Steam & Industry - or mini Steam Gala?

We have turned out not one, but two steam locos for this weekend's Steam & Industry trains - the ever-faithful "Stanhope" and the new and slightly eccentric "Joffre". We usually use the steam loco on the passenger trains, and one or two of the heritage diesel fleet on demonstration good trains during the S&I weekends. However, the decision was taken to turn out two steamers this time. The "Joffre" is still in its post-restoration infancy, and we're still learning about its foibles. The cab, for example, is almost entirely filled with various lubricators. One of these has been compared to the Optics stand behind a nightclub bar - since it contains a slighly mysterious, and probably toxic, blue liquid. It may that the loco is running on alcopops, but it's a bit old for that sort of nonsense. The "Joffre" now sports are rather spiffing new dome cover - which makes it now looks all together a bit more "finished". And on the subject of finished, one of the wagons used today was the latest output from the Carriage & wagon production line - it's a newly restored WDLR Class "D" wagon - and it looks a real credit to all who worked on it. Take a bow, chaps. It's all happening again tomorrow (Sunday 15th April). As a reminder, the Steam & Industry weekends are the second complete weekend in each month - so the next is May 12 & 13. In between, it's trains every Saturday using one of the diesel fleet. Get in touch here.

S is for???

Day One of the Easter Egg Hunt as been very succesful with lots of happy customers, lots of completed Easter Egg Hunt quiz sheets and consequently lots of slightly heavier children loaded with chocolate. The task is to find the painted eggs dotted around the railway and then re-arrange the letters into a word. Simples. Why not come down on Sunday or Monday and give it a go? Get in touch here.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the heading of this entry. However, I can confirm that I hold a licence for this sort of thing from the "Bad English but Commercially Necessary Regulation Body". The point is that we have now started the regular passenger service - we saw lots of eager visitors last weekend, and this Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday is the First Ever Apedale Valley Light Railway Easter Egg Hunt. We've not done this before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. We'll either be desperately trying to buy more chocolate eggs in petrol stations on Sunday night - or all the Trustees will have to consume the excess chocolate eggs and hence become massively obese and suffering from behavioural difficulties. So, no change there. The idea is that children will have to hunt down eight strategically placed eggs, visible from the train journey, and reassemble the letters to form a word. Successful entries will be rewarded with a small treat. Who knows, we may even see a return visit from Harvey the Humongous Bunny - who may or may not be invisible dependant on willing volunteers to wear the outfit. The event is from 1130 to 1600 each day, with steam traction on every train. Our usual bargain fares apply. Get in touch here if you want to know more. Finally, we are compelled by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee to accept that there may have been a modicum of spoof in the last post. There were, of course, no halcyon summer days at the Cheadle school. It was near Manchester, so obviously it rained all the time.

Grass Cutting

The spring weather means that the grass cutting season is almost upon us. Wrestling with a recalcitrant petrol 'mower inevitably leads some of the Moseley Railway Trust's older members to reminisce about the halcyon days at the Cheadle school. At the School, grass cutting was done not by unreliable and noisy petrol power, but by clean, silent and efficient electricity. As you can see in the photo, the School ground staff used a GreenBat to cut the grass. Made in a manufactory in Leeds, the GreenBat range of mowers got its name as a portmanteau of Green Grass and Battering Ram. This reflected the remarkable  power of the GreenBat to penetrate even the heaviest and longest grass with ease. Eventually, as with so much of British industry, the GreenBat company came to a sad end; a large order was placed by a West Yorkshire treacle mining company which then folded, leaving GreenBat with a large quantity of machines and a sticky hole in its cashflow. The Cheadle GreenBat was a unique survivor. After the school railway closed, the GreenBat moved to Cornwall, where it is now preserved next to the Wheal Jane Patent Underground Sundial (for measuring the passage of time after a roof cave-in in Tin mines).

Annual General Meeting Day

A very pleasant spring day at Apedale greeted a throng of Moseley Railway Trust members for the 2012 Annual General Meeting. The meeting duly held the Trustees to democratic account, but everyone seemed to emerge relatively unscathed and most people were still talking to most people at the end. It was observed to have been the shortest meeting on record, which perhaps speaks volumes for the sheer stamina needed for some meetings in the past. It is said that the 2004 AGM went on for seven hours and only ended when a Trustee keeled over through lack of sustenance. You will be pleased to hear he made a full recovery after an emergency Pot Noodle infusion. Today was a very tame affair, and the worst thing to happen seems to have been that the CME managed to break his favourite coffee cup. Shame. After the meeting, the opportunity was taken to run-up a few of the locos which had spent the winter in hibernation. Two battery locos, a petrol Motor Rail and at least seven diesels strutted their funky stuff. Lesser railways would call that a Diesel Gala.  A few members expanded their loco driving skills, and a few got their first chance to test their mettle against a Ruston or a Motor Rail. Next weekend marks the start of regular train services - 1130 to 1600 every Saturday and some Sundays & BH Mondays. We can hardly wait. If you can hardly wait, get in touch here.

Apprentices - old and new

The reasonable (ish) weather this weekend has seen progress on several fronts down at Apedale. Project Pluto was the centre of attention for the Apedale Apprentices, although it would appear that some apprentices are older than others. Try as I might, I have yet to find a photo of the CME doing anything other than drinking coffee and looking mildly bemused. Still, it now has a set of brakes. In the words of the railway engineering adage "Your right to speed is your ability to stop". Speed is a relative concept with Rustons, but when the engine goes it, we shall see. The B&W photo, BTW, shows what it will look like in the not-too-distant future. The photo is at the little-remembered Wey Valley Railway - so obscure it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Meanwhile, some slightly older members carried on with adding the body to the WDLR "D" class wagon - a project which has not troubled the pages of this blog before. It's looking good now, and should be available for traffic to transport troops to the front lines of Apedale Road.  It's AGM weekend next time, so after the Democratic process has been observed (with special thanks to our advisor on these matters), we'll try to have a bit of a ply with some of the more exotic members of the fleet. Get in touch here (unless you're trying to flog us missiles again - we said no, and we meant it).

Easter Enigma

The Apedale Valley Light Railway will be having its first ever Easter Egg Hunt over the holiday! Steam trains will run from 1130 to 1600 on Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. Children will need to keep their eyes peeled if they are to spot all the clues to solve our Easter Enigma. There will be an egg for each child who can solve the puzzle. And all for the bargain fare of £2 adults and £1 for children, with a family ticket (2 adults and up to four children) for just a fiver! The Apedale Valley Light Railway is located next to the Apedale Heritage Centre, in Apedale Community Country Park, off Loomer Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme.