Cleaning Turn 8 - Standard 4MT and more dirty work

Up at 05:00, I'm off to the railway just before dawn so it's fortunate that I've remembered how to switch on the yard lights this time. This should be a pretty ordinary day - it's a Thursday, a yellow timetable day with one Steam loco and the DMU on every alternate service.

Rostered today is the BR Standard 4MT 76084, owned by the 76084 Loco Co. Ltd. She's resident at the railway, and she's frequently seen on these mid week services because as a very modern design (by steam locomotive standards) she is easy to drive, fire and maintain - or at least that's the theory.

There's a few of us here today - me, Cleaners Jack and Peter, Third Man Rob plus Fireman Dan and Driver Fozzy so we can expect 76084 to go off-shed on time and looking excellent. I'm first on the loco, and after the NTBM board goes on and the safety checks are done, it's time to inspect the smoke box.

Nothing broken, no leaks and all I need to do is clean out all the ash and close the door. That done, the Third Man can clean the grate and make the fire - it's best to avoid opening the smoke box and the firebox at the same time, since the induced draft will cool the boiler, which is the last thing we want.

Next, Peter and I work on the paintwork, before it gets too warm. This is easy on this loco - the high running boards of the BR Standards mean that you don't need ladders to clean the paintwork - but the running plates are pretty high. Peter takes a brush to the smokebox to dust off all the soot from yesterday.

Down on the ground, my next job is with a wheel brush and a bucket of paraffin:

I took a few pictures while I was on the ground. Here's the left hand side expansion link, radius rod and lifting arm:

Something that goes unnoticed, especially as these things are not used on our railway - a steam sander gun. These use a steam jet to propel a stream of dry sand onto the rails to increase traction.

With everything clean, it's time to push back to the pit. Here, the driver completes his inspection & oiling up routine, and we can go underneath with the pit hose to dampen the contents of the ash pan and drop it in the pit, emptying the pan ready for the day. I haven't done this on the 4MT for a while, and make a bit of a hash of it leaving ash on the arch over the rear axle. I should have asked them to open the damper a bit more.

And that's it - the next job is for the crew to go and get changed into some respectable clothing to meet their public, so I'm left to look after the locomotive for a while.

The boiler is sitting at about 200 psi, with the gauge glass over 3/4 full. I have to keep an eye on the pressure gauge and try and prevent the boiler pressure getting to the point where it operates the safety valves - termed 'blowing off' and making a lot of noise and wasting both water and coal. This is not something which makes you popular with the neighbours or the railway.

So what do you do to reduce the pressure? You can cool the fire, or you can cool the water, by adding cold water. Fireman Dan has let the fire burn down and the fire door is open, allowing cool air through the boiler tubes - but still the pressure rises slowly. When it gets to 220 psi (it blows off at 225 psi) it's time to operate the injectors and add some cold water to the boiler.

These are the injector water valves - I start the process by turning on the water to No. 1 injector. Half open is enough and I look out of the cab to see the water escaping out of the injector overflow and onto the track below:

Next, I open the steam valve one turn, quite quickly - the injector immediately picks up the water flow and I hear it roaring into the boiler; a quick look over the side confirms the overflow has stopped.

After a while, we have another half inch of water in the glass and the pressure has dropped back to 200 psi:

While the injector is working you can see the surface of the water moving in the gauge glasses as the surface of the water in the boiler is stirred up by the incoming water:

I can then turn off the valve supplying steam to the injector, hear the injector stop and the water splashing out of the overflow onto the track again. I can then switch off the water.

The fire by now is quite thin, and fortunately Fireman Dan returns to build it up before they go off-shed.

The North Norfolk Railway operates dining trains several times a year, some of which run over the level crossing at Sheringham and onto the mainline network, passing through West Runton and terminating at Cromer. The 4MT 76084 is one of the locos certified for this mainline service and to achieve that certification it has both the Automatic Warning System (AWS) and the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS )safety systems installed.

Enhanced TPWS Cab Panel

The AWS 'Sunflower' showing 'Caution'

BR Standard 4MT 76084, like all rolling stock used on the national rail network has a TOPS number. TOPS is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by or operated on a rail system. It was originally developed by the American-based Southern Pacific Railroad and was adopted by BR in 1973.

And that is it for 76084 today - she goes off shed to start her service, and we cleaners return to more mundane duties, such as breaking up wood for lighting up. We have a very handy, purpose designed pallet breaker:

These long pallets need to be sawn in two, but we soon have plenty enough to more than replace what we used today:

Once the daily jobs are done and the Cleaner's Record sheets filled in, we report to Fitter Mark for the next job; Peter is to help out with the Y14's routine washout; Jack will clean the B12 paintwork & brass, and I am to clean grates & smokeboxes on B12 and 9F.

Here's the 9F blast pipes, behind the spark arrester. You can see each blast pipe has four small holes for the blower jets:

I took two barrow loads of ash out of that smokebox. The 9F's firebox is quite easy - it has a modern rocking grate and all you need to do is run over that with the picker and most of it will drop out.

The B12, as I mentioned last time, is not quite so easy. She has a drop grate but, in the words of Fitter Mark 'you are welcome to drop the grate but you will never get it back again' - because the ash falls in the operating mechanism and jams it up. The handle for the B12 drop grate is now hidden away where no-one will find it. So, and we know where this is going, it's off to the workshop for a dust mask:

I'm getting the hang of this now.

And to close, the B12 after a bout of polishing from Cleaner Jack.

More excitement in a few weeks, when I have three Third Man turns in quick succession. I'd better get swotting..

