The Moseley Railway Trust has made good progress with the construction of the 2'0" gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway at the Apedale site near Newcastle-Under-Lyme, North Staffordshire. It is expected that the operation of public passenger trains will commence during the summer of 2010. More details at www.mrt.org.uk
A Grand Opening Gala will be held at Apedale on September 18th and 19th. During this weekend, the official opening ceremony will take place – and the Trust is planning that a VIP will "cut the ribbon".
It is planned that will be three locomotives in steam, with a range of internal combustion locos also operating. In all there should be in excess of 65 locomotives present. Surely sufficient to whet the most jaded appetite? There will be a number of narrow gauge model railways in a variety of scales from the delights of Hull Miniature Railway Society's `Barrowfleet' (009 and 00) and Hazel Grove MRC's penultimate outing of "The High Peak Tramway" (O16.5) right up to `Hookers Junction' in 1/12th scale. Additionally there will be a wide range of traders, vintage vehicles and other attractions. Our colleagues at the adjacent Apedale Heritage Centre will be running underground tours of their coal mine, and the café will doubtless be doing a roaring trade with their legendary oatcakes.
This is the perfect opportunity for narrow gauge modellers of any scale to get `up close and personal' with camera and tape measure to a considerable range of locomotives and is not to be missed.
See www.mrt.org.ukfor more details of what will be one of the Narrow Gauge "events of the year". The `how to find us' button on our website provides maps and useful sets of directions.
