PRISM Grant

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce that they are the recipients of a PRISM grant from Arts Council England.

The grant, for more than £13,000, will be used to fund the restoration of a historic diesel locomotive in the Moseley Railway Trust collection. The locomotive was built by the Motor Rail & Tramcar Company Ltd of Bedford in 1918 as their number 1320. It was built as a 40hp locomotive intended for operation by the British military light railways which served the front lines of the First World War. No.1320 was a “protected” locomotive – that is, the bodywork was intended to give some protection to the crew from enemy fire. However, No.1320 did not leave Bedford until September 1918, and hence was too late to see any active service in the First World War (which ended in November 1918).

As with so many such locomotives, it was sold second-hand (having probably never been used by the military!) to a Hertfordshire gravel quarry, where it had a hard (but productive) life in industry until it was preserved in 1978. It is now owned outright by the MRT following a bequest by its late owner in 2012.

When new, this locomotive would have been fitted with a Dorman 4J0 petrol engine. However, when at the quarry, it was heavily rebuilt with the current Dorman 4DWD diesel engine. At, or around this time, the bodywork was changed to give the loco its current appearance.

The locomotive will be sympathetically restored to the condition in which it worked at the gravel quarries. The history of the locomotive that is the subject of this appeal typifies the whole history of narrow gauge railways in industry; it was built for military use, but spent its working life in civilian hands. The quarry company rebuilt and adapted the locomotive to meet their own needs.

When complete, loco 1320 will form an interesting contract with another 40HP Motor Rail locomotive in the Moseley Railway Trust collection – no.1369, which is still in “military specification” condition.

It is planned to complete the restoration of No.1320 during 2017, which will allow the locomotive to be demonstrated at the Moseley Railway Trust’s 2018 Tracks to the Trenches event, which will take place in July 2018.

Phil Robinson, Chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust, said We are really grateful to Arts Council England for their support. This restoration project will be delivered by our volunteer members, so not only will the loco be restored, but our members will be able to learn new skills and pass experience to our younger members.

Christmas Quiz - the answers

I We hope that you found the Quiz somewhat diverting and took your mind away from the truly awful telly offering. Inevitably, there are some debatable answers - but here goes with the "official" version. You will recall that the task is determine if the place is real or fictitous; if real - where? If Fictitous - where does it appear?

 1.  North Pole - a real place. Formerly the depot for Eurostar, it has now been taken over by Hitachi for maintaining the new InterCity Express trains. The depot is located alongside the Great Western mainline just outside Paddington. The depot was built on the site of North Pole Jcn, which formerly linked the GW mainline with the West London Line via Kensington Olympia. The junction itself was originally named after a local pub.

2. Lake, The Lake and Lakeside Loop (three places) - all three real. Respectively, on the Isle of Wight, one the North Warwickshire Line (Birmingham to Stratford) and the Rudyard Lake Railway.

3. Crouch End. An interesting one! The intent of the question was that it was a fictional place, and was the tube station shown in "Shaun of the Dead". However, there WAS a real station, on the line from Finsbury Park to Alexandria Palace. The platforms still exist, and the footpath is worth a visit!

4.    Hobbs End. Fictitious - this was the station used for Quatermass and the Pit (what ever happened to B&W telly??).

5.    West Ashfield  - fictitious. This is a mock-up station used by LUL to train staff. It is located in Ashfield Houe in West London. It is astoundingly life-like.

Bonus question:- 4 & 5 can be found in close proximity. Where? The answer is derived from the fact that Hobbs End is also one of the station names used on a model railway used by LUL to train staff, and is also located in Ashfield House.

6.    Junction Road Junction. How could that be anything other than Real? On the Gospel Oak - Barking line near Gospel Oak (north London), provides a link to the Midland Main Line.

7.    North Haverbrook (bit of a clue - not actually a railway as such....). This was the town in The Simpsons episode "Marge vs the Monorail". An object lesson in urban transport planning for us all. It was a documentary - right?

8.    Westbourne Oak. Fictitious - a tube station used in the film version of Paddington.

9.    Mobil Avenue. Also fictitious - an american transit station used in The Matrix Revolutions. The name is an anagram of Limbo, and hence will be familiar to any commuters on the Brighton main line.

