Moreton Pit Light Railway

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!

Deck the halls with boughs of holly tra la la la …….

Fat Controller — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:56:01 +0000

Yes, Christmas has arrived at the MPLR and everybody was getting in the mood for the Christmas Special today. Unfortunately, it has had to be delayed several times due to inclement weather but people came in their throngs today as soon as they saw the sun was out! In fact Polish Pete excelled himself when he decided to bake a few mince pies for all those waiting for the Santa special to come steaming through.

All round the MPLR decorations are starting to appear, even at Viaduct Cottage they seem to have captured the seasonal mood!

But, the most exciting thing is waiting for the Santa special to come steaming round the corner….. Have you got your camera ready dad?

Well of course Father Christmas just has to give out a few presents to those waiting to see him before they are all whisked off on a lovely run round the reserve!

It only remains to wish everyone

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL AT THE MORETON PIT LIGHT RAILWAY

French/Polish relations strained on the MPLR!

Fat Controller — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:41:04 +0000

The MPLR has further demonstrated it’s commitment to European integration this week with the opening of a new tea hut. It’s a long story that begun with Eb. Scrooge, the company accountant paying a visit! Cuts must be made he said, changes must happen, and a new concession has been sold! Seen here at Bill Oddie Halt, it looks like it has already been a great hit with the staff!

Piotr Oddiski (52) is the proud owner of Oddie Teas. ‘Tak jest, I werry happy to be in your fine country’ he said. So, he seems pleased to be able to trade on the MPLR reserve and has already been nicknamed by his customers as ‘Polish Pete’.

However, not everyone is happy to see this new arrival. Rene Carbonet (50), said to our reporter ‘Mon Dieu, zis is terriblement! Is not easy making ends meet as it is, now zis! Malheuresment, vot wiz ze credit crunch, ve do not know ‘ow we will make ze living’.

Eb Scrooge, our accountant was unrepentant, however. ‘In these difficult times we must maximise all opportunities to increase the profits. Indeed, this year we may be using the diesel engines to run the Christmas Special, coal becoming so expensive’, he said.

Well, that does sound bad news! Meanwhile we would like to welcome Mr Oddiski to the MPLR and wish him every success in his new venture. By the way, he did say that he always throws the fag ash over the side before serving the food.

The next train arriving at Platform……..

Fat Controller — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:39:23 +0000

Finally the day had arrived, another Autumn Steam Up on the MPLR! Staff had been busy all day in preparation for the big event and lots of visitors and visiting locos were expected. Would the weather hold this year, would the cream teas arrive on time, would the track be ready?? All the train spotters were out in force and they were at the ready with their binoculars (or was that the bird watchers?).

So let’s just have a little look at this very busy day.

The Autumn colours on the trees are really starting to show now and as you can see the sun did shine!

Thanks to all of you who turned up on the day, it was a lovely afternoon even if the weather was a bit hit and miss! Many thanks go to the catering staff yet again and Mrs Fat Controller would like to personally thank everyone for the birthday wishes and cards etc. Also thank you to Paul for the extra photos (you know who you are) it is nice getting someone else’s view of the railway.

One in a million!

Fat Controller — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:08:49 +0000

It’s not often that the MPLR can claim a rarity, but this time we think we can! Our Reserve Manager was checking the bird feeders the other morning, it was very busy as usual and the visitors were our normal flock of House Sparrows and Greenfinch, nothing unusual there then.

When he took a second look at the little group feeding in the grass.

Who’s the little fellow in the white then, lurking amongst the grass??

Well, as it turned out, after a little patient waiting for the right opportunity for a proper identification, it turned out to be a ………..

A WHITE SPARROW!!

Yes, it really is a white Sparrow! Ok, it’s not albino but it certainly is very white and apparently they are very rare, as much as one in a million. So there you have it, a bird rarity at the MPLR…….

Chalky the Sparrow!

Reclaimation work finished at last!

Fat Controller — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:04:59 +0000

There was great excitement today when the work to restore the waterfall at Chafford Gorge was at last declared as finished! The Reserve Manager Bill Goodie hopped on to an open carriage pulled by ‘Queen’ to inspect the work.

Due to the rough terrain and steep slopes, most of the work has had to be carried out over the summer months. There is still a lot of hard work to be done such as re-planting and a bit more ‘landscaping’ but the worst is over. The view now over the series of 3 waterfalls is absolutely stunning and is bound to pull in a lot of passengers eager to see it.

Bill Goodie was very satisfied with the work that has been carried out and is looking forward to all the new wildlife that this will hopefully move in. Who knows next year leaping salmon?

Psssss….. is that a steam engine I can hear??

Fat Controller — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:33:00 +0000

The MPLR reserve manager was enthralled and (just a little bit) surprised the other afternoon to discover a new species on the reserve. Was it a sighting at last of the guffinhawk? Have we got the lesser spotted platypuss? Pssss… what’s that noise? Actually, it was a pair of grass snakes! They were seen originally near the waterfall at the waterworks and surprised Mr and Mrs F Controller out of their skins (luckily the snakes kept theirs!) but a camera was soon called for to confirm the sighting. This morning Mrs F Controller was able to take a very quick photo before they disappeared again.

As the picture shows the grass snake is curled up on the rocks just above the waterfall. Unfortunately it was moving quite fast and so a better photo is yet to be taken, but we can get a slightly closer look!

So, next time you hear something hissing when you visit the MPLR it may not be just the release of steam!

We hope that all you train enthusiasts will forgive us just this once for putting in this diary something that has nothing to do with trains! It is not often that you come across a protected species in your garden!

G’Day there cobber!

Fat Controller — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:08:53 +0000

Yes, it was Ossie Day at the MPLR today! After all the hard work of the Open Day last Sunday the staff of the MPLR decided to have a day to themselves and concentrated on all the ‘ossie’ locos in the MPLR stable! Patrick has not been run for quite a few months and so got a wipe down with an oily rag and a polish, fuelled up and set off round the reserve.

The staff all came out for the afternoon to watch the fun, even though the weather did seem a bit dodgy!

At one point there was a little problem with Vincent and Willi came galiantly to the rescue!

But it was a great afternoon and all three locos proved their worth, certainly a day worth repeating.