The last week of a memorable year

We've just had what may be the last working day of the year at the Moseley Railway Trust site at Apedale. A few hardy souls turned out to brave yet more snow; however, we did get to luxuriate in the almost tropical (by recent standards) temperatures of PLUS (yes, honest, PLUS) 2 degrees. We've shifted a fair bit of work, including major progress on the construction of track into the new C&W workshop container. As is usual at this time of year, one can reflect on what has been a momentous year for the MRT at Apedale. This time last year, we had a part-finished main line which ended just before what can only be described as a bog. Now, we are in a position to run passenger trains to a terminus where that bog once bogged. 2010, of course, saw the approval and grand opening of the Apedale Valley Light Railway; we can't do that again in 2011, so next year will probably be one of consolidation. That said, there is plenty to look forward to. We should see the completion of the Silverdale station building, and hopefully a start on the MRT museum building. There's also some interesting news imminent on the locomotive front - so keep looking in here. In the meantime, it just remains to wish both readers a happy new year. Get in touch here.

Winter Wonderland

We've reached the end of Day Three of the four day Santa campaign, and it's fair to say that today has been pretty challenging. A little snow overnight became a blizzard all morning. The result was some of the most challenging conditions imaginable for operating a railway. Coupled with a points failure, it's not been an easy one. But despite all that, the professionalism of the Moseley Railway Trust railway operating staff shone through, and all the booked trains ran, and all mostly to time, or close to. Beat that, Network Rail. We are available (by the way) for consultancy services at relatively reasonable rates. All of our visits seemed to go away happy, especially the kids. Who would not enjoy a train ride through a winter wonderland and then get to meet Santa? There's still a few seats left for tomorrow (Sunday 19/12), and it looks like the wonderland will still be there. Get in touch here. Finally, may we wish everyone a happy Christmas. If enough people request it, we may post a Youtube of a well-known Trustee doing something daft again. Up to you, dear readers.

Moseley Railway Trust announces twinning agreement with Frankfurt Feldbahn Museum

The Moseley Railway Trust is proud to announce its twinning agreement with the Frankfurt Feldbahn museum, Germany.

The agreement was marked by a visit to the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale site by two representatives of the Frankfurt Museum, Ruediger Fach and Stefan Kaiser. The visit took place during the opening weekend for the Moseley Railway Trust’s new Apedale Valley Light Railway (September 18 2010).

Herr Fach made a speech in which he stressed the significant common ground between the Moseley Railway Trust and Frankfurt Feldbahn Museum. He said "We share not only the same narrow gauge of 2 feet or 600mm but also our love of the smallest "real" regular steam locomotives and especially military light railways". Herr Fach went on to observe that England is regarded as a model for the preservation of industrial heritage.

Phil Robinson, Chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust, presented Herr Fach and Herr Kaiser with a plaque marking the twinning agreement.

The Frankfurt Feldbahn Museum has been in operation since 1975. It has an extensive collection of narrow gauge steam and diesel locomotives, and is regarded as one of the premier narrow gauge railway centres in Germany. It operates on a site close to the centre of Frankfurt. The railway is 600mm gauge, and runs into the nearby Rebstock park. The Moseley Railway Trust also operates a 2’0” gauge (approx. 600mm) railway, and also operates in a park – in this case the Apedale Community Country Park.

It is planned that the twinning agreement will lead to exchange visits between members of the two organisations, together with interchange of technical and historical knowledge.

Ho, Ho, Ho

We've just finished Day One of the Santa Season at Apedale, and it's gone really well. "Stanhope" performed with its usual aplomb on all the passenger trains - 7 in total today, and Santa performed with as much aplomb as he could sensibly muster in the Grotto-cum-Norwegian Spruce Forest. We've seen lots of passengers, and everyone seems to have lots of fun - especially the Chairman, who was seen dressed as some sort of cartoon cat. We're repeating the whole pantomime tomorrow and next weekend - check the main website for details. There's a book on the day option, and there are still seats to be had on most of the trains (although some are near to capacity). Get in touch here.

