Moseley Railway Trust makes progress on Museum project

This new building is the long-planned museum. The creation of a museum building of this nature has been a long-held ambition of the Moseley Railway Trust, and a core objective for the organisation since its very earliest days. Modelled on a traditional railway building, the museum will contain three tracks. The museum will tell the story of industrial narrow gauge railways. Such railways were the frequently overlooked heroes of the UK economy, being found in almost every conceivable application – from waterworks to peat bogs, and from military to mining. 

The Trust has one of the UK’s most complete collections of rolling stock and other artifacts from such railways, and the new museum will allow this important story to be told to visitors to Apedale.

The museum is principally funded by a bequest from the family of a Trust member. Additional valuable support has been received from the Garfield Weston Foundation, which is a family-founded grant-maker that gives money to support a wide range of charities across the UK. The bricks for the museum have been provided by Ibstock, who are close neighbours to the Trust at Apedale. Their donation is part of Ibstock's work to help shape resilient and sustainable communities.

However, the museum project is not fully funded; current funds will take the project to the stage of a weathertight building. The Trust is therefore appealing for assistance to “finish the job”; it is estimated that approximately £50k is needed to make the building into a working display
space. 

Simon Lomax, interim Chair of the Trust, said; “It cannot be over-stated how important this project is to the Moseley Railway Trust, the local community and the UK industrial heritage generally. It will be truly transformative for the Apedale site. The Trust has funded this project to a value in excess of £500k – now we’re appealing for help from our many friends and supporters to ensure that we can finish the project properly and create a facility, which we can all be truly proud of.”

Donors and potential supporters are invited to contact the Moseley Railway Trust via its website, social media, or just come along to the site at Apedale; trains will be running on the 2’0” gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway until the end of October.