Padarn Railway Lives

Obscure quiz question of the week - what do the two pictures have in common? The tanks are from Velinheli, an 1895 Hunslet which worked on the Padarn railway. This line linked the great Dinorwic quarries at Llanberis with the sea port - nowadays called Y Felinheli, but known as Port Dinorwic back when the railway was running. The other picture is the newly completed wagon traverser at Apedale, complete with traverser car sitting in all its splendour. The answer, of course, is that both ran (or now run) on the unusual gauge of 4'0". This led to the intriguing question being asked - how long is since anyone in the UK built a new 4'0" gauge railway? After some head scratching, we think the answer was probably 46 years. In 1969, Fire Queen - the unique surviving Padarn Railway locomotive - was relocated to the National Trust museum at Penrhyn Castle. To display the loco, some track must have been built to suit the loco, Unfortunately, we do feel it is unlikely that the National Trust would loan us Fire Queen to run up and down the traverser pit. Pity really, as the traverser car is a bit stiff and a little locomotive assistance would be quite welcome. If you're reading Mr National Trust, we'd be ever so careful and always sheet it down each night. Just get in touch here - even if you're not the National Trust.

Training Day

At Apedale, we take training pretty seriously. There's a number of reasons for that. Firstly, we need trained and competent people to be able to carry out the various safety-critical tasks on which the operation of the railway depends. Having a training and assessment regime for such people is not only the Right Thing to do, but is also legally mandated. And apparently the Chairman doesn't like prison food. Secondly, having a structured training regime is a means by which volunteers can work through the various operating grades. So, a bright day down t' valley saw a good turn out of bright young things (perhaps not young...) all eager to build on previous training. The day was spent with several locos buzzing round the site, as the trainees built up their confidence and knowledge. And they soaked it up pretty well, which allowed a record-breaking crop of new Yard Drivers to be signed off. So, congratulations to Peter, Mike, Richard and John, all of whom are now entitled to carry out Yard Driving on Rustons and Small Motor Rails. I imagine that they all drove home, eager to update CVs and dreaming of the day that we sign them off to drive Black 5s on the mainline. Sorry chaps.....
Elsewhere, frenetic activity on the steam fleet preceded a visit from the Boiler Man this week. Stanhope was suffering from a perforated fire tube, and this has been replaced; the loco was steamed to prove the repair as it's embarrassing if it leaks whilst the Man with the Clipboard stands there with his overtime clock running. Quite why the fireman has pink hair is a little beyond us. He may having been drinking the boiler treatment again. As ever, get in touch here.

Moseley Railway Trust scoops double win at Heritage Railway Association Annual Awards

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce a double win at the recent Heritage Railway Awards. Presented at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry(MOSI) on 7 February, these awards recognise achievement by Heritage Railways.

The Moseley Railway Trust was award the John Coiley Award; this recognises achievements in locomotive restoration, and was awarded to mark the completion of the rebuild on a 1916-built Hudswell Clarke locomotive no.1238. This locomotive was repatriated from Ghana, where it had worked at a Goldmine until a derailment in a downpour led to it falling into a river, sadly killing its driver. The locomotive lay in the river for 48 years before being rediscovered and eventually returned to the UK. It was then lovingly restored by a small team before being launched back into traffic in 2014 at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. This locomotive, built in Leeds, will be one of the centrepieces of the May 16 and 17 Locos from Leeds gala at Apedale.

The Moseley Railway Trust was also jointly awarded the Heritage Railway Association Annual Award for Small Groups, sharing this award with Northern Ireland’s Downpatrick and County Down Railway.

The Moseley Railway Trust won the Small Groups award in recognition of the September 2014 Tracks to the Trenches event, which marked the centenary of the start of the First World War. This much-praised event saw the Apedale site transformed into the Western Front for the weekend, complete with replica Trenches and a railway network to serve the troops on the front line. There was even a replica of a First World War tank!

Phil Robinson, chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust said “It was an honour to attend MOSI to collect these awards on behalf of the Trust. The fact that a small organisation like the Moseley Railway Trust can win not one, but two of these prestigious awards just shows what small groups can achieve. These awards are recognition of the hard work out in by Trust members”.

The operating season at Apedale commences on Easter Saturday, and will then run to Remembrance Sunday in November. The annual railway Gala will by the Locos from Leeds event on May 16 and 17. Get in touch here.

Fifty Shades of Clay

It's fair to say that working conditions down at Apedale have not been ideal this weekend; hailstorms, even snow did not make for pleasant working conditions. Especially when the key job has been continuing to dig out the hole for the new wagon traverser. This part of the site is on made-up ground, which makes for really tough digging - a mixture of sticky clay, bricks, you name it. But a hardy team persisted, and the pit now extends to its full size. It's not obvious from the photos what's going on - so let me explain. The traverser car has to sit below ground level - so that the rails mounted on the car sit at approximate ground level. Hence the hole. To prevent the hole sides obeying gravity, ex-BR concrete sleepers are being placed to create solid edges to the pit. A drainage pipe is visible in the mud, and the concrete sleepers are hauled into place by being slid on scrap rails which just happened to be lying about. The next steps are to mortar-in the concretes and seal the pit ends. The pit bottom will then be skimmed with ballast, and 24 feet of 4'0" gauge track laid. This is a novelty for all of us, and means yet another track gauge on site. But that's what the traverser's wheels are set to, so there it is.