Ice Station Apedale

Sadly, Patrick McGoohan is no longer with us to reprise his role in a classic cold war thriller, so the hardy members of the Moseley Railway Trust had to rely on their inner reserves instead. It's been a tad on the chilly side (-14 overnight), but despite that, we did actually make some progress. Construction of the new siding to the C&W container has continued - one of the two rails being curved, and a start made on the second. It was whilst finding the second rail in the icy wasteland of the materials store that one member made a rather unfavourable comparison to the retreat from Stalingrad.

In between times, opportunity was taken to have a play (sorry, testing and driver training) on the newly arrived Baguley Drewry. One was reminded of the late Teddy Boston's comment about the rather older Baguley petrol loco - he referred to this as the "beast that walks in the dark" owing to the length of time it took to start at Cadeby, and hence it always seemed to be dark when it ran. The BD ain't that bad, but it took a while. It just needs a few minor tweaks and it will be a great addition to the fleet, sharing some of the passenger hauling duties with the faithful 60S Motor Rail No.13. Anyway, get in touch here, and don't forget that we're running Santa Specials with steam trains over the next two weekends - there is still space on some trains, and there is a pay-on-the-day option.

New Arrivals

Two locos arrived at Apedale on Tuesday despite the weather. They are Hibberd 3582 of 1954 and Baguley Drewry 3756 of 1982. The Hibberd was built as a mines loco, and as such is a unique survivor of the type. It worked at Commonwealth Smelting at Avonmouth, then passed through dealers ME Engineering and Alan Keef Ltd before ending up at the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
The Baguley, by contrast, is the youngest loco on site being ex-works on 18/3/82. It is fitted with a 60Hp Perkins engine. As a 2’6" gauge loco, it was delivered to Royal Navy armaments depot at Trecwn, Dyfed, Wales. It moved 11/4/94 to the depot at Dean Hill, Hampshire. When Dean Hill closed, the current owner acquired it and regauged it to 2’0" gauge. As the photo shows, it is a rather shocking yellow. Get in touch with us here.

Shivering

It's been a bit cold down the Valley again, and it's fair to say that I think we've seen the last of the alleged snake for a while. That said, we did take advantage of the conditions for a quick photo shoot for next year's Santa Special leaflet. Which does remind me that there are still a few seats to be had on this year's Santa Special trains - 11 and 12, and 18 and 19 December. Check out the main website for full details. Meanwhile here's a little teaser for you. Here's the CME violating the Working at Height safety procedure. Fortunately, he wasn't doing this at Apedale, so that's OK then. But what is he so excited about? Watch this space..... Contacting us here won't get you an answer, but we'd still like to hear from you!!

The Amazing Revolving Wingrove

The project to connect up the Container which will form the Carriage & Wagon workshop to the railway at the Moseley Railway Trust's Apedale site has continued unabated. The track in the container is off-set, to create a bit of space. So, one doesn't have to be a genius to realise that the access to one side of the wagons will be better than on the other side. What's the answer? A turntable, of course. Previously, both readers will have seen it being pushed into place. It's now bolted down, and track connected. For some reason now lost to my memory, the construction of the turntable was likened to that of am Avro Shackleton. Which is pretty tenuous, but at least we can have a picture of a Shackleton. Returning to reality, it was inevitable that the turntable needed to be test-run, so one of the Wingrove battery locos was placed on the deck and given a spin. And, despite the dire predictions of one member, it all passed off without such much as a hitch.

Meanwhile, some serious tinkering has taken place with the fuel system on the RL1B Orenstein & Koppel in an attempt to increase the engine top revs. A day's spanner twirling was suitably rewarded by an increase in maximum speed from 4mph to 4.001mph. Such is life. If you fancy having a twirl or a spin, you have two options. Strictly Come Dancing, or coming down to Apedale. Sequins and fake tan are optional for Apedale. Get in touch here (unless you're trying to sell sequins and fake tan).

