Tracks to the Trenches 2018 at Apedale

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to be able to confirm the details of the first guest locomotive for the Tracks to the Trenches 2018 event.

Tracks to Trenches 2018 will take place on Friday 13, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 July 2018. It will be held at the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. It is the third in a series of events held to mark the First World War centenary, and highlight how narrow gauge railways supported the fighting men of all nations.

With thanks to the North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway, their Henschel “Brigadelok” locomotive will make a very welcome return to Apedale. This locomotive was built in 1918 by Henschel at their works in Kassel, Germany – works number 15968. Nearly 2500 of this type of locomotive was built, by a variety of German builders, and they worked in light railways serving the German armed forces in many countries. The Brigadeloks also proved to be popular with industrial users after the First World War, and over 100 still survive, scattered through twenty countries on four continents.

Henschel 15968 worked on a railway serving a sugar factory in Poland until being brought to the UK in 1985. It was subsequently restored to its current immaculate condition, and can frequently be seen hauling trains at its home railway at Toddington, Gloucestershire.

Phil Robinson, the Moseley Railway Trust Chairman said “This is the first confirmed visiting loco for Tracks to the Trenches 2018 – but it won’t be the last! The organising group are putting together what promises to be a really good event, which will commemorate all the participants in the First World War, and the role which narrow gauge railways played in that conflict”.

Details of the Tracks to the Trenches 2018 event are available at www.ww1-event.org. Advance tickets will be going on sale shortly.

As always, the Trust would be pleased to hear from organisations interested in sponsorship opportunities at this high-profile event, and also from potential exhibitors of items relevant to the 1914-1918 period.

More details of the Trust and the Apedale Valley Light Railway can be found on Facebook or on the website www.mrt.org.uk.