Classic Cars

Just a reminder that this coming Bank Holiday weekend will see steam trains at Apedale on all three days from 1130 to 4pm. And the weather forecast, by August bank holiday standards, isn't too bad. As if that wasn't good enough, Sunday sees the Classic Cars and Steam Trains Day. Break out the chrome polish and the fluffy dice cleaning kit as the site fills up with cars of yesteryear. And we've even got a real ale bar courtesy of our friends at the Titanic Brewery. What's not to like?

Olympic Games

It's been a training day at Apedale. Three of our brightest and best members have been coming to terms with the most common loco types in the collection - a Small Motor Rail, a Small Ruston and a Battery Electric. All have their own unique challenges (the locos, not the trainees) but the team did well. It's a bit like the Olympic Games; we have 100 yard sprint, the Hill Climb and the Weightlifting. In this case, the Weight was the rather massive (carved from a block of cast steel) 48DL Ruston - used to give the trainees experience of actually hauling a worthwhile load. We also held the "Who Will Be the First to Stall the Engine" contest. Discretion prevents us from disclosing the winner. Sadly, one of the contestants was disqualified after failing a test for banned substances. It was either the Blue Smarties on his Cornetto or the oatcakes. Also worthy of record - and taking place on a previous weekend - was the visit of the Hayfield Coach to hitherto unexplored (by passenger stock) parts of the Apedale railway system. This has been done as part of testing prior to a visit planned by the Branch Line Society later this year. All will be revealed in due course. As ever, get in touch here.

Andrew Barclay

By way of a change, this time we'll take a look at one of the recent additions to the fleet at Apedale. The Kilmarnock company of Andrew Barclay is well-known for building chunky industrial steam locos of various sizes (as seen in the second photo); at one time, no self-respecting Scottish colliery/distillery/quarry would have been complete with at least one Barclay tank engine shuffling a few wagons about. Barclays built relatively small numbers of narrow gauge locos, and even fewer narrow gauge diesels. However, by the early 1970s, they couldn't afford to be too fussy about what they built. This led to a batch of seven fairly unsophisticated 2'6" gauge diesels - works numbers 554 to 557 and 560 to 562 - being built for the ICI Nobel's Explosives works at Ardeer, Scotland. The locos existed outside of the public gaze - not surprisingly -until around 1994 when two of them were sold. These two, numbers 556 and 560, went to a peat extraction company. This company - which changed its name regularly - operated peat mosses at various sites in the south of the Scottish Central Belt. It says a lot for the basic robustness of Barclay's design that the locos survived the onslaught of peat works life - in the case of number 556, basically unchanged from when it rolled out from Kilmarnock. Peat extraction is not entirely environmentally friendly - although opinions vary on that matter - and has largely ceased in the UK. Consequently, the railway equipment cam up for disposal in 2015. After some discussions, a Trust member bought loco 556; he was keen on this because there isn't a Barclay in the collection, and also because he used to work for ICI (one suspects the loco will end up restored into ICI livery). The loco is still 2'6" gauge, but is a runner; the gauge problem means it is limited to about 10 feet of track presently, but doubtless the loco will be regauged in time.
Of the other locos in the batch - 554 and 555 ended up on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, 557 at the Almond Valley Railway near Edinburgh and 561 at the ARPG at Dalmellington. 562 seems to have succumbed - but six out of seven survivors isn't bad?

Forthcoming attractions

Following the success of May’s Tracks to the Trenches World War One themed event, the Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to confirm the events line-up for the remainder of 2016.

Aimed firmly at families with younger children, August 13 and 14 sees the Teddy Bear’s Outing weekend. We’ll be running steam train on both days – and children who bring a cuddly friend will get to travel free! There will also be a Bear Spotting Quiz, with small prizes for children who manage to spot all the bears on their journey to Apedale Road and back.

We are running steam trains again on all three days of the August bank holiday weekend. Sunday 28^th is Classic Cars and Steam Trains day when the site will fill up with the dream rides of yesteryear. Young and old will enjoy the gleaming chrome and lovingly polished coachwork, whilst the sights and sounds of our steam locos will add noise and smells! We are also pleased to announce that this event will be supported with a real ale bar from Titanic Brewery (with soft drinks for the drivers!).

Our autumn enthusiasts event is the Steam Centenary Weekend, on October 8 and 9. This event will mark the 100^th birthday of two of our steam locomotives – the Hudswell Clarke and the Kerr, Stuart Joffre loco. Apart from sharing the same year of construction, their subsequent careers had little in common; the Hudswell worked in Ghana before coming to a nasty end in a river during a rainstorm. Halfway across the world, the Joffre worked rather closer to home in a quarry in Northern France. The birthday boys will be supported by our other steam loco Stanhope, a mere stripling at just 99 years old. The fleet of internal combustion locos will be out performing, and it will be possible to visit our storage sheds.

