Moreton Pit Light Railway » Diary

The Re-Opening of the MPLR is almost here….

Fat Controller — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:47:05 +0000

With the re-opening of the MPLR almost upon us and everything looking spit and span, a new attraction can be revealed. It has been left derelict for almost 30 years and has been passed by many times almost as if it never existed but we have finally finished the renovations. Perhaps you can guess what it is from a few photos that were taken today. This one was taken through the bushes to give us our first little peak!

So to give you a helpful hint it isn’t a new road! So here’s another one to get you guessing….

Do you know what it is yet?

Yes it has a lot to do with water and that’s what the MPLR has a lot of! So we can’t bear it any longer and have got to show you our new pride and joy.

Yes, we have finally finished the renovations to Moreton Mill, a fully working watermill! We are sure that the mill will bring in many more visitors to the MPLR this summer

with walks to the mill, plenty of photo opportunities from the train, and of course guided tours round to see it working. What a lovely re-opening this is going to be!

Ladies and Gentleman we are proud to announce the arrival of……..

Fat Controller — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:43:38 +0000

Wynne the new addition to the MPLR stable, a much kit-bashed IP Engineering Railbus! Yes, she finally made it on to the tracks last Sunday. Her livery is still be to finished as Mrs F Controller is not happy with her colour but she is fully working and was a delight to drive round the MPLR.

Albert carefully takes her along Viaduct Loop

Albert has quickly volunteered to be her main driver as apparently it reminds him of “when he was a lad in Ireland”. But he seems to have taken to her like a duck to water and we had a lot trouble getting him out of it, he seemed glued to the seat!

Donald , Workshop Manager inspecting Wynne before the trial run

Well, enough of these photos we have got the real thing for you to have a look at so just click on the short film below as you are in for a real treat!

Amazing this computer stuff isn’t it!

All trains are cancelled due to the wrong type of concrete….

Fat Controller — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:32:04 +0000

After many meetings and much greasing the palm of the council the MPLR has finally been given permission for it’s refurbishment and small extension. So the MPLR is closed until further notice. We did say that we would keep you up to date, so here are a few of the views that greeted our plucky PW workers this morning!

What platform did you say?

We did warn you it is pretty extensive! But, our boys will soon get through it all and the whole point(s) of it is so that everything will work like new!

It looks like they’ve got it all in hand to me.

"Did you hear that Alex painted the doors the wrong colour?"

We will be adding updates as the weeks go by and we are already looking forward to the big ‘Re-Opening Party’.

June is bursting out all over…

Fat Controller — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:04:16 +0000

Yes, finally the weather has turned, we hope, and just in time for the children’s half term holiday. It has been a glorious day on the MPLR and we found Bill Goodie, Reserve Manager, having a day off at home in the garden.

Mind you, he is never without his binoculars, on the lookout as always for that elusive Guffinhawk. But, he still has time to show us his lovely bed of rhododendrons and we can see just behind him his foxgloves.

Even though the building work has already been started at the station there has been a few visitors to the MPLR and this year we have an added attraction of Mario’s Ice Cream Cart. Mario and his young son Luigi will be with us during the summer months selling their delicious hand made ice cream all over the MPLR.

It’s lovely to see so many people enjoying the sunshine at last.

This pair seem familiar?

Mario is very generous with his portions and there was a rumour that Miss Pugh was seen this afternoon enjoying a large one! What a lovely start to the summer.

Ne’er cast a clout until May is out!

Fat Controller — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:55:31 +0000

Well, apart from the minor heatwave we had in the early part of May we have to say here at the MPLR it’s not been that warm, has it! But, having said that the birds are still convinced that spring has sprung and they too have sprung into action, namely nest building. We showed you signs of a nest being built found by eagle-eyed Reserve Manager and his pair of binoculars, which we believed to be a Guffinhawk nest and we can now reveal that it …………

this is the view we had last time...

You can just see that there is something in the nest from here so we got Bill Goodie to shin up another nearby tree to see if he could get a better glimpse and this is what he saw……

Can we do better than this?

Now we did say that the Guffinhawk plucks it’s breast feathers to line the nest, so lets get just that bit closer……..

Ah yes Bill Goodie confirmed for us that this indeed is a Guffinhawk nest!

