There's been a lot of hours out in at Apedale in the last few days, but it's looking good now for the Made in Staffordshire gala. All the visiting locos are on site - "Isabel", "Statfold" and "Sid". The new Kerr Stuart Joffre is now looking really quite good. To be honest, it's been rather touch and go with that loco, and things were not looking good at all on Thursday. However, the team have really pulled this project round, and the loco has been working well, sounding good and pulling hard today. It's passed the critical braking tests this evening, so barring any further problems, it will be in full use this weekend - first time steamed in public in preservation, and first time steamed in Staffordshire since leaving Stoke 95 years ago. The Made in Staffordshire gala is open 1100 to 1700 both days. Get in touch here - be seeing you??