Finally, October 29 and 30 sees the Halloween Spooky Specials, with things that go Bump in the night…..

For all of the events, entry will be by purchasing a train ticket – great value at just £2.50 adults, £1.50 children. Trains run from 1130 to 4pm – later into the night at Halloween.

Santa will, of course, visit the railway again in December – watch for more details.

Looking further ahead, May 13 & 14 2017 will see the Apedale Valley Light Railway’s annual steam gala; 2017 will see the centenary of Stoke-built steam loco Stanhope, the flagship of the AVLR fleet. The event will mark this anniversary, and will be focussed around a major exhibition of model railways. It is hoped that a model railway-led event will become a fixture in the Apedale calendar in years to come.

As ever, the team at Apedale would be pleased to hear from potential exhibitors at any of these events – get in touch.

Training Day

We've had a training day at Apedale - a very necessary part of running a railway is managing the competencies of our members. The rules and regulations which apply to people driving Pendolinos at 125mph apply equally to our little operation. And this is a Good Thing - how would anyone feel about riding on a train driven by someone who had not been properly trained and assessed? So, well done to all the participants yesterday, perhaps especially Jon Sharman, now passed out as a Guard. Chris and John are not far behind in the race to become passenger diesel drivers. None of this is particularly photogenic - but other things happened as well.

Conscious of the Battle of the Somme centenary, the WW1 Simplex was put on display in the station, complete with a suitable wreath. And on a much lighter note, the new passenger coach doesn't seem to have quite turned out as we expected (but at least it has an upholstered chair). It's July Steam Weekend next - steam trains both days. As ever, get in touch here.

The Bogie Man cometh

Work has continued apace this weekend on the bogies from FR117. You will recall that these are rather brutal three-piece bogies (so-called because they contain four main structural parts - two side frames, a bolster and a spring plank. Yes, I know...). With the benefit of a visit to the hire shop, bogie no.2 came apart with relatively little drama, and everyone was most impressed at the general good condition of all the parts. Meanwhile, the coach itself had the bogies refitted to it to allow it to be moved a few feet. We made a strategic error by parking the vehicle in slightly the wrong place when work started - one lives and learns. Fortunately, a very large pair of trolley jacks (once used for changing nose wheels on Vulcan bombers) makes lifting the coach fairly straightforward. With the coach in its new place, both bogies were removed and the vehicle stood on timbers. Then we found out that the bogies had been colluding; bogie 2 had been sent by its mates to lull us into a false confidence. Bogie 3 proved to be nearly indestructible. None of the fasteners would un-do, even with severe coaxing. Once thermally removed, the spring packs proved to be very fond of their current location, and even the very best the hire shop could provide wasn't going to change their minds. So, it looks like the bogies have decided to enter into an arms race with the tool hire company. This is only going to end one way.....

Wagons and bogies

The Pechot wagon is a rather large steel well-wagon which has been eating welding consumables for a number of weeks now. Quite a number of weeks, actually. Designed by the eponymous French engineer, these wagons were built in quantity for the French military before and during WW1. Quite a few survived, and can be found on many of the 60cm heritage railways in France - frequently converted into coaches. The wagon at Apedale had suffered a tough post-war existence at a concrete works, and had lost a lot of its fittings. These have been remanufactured and re-fitted. It is probably fair to say that the team working on it were getting a little jaded after fitting the nth stanchion pocket - BUT it's finished - the last weld has been made - there is no more (shares in BOC will plummet at start of Monday's trading...). The wagon has now been lifted off its bogies and upturned to allow the underside to be properly painted. Comparisons to a freshly swatted dead fly were voiced at this point. However, with the bogies out, there is chance to admire their engineering elegance. Particularly noticeable is the compensating lever between the two axleboxes with a very unusual centre pivot. This was a characteristic of M. Pechot's design, and means that if one wheelset drops into a dip, the load is transferred (in part) from the other wheelset. This has the effect of making the wagon less prone to derailment on bad track.
Compare this to the brutal simplicity of the ex-South Africa three-piece bogies which are for FR coach 117. Work has now started in earnest on these. None of the engineering elegance of the French bogies. These bogies have two socking great cast steel side frames which carry the wheelsets, and these sit on spring packs which support the bogie bolster, on which the vehicle actually sits. A grand total of eight bolts hold the thing together - but all the side frame mass is unsprung. If you are a railway civil engineer, and have been upset by the site of a three piece bogie exposed in such a blatant way, please feel free to get in touch with someone.