Positive Progress

Last weekend saw some interesting developments at the Moseley Railway Trust site at Apedale. Our friends at the Apedale Heritage Centre are continuing their project to rebuild Silverdale station building. This, you will recall, was a late-surviving North Staffordshire Railway structure. It survived because it provided a convenient bothy for traincrews whilst loading MGR trains at Silverdale colliery next door. The big recent development has ben putting on the roof trusses, which makes it look MUCH more finished. The end finally seems to be in site for this project, and hopefully next season, we will be able to part visitors from their cash from a station building (and obviously drink tea, that being the main purpose of any station building). Meanwhile, at the other end of the site, an interesting new arrival. This is the mortal remains of a War Department Light Railways Ambulance Van. This has been in storage for some years at the South Tynedale Railway, but has now come to Apedale to join the growing collection of WDLR equipment in the care of the MRT. As you can see, it's a bit of a fixer-upper, but this holds no fears for the team who built the Apedale Valley Light Railway's Toastrack coach.

As ever, get in touch here. Did I mention that there's till time to book for Santa Specials at Apedale (if you've been good all year, that is)? Check the main website for details!

Turntables and Dormans

Been a bit busy of late, so apologies for the late post. All being well, we'll have two updates this week. Weekend of the 6th saw a couple of interesting achievements at the Moseley Railway Trust's Apedale site. A cast-iron wagon turntable, late of the Cadeby Light Railway, was extracted from the storage area, and loaded onto a wagon. Hindsight suggests that a slight more fit-for-purpose wagon would have been wise, but that's life. As can be imagined, being cast iron, it's a weighty lump. It's final journey to position was accomplished by sliding it down an existing siding, pushed by the 40HP Simplex "Sludge". It will now form part of a siding to be used to connect to a container. In turn, this will form a carriage and wagon workshop. This will become important, as an identified priority over the next year or so is to improve the condition of the wagon fleet. The origins of the turntable are rather lost in time, but has been suggested that it originated at Maenofferen quarry in North Wales.

Meanwhile, down in the bottom yard, something stirred. The something was a Dorman 2DWD engine which is for the Motor Rail dumper. Running on a cone of fuel and a block of water, the engine managed to prove to the CME's satisfaction that there was nothing seriously wrong with itself. Considering that it last ran in 1975, that's not too bad. The radiator, fuel tank and brakes on the dumper have been dealt with, so it's making steady progress.

As ever, get in touch here.

A Voyage Into the Unknown

It is fair to say that the Moseley Railway Trust is a Northern organisation. Whilst few of our members own whippets, there are a smattering of flat caps (aren't there, Phil?) and someone was once heard to comment that they "quite liked" black pudding. So it with some trepidation that we answer the annual call to the South East which is EXPO-NG. This show is organised by the Greenwich and District Narrow Gauge Railway Society. After an epic trek south, including crossing the biggest canal I've ever seen on a humpback bridge where you have to pay (what on earth was all that about, I still wonder), the joint MRT/NGRS task group set out its wares and dealt with the throng of willing (ish) customers. And we all had a really good day. I'm not into model railways, since I have held the view that if it can't be fixed using a welder or chisel then I don't want to know. But the craftsmanship that goes into these models is truly amazing. Moreover, being an exclusively narrow gauge show, it's like seeing models of the Moseley fleet all around - check the photos. Hopefully, we may be able to get or two of these talented people to bring their models to Apedale for next year's September event - 10&11 September 2011. Put that one in your diary - NOW! So, it's a big thank you to Hazel and the GDNGRS team - we'll see you next year. Meanwhile, it's back to big trains next week at Apedale. Get in touch here.

The Hole Story

We seem to have been developing holes in things this week. First we had to investigate the radiator on one of our Ruston diesels. No 37 came from ICI at it Shevington explosives works near Wigan. Although otherwise in working order, since arrival at Apedale it has refused to hold water. Having stripped the radiator down and then shovelled out the thick layer of sand that seems to have got in there (we assume it's sand although we were careful not to go too near it with a match) we discovered that the bottom tanks were not very healthy at all. One of our recent recruits, Kev, set about making a patch and brazing it all back together.



