Moreton Pit Light Railway

MPLR welcome model steam enthusiasts!

Fat Controller — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:04:40 +0000

The Moreton Model Railway Club moves into its new home at the MPLR. Land donated by the management adjacent to the Lavender Hill Halt (which is undergoing much needed improvements) has been leased to the MMRC and Matching Cricket Club kindly donated their old pavilion to convert into a clubhouse.

Established 20 years ago, the club caters for many gauges from ‘N’ gauge to the 71/2 inch live steam as can be seen below. Some of the club members also run ‘diesels’ (using petrol lawn mower engines!).

The MMRC will be running train-rides on the “MPLR Open Days’ throughout the summer and will be open to non-members on the 3rd Sunday of each month. An all-inclusive ticket will be available from the MPLR ticket office covering entrance to the Reserve, the railway and to the Moreton Model Railway Club. This is an ideal opportunity to bring your children along and take advantage of our Family Saver Ticket, please ring for details. All offers subject to availability.

Seen above is a photo of the ‘Engine Shed’ where a lot of the work on the bigger models is carried out. This was snapped from the footplate of Katie, rather arty don’t you think!

Good job the weather was fine today as even Bernie was having problems with his live steam loco! But the diesel managed to make it’s way out of the engine shed and Hamish jumped on to take the engine for its first run round its new home!

Here is a little taster of things to see next Spring when you hop aboard the MPLR. Hopefully it will be working properly by then!

Grand Steam Gala - full report.

Fat Controller — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:50:17 +0000

The MPLR held it’s first ‘open day’ on the 29th July 2007. The event was very well attended with a number of visiting loco’s and a large number of members of the general public. Special thanks to the catering staff for laying on a wide range of homebaked cakes and scones as well as gallons of tea and coffee! Below are a random selection of photos taken on the day. Thanks are due to Barry for his photographic contributions!

Visitors show a keen interest

Visiting crews prepare for steaming. Mr PL waters his scratch builit locos

Malcom’s Regner Konrad

Mrs. Fat Controllers Queen, note the carriages (all have lighting!!)

P’s scratch-built Shay rounding Chafford Gorge

Gavin Robertshaws Lady Anne being prepared for steaming

Busy junction, watch those signals!

Another delightful loco

Of course, all the MPLR’s locos and stock were out in force, but you can see them elswhere on the website and on YouTube (look up MPLR). The management would like to thank all the visiting loco’s and members of the public for making the day a great success. Planning is already underway for the next one!

Bumper crop from the vegetable garden!

Fat Controller — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:02:18 +0000

Amongst his many talents, Job is also an accomplished gardener. He, with Terry’s help have been growing a few vegetables that will be for sale during our steam gala (coming soon).

All joking aside, we keep finding tiny carrots growing around the MPLR. Where is the seed coming from? How do they get here? Any gardeners out there who can throw a little light on this mystery, please drop as a line.

Surprise discovery down at the pit

Fat Controller — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:35:20 +0000

As Hamish and the lads were clearing some overgrown brush they unearthed an old disused workings. A look through the MPLR archive revealed nothing so we assume the tunnel must have been here for years. For the time being the lads blocked up the entrance and we are contacting the Moreton Cave Rescue team to see if they would like to explore the workings. Watch this space!

Good bye Baggers, hello Jessie

Fat Controller — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:30:11 +0000

The MPLR has upgraded the Baguley-Drewry that has been in service since last summer. A willing workhorse, he has been transfered to a fellow NG line in darkest Kent and his role is being taken over by a new I.P. Jessie, complete with working radiator fan, lights, engine sound and so on. We feel that the Jessie will ‘fit’ in better with our other loco’s and look forward to her entering commision very soon. (would have been even quicker but the staff at IP seem rather keen to hold on to their self-tapping screws and did not put any in the kit box, aaahg!). Negotiations ongoing! Piccys to follow.

Building work nears completion

Fat Controller — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:52:10 +0000

The ongoing strive to improve efficiency on the MPLR has led to the building of two new blockhouses and a dedicated workshop. While there is still much to do, we thought a few piccys might whet your appetite. firstly the new steam loco workshop is nearly complete…

… the relocation of the water tower has made watering of steam locos more efficient, as they can now carry out this procedure without entering the station sidings. Below is another view of the water tower and new workshops.

Here we see the station area blockhouse. The extra height gives Herbert a clear view of all traffic in and out of the station area…

… and here we can see Herbert hard at work drinking tea and reading the paper as usual.

Arthur running light engine enters the station area under Herberts watchful eye.

Sad sign of the times…

Fat Controller — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:39:30 +0000

The staff were sorry to come across this sad sight this morning. We can only assume that the car was stolen last night and dumped and burnt out on the nature reserve. The police have been contacted

On a brighter note, the foundations for the new workshop are now complete. The lads have completed the track laying and work will soon be starting on the workshop itself. Owing to local planning regulations the design of the new workshop is ‘retro’ in style and it should blend in well with the local environment.

Hamish takes a well earned break and admires the fruits of his labours. By the way, the MPLR has taken delivery of an old, but servicable, Landrover. It is a 21/4 litre series 2a and comes from some old British Rail stock. We are sure it will prove a very useful tool around the railway.

Roundhouse ‘Katie’ up date. The newest loco at the MPLR named ‘Taffi’ has now completed all trials and safety checks and will be in service this summer. Pictures will follow soon. And finally, we thought that you might like to take a peek at this rather nice shot of the engine sheds taken the other night by a customer and sent to us via email. Thanks a lot.

Work progressing well on Roundhouse ‘Katie’ class loco…

Fat Controller — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:41:13 +0000

Before progressing with the diary entry, the management would like to point out that the famous Compton Down railway now has a website at www.comptondown.co.uk, as a result the Compton Down pages have been removed from this site. Please, do yourself a favour and take a look.

Anyway, down to business. During the long winter months, not a lot of work can go on out on the track, so to keep the lads amused the management decided to set them a task. Build a new loco for the summer season, we said, and my goodness aren’t they doing well. We popped into the workshop today and snapped these pics of the lads hard at work…

“The valve timing proved a bit of a problem” said Hamish, “Until William turned up, that is”. William was heard to shout “Put your backs into it boyo’s” whereupon he grabbed the spanners and got to work himself!

Meanwhile Job cuts up kindling to start the fire for testing…

A waft of woodsmoke and gentle hiss of steam say’s all is well…

Look back soon to see how the Roundhouse ‘Katie’ is coming along.

Fat Controller — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:40:11 +0000

Latest news.

Fat Controller — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:17:01 +0000

Very busy at the moment, so not many new pictures, sorry. A new loco is about to be added to the rosta, a Locolines Tiny class named ‘Noel’ (check out the ‘how we did it’ section for more on this). Additionally the MPLR has invested a vast sum into the development and construction of another live steam saddle tank loco. This is a Roundhouse ‘Katie’ kit. The chassis parts arrived the other day and work has been flat out in the workshops since then! As if this is not enought, the offices for the gravel pit workings has now been completed and photos will follow very soon.