Marchlyn comes to Contractor's Delight

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce a second visiting steam loco at the Contractor's Delight gala on September 8 and  9. "Marchlyn" is a delightful Avonside side tank. She was new to Durham County Water Board for a dam construction contract. Like Apedale resident "Stanhope", when the project was complete, it was sold on to Penrhyn Slate Quarries, arriving there in 1936. In 1965, it went for preservation in the USA, returning to Statfold Barn Farm in 2011. The Moseley Railway Trust is very grateful to Graham Lee and the Statfold team for exhibiting this locomotives, and the other visiting loco - Hudswell Clarke "GP39".


Contractor's Delight is shaping up to be a classic Apedale event. A key attraction will be a newly built link across the site between a recreated industrial railway and the main railway network. This link runs across the site of the Museum at Apedale - and work will recommence on the Museum immediately after the Gala. So, if you don't see trains on this track at this event - you probably never will. Two visiting steamers, the home fleet, lots of other attractions and entry only £6. How can you go wrong? There are a few "Access all Areas" passes left when I write this - check out here for details of these and all other Gala matters.

It's all just too exciting......

Fresh from our triumph in the Olympic Pit Building championship, the Pit has been put to the test; it was built to allow the Joffre boiler exam to be done - so until the Joffre had been on the pit, it wasn't Finished. As you can see from the photo - it's Finished. The Owners are pretty confident that the Joffre will pass its boiler exam given that it's only a year since restoration. If not, they'll be hoping that they remembered to post off that Warranty Registration Card to some obscure address in Harpenden or somewhere. Meanwhile, preparations are progressing apace for the Contractor's Delight gala - September 8 & 9 - see here. The Pikrose battery loco has been poorly for some time with a motor problem. Fortunately, maintainability was obviously a key criteria when the loco was designed. Hence it was necessary to strip the loco almost completely down to extract the traction motor brushes. Obviously no-one could ever reasonably expect to need to change the brushes on a DC traction motor. Clearly the designers didn't have Triang locos when they were kids.  Anyway, the Pikrose is back to full health now and running nicely on both motors. It has a rather hyperactive suspension - a run down the mainline at speed is a bit like a cross between a ship crossing the Bay of Biscay in a Force 10 and a Virgin Pendolino (but not for much longer). The Pikrose (and the Joffre, but not the Pendo) will be in operation at the Gala. See you there. Finally - watch this space for an exciting announcement on the Gala later this week. Contact us here.

There's nothing quite like a deadline.....

...which in this case was the proverbial ticking clock on the Joffre's boiler ticket. Due to a slight design oversight at Kerr Stuart, the only way to access the firebox is from an inspection pit. And the inspection is almost due. Hence there have been some very late nights and achy arms finishing the inspection pit. But it looks like we've made it. The final big task was to block up the approach tracks to their required levels and then drown the whole area in ballast. Finally, the ballast is tamped into place.  Meanwhile, the pit steelwork is fettled and the rails levelled. Finally, it's time to test run the first loco onto the new structure. Wise heads comment that the calculations have huge factors-of-safety built in. Fine say others, but have the safety pins been removed from the Ruston ejector seats? Sorry, but it's like this..... 

The Return of the Deutz

Deutz loco no. 10050 has always been one of the stars of the collection at Apedale. It worked at Dartford Main sewage works before preservation at Gloddfa Ganol, then Cadeby and now at Apedale. It has a large single-cylinder horizontal engine, and owes at least some of the mechanics more to steam practice than to internal combustion. It was last run in 2008, when it suffered a major engine failure. Sadly, its owner suffered an even more terminal failure and did not live to see the Deutz return to service. Hopefully, John is watching what we have done from somewhere and deems it Good. With the help of Eddie Draper at the Golden Valley Light Railway, the big end was remetalled. Skilled engineers then rebuilt the engine, cleared the damage caused by the failure and dealt with a few other minor defects. And today saw the loco run for the first time since 2008 - and it ran a treat. Well done chaps, take a bow. There's still quite a bit of cosmetic work to be done, but the major, and risky, hurdle has been cleared. With a following wind, the loco will demonstrated during the Contractors Delight gala on September 8 & 9.  As ever, get in touch here.