After all this excitement on the MPLR we forgot to mention that actually the station area is going through a complete refurbishment at the moment and we will of course be keeping you up to date during the next coming weeks but we couldn’t leave without showing you that a start has already been made on repainting of the doors and woodwork at the station. Alex Goldman is fairly new to the MPLR and was taking a break after painting all the doors on Platform 1 this morning when Station Master Donald Harris paid him a visit.

"What do you mean it's the wrong colour?"

Alex was not impressed when he was informed in no uncertain terms that he had to take all the paint off and re-do them in the proper MPLR door colour of ‘Institute Yellow’!

'Paint the doors, they said. Nobody told me it had to be bloomin' yellow!'

A Twitcher’s dream come true….

Fat Controller — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:51:52 +0000

Bill Goodie, Reserve Manager, was seen today heading off with his trusty landrover. His destination? Ah well, that’s being kept secret but we did manage to catch a glimpse of him at the old tunnel entrance.

Bill Goodie binoculars at the ready!

We did try to follow but he can get a move on when he wants to!

He's obviously looking for something!

Well, all you birding fans out there will be very excited to know that after all these years of looking, Bill has finally discovered the Guffinhawk nest!

Guffinhawk nest in tree

We must keep the location secret but we will keep you up to date as soon as we see any bird sitting, it looks like this years nest and is typical of the Guffinhawk with the large sticks at the bottom, of course they line it with the breast feathers too.

Bill was very insistent that we did not linger too long to put any birds off.

But what a lovely view of the hillside the birds must get from up there , especially with it all in flower at this time of year.

Easter Hill in all its glory!

Winter weather damage disrupts timetable

Fat Controller — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:22:44 +0000

It’s been a long cold, wet and windy winter and it has caused quite a lot of damage to the Moreton Pit Light Railway. After Christmas the heavy snow falls and freezing temperatures have meant that the staff have got a lot of hard work ahead of them before things can get back to normal running.

One worker decided it was all too much for him and resorted to a cup of tea and sandwich before he could even think of starting work!

'I think I'm going to need a bit of help here, may as well have a cuppa while I'm waiting..'

Still he didn’t have to wait for long and of course it’s always the usual faces that turn up!

‘Don’t worry, you just finish your tea!”

If you want something done...

The day was spent assessing all the damage around the railway and trying to get to grips with some of it. It’s going to take a long time before regular services will be resumed, especially with the electricity wires hanging down!

"Why is it me who always goes up the ladder??"

Is that the Guffinhawk up there by any chance? Sadly no, just a pigeon!

Of course ,it is not just the station area that has been damaged, word was sent by the Reserve Manager that rocks had fallen on to the line and the lads were sent off again to remove them.

'Are we the only ones doing some work round here!"

"At least on the Monsoon Railway they get a team of men to help...."

'Next time I'm going to volunteer to work on the Railbus!!'

It’s like one big happy family on the MPLR.

Working in a winter wonderland…..

Fat Controller — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:16:12 +0000

Another bright sunny February morning saw more snow on the line today. The PW boys take it all in their stride now after the January ‘Snow-megedon’! Out came Basil, just perfect for this fine dusty stuff and better take a shovel with you just in case it has drifted.

Basil copes well with this type of snow and has been very handy this year, so far.

The boys were right, it is a bit deeper further out on the reserve and soon the shovels will have to be out!

As they pass Bill Goodies’ house (Reserve Manager) he calls out to let them know that the rare Guffinhawk has been seen hunting again.

They are soon on their way again, after all there’s a lot of track to prepare for all those visitors who will be flocking to catch a glimpse of the Guffinhawk. You never know we might even get some twitchers!

Frenzied activity in workshop as tempest fugit

Fat Controller — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:16:12 +0000

A bleak and cold winter it might be but things are warming up in the workshop! Work started some time ago on the new railbus and has been progressing fast. Of course, the workers do have to take a break at some time!

Hamish, ever ready with his hammer, is still having trouble with the battening round the door. He is at his happiest when he is banging something!

One of the biggest jobs is painting, there’s a lot of undercoat to do on a railbus as Terry will tell you. And when the outside is done, there is the inside to start.

We will let you know on how the railbus is coming along over the coming weeks but as you can see it won’t be long before it will be wheeled out ready for its test run. Now, where was that bit of wood supposed to go?

In the bleak Midwinter…..

Fat Controller — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:54:30 +0000

Frosty wind made moan

Earth stood hard as iron….

Water like a stone….

Snow had fallen snow on snow….

…. snow on snow….

In the bleak Midwinter…

Two days ago…….

THE MPLR WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

God bless us all, everyone!