Moseley Railway Trust

Coordinates: 53°01′59″N 2°15′57″W / 53.033026°N 2.26585°W / 53.033026; -2.26585

Moseley Railway Trust - Apedale Country Park.
Established	1968
Location	Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England
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 completely relocated to the Apedale Country Park near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire where a passenger railway is now open and important museum is being established.

Moseley Railway Trust has completed construction of Phase 1 of the "Apedale Valley Light Railway", which opened to public passenger trains during July 2010. Plans for the large new museum building have been approved by the Local Council and it is intended that some 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

Until 2007, the Trust's collection had been storage (since 1998) having been forced to vacate its site at Cheadle, near Manchester, where it operated a two foot gauge railway (the Moseley Tramway), using the Museum's collection of ex-industrial locomotives. During 2007, the collection was swelled by the amalgamation of many items from the former Cadeby Rectory Railway which arrived directly to the Apedale site.

Construction of the first phase of the Trust's major museum & railway project at the Apedale Country Park adjacent to the existing Apedale Heritage Centre is now complete, with the first passengers being carried during the latter half of the 2010 Season. Also 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. Please watch the The Moseley Railway Trust website for the latest developments!

The new railway is called the Apedale Valley Light Railway (AVLR), being operated by the Moseley Railway Trust.

Gallery

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  Last train on the Cadeby Light Railway - Loco & stock now at Moseley Railway Trust, Apedale.

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  Moseley Railway Trust - Apedale Station construction - March 2007

• 

  Ex-Cadeby Light Railway MotorRail MR2197 at its new home, Moseley Railway Trust, Apedale.

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  More ex-Cadeby Stock arriving at the Moseley Railway Trust, Apedale.

Locomotives

The Trust has several steam locomotives in its collection - including :

• Kerr Stuart Tattoo class 0-4-2ST Stanhope (works number 2395 of 1917), currently used to haul passenger trains on the AVLR.
• Kerr Stuart Joffre class 0-6-0T (works number 3014 of 1916) from the WW1 trench railways in France, currently under restoration off-site - expected during 2011.
• Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT locomotive (works number 1238 of 1916) repatriated from Ghana during 2008, which will be the subject of a full restoration off-site commencing in February 2010 and planned to complete during 2012.
• Hunslet War Office class 4-6-0T (works number 1215 of 1916), another World War I trench railway locomotive repatriated from Australia; currently based at Apedale while a restoration plan is worked out.

Currently there are a small number of other locomotives on display within the Apedale Heritage Centre, whilst the railway & museum are developed.

Apedale is also the base for the Trust's large collection of petrol and diesel-powered narrow gauge locomotives.

See also

• British narrow gauge railways
• West Lancashire Light Railway - former home of Stanhope
• Apedale Country Park - The home of the Moseley Railway Trust & the Apedale Valley light Railway

External links

• The Moseley Railway Trust website
• Apedale Heritage Centre website