Knothole Worker - not now a not-worker

One of the best aspects of narrow gauge preservation is that the relative small size and affordability of the locomotives means that it is possible to preserve several of each type. Thus, the development of a particular manufacturer's product line can be traced as production evolved over the years. One of the best-known such manufacturers is, of course, Motor Rail of Bedford. They had produced very successful petrol, then diesel, locomotives which had changed little since the First World War. However, the design evolved, rather than transformed. Such an evolutionary step can be seen with the two locos featured in the first of this week's photos - No.40 to the left and No. 14 to the right. No.40 is Simplex Mechanical Handling 40SD516, and was one of the very last locos to be produced, after Motor Rail renamed itself. It is a "40S" type loco. No.14 is one of the earliest 40S locos, works number 22045 of 1959; this loco is named "Knothole Worker". The main design changes on the 40S compared to earlier locos included a fully welded, rather than riveted, frame; this frame is also slightly shorter, to allow locos to be placed sideways into an ISO shipping container for export.

"Knothole Worker" came to the Moseley Railway Trust from the London Brick Company's works at Warboys, Cambridgeshire. The claypits at Warboys were known as Knotholes, but exactly why is unclear; one suggestion is that it refers to harder parts of the clay deposits, which are like knots in wood.

"Knothole Worker" has not run satisfactorily for a while; investigations showed that it suffered from a badly contaminated fuel tank. This has now been cleared out, and it's now a runner again. As you will see from the first photo, our CME seemed to be intent on reenacting the Torrey Canyon during this process. As ever, we'd love to here from you here.

Giz a Lift

As the Moseley Railway Trust edges towards opening a passenger railway, an area receiving increasing attention is that of training. We obviously need to ensure that we have people with the appropriate knowledge and skills (or "competencies" as they're known in the trade) to carry out the multiplicity of jobs on the railway. And it's not only the railway. The MRT has a number of items of heavy plant, which are invaluable to the railway building effort, but could cause serious harm in the hands of an ill-trained operator. And so a batch of four intrepid members spent last Saturday being trained to drive and control the Trust's crane. The unwilling participant in all of this was loco No.34 - Ruston 164350. Delivered in May1933, this Ruston is one of the oldest in existence, and is one of the rare "front tank" types - which use a mass of water for cooling rather than the more conventional water/air heat exchanger. Why did it have the starring role - well it happened to weigh just the right amount to allow testing of the crane overload system - a procedure which had the MRT's safety officer going for a nice cup of tea and sit down afterwards. Nonetheless, a vital test and perfectly safe when administered by competent people. Before you all ask, yes, all four members passed the course. The crane, by the way, is a Coles Speedcrane. We can only assume that the name was invented before the advent of the Trades Description Act and after a long liquid lunch.

The point of all of this is to illustrate one of the paybacks of volunteering for the Moseley Railway Trust - we will provide training in all sorts of areas, and much of that training is transferable to outside activities. Why not get in touch here or come and see us at Apedale?

Another One Bites the Dust

A number of visitors to the Moseley Railway Trust's open days at Apedale (September & November last year) observed that it is more conventional for railway track to be IN the ballast, rather than ON the ballast. To which we kept replying that thank you, we know that, the railway isn't finished yet. Yesterday 28/2/09 we took a small, but significant, step towards finishing the railway. We have been loaned a rather fine ballast hopper wagon by our friends at the Golden Valley Light Railway, who are located on the Midland Railway Centre site in Derbyshire. The wagon has had some modifications at Apedale to improve ballast discharge into the area between the rails. Forming the ballast shoulders outside of the rails was more of an issue, but we discovered that with careful selection of the wagons, and equally careful loading, standard side-tipping skip wagons would deposit their load into more-or-less the right place. And thus was born the Apedale Valley Light Railway's ballasting train, powered by fleet no. 65, Ruston 223667. This 20DL loco is ideal for this job, as it is very controllable at low speeds and will creep along quite happily as the hopper discharges its load. Loading is accomplished using a member's Fordson Super Major tractor, which has shown that it is more than equal to the job despite its advancing years. A bit like some of the MRT's working members, really.

Of course, most railway people will know that ballast hoppers and the like are traditionally given codenames which are based on marine life. It is proposed that the hopper is known as the Great Crested Newt, after a certain breed of amphibians which have given us some local difficulties. If you have a better idea, or fancy coming along and leaning a hand, then get in touch here. Meanwhile, both of our regular readers will be pleased to learn that the writer may have resolved his Freddy Mercury obsession.

The Show Must Go On

Week after week, the work to develop the Moseley Railway Trust's site at Apedale continues. The primary objective now is to open the Phase One passenger railway. It's running a little behind schedule, but will hopefully open during 2009 - watch this space for further details. The primary objective of opening this railway is a fairly brutal one - we need to carry passengers, who will pay fares, which will generate an income stream and allow us to continue to develop. Until the railway opens, that income stream has been rather hit and miss (more one than the other). We have had some successes in attracting commercial sponsors; this week we'd just like to recognise three of these. National Grid very kindly sponsored the recent fencing project - the photo at the top shows one of their employees standing on the Clayton battery electric loco which used to operate in the Grid's cable tunnels at Woodhead. Porterbrook Leasing sponsored part of the repatriation from Ghana of the Hudswell Clarke steam locomotive last year, and also donated locomotive nameplates; these were auctioned and the funds made a significant contribution to the costs of building the new storage shed at Apedale (the photo below shows our Chairman with Karen Jackson from Porterbrook). Finally Lafarge Aggregates assisted with the groundworks and ballasting for much of the current railway.