The mud and weather gloom was lightened briefly by a rather splendid rainbow, captured by one of the team on his fancy-pants camera thing. We were going to dig for the crock of gold, but we were all fed up of digging by that stage, so we drank tea instead. If you know where the crock of gold is, or can offer firm leads on any leprechauns, get in touch here.

May 2015 Locos from Leeds Gala - Confirmation of Visiting Locos

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to report that the organisation of the May 16 and 17 2015 “Locos from Leeds” gala is proceeding to plan. A key part of this is confirmation of the line-up of visiting locomotives.

The 2015 steam visitor will be Hudswell Clarke 1056 of 1914. This locomotive is visiting courtesy of the Statfold Barn Railway. Imported from Fiji in 2012, this saddle tank locomotive is the classic Hudswell Clarke Loco from Leeds.

Also from Statfold will be one of the characterful Hudson Go-Go Tractors. Built in the 1930s, these locos used a Fordson Tractor mounted in a heavy cast frame for rail use. Unfortunately, whilst they had several forward gears, reverse was notoriously slow!

Finally, the UK’s second surviving Hudson MiniLoco will be at Apedale, exhibited courtesy of its owner in Leicestershire. The Moseley Railway Trust has the only other such loco in its collection – so this will be a chance to see the entire production run of these 1969 diesel locos in one place. The visiting loco has been at a private railway for some years, so the May Gala will present a rare opportunity for enthusiasts to see this particular loco.

Phil Robinson, Moseley Railway Trust Chairman said  - This is shaping up to be a classic Railway Gala. Hopefully, we will have attractions to interest everyone!.

There will be a full complement of model railways and trade stands for the entertainment of visitors. The replica World War One Trench system – built for the Tracks to the Trenches event – will be open for visitors, with military re-enactor groups working to bring to life the experiences of soldiers in that conflict.

The Trust remains keen to hear from anyone with a Leeds-built item that they may wish to exhibit at the event.

The event will be open from 1100 to 1700 on Saturday and Sunday 16 and 17 May. Entry prices are Adults £6 and Children £3. The popular Access All Areas passes will once again be available, priced at £15. These passes are made available in limited numbers and allow access to otherwise off-limits part of the site for the serious enthusiast photographer.  All tickets will be available for purchase on the gate, or in advance. Details of advance ticket purchase release will be advised in due course. As ever, get in touch here.

Quatermass Rides Again

Those of a certain age will associate the word "Pit" with Professor Quatermass. Sadly, he seemed to be unavailable this weekend - probably due to the inconvenience of being fictional. This was a pity, because we would have appreciated his help to dig the pit for the new Wagon Traverser. This is part of the HLF-funded site development project which also saw the construction of the new field railway. The objective of the wagon traverser project is to allow the current "dump" of stored wagons to be moved to a less conspicuous location on the site, and also allow the restored wagon fleet to be displayed properly. The use of a traverser allows maximum siding length in minimum floor space. The traverser itself was built by Howard of Bedford, and has been in store for a few years since an initial restoration project. The photo shows it upside down on its current resting place. The pit itself has been progressing nicely, and most of the digging is now completed - it is estimated that more than 3 tonnes of spoil was shifted in the day by a small team of Moseley members. Mind, it helped that the gang included the All-Denmark Pick-Axe Champion. The next stages are to use concrete sleepers to create the pit longitudinal walls. Consideration is also being given as to how to prevent the pit becoming a swimming pool! As ever, get in touch here.

Preserving the commonplace

A loco which has not previously graced this page is Motor Rail 8669 of 1941 - Apedale fleet No.21.  This is an utterly bog-standard 20/28 Simplex design - at one time, no self-respecting industrial railway would have been complete without one. Assuming, of course, that the dastardly Ruston sales rep hadn't got there first. No.21 was built with a Dorman 2DWD engine, but is now fitted with a 2HW unit. This type of engine uses indirect  injection. The loco was ordered by the War Office and was despatched on 14 October 1941 to an unknown location. It was returned to Motor Rail, reconditioned, and sold on to a contractor, John Cochrane & Sons Ltd. It was despatched on 16 June 1947 to Beauly station, Invernesshire and employed on a hydroelectric scheme contract in the Scottish Highlands.  In 1952, the loco was noted in the Hayes yard of George Bungey, a well-known loco dealer. Bungey sold the loco on to Preston Corporation at their Spade Mill reservoir at Longridge, Lancashire. The loco spent the rest of its working days at Spade Mill, transferring in due course (with the site) to the North West Water Authority (NWWA). In 1987, the loco moved to storage at a NWWA yard at Ormskirk. Shortly afterwards, the loco arrived with the Trust.
The loco had fallen out of favour due to a persistent clutch problem; however, the CME spent a wet day tinkering and diagnosed the problem as excessive wear on the clutch release fingers. Fortunately, the necessary spare was to hand. Once fitted, No.21 was transformed, and has been seen demonstrating hill starts on the Trench Railway ski-jump. No.21 is a classic case of preserving the commonplace. As ever, get in touch here.