Magic Merlin

The first of the Locos from Leeds for the May 16/17 Gala has arrived at Apedale. This one is Hudson LX1001. This loco was originally built as a twin to the Trust's existing Hudson loco - Chaumont. Both are said to have been delivered to the CEGB at Woodhead cable tunnels, but were soon rejected due to their slow speed. LX1001 then seems to have been with a contractor in King's Lynn, then a pleasure railway at Pendine in South Wales. One assumes that it gained the steam outline body at that point. It then spent a while at the Devon Railway Centre before moving to a private railway in Leicestershire. The owner told us he hadn't run it for some years! Loading it proved to be slightly fraught due to very low ground clearance meaning the loco kept grounding on the rather steep ramp. We learnt from that at the other end of the operation, and used a very shallow angle at Apedale. Within twenty minutes of arrival, a new battery was found, and the oil and fuel checked. Crank the engine - a slight reluctance, but then it ran just fine. Checking the oil and fuel seems to involve dismantling a fair bit of the body, and the dome falling off onto the CME did little to endear the loco to him, but he seemed to relax after a drive. Quite how long the softwood body will survive remains to be seen, but it's certainly a head turner at the moment. All being well, it will be in operation in May. Advance tickets are now on sale here. As ever, get in touch here.

National Grid donates Woodhead tunnel locomotive and rolling stock to Moseley Railway Trust

National Grid has continued its support for the Moseley Railway Trust by donating the final locomotive to operate in the Woodhead Tunnels. The 1993-built diesel locomotive was built by Alan Keef Ltd – works number 46 -  and was used at the National Grid’s cable tunnels. These tunnels were built in the 1850s and were originally used by trans-Pennine mainline trains before the route was closed by British Rail in 1981. After the Second World War, British Rail trains used a more recent tunnel, allowing high-voltage cables to be laid into the Victorian bores and hence avoided spoiling the Pennine scenery with pylons.

The locomotive, fitted with a Deutz air-cooled engine, has already impressed Trust members with its ease of use. Initial assessments suggest that the installation of air brakes should be feasible, allowing the use of the locomotive on regular Apedale Valley Light Railway passenger trains. There are now a total of four ex-Woodhead tunnel locomotives at Apedale – a Hudson diesel, a pair of Clayton battery locomotives and now the Alan Keef locomotive.

Along with the locomotive,  the rolling stock used in the tunnel has also been donated comprising a manrider and seven wagons. This give the Moseley Railway Trust the opportunity to display the complete train to visitors and run it as it was in industrial use on industrial train days at Apedale.

Phil Robinson, MRT Chairman said “We are again indebted to National Grid and their continued support of our work to develop the site and railway at Apedale. We are planning to unveil the locomotive and rolling stock  to the public at our Locos from Leeds Gala. I accept that Woodhead is not in Leeds – but it’s in Yorkshire, so close enough!”.

Locos from Leeds - advance tickets now live!

The Advance ticket sales for the Locos from Leeds Gala in May have now commenced. See here for full details. Adults £6, children £3. We're also doing the popular Access All Areas passes again, aimed at the serious enthusiast photographer for just £15. If you book in advance, not only do you get to avoid the inevitable entry queue, but you'll also receive a voucher giving you 5% off books, DVDs and replica plates in the Station Shop. The event itself is looking good - all visiting locos confirmed and the shed plan shows an excellent array of model railways and traders. So, clear your diary - May 16 and 17 is the big weekend and book those tickets right now.

Easter Eggs

Today has been the first day of the 2015 passenger season at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. And a jolly good day it has been. We've had plenty of passengers and many a chocolate eggs has been eaten. All the trains today - and for the rest of the weekend - have been hauled by the Kerr Stuart Joffre locomotive, which behaved impeccably. We've even seen some glimpses of blue sky. So, it's Sunday and Monday now for the Easter Egg Hunt, and then trains every Saturday, Bank Holiday Monday and some Sundays until Remembrance Sunday. Please form an orderly queue at the ticket office. More details here, or get in touch here.

AGM High-Jinks

Saturday was the Annual General Meeting of the Moseley Railway Trust. Once again, this meeting allowed the Membership to hold the Trustees to account using the mighty sword of Democracy and the Equally Mighty Shield of Accountability. Despite which, it all passed off quite amicably, the biggest debate being of a columnar nature. The AGM is traditionally followed by Member's Playday. This year, we put a bit of effort into this, and the Engineering department made the fatal error of seeking requests as to which locos people wanted to operating. Needless to say, the most obscure and difficult to extract from the shed are always the one wished for. Still, the People have spoken. The ex-Ireland Ransomes & Rapier loco "Ghost" had a prolonged outing. This loco has rubber tyres fitted to improve grip, which gives a rather unsettling feeling of imminent disaster at each and every set of points. Opportunity was taken to run the loco with the three peat cars which accompanied it when it returned from the Emerald Isle, and also on trackwork from the same peatworks.


The World's Slowest Railtour was a strictly member's only trip which toured most of the system, including the new Field Railway. This train used a newly arrived manrider and two unusual locos. The petrol Orenstein & Koppel Class MM displayed the truculence only to be expected of petrol locos, but ran nicely when it finally started. The yellow Hudson loco Chaumont showed off its 3 1/2mph top speed in fine style. The photo runpast was more of a photo crawlpast.
Next weekend we all have to start behaving properly again, as Easter Saturday will be first public operation of the 2015 season - it's the Great Easter Egg Hunt. It'll be steam all three days using the Joffre. Hopefully see you then? As ever, get in touch here.

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.