Moseley Railway Trust
Established | 1968 |
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Location | Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England |
Coordinates | 53°01′59″N 2°15′57″W / 53.033026°N 2.26585°W |
Type | Industrial railway museum & narrow gauge railway |
Collection size | 60+ Locomotives |
Website | Moseley Railway Trust official website |
The Moseley Railway Trust is a major British collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives and other equipment. It originally had its base in south Manchester, but has relocated to the Apedale Community Country Park near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where the Apedale Valley Light Railway and an important museum are being established next to the Apedale Heritage Centre.
Phase 1 of the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway opened to the public in during July 2010. Plans for the large new museum building have been approved by the local council and it was intended that construction will commence during 2011.
It is planned that there will eventually be an industrial demonstration railway line running around the perimeter of the MRT/Apedale Heritage Centre site, connecting with a recreation of an adit called No 7 Drift, from which coal was extracted by the previous occupiers of the site, the Aurora Mining Company, until around 1996.
Overview
From 1998 to 2007 the Trust's collection was in storage having been forced to vacate its site at Cheadle, near Manchester, where it operated the Moseley Tramway two-foot gauge railway, using its ex-industrial locomotives. During 2007, the collection was swelled by many items from the former Cadeby Rectory Railway arriving at the Apedale site.
Due for construction is a significant museum and separate non-passenger railway to display its collection of industrial narrow gauge equipment that has been gathered from various industries around the UK over the last 30 years.
Gallery
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Last train on the Cadeby Light Railway - loco and stock now at Apedale.
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Moseley Railway Trust - Apedale Station construction - March 2007
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Ex-Cadeby Light Railway MotorRail MR2197 at its new home at Apedale.
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More ex-Cadeby Stock arriving at Apedale.
Locomotives
The Trust's steam locomotives include:
- Kerr Stuart Tattoo class 0-4-2ST Stanhope (works number 2395 of 1917); used to haul passenger trains.
- Kerr Stuart Joffre class 0-6-0T (works number 3014 of 1916) from WW1 trench railways in France; used to haul passenger trains.
- Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT (works number 1238 of 1916) repatriated from Ghana during 2008; undergoing a full restoration off-site, which commenced in February 2010 and planned to complete September 2014 in time for the Tracks to the Trenches event.
- Hunslet War Office class 4-6-0T (works number 1215 of 1916), WWI trench locomotive repatriated from Australia; away from Apedale while restoration is undertaken.
There are a four IC locomotives on display in the Apedale Heritage Centre, and Apedale is the base for the Trust's collection of around 60 petrol and diesel-powered narrow gauge locomotives.
See also
- British narrow gauge railways
- West Lancashire Light Railway - former home of Stanhope
External links
- The Moseley Railway Trust website
- Tracks to the Trenches
- Apedale Heritage Centre website
- Apedale Valley Light Railway website
- Moseley Railway Trust Fleet List website