one. The second container proved to be rather heavier than expected. It is suspected that the framework was built from depleted uranium. Interestingly, once moved, a huge source of cups and saucers was discovered, giving rise to the belief that the long-lost Apedale Tea Set Mine had been re-discovered. Apparently that's why the area is known as the Potteries. Next weekend, before we forget, will be your last chance to see the Kerr Stuart "Joffre" in steam - both Saturday & Sunday from 1100 ish - the last steam weekend before the December Santa freeze-fest. Get in touch here.

Moseley Railway Trust delighted with 2011 Gala

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to report on the success of the 2011 Gala. Visitor numbers exceeded those for the 2010 Grand Opening Weekend – more than a thousand people visited the 2’0” gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway during the weekend.

It appears that the unexpectedly good weather, combined with the Made in Staffordshire theme captured the public imagination. The Made in Staffordshire theme was reflected by the use of four Staffordshire built steam locomotives – two Apedale resident Kerr Stuarts, a Bagnall and a Hunslet built at Statfold. The Bagnall was
Isabel, visiting from the Amerton Farm railway, courtesy of the Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society. The Hunslet Engine company brought Statfold, a recently built locomotive to the Quarry Hunslet design. Last, but by no means least, Roy Etherington enthralled the crowds with the UK’s only compressed-air powered locomotive, named Sid. The MRT wishes to thank the owners and the crews of the visiting locomotives for their assistance and support.

Despite a few minor problems on the Saturday morning, the train service on the AVLR ran very well. Phil Robinson, the MRT’s Chairman said:- We were particularly pleased by the performance of the Kerr Stuart Joffre locomotive. This was the first time the locomotive had been steamed in public, and the first time it has hauled trains in the UK since leaving
Stoke-on-Trent in 1916. The Engineering Department have burnt much midnight oil on this project – they only finished testing the loco on the Friday before the Gala. With its distinctive spark arrestor chimney, the Joffre looked and sounded in fine fettle.

The profits raised from the Gala will be put towards the MRT’s next major project, which is to commence constructing the foundations on the museum of industrial narrow gauge railways.

The Apedale Valley Light Railway will operate every Saturday until the end of October, normally using diesel locomotives. However, on Saturday & Sunday 8th & 9th October, steam traction will be used. Subject to any problems, it is planned to steam both of the Kerr Stuart locomotives Stanhope and the Joffre. This will give the rare opportunity to see two Kerr Stuart locomotives in operation together, just a handful of miles from where they were built. It is expected that this will be last public steaming for the Joffre in 2011.

The AVLR will be operating steam-hauled Santa Specials on 10 & 11 December, and 17 & 18 December. Pre-booking is strongly recommended for these trains, and full details can be found here.

Let's hear it for the boys.....

Let's hear it for the boys - and the girls - who have worked so hard this weekend to make the Made in Staffordshire gala at Apedale such a success. It's sometimes hard to remember all the effort which goes on in the less glamorous parts of running an event such as this. So, to the people who made the tea, emptied the bins, marshalled the carparks, staffed the shop, drove the locos, pulled points, worked the PA and so on and so on - well done. But also give thanks to the team who work through the endless organisational issues - the form filling, the method statement writing, handling the booking forms, stamping the tickets just to name a few. We must also remember the exhibitors who brought their cherished vehicles, displays or model railways for our visitors to admire. Perhaps this year we should single out the Perkins Engines heritage group who brought an extremely impressive stand. We must also express our thanks to the owners of the visiting engines - the Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society for the Bagnall "Isabel", Statfold Barn for the Hunslet "Statfold" and Roy Etherington for the compressed air loco "Sid". Finally, we hope that everyone who came to see us enjoyed the weekend. If anyone has any ideas for next year's event, get in touch here.

End of Day One.....

At the end of Day One of the Made in Staffordshire Gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, there's a few aching limbs. Despite a few "challenges" early on in the day, the day got rapidly better and we believe that a good time was had by all. Including some of the working members. There's another day of this yet, and we'll be doing it all again from 1100 to 1700 on Sunday. So, don't miss out - we'd hate to see that - come along and see where it's all happening.