Arbor Division Ltd, an arboricultural firm, recently visited the Wensleydale Railway to test equipment and train.

The week-long training exercise saw the business test their ‘Menzi Muck’ road-rail-vehicle (RRV). This vehicle can work on steep and rough terrain as well as climb obstacles due to its four independent legs.

The unique vehicle features a grapple saw, log grab, mulcher, tree shear, and tilt rotator and is the first of its kind to have specialised rail bogeys allowing it to run on tracks.

Excav8 provided the machine, which was manufactured by King Rail in Northampton.

The training for this specialised equipment took place between Leyburn and Redmire on the Wensleydale Railway, which has been closed for passenger service since 2020, and is currently a huge focus of fundraising appeals.

“The arboriculture industry has an increasing focus on reducing work at height and manual handling, while also limiting exposure to HAVS and noise. This innovation helps address those challenges. Our ambition has been to bring the versatility, safety advantages and efficiencies of the Menzi Muck 545X to the UK rail industry, and we’re now very close to achieving that. Wensleydale Railway provided an excellent environment for our team to carry out training and testing, and we’re grateful for the opportunity. Going forward, we plan to demonstrate how effective the machine can be with a range of Menzi attachments for other rail disciplines such as drainage, drilling and piling.”

Jonathan Wheeler, Director at Arbor Division