10. Bungalow - real, on the Snaefell Mountain Railway. Frequently seen in videos of the TT races just before the crash and the subsequent air ambulance bit.

11. Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion. Real - sort of. A commercially-inspired re-name of a station on the Fairbourne railway. Wikipedia tell us that it translates to the Mawddach station and its dragon under the northern peace of the Penrhyn Road on the golden beach of Cardigan Bay. 

Bonus question:- What would this score in Scrabble? This question caused some head scratching. There are several versions of the correct answer.

Nil - because the word is far too long. Good answer to a daft question.

Nil - because the word has too many "D" letters to be played. Also true.

108 - a good answer in the spirit of the question.

But it was then pointed out that as this is a Welsh place name, the Welsh scrabble set should be used. The word is still far too long, and cannot be played (but this time because you run out of the letter G). The score would, I believe, be 103, but that is open to some debate depending on how the various digraphs are counted. However, this news story would seem to suggest that not many Welsh scrabble sets have been sold. 

12. Milford. The intent was Fiction, it's the station in Brief Encounter (filmed, as everyone knows, at Carnforth). However, it was overlooked that it's also a station on the Portsmouth Direct line near Guildford. I wonder if that station is also in black and white and populated by people with smuts in their eyes?

13. Hatley. Fiction - the station used in "Oh Mr Porter", shot on the Severn Valley Railway.

14. Hollerton Junction (which is also served by which heritage railway?). Fiction - The Archers, and it's served by the Blackberry Line. Young Henry has been taken for a trip on the Blackberry line and sadly was not pushed under the wheels of the train.

15. Grumbly - Fiction. The headquarters of the  Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited, who operated Ivor the Engine. 

16. Pen Cob. Real - a short lived station on the Ffestiniog Railway near Boston Lodge.

17. Decoy. Real - a still extant set of sidings just south of Doncaster. Allegedly got its name because it was intended as a "decoy" to attract enemy bombers from the main marshalling yards. Since it was very close to the main yards, and WW2 bombers counted "in the same county" as a direct hit, it is unclear how much of a decoy it really was.

18. Arlesburgh West. Fiction - the terminus of the Arlesdale Railway on the Isle of Sodor (where Thomas lives).

19. Vauxhall Cross. Fiction - seen in the Bond film "Die Another Day".

20. Mornington Crescent. Obviously fictional, unless one is in Nip, in which case......I will offer a relatively safe Gants Hill.

So, a winner? Not an easy one. Mr Alan Fryer, the Trust PWay Engineer was the first person with a nearly full set of answers. But Mr Geoffrey Ingram raised the issue of Welsh Scrabble. So I'm going to call them Joint Winners. Well done, chaps and a (serious) thank you to those who also entered. Sadly, I do not have a picture of Mr Ingram, but Alan can be seen in characteristic pose explaining reality to a buffer stop.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from the Moseley Railway Trust! 2016 has certainly been a year to remember, some good things, some less agreeable things. We have finished 2016 with a private charter for a family gathering - what better way to see the year out than a gentle trundle on a 2'0" gauge train? There's lot to anticipate in 2017 at Apedale. The May gala - 13 and 14 May - is shaping up to be a cracking event; more details will be announced in the new few weeks. We will be starting a new loco restoration project soon - again, more details in due course, but the photo is a pretty big clue. Hopefully, the FR coach will be in traffic for the start of the season. But don't forget that we do lots of little projects along with the big ticket items; one such is the restoration of a Hudson wagon from RAF Fauld. It was once, many years ago, used in the passenger train at Cadeby - it's the wagon next to the steam loco in the black and white photo. The intervening years have not been kind to the woodwork, but the underlying structure looks sound. So, keep looking in here, and we will try to keep you informed about goings on down the Apedale Valley.

Christmas Quiz 2016

OK, folks, here it is. Your challenge this year is related to stations and other railway-related locations. For each location, you need to determine if it is real or fictional. 

If you think it's a real place, tell us where it is located (with some degree of accuracy). Extra points will be allocated for wit and verve rather than obsessive accuracy. 

