Prometheus gets its railway back! Moseley Railway Trust accepts track donation from National Grid
In 2013, the
Moseley Railway Trust took receipt of a battery powered electric locomotive
following donation by National Grid. This locomotive was used at the National
Grid’s cable tunnels at Woodhead, high in the Pennines.The Woodhead tunnels were originally built to
carry mainline trains from Sheffield to Manchester. This led to the battery
locomotive being nick-named “Prometheus” by Trust members – after one of the
mainline locomotives which used to operate through the Woodhead Tunnel.
“Prometheus”
is now a popular member of the Trust locomotive fleet. The National Grid has
continued its project in the Woodhead cable tunnels, and this led to the
railway track upon which “Prometheus” operated also becoming available. The
Moseley Railway Trust is therefore delighted to have taken delivery from
Woodhead of some 500 metres of 2’0” gauge track and three sets of points from
Woodhead. This track, in good condition, will be used by the Trust when it
commences construction of the next phase of the passenger carrying Apedale
Light Railway further along the Apedale Community Country Park. Phil
Robinson, MRT Chairman said “Once again, we are indebted to National Grid and their
continued support of our work to develop the site and railway at Apedale. It’s
unusual to have a locomotive in preservation operating on the same track which
it used when in industry – it’s just that both loco and track have moved 60
miles from the Peak District to North Staffordshire. Our volunteers are very
much looking forward to putting this track to good use”. David Smith,
who is looking after the Woodhead Tunnels for National Grid said “This track and loco have served us well for many years
and we are very pleased that they can continue in useful service … hopefully
for many years to come.”
The Trust's aim is to build a museum and a railway to display its collection of industrial narrow gauge equipment that has been gathered from various industries around the UK in the last 30 years, and in doing so we aim to educate and entertain both the general public and the railway enthusiast.
The Industrial Narrow Gauge Railway is an unusual aspect of British Industrial Heritage that is now almost extinct. These small, self-contained railway systems were often hidden away from the general public and served such diverse industries as brickmaking, sewage works, munitions factories, mines, civil engineering and many more.