The Moseley Railway Trust is a major British collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives and other equipment.
Phase 1 of the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway opened to the public in during August 2010.
The Silverdale station building was brought into use in 2011, and now houses a shop for books and souvenirs, as well as providing an information point and tickets sales for the railway.
As of 2018, this has made good progress following discussions with other interested groups, but is currently held up by legal aspects of some rights of ways which need to be addressed before construction can commence.
This long-winded name was incorporated on 12 April 1998, but shortened to be Moseley Railway Trust (MRT), initially for convenience, and eventually becoming the legal name in May 2009.
During the seven years between the formal notice being served and the identification of a new home – Apedale – a total of 300 possible sites were located, examined, discussed, and then discarded.
This found its way to the Apedale Heritage Centre at Chesterton near Newcastle-under-Lyme, who were looking to partner a railway attraction at their site off Loomer Road.
Initially the 8.5-acre site adjacent to the Apedale Heritage Centre was to be bought by the local council, but difficulties were encountered, leading to a decision for MRT and AHC to jointly purchase the land.
There was some urgency for this work since the Cadeby railway group had been asked to relocate before the end of May 2006 – a task which was accomplished on time.
Groundwork was carried out in front of the Silverdale station (still a floor slab only at this stage) and a section of ballast, suitable for a double track loop, was prepared for about 150m.
In early March, the first section of track was laid – the release points and headshunt at the Heritage Centre end of the railway.
With its completion, the way forward was clear to finally vacate the storage site at Buxworth – something which was costing the trust £500 per month to use.
By August 2008, Buxworth was vacated, and all locomotives within the collection were now at Apedale, allowing a first Gala to be held, albeit without the possibility of passenger rides.
Such was the enthusiasm, that chatting with some interested onlookers walking on the new footpath alongside the railway, the first train was run that day at about 4pm.
Santa trains ran for the first time that December, and the railway has since operated each season from 2011 onward between the start of April and the end of October.
This was to allow cameo's to be set up to permit re-enactors to demonstrate the process of using the trench, delivering stores and equipment by rail, and evacuating wounded.
The second major project for 2020 was erection of a steam locomotive watering facility at the Silverdale Station at the south end of the passenger line, and was fully funded by a grant from the Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society.
The piled foundations for the new museum building – the Narrow Gauge Railway Centre – were laid during 2011, but are awaiting funding to move the project forward.