If, on the other hand, you think it’s a fictitious location – then in what film/book/song does it exist? Again, correct amusing answers will score higher than correct dull answers.

So, for example, Apedale Road is a REAL station and is one terminus of the Apedale Valley Light Railway.

The vast majority of the locations are in the UK (note careful choice of words).

As noted above, extra points will be allocated to amusing and educational answers; this therefore makes the concept of “winning” rather an arbitrary one, which is the way it is intended to be and hence differentiates this quiz from the Boxing Day game of Monopoly. OK? Brace yourselves:-

     1.  North Pole

2. Lake, The Lake and Lakeside Loop (three places)

3. Crouch End

4.    Hobbs End 

5.    West Ashfield  

Bonus question:- 4 & 5 can be found in close proximity. Where?

6.    Junction Road Junction

7.    North Haverbrook (bit of a clue - not actually a railway as such....)

8.    Westbourne Oak

9.    Mobil Avenue

10. Bungalow

11. Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion

Bonus question:- What would this score in Scrabble?

12. Milford

13. Hatley

14. Hollerton Junction (which is also served by which heritage railway?)

15. Grumbly

16. Pen Cob

17. Decoy

18. Arlesburgh West 

19. Vauxhall Cross

20. Mornington Crescent

Answers will be published here in a couple of weeks time. Exam papers may be e-mailed to info@mrt.org.uk or to Mr L's e-mail address for those who know it. Good luck!

Santa Restrospect

Well, folks, that's pretty much the Santa Season wrapped up for 2016 - not quite, as we have a charter day later this week for local schools. It's been by far our busiest Santa Season ever, with the trains sold out, and a few additionals crammed in where we can. We've moved well over 2000 people, which ain't bad for a little railway with little coaches! We have checked with Santa and reviewed his log sheets for the weekend, and can therefore confirm that a record 98.7% of children seen were on the Nice List. And he thinks the remaining 1.3% can redeem themselves this week if they try hard.

Certainly on the Nice List are all the people of the Moseley Railway Trust who make all this happen. It's worth taking a moment to remember the people who are on site at 0615 each morning to get the steam loco from the shed and light the fire. And the people still locking up late in the evening. The shop staff who are front and centre with all our visitors. The people who spend the day inflating balloons which are treasured by young ones. The team who designed and created the best-ever Grotto. The Guards and traincrew, and those who restore and maintain the trains and tracks. Did I mention those who spend every evening doing admin work? So, to you all - WELL DONE and HAPPY CHRISTMAS. When you get bored with watching Mary Poppins for the nth time in ITV4, have a look at the MRT Christmas Quiz which will be appearing here in just a moment.....

Santa - First Weekend

We've completed the first weekend of the Santa Campaign at Apedale - lots of visitors, lots of presents distributed by Santa, and hopefully lots of children going home and trying ESPECIALLY HARD to be good between now and Christmas. Our volunteers will now be going home for a well earned break - but we're back on the case next weekend, with a couple of mid-week charters for school parties thrown in for good measure. Many thanks to everyone who came along, and we look forward to next weekend's guests.

FR Coach bogies

Back in May/June time, we covered the dismantling of the ex-South Africa bogies which were acquired to go under the Ffestiniog Coach no.117. You may recall that the FR coach was only available without its Welsh bogies - these have been re-used under Boston Lodge's latest masterpiece. The SA bogies had two real issues. Firstly, the wheelsets were a bit tight on the back-to-back dimensions and clouted the check rails on some points. Secondly, the bogies are going under passenger carrying rolling stock and hence need to be spot-on in terms of condition; the idea of finding some long-forgotten assembly error when the coach is in passenger service at Apedale is not appealing. So, three bogies thus far have been dismantled with varying mixtures of cunning and brute force. The wheelsets have been machined to sort the back-to-back issue, and all the bogie components have been inspected and repaired as needed. Re-assembly of the bogies has proved to be fairly straightforward, and we now have two shiny black bogies. The next step is to install the air brake cylinders on them, and then they're ready to go back under the coach. There's a bit of an issue on the coach underframe which will delay things slightly, but the coach continues to make good progress. As ever, get in touch here.