Empty Nest Syndrome

The shed at Apedale seems suddenly to have rather more room in it than we are accustomed to. Why is this? Because it would appear that the Apedale Valley Light Railway is currently providing  locomotives to many of the UK's narrow gauge lines. The Kerr Stuart Joffre is spending the summer on the Golden Valley Light Railway near Ripley in Derbyshire - check their website for the days when this loco can be seen storming the bank on this steeply  graded line. We have a Lister-Blackstone loco outbased at the Amberley Museum currently - it's been on an extended visit whilst the owner thinks of a plan to get it back north. The main objective was participation in the madness which was the ListerMania event earlier this month. Finally, Stanhope and the Hudswell have had a weekend away at the Threlkeld museum in the heights of Cumbria. This is a railway which is not so much steep as precipitous. The photo shows them posing with Lilla, which is based at some outfit in Porthmadog. The Threlkeld visit was One Weekend Only, and we are hoping to have these two back in the fold by next weekend. Next steam days at Apedale are the 8 & 9th August - so we need at least one of them back by then! Our new slogan is "Moseley Railway Trust - Reliable Locos for the UK's Railways". Our rates are very reasonable....

September Steam-Up

As you will know, we had our big annual Gala in May this year, and a good time was had by all. We had planned to do "Industrial Trains" on September 12 & 13 - the traditional September weekend. However, the offer of a visit from The North Gloucestershire Railway's Jung-built loco "Justine" has proved too good to turn down - so we've upgraded to the September Steam-Up. All being well, we'll be running three steamers - Justine, Stanhope and the Hudswell, along with demonstration field railway trains and open visiting to our main storage shed. And all for the cost of a train ticket - which is just £2.50 for adults, £1.50 for children. A true bargain. It's not a full-on Gala, but should be a good day for all. As ever, get in touch here.

More Pits than Silverstone

t would seem that all current civil engineering projects at Apedale involve the word Pit. With the Traverser completed, we have moved on to a re-lay of the inspection pit trackwork. This was laid in a considerable rush a couple of years ago. The reason for the urgency was the discovery that it was not possible to do the boiler exam on the Joffre without access to an inspection pit! Experience has shown a few problems with the layout, mainly caused by the point used being rather too tight a radius for comfort. This has meant steam crews are reluctant to use it to drop their ash - and hence someone ends up having to shovel it out of the yard track area. Also, the long-wheelbase coaches don't like the curve, making their annual pit exams rather more exciting than is strictly necessary. So, the tight point had to go.
And go it has. During a weekend rather more suited for sitting in a paddling pool with an ice cream rather than heavy P-Way work, the existing layout was stripped out, a new point craned in, and the various linking trackwork reinstated. There's a lot of work to do to finish the job, but the key was to re-gain the "straight through" route, since that leads to the end-loading point. Inevitably, there's always time pressure. In this case, it's because the Hayfield coach is off on its annual holidays to our friends at Amerton for their forthcoming charity weekend. This, by the way, is a very worthwhile endeavour and highly recommended - visit them before (or after) coming to us at Apedale. It's steam at Apedale next weekend, by the way - looks like Hudswell on Saturday, Stanhope Sunday. As ever, get in touch here.

Tracks to the Trenches - the Driver Experience

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce the release of a new departure for the Apedale site. Building on the infrastructure and vehicle restorations completed for the award-winning 2014 “Tracks to the Trenches” event, the Trust can now offer a Driver Experience day – with a difference.

Phil Robinson, Trust Chairman, explains “Many heritage railways offer Driver Experience days; we offer an immersive Military Railway Day. Participants are transported back in time nearly 100 years to northern France during 1917, where they sign-up with the 6^th Light Railway Operating Company. After instruction, participants are given a series of challenges which the must meet by driving both steam and diesel locomotives around the railway network at Apedale. This network, of course, includes a replica First World War trench amongst the many possible destinations.”

During the First World War, these Light Railway Operating Companies provided vital logistic support to the front line troops. Using 2’0” gauge light railways and a wide variety of locomotives, these Companies moved everything an army needed to fight a war – from shells to food and water, not forgetting evacuating the wounded.

Perhaps fortunately, the outcome of a major European war does not hang in the balance this time – but participants in the Driver Experience should gain a real insight into military railways in the First World War – and have a lot of fun at the same time! The degree of authenticity can be tailored to suit participant’s wishes. For example, some may wish to have their midday meal as hard tack biscuits and a mess can full of tea in the Trench. Others may opt for the rather more comfortable option of a hot meal in the adjacent Café.

The Driver Experience can also tailored dependant on the previous experience and preferences of participants – within reason, most things can be arranged.

Further details, and a downloadable leaflet with full details, are available here or e-mail here or call 0845 094 1953.

Declanking Stanhope

The flagship of the Apedale Valley Light Railway is the 1917-built  Kerr, Stuart locomotive called Stanhope. Why the flagship? It's easy to drive, will steam with a candle in the firebox and runs like a well-oiled sewing machine. Except that the sewing machine has recently developed an annoying minor rattle in the valve gear. Steam locos do this due to the multiplicity of bearing surfaces running in a hostile environment. Stanhope has the Hackworth valve gear with marine-type bearings. The Hackworth valve gear has the advantage of being cheap and simple to make, and the disadvantage of just about everything else. A key issue is that the valve events depend on how the loco sits on its springs, which is a function of how much water is in the tank and how many pies the crew have eaten that day. That said, Stanhope always goes well, and has shown up many other locos on outing to places like the Ffestiniog.
After a game of Hunt the Clank, the usual suspect was found to the cause. This is the small end bearing, which is rather under-designed, and for which the lubrication arrangements are indifferent (at best). The bearing is now being rectified, and hopefully Stanhope will be back in full-on Singer condition in the near future.

Father's Day

Have you got the Best Dad in the world? Treat him to a Railway Experience with us on Father's Day!

For one special day - June 21st - we are offering a special Railway Experience. The whole family will travel on the steam train - but Dad will get to ride on the footplate. After that, everyone will get a guided tour of our workshops and display shed - and then Dad will be allowed to drive one of our vintage diesel locos (under, of course, supervision for safety). As a lasting memory of the Day, Dad will be enrolled as a Moseley Railway Trust member for the rest of 2015. All for £30 for the whole group - what's not to like? We expect the Experience will last between 45 minutes and an hour. A few time-slots are still available. How to book? First, form an orderly queue. We don't like scrums. Second, come to the Railway at Apedale this Saturday or Sunday between 1130 and 4pm or get in touch here.

Welcome to the Jungle

With the Wagon Traverser Project now almost completed, a couple of the younger members of the Moseley Railway Trust have been undertaking a further project in the same area of the site. Some call this a useful add-on, others (those who have been trained as Project Managers) prefer the phrase Scope Creep. But whatever you call it, the objective has been to establish a rail connection into the hand-worked system which our neighbours at the Heritage Centre use to support their mining activities. One day, this connection might even be used for rail-borne deliveries of Apedale Coal for our steam locos. To establish the connection, a fearsomely sharp curve has been pushed through an area which can only be described as resembling a rain forest. Wild rumours have been circulating - was their a Japanese Soldier in there who didn't know WW2 had ended (badly for him) - that is NOT true. Is the lost L&B loco "Lew" somewhere in this jungle - NO COMMENT. One thing we do know - the curve wasn't really intended for loco haulage. But we just had to give it a go anyway! As ever, get in touch here.