We have also resolved to do more work on our fleet of wagons, which have been somewhat neglected in recent years. We have a container on site that was specifically acquired for use as a wagon workshop, so we decided to clear this out and give it a good coat of paint. Hence, a quick go over with the needle gun to get the loose paint and rust off. This revealed a further set of holes, this time in the roof. No wonder it has seemed a little damp in there at times. A quick repair and it was then time to get some primer on. You can see this work in the picture, which gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "a box of Terrys".



Meanwhile, today was the last day of the running season and thoughts have turned to planning events for 2011. However, there are still Santa Specials to look forward to. Don't forget to book here.

Last Chances and new beginnings

For the Apedale Valley Light Railway, there's just one operating day left in this year's season - next Saturday 30/10/10. If you've not had a chance to savour the scenic vistas of the Apedale Community Country Park, then why not come and see us? After that, we're running for Santa Specials on 11 & 12 and 18 & 19 December - see booking details here. The running season, after a start rather later than hoped, has gone very well, with the railway, the people and the equipment all performing as the Trust had hoped. Most days - even the wet ones - have seen a steady flow of visitors wanting their rides, so it's all been worthwhile.

Meanwhile, out in cyberspace, we've made some tentative steps into social networking - see our Facebook page here. It's early days with this yet, so be gentle. This is also linked into something called Twitter. I imagine Stephen Fry is shaking in his boots. As ever, get in touch here (even if you're not Stephen Fry).

Another Sunny Day

This weekend has seen the second of the Steam & Industrial Trains sessions. The Apedale Valley resonated to the sounds of two steam locos - "Paddy" and "Stanhope". The observant will notice that the loco was running minus nameplates, displaying its class name "Tattoo". We also managed to run a number of demonstration freight trains using the large Ruston "Annie". This is a 33/40HP Ruston, number 198297 of 1939. It spent most of its working life at an explosive works at Croesor, North Wales - a former slate mine. Hence, it seemed appropriate to use it to haul the train of restored Dinorwic slate quarry wagons.

Meanwhile, a couple of fine photo collections have come to our attention - check these here and here.

We're running trains, with a diesel loco, until the end of October, and then it's Santa Specials in December - see here and a booking form here. As ever, get in touch here.

Steam mini-gala

October is a bit of a steam mini-gala down at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. We're running with two steam locos on the 9th & 10th, and then on the 16th & 17th, from 1100 to 1630 both days. The reasons for this are many and varied, but mostly involve a foul-up within the publicity department - for which the guilty have been promoted out of harms way, and the innocent shot. Harsh but fair. It has also been observed that, given that we are running from a coal mine, it may be cheaper to run steam locos than diesels. Unfortunately, that's not quite true, as a bizarre restrictions means that coal cannot be extracted from the coal mine. Yes, I know, don't ask. We're also taking the opportunity to train some new people on the steam locos. It would seem that the controls are a little more challenging than on the diesels. Also, the starter motor is rubbish - it took two hours to start "Stanhope". Why not come down and have a look? We'll be gently chuffing up and down the valley, trying to remember the lyrics to the song in Chigley. Get in touch here.

Hello, Goodbye

After all the excitement of the Opening Weekend, it's back to reality at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. Today has seen the departure of the Hunslet steam loco "Edward Sholto" back to its base at the Statfold Barn Railway, moving on Hunslet Steam's rather splendid lorry. The lorry arrived with three Dinorwic slate wagons, which had been restored in the last days of the Cadeby Light Railway, and then placed on loan to Statfold for operation with their new-build Hunslet quarry tank steam locos. In addition to "Edward Sholto", a side-discharge ballast wagon went back to Statfold. We're all very grateful to Graham, Henry and the team at Statfold for their help with this. Meanwhile, we have a Mini Steam Gala to look forward to. As a consequence of the need to train crews on steam locos, and also as a consequence of a typo in the publicity department (we all make mistakes), we will be running steam locos next weekend 9 & 10 October AND 16 & 17 October - four days in total. We will be running the Kerr Stuart "Stanhope" and also the visitor "Paddy", still with us after the Opening Weekend. We also hope to let the heritage diesels stretch their legs with freights down the mainline. What more could you want - and let's face it, there's not much else to do in October, is there?? As ever, get in touch here.

