Tuesday, 30 July 2013
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.
Friday, 19 July 2013
Working Week
It's been the annual working week at Apedale. Unusually, it has been baking hot, which makes a change from the more conventional downpours or post-apocalyptic TV series filming. There's been plenty going on. The first part of the week has seen a major drive on adding the second station to the Apedale Valley Light Railway. The imaginatively named Apedale Road station ("change here for Eurostar and the Victoria Line") has begun to take shape. This will allow passengers to break their journey at this sylvan spot, or even just take a one-way journey. This will therefore serve a genuine transport need for the Apedale Community Country Park and hence deprive the Inland Revenue somewhat (they only squander it on schools and hospitals and things). We should express our sincere thanks to the Co-Op Community Fund for their assistance with this, and also to Balfour Beatty who provided the Universal Construction Medium used (also known as Concrete Sleepers). Also seeing significant progress this week has been the restoration project on the big Hudswell Clarke diesel. The engine and gearbox have now been removed, and the shops of Staffordshire has been cleaned-out of de-greasing products. If Mr Gunk is reading this - you owe us, big time. All that remains now is to remove the rest of the brake rigging and the wheelsets before the frames are shotblasted, and rebuilding can start. Sounds easy? Unfortunately, experience has shown that the brake rigging and the loco are VERY long-standing friends and are most unwilling to be separated. As ever, get in touch here, especially is you know where degreaser can be bought in Staffordshire.
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Missing Links

Sunday, 7 July 2013
Them's the breaks

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