Author Archives: Simon Lomax

The main project this Easter at Apedale has been the groundworks for the Field Railway extension. The Field Railway, you will recall, currently terminates in a pair of sidings. These sidings are known, rather optimistically, as Loos Loop – named after the well-known town in France which featured heavily in the First World War. The […]

First steam weekend of the 2019 season, and Joffre doing the honours. Meanwhile, the WOLT Hunslet has returned from its overwintering habitat (Statfold). This loco will be in use for our Easter trains – Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Despite all this excitement, plenty of other work going on in what appeared to be a vintage […]

Another busy and productive day at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. Today was the first day of the 2019 passenger operating season. Prior to this, the Low Speed Track Recording Vehicle had an outing just to make sure the track was in tip-top condition after Winter maintenance. The advertised service was diesel-hauled, but a steam […]

AGM day, so a chance to have an outing with a couple of the more exotic locos in the Apedale collection – specifically the recently-restored Hudswell diesel and the charecterful ex-MoD 48DL Ruston. This one is well-known for being fitted with the low emissions camshaft engine, hence blanketing Staffordshire in smoke. Trying to emulate its […]

One of the favourite locos at Apedale is the 1931 Deutz. Unfortunately, the last time it was operated, a problem became apparent with one of the flywheels. Investigation showed a crack starting from a keyway. We’ve decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to carry out the repair; it’s a cast iron […]

There is only one weekend left now before the start of our 2019 running season – and that one weekend will be largely taken up with the triumph of democracy which is the Annual General Meeting. So….a busy weekend. Out on the main line, a fairly large track job took place – essentially, a lift, […]

A quick look at a couple of projects from last weekend. As a site enhancement, a water supply is being provided to the Aurora North building. The primary objective is to make life easier when we have the tea stall in there during Gala weekends – removing the need to fetch and carry water. However, […]

Despite somewhat challenging weather at times, a few key projects have been progressed at Apedale this weekend. The frame of Ruston 179870 has been sitting inverted on a wagon for a few weeks, with the running gear being built-up. This completed, it was time to turn the loco onto its wheels and fit the engine. […]

A quick look at a couple of wagon project which are progressing at Apedale. The wagon fleet is often the poor relation, but we’re having a bit of a drive on that front. Wagons restorations are quite nice projects. Nothing excessively complex or expensive, and completion can be achieved without the need to understand the […]

Another busy weekend at Apedale. A small but well-formed PW gang carried out a number of maintenance jobs on the main line, including a sleeper change and checking/adjusting the gauge as needed. Another project which is beginning to come together nicely is the overhaul of Ruston 179870. This is an early Ruston, and has a […]