To these organisations (and all the others who space precludes a mention), the MRT records its sincere thanks; these organisations have made a significant contribution to the Apedale project and the regeneration of a corner of North Staffordshire. As you will guess, we are always on the look out for more - if you think your organisation may be able to help, get in touch here. Right now, anyone who could lend us a couple of Kango hammers for ballast packing would be our new best friend. We know you're out there.

One Vision

Regular readers of this (that's both of you) will have seen a focus on the tactical projects which are happening all the time at the Moseley Railway Trust's Apedale site. However, you may ask if there is a long term vision for the site? Since arriving on site in 2006, the main overall projects have focused onto three areas. These have been converting the existing buildings to make them usable, building a large storage shed to allow exit from rented accommodation for the majority of the Trust's collection, and building the Phase One passenger railway. Of these, completion of the Phase One passenger railway is outstanding, but this will hopefully be completed during 2009. But what next? Do we sit back and watch the fares roll in from the hoards of satisfied punters? It's certainly a tempting option, but hardly in the spirit of the MRT. Oh no. "What Next" falls into a further three phases (and neutral, perhaps). The next major project will be the construction and opening of a museum building; the MRT has always been a museum focused organisation, and the words "conservation" and "interpretation" form key parts of the MRT's mission statement. There has been considerable discussion about what form the museum will take, and what will be displayed therein - ask twenty people, and you get twenty totally different answers. What we do know is that we are planning a largish building which will double up as storage for the passenger carriages, with maybe five tracks inside. What we can do is learn from others. There are a few inspirational examples around, and we will try to learn from them. The three examples pictured this week are the museum at the APPEVA site at Froissy, France, the exhibition hall at the Amberley Museum, and the new Engine House at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway (albeit with rails set rather too widely spaced in the latter case).

Obviously, fundraising is going to be a major challenge for this project, so if you have the winning lottery ticket, we'd like to here from you. Although, to be fair, we are happy to here from you anyway here.

I'll ramble on about the other phases of the Vision another time. Keep looking in.

It's a Kind of Magic

It's been a tad on the nippy side at Apedale this weekend. We realised this when a member tried to tuck into his favourite confection, the Cadbury's Boost Bar and discovered it was harder than a tungsten-carbide tool. However, with the ingenuity which characterises so many MRT operations, this was swiftly put to good use by using it to turn wheelsets in the lathe.

Despite the weather, progress has continued on a number of fronts. The Elite Fencing Squad has made further significant progress, and the "elevated" section of the new footpath is now fully fenced - this was causing a little concern, so it's a relief to all concerned that this is apparently successfully completed.

Meanwhile, the CME has continued his favourite occupation - tinkering. Yet another of the collection has burst into life for the first time at Apedale. This one is a Hunslet, their number 6007, built 1963. It was supplied new to the Department of the Environment establishment which shared the 2'6" trackage of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) at Broughton Moor, Cumbria. It was regauged from its as-built 2'6" gauge to 2'0" whilst it stayed with our friends at Chasewater. It runs surprisingly well, but needs a little further attention, in particular to the brakes. I originally came across this loco after the closure of Broughton Moor, when the equipment was up for auction. I travelled overnight from Euston, on what should have been an empty overnight train. Except that it was the night of the Freddy Mercury tribute concert and the train was packed to the gunwales.

If you have any reminiscences about the fleet, or just fancy getting in touch, we're here for you.

Interfaces

One of the things which many non-engineers find difficult to grasp about railways is the need for the system to fit together and work as a coherent and safe whole. The wheel-rail interface is probably the single most important interface in the railway system. All of the traction and braking forces from locomotives have to be transferred through what is known as a Contact Patch - for a large main line locomotive, these are typically the size of a five-pence piece. If you fancy working this out for yourself, try here. This is just as important for narrow gauge railways as it is for our larger and faster brethren.

In other words, getting the wheels right matters. A lot. The Hudson brakevan, which will form a staple of the Moseley Railway Trust's initial passenger train, had wheels which were not quite right - not quite right enough to matter. Therefore, after some head scratching, a method of machining these wheelsets using the facilities available to the MRT at Apedale was developed. In the photo, you can see the first wheelset receiving attention from the Machine Shop Supremo. Slightly slow (and noisy) going with the first one, but it's a learning experience, and doubtless it will down to a fine art by the time the fourth one is done.

Meanwhile, the Apedale Elite Fencing Squad have been interfacing wooden poles with holes in the ground. Three members were seen to be testing the fence. I think they are waiting for the first passenger trains. Not long to wait, now, gentlemen. Find out more by contacting us here.