Gala Weekend

Just a timely reminder that the West Lancashire Light Railway at Hesketh Bank will be holding its annual Summer Steam Gala weekend
on Saturday 7th/ Sunday 8th August

It will feature intensive Passenger and Freight Services mainly Steam hauled but with some diesels also taking part

The Resident West Lancs Steam Fleet will be in operation along with a visiting ‘mystery’ locomotive from our Friends at Statfold Barn

Trains start at 11.30 until 16.30 Hrs on both days

See our website: bq.:http//www.westlancs.org for directions and details of our locos

Hope to see you all there !

Neil McMurdy
Hon Secretary

Posted by Neil McMurdy on 1 August 2010

The Sins of the Past

A sign of a moderate hint of intelligence is the ability to learn from the past. At the Moseley Railway Trust, we nowadays place some store on valuing the artifacts which are placed into our care. It is fair to say that the historical significance of narrow gauge railway equipment and (in particular) diesel locos has not always been fully appreciated. Indeed, the much revered tracks of the MRT in its days at the Margaret Danyers college once carried such horrors as a steam-outline conversion of a perfectly respectable Ruston loco. A few photos have recently come our way showing Motor Rail 2197 when it was at the Cadeby Light Railway; as can be seen, the livery is not entirely accurate, and the nameplate was made up for the benefit of Rich Morris, of Narrow Gauge Enterprises and Gloddfa Ganol fame. The current owner of the loco can honestly claim no involvement in this. The photo was taken in 1974, and he was only just out of nappies. You will all be greatly relieved to know that the loco has now got a rather more appropriate appearance, as can be seen in the second photo. We all live in fear of a midnight raid by the Authenticity Police. Help us fend off that day – get in touch here.

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 25 May 2010

Tom Rolt Centenarian Gathering May 2010

Pictures from the rally…

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Thanks to Chris White and Barbara Fuller for the pictures

Source: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 20 May 2010

Founder's Day Train 14 May 2010

Pictures from Founder’s Day

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The special train for Founders Day comprised Loco 4 Edward Thomas, the vintage carriages and the Corris carriage. This was at the special request of Richard and Tim Rolt and their families who were visiting on this occasion as they could not attend on 11 February, the hundredth anniversary of their father’s birth.

Thank you to Chris White for the article and pictures.

Source: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 20 May 2010

Clearing the way

The day edges ever closer when the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway opens to the public. A slightly embarrassing recent discovery was that we didn’t have sufficient siding space to accommodate the fleet of wagons. The wagons have been stored on the main line during the construction phase, and used during the open weekends (this year’s being 18 & 19 September – book the date now). However, having rafts of wagons on the main passenger running line is not really compatible with running passenger trains. HMRI take a dim view of that sort of thing. So, a swift programme of building extra storage sidings has been instituted. One of the plus points of narrow gauge railways is that storage sidings can be rapidly laid using preassembled Jubilee track panels. So, in the space of an afternoon, we turned an existing point through 180 degrees, which allowed a previously disconnected siding to become part of the general network. A second point was then manhandled into place, and another siding laid from that. What could be easier? In the First World War they did this sort of thing under shellfire. All we had to worry about was when the Heritage Centre ice cream store would be closed. Meanwhile, work has also progressed swiftly on the Hudson Toastrack coach; it now has completed airbrakes, and the flooring is mostly completed. The only way is upwards now for that project. Contact us here.

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 17 May 2010

Repainting Rhydyronen Station - May 2010

Rhydyronen Station gets a spruce up

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Over the weekend 15/16 May a small team lead by Dave Jones smartened up

Rhydyronen Station by giving it a repaint. The weather was kind and all the

building was completed over the two days.

The only work remaining is finishing off the metal ends of a platform bench and taking down the wet paint signs. Very many thanks are due to Dave and all concerned.

Thanks to Keith Theobald for the details and pictures.

Source: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 16 May 2010

Great Wall of Pendre

Back road working party 8/9 May 2010

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Work continued over the weekend on expanding the back road at Pendre. The hardened gang were surprised by the sunshine as they are more accustomed to working in snow and rain.