I hope you enjoyed reading about my latest adventure on the North Norfolk Railway. Here's a link to some of my past railway turns:

• Railway adventures with the wannabe retired engineer

Cleaning Turn 7 - B12 and a lot of Loco Prep

Well, I thought Friday was going to be a fairly easy yellow-timetable (one steam loco) cleaning turn, but that statement only goes to reveal my general naivety in this, my first year as an NNR volunteer.

Naive, because I had failed to realise the 1940's Weekend was just around the corner with four of the home fleet locos rostered with only two cleaners.

The day dawned bright and early, and arriving at 5:45 I spent some time realising that I had forgotten where the yard light switches were.

Rostered loco today was the LNER B12, which I seem to be getting familiar with and I cracked into the smokebox clean and inspection after I'd put my NTBM board on and done the safety checks. She had been in service the previous day and had 20 psi on the clock - she was quite warm. Simon was Third Man for the day, but arrived with no boiler suit so I did my first turn in the firebox.

B12 has no drop grate - it is an older design with firebars that have to be removed by hand, and the firebox is very long - this means that if you are to clean the grate with fire irons you are in for a long job, and the easiest way to prepare the grate is to put on a mask, take your torch and get in.

Climbing through a narrow gap into a hot firebox is an odd sensation, but you have a man on the outside to make sure you are safe and not left alone. Here he is, you can see his legs:

Inside, is a warm dusty place where you get filthy. You can see the firebars I have removed and I am brushing the ash down the gap and into the ashpan:

After that lovely experience (not too bad at all - it holds no fear for me now) I lit up the B12 for the second time.

Next, cleaning that lovely Apple Green paint. This time I dived straight in with the ladder, lashing it to the handrail stanchions to stop any chance of it sliding. I use two turns round the stanchion, followed by a turn & two half hitches around the rung.

Using the citrus cleaner, I soak the oily soot coating the top of the boiler wrapper, section by section, above the handrails on each side. I rub it off with a rag and polish up with a second rag; then I apply the wax polish with a third rag and buff up with a fourth, before moving on to the next section.

A couple or three hours later and she is done:

When the driver has oiled up, the last job is to clean and polish the splashers and the lower half of the boiler wrapper. This is quite easy, since you can do it from the running boards and it doesn't get covered in soot.

You can drink your tea off it:

With the B12 finished and going off-shed for it's day in service, I seek out Fitter Bob to find my next job. It's 1940's weekend, and there are three other loco's to prep - Cleaner Jack is working on the 4MT, Fireman Phil on the WD, which leaves me to prepare 9F 92203 Black Prince. None of them have had their grates cleaned...

She's quite a beast. Built in 1958, she represents the peak of BR loco development. Look at all those steps!

Actually, despite the steps, it's not so easy to climb up to the smokebox - those deflectors get in the way, made worse with my NTBM board on the lamp iron.

A glimpse of the future - I park my bag in the driver's seat and perform the basic safety checks.

Don't want it rolling away anywhere...

This loco wasn't in service the day before, but had a steam test apparently. There is not much in the smokebox:

Here you can see the top of the spark arrester and the double chimney:

These 9Fs have a big smokebox as you might expect. You have to get in it to clean it:

Smokebox finished and closed up, you move back to the firebox. These Standard 9Fs have a wide firebox over the frames, so the ash cannot fall into the pan as is possible with a 'between the frames' firebox. They have four of these little doors, two each side, for you to push the ash into the pan and wash it out:

They have a hopper ashpan operated by this lever:

Here's the old fire and the brick arch. You can see how wide it is, but it is not very deep which makes it easier to fire:

These locos have two rocking grates which you can move to riddle the fire, maybe 10 degrees in either direction, or move further to drop the fire. I don't have to get in the hole this time, which is just as well because there are not too many people spare just now:

That lever to the right of the firehole is used to drop the ashpan or operate the grate. This picture shows the lever in position for the left hand grate, in the normal running position:

This next one shows the first lock flipped back (by your dainty boot) to allow you to rock the grate:

This one shows the second lock released - the lever can be used to drop the fire. Not something you want to do by accident:

In this shot, the grate is in the normal position on the right and in the dropped position on the left. You still have to rake around the edges and down the middle to clean the grate:

Here are those little flaps again - you can see the ash:

This is what give the BR Standard it's characteristic look - boiler and running boards very high above the frames.

Having finished the 9F, I repeated the task on the 4MT. Then it was time for breakfast:

Next job, help out Fireman Phil on the WD. Phil was rostered for the weekend, but spent Friday cleaning the WD - a big job for one man! The smokebox was clean, but I was able to help out a bit with his firebox.

The WD has a similar grate arrangement to the 9F - hardly surprising, as they were both designed by Robert Riddles. The centre lever drops the ashpan - you don't want to touch that when you are in the yard.

Similar grate arrangement to the 9F:

And that is about it. My last job for that day was to trim the coal on the 9F's tender. When the JCB drops coal in the tender, it's hard to get it in the middle on these big locos, so it ends up on the edge. The danger then is that it will fall on some unsuspecting person and cause some damage - these lumps of coal are half the size of your head.

All you need to do is scramble up there and rake it into the middle. No sweat there then.

Last picture: the 4MT and the WD go off to the pit to drop their ashpans.

Next, they will have warming fires lit in preparation for service on Saturday - but that is a job for someone else.

More in a couple of weeks.

Recent railway posts from this blog:

Cleaning Turn 6 - B12 and the Autumn Steam Gala

Cleaning Turn 5 - B12 and basic training

Cleaning Turn 4 - Y14 again and worsted trimmings

Cleaning Turn 3 - Y14 ashing out

Cleaning Turn 2 - MICs and B12 wheels

Cleaning Turn 1 - 7F and chopping rags

Steam Department Induction Day

NNR Volunteer