Quatermass and the Pit

We've just reached the end of the Summer working week 2012 at Apedale. This week has been characterised in most years by torrential rain and a consequent lack of actual work. And, in one memorable year, the filming of a post-apocalyptic TV drama show (not too much set-dressing needed). However, 2012 saw an outbreak of sunshine quite uncharacteristic of either the rest of the year or working weeks in general. And the number of psychopathic zombies was no worse than we've come to expect. The major project during the working week has been the installation of the Inspection Pit steelwork. The Pit is a cunning conversion of a former colliery weighbridge base. This has been one of the largest and most ambitious civil engineering projects on site for some time, involving retaining walls and building land up by several feet to get the levels right. The end is very much in site now - the annoying fiddly bits of fishplating rails of different sections, and then ballasting the railway to get the levels somewhere near right. There's an air of urgency, since it appears that the Joffre steam loco can only have its boiler exam carried out with the use of a pit. Still - pressure makes diamonds. Meanwhile, the site was also honoured by a visit from a mongoose selling car insurance. Quite why the CME insisted on pointing at it is beyond me. As ever, get in touch here.

Contractor's Delight takes shape

The September gala at the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway will be held on Saturday and Sunday 8 & 9 September 2012.

This year’s theme is Contractor’s Delight. This will show how industrial narrow gauge railways have been used in civil engineering projects and major construction sites. These railways still exist today. Tunnels for the Olympic Games were built with the assistance of contractor’s railways, and a new railway is currently being built to support the construction of the Cross Rail tunnels in central London. This construction railway will be the third largest railway system in the UK at its maximum extent.

Central to this event will be this year’s guest steam locomotive. This is GP39, a Hudswell Clarke locomotive dating from 1930. It was used by Surrey County Council Highways Department on road projects in that county. Complimenting GP39 will be Apedale resident steam locomotives Stanhope and the newly-commissioned Joffre locomotive. Stanhope was first used on a contractor’s project associated with the Rosyth naval base in Scotland; it then when on to dam construction projects in Weardale (where it acquired its current name).

GP39 appears courtesy of Graham Lee of the Statfold Barn Farm railway. The Moseley Railway Trust wishes to express its thanks to Mr Lee and the Statfold team for their support. This locomotive is very similar to a locomotive imported by the MRT from Ghana in 2008.

Negotiations are continuing for further visiting locomotives. It is also hoped that a diesel locomotive will be visiting the railway which has never been displayed at a public railway before.

The Contractor’s Delight gala will be open from 1100 to 1700 on each day. Admission will be £6 adults, £3 for children aged 2 to 15.

In addition to steam and diesel trains on the 2’0” gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway there will be trade stands, model railways and lots of other exhibits to interest young and old.

This year, it has been decided to release a small number of “Access all Areas” tickets. Likely to be of interest to the serious enthusiast, they will allow access to the Apedale site out of normal hours and a wide range of other benefits. An application form can be obtained from the Trust website  .

The MRT’s event team is still keen to hear from vintage plant owners who may wish to exhibit and hopefully demonstrate their machines.

The film, courtesy of Ian Walmsley, gives a flavour of our previous galas.

Different things

One could be forgiven  for thinking that the only activity at Apedale is on Project Pluto and the new inspection pit. Nothing could be further from the truth. All sorts of projects are running at the same time. In anticipation of the September "Contractor's Delight" (September 8 & 9), there's a drive to get as many skip wagons as possible up and running. One of these is seen in the first photo - it's one of our small collection of "U" skips, sitting upside undergoing attention to its wheel bearing.
Track maintenance is a constant activity - the current project is to change out inadequate bolts and clips on one of the shed roads for rather more substantial items. It's necessary to get to the bottom of the sleepers - hence the whole panel needs to be lifted and propped safely. Rumours that it's the start of a spiral are utterly unfounded.

The recent  spate of inclement weather has caused some difficulties, prompting some unkind members to ask what the difference is between a fork lift truck and a hippopotamus? Answers here please.