An Away Mission

Just occasionally, we get time off for good behaviour, and the Moseley folks are allowed to leave Staffordshire. Such an event was last Saturday, when we took the NGRS/Moseley sales stand to the open day of Alan Keef Ltd, down near Ross on Wye. Another splendid day, with three locomotives in steam - vertical boiler locos "Chaloner" and "Taffy", plus the Kerr Stuart Wren "Peter Pan". The Hayfield coach, one of the stars of last weekend's Grand Gala Opening, was in use. The yellow colour seems to work well in sunshine. Strangely, we hadn't noticed that at Apedale. The elite sales force managed to empty the pockets of a few willing customers, and we saw lots of old friends. The next outing is to Expo NG, Swanley, Kent. Apparently that's in the South, so we will start saving now for the Dartford toll. See you there, or come along to Apedale? Get in touch here.

What a Weekend!

The Grand Opening Gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway has been and gone. And what a weekend! We welcomed more than a thousand people through the gates. The passenger train service began to resemble the Circle line on a busy day! It's really difficult to pick out the highlights, but for me it was seeing many, many happy people on the train. A lot of them were local to the North Staffordshire area, and we look forward to seeing many of them again.

Saturday saw the marking of a twinning arrangement between the Moseley Railway Trust and the Frankfurt Feldbahn Museum in Germany. Two senior members of the FFM had journeyed over to see us. There were the speeches and unveiling of plaques. Sunday saw the formal opening of the AVLR by Sir James Hawley, the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, with the Mayor of Newcastle Under Lyme, Councillor Mrs Ann Heames also in attendance. Sir James drove the loco "Stanhope" through a paper banner. Unlike certain railways, we managed to properly rip our banner thanks to judicious use of a Stanley knife beforehand. Sir James seemed rather keen on driving the engine, and it was looking as though we could send the regular crew home at one stage! Once extracted from "Stanhope", Sir James and Councillor Heames unveiled yet another plaque.

If you came to see us over the weekend, I'd like to say a big thank you. If you're one of the MRT's volunteers or one of our exhibitors, I'd like to say an even bigger thank you. It's been a real team effort to get us this far.

And now onto the next challenge. With all these plaques, we need some more walls on which to mount them - and that means building a museum. All we need is somewhere between £250k and £500k. So, if you can help, get in touch here. We accept all major credit and debit cards.

Grand Opening Gala - Day One

Well, Day One of the Grand Opening Gala dawned sunny and bright, and it's all gone very well. We've been busy all day, the passenger trains have been full with with happy customers, the freight trains have run up and down entertaining people. There's been no great dramas, so all is well in the world. Have a look at a few photos, and we'll see you tomorrow?

Quorate

The final steam loco of this weekend's trio has now arrived safe and sound at Apedale - it's the vertical boiler loco Paddy. Along with Stanhope, Paddy will work the passenger trains. We have a challenging freight duty lined up for the Hunslet quarry tank "Edward Sholto". All we need is the crowds and a bit of sunshine! Be seeing you?

Getting Ready

The Grand Opening Gala is now less than a week away - and the plans are beginning to slot into place. We've spent the weekend testing and confirming that everything works as it should. This has included the Kerr Stuart steam loco "Stanhope" which has been test-run on passenger trains (for real next weekend!). We've also assembled our entire stock of passenger coaches into one train for the first time, and tested that formation. All remarkably undramatic - it even fits the platform - just! The mixture of shapes and colours makes for a characterful train sauntering down the Apedale Valley. Certainly the biggest, and the brightest, amongst them is the Toastrack; after a herculean effort by the team building it, the vehicle should make its debut next weekend. All this to see, and just a fiver to get in? We must be mad. The event is on both days, from 11.00 to 17.00 - see you there. Get in touch here.