The wall is now about 30 foot long and an additional 30 foot of trench has been dug and filled with concrete, all mixed on site. The excavated material was taken up to Quarry Siding by Loco 5 Midlander on a test run, Loco 9 Alf went along to act as a test load and also as back up in case No  5 had any problems.

Well done to the gang for all their hard work.

Thanks to L Garvey for the information

Photos by L Garvey and K Willans.

Source: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 13 May 2010

Coaching Progress

No, we’ve not become management consultants. With the majority of the railway infrastructure completed on the Moseley Railway Trust’s site at Apedale, attention is now largely focussed on completing the vehicles needed to carry our hordes of paying passengers (with particular emphasis on the “paying” bit). The Hudson brakevan has been masked for sparying MoD Green. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the colour, but I don’t like to argue with the MoD. They’ve got more firepower than we have. Once the painting is complete, it just needs two windows fitting and the job’s a good’un. Meanwhile, the Hudson toastrack coach replica is also storming along. Half the floor has now been fitted, and the other ends just awaits sorting out a few trivial details on the bogies – like the brakes. But no matter, we can deal with such issues. As ever, get in touch here.

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 8 May 2010

Wharf Crossing Nose renewal April 2010

Renewing the crossing nose at Wharf…

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On Friday 30 April a gang assembled at 16:00 to renew the crossing nose on the point just beyond the road bridge at Wharf. The job was done after the empty coaching stock had gone back to Pendre for the night and meant that the engineers did not get home until after 19:00 making a long day for many.

The job involved craning out the old crossing, cleaning up the sleepers and filling the existing holes with spikefast before craning in the new assembly. New fishplates were fitted and the whole assembly was fixed down with new coachscrews. Some site welding was undertaken to fix the pandrol clips to the new base plate.

Thanks to everyone who gave up their evening to undertake the work

Lawrence Garvey

Thanks to Lawrence for the pictures.

Source: Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 1 May 2010

Go Ahead for Hudswell

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to announce that a programme and funding has been put into place for the restoration of a 2’0” gauge Hudswell Clarke steam locomotive. The locomotive was built in Leeds in 1916, and was exported to Ghana. It worked for AngloGold Ashanti at their gold mines in Ghana until 1952, and was eventually put on display at the complex at Obuasi. Through the considerable assistance of AngloGold Ashanti, the locomotive was repatriated to the UK in 2008. Porterbrook Leasing sponsored part of the transportation costs from Ghana. Since 2008, the locomotive has been on display at the Moseley Railway Trust’s site at Apedale, near Newcastle under Lyme. In 2009, the locomotive was loaned to the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway in Bedfordshire to help mark the 75th anniversary of that railway. The locomotive has now moved to a private workshop facility where restoration to fully operational condition will take place. The work will be carried out by the team who have recently completed the overhaul of the Hunslet loco “Edward Sholto”.
The funding for the restoration of the Hudswell Clarke locomotive has come from two main sources. Firstly, the family of Terry Stanhope has provided a substantial bequest. Terry, who died in 2006, was a life-long railway enthusiast and supporter of the Moseley Railway Trust. It is entirely fitting that he will have a permanent memorial in the form of the restored locomotive which will provide enjoyment and interest to many people. Secondly, a PRISM grant has been awarded, which recognises the importance of this locomotive to the UK’s industrial heritage.
There remains some funding yet to be obtained to complete the project, and the Moseley Railway Trust would welcome any further contributions towards the overhaul of the locomotive.
Phil Robinson, the Chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust said “Since AngloGold Ashanti kindly allowed the repatriation of this locomotive, we have been working to facilitate its return to steam. Through the kindness and support of the Stanhope family, and with the help of the PRISM team, we are now well on the way to achieving this. On behalf of the Moseley Railway Trust, I would like to express our thanks to the Stanhope family and PRISM”.

Contact the Moseley Railway Trust here.

Source: Moseley Railway Trust – Latest News

Posted by Peter Bowyer on 30 April 2010