Football and slowness in booking fixtures before they filled up, meant that this was my first Society fixture for almost three years. The poor form of Bradford (Park Avenue) and lack of (Northern) trains to Bishop Auckland, or anywhere near, persuaded me to have a couple of days off football and do some gricing. [It was a 1:1 draw as it happened.] Thus, I came to arrive at a canalside boatyard on a cold, wet and windy Sunday. My boots and clothing were still caked in mud from the previous day's excellent first public trip on the Churnet Valley Railway to the temporary platform and rather muddy building site at the future new Leek station. The Ashton Packet Boat Company occupies a narrow site bordered by the Ashton Canal to the east and the Ashton Moss North Jn to Denton Jn PSUL route and M60 motorway to the west.

The boatyard is at the south end of the site of the former Ashton Moss Colliery. This once had a standard gauge railway used for transporting coal to the nearby London & North Western Railway Guide Bridge Junction Line and from the mine down to the canal. It also serviced the adjoining Bradford Mine. When that closed in 1966, the whole site was abandoned. In 1975, the area alongside the canal used by the collieries and some additional land, a little to the west, were leased by the Ashton Packet Boat Company.

A narrow gauge railway was laid to move earth as the site was excavated. It is now a bustling boatyard, providing moorings and repairs. The 2' 0" gauge track is still in place today for moving equipment etc, providing a home for a number of working industrial locos. End-to-end, the line is about 250 yards long.

Twenty members (a fully booked trip) gathered at the gates for a 1pm start, all suitably attired in anticipation of the foul weather that was forecast. Fortunately, the rain largely held off and the site layout offered good protection from the very strong wind. After a short safety briefing, the first eight participants boarded the train which comprised a covered red and cream 4-wheel 4-seat coach and a little green open 4-wheel vehicle, with a couple of 2-seat benches facing the same way. This was hauled down to the end of the top siding by a rusty little loco with a 'Lister Auto Truck' marked protector over an engine with a bright red cover. The engine was started by pulling a cord, a bit like an outboard motor.

Quite steep gradients and wet rails meant that trains had to be propelled travelling from south to north and the little engine struggled on its return. Eventually, it managed to reach the main gate with those in the front covered coach riding outside, just though the gate (open!), where the track ends. The train then reversed twice to do the short, curved siding to the right, which had to be sanded first. The second group of eight then joined for a repeat tour of the top part of the site. The run down the top siding was actually quite scary due to travelling backwards in the open coach with very tight clearances. Being in this coach also meant that I didn't reach outside the gate. A third trip then ran for the last four while our hosts endeavoured to clear a couple of freight wagons blocking the long line to the bottom of the site.

After some shunting, green Hudson Hunslet engine 6012 was attached to the two passenger coaches for trips down the 1:13 gradient line to the bottom headshunt and back, passing to the right of the small shed in both directions. Again, I was on the second trip and was struck by how jammed full all the lower lines and sidings were and how fast our train appeared to travel, although we were close to the ground.






After doing the long line, participants made their way down to the bottom end, walking through the main shed / workshop, as instructed, due to the very narrow clearances on the running line outside. In the shed, kind ladies offered us hot drinks and cupcakes, while the gentlemen onsite began the long, very complex process of shunting stock from the bottom part of the site so we could grice it. This was quite a low-tech operation with points generally switched by kicking, although a crow bar was needed sometimes. A long blue Drax biomass train passed by on the NR track (on a Sunday too) as we waited.





















Eventually, our train was reformed in the main shed (right hand line facing the end) with an unmarked rusty 4-wheeled engine now leading. This took us down towards the bottom headshunt but, annoyingly, on my trip, only the engine reached the far points. Those on the third trip asked to go beyond for completeness and this was acceded to. The tours then reversed into the canalside siding and also did the northern connection with the long line by the fence (covered earlier), before returning to the shed.



The two passenger coaches were then removed and a very fancy teak coach attached with a wooden table and four loose dining chairs. It even had place mats. The green engine was attached and gave rides as far as possible along the two lines into the main shed and out again, so great track coverage overall.



The day then petered out a little as our hosts started shunting stock back to where they wanted it to be. However, participants were able to have a short final ride behind the red / maroon engine for haulage purposes rather than new track. This completed a very enjoyable day, much recommended, at this friendly railway. A donation of £260 was made to Francis House Hospice as a result of the fixture.



*Boaty McBoatface was the name chosen for Britain's new polar research vessel in a 2016 online poll. However, the NERC (Natural Environment Research Council), unsurprisingly, ignored the result and named the ship Sir David Attenborough instead. This begs the question as to why they held the poll.