The Apedale Valley Light Railway (AVLR) in Staffordshire has revealed the line-up of locomotives that will be hauling trains during the last full operating month of the season – plus some more details on its December events.

The following locomotives will be operating on the line:

• Saturday 3 October – ‘Stanhope’
• Sunday 4 October – Diesel
• Saturday 10 October – site closed for private event.
• Sunday 11 October – Diesel
• Saturday 17 October – OK5662
• Sunday 18 October – Diesel
• Sunday 24 October – ‘Jennie’
• Sunday 25, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October – Halloween Spooky Trains – ‘Stanhope’.

The locomotives’ appearances will be subject to availability and mechanical details.

Stanhope is a Kerr Stuart 0-4-2 saddle tank engine, which is based at Apedale Valley and visits other light railways. Design work on Stanhope started in December 1915 at the California Works in Stoke-on-Trent, but the construction of the loco was not finished until two years later, in 1917.

It was one of the first locomotives to be fitted with Hackworth valve gear. Eventually, this would become standard across Kerr Stuart’s standard range of steam locomotives.

OK5662 was built in 1912 by Orenstein & Koppel, and is a preserved 50hp well-tank steam locomotive.

Jennie is a replica of a ‘Wren’ type Kerr, Stuart diesel locomotive, and arrived at Apedale Valley in July this year. Hunslet Steam built the loco at Statfold near Tamworth, Warwickshire, in 2008.

The locomotive hauling the Apedale Valley Light Railway’s Santa Trains in December will be either Stanhope or HC1238. The latter is a Hudswell Clarke 1238, a historic two-foot narrow gauge 0-6-0 well tank steam locomotive which was built in Leeds in 1916. The Railway’s Santa Trains will run on Saturday 12, Sunday 13, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December.

The AVRLR’s Winter Warmers Gala will take place on Sunday 27 December. At the gala, the Railway promises to operate as many of its steam fleet as it has crews.