Turn 16 - Third Man on the 9F - the last NLE turn for 2019

Another Winter's day, another NLE turn. That will be a grand total of four Third Man NLE turns this year, all of which usefully show in my training schedule as night turns. They are quite easy, made more so by the fact that it has been pretty wet and railway policy is that you don't clean the loco in the wet, and there is not much point as no-one sees it in the dark.

This short sighted view was not shared by Ian, a regular visitor from Suffolk who was cleaning the 9F's wheels when I showed up; as usual, the loco was lit up so I set about cleaning the cab roof and chatting to the Duty Fitter Alan, about his Steam Roller among other things.

I made the fireman's checks:

• oil bottles - present and full, and the steam oil bottle on the warming plate
• two red flags in the locker
• burns kit on board
• two gauge glasses and seals
• water bucket filled
• tender tank full
• lamps fitted and working

Having completed the cab roof windows and the brass, I moved on to those visible items outside - the buffer beams. Amazing what kerosene and oil will do:

There was plenty of coal on board, but it was all at one end of the tender. I climbed up and shoveled it all forward - probably a tonne or so. This must be good for my fitness???:

I really could have done more cleaning. Fireman Joe washed over the backhead with kerosene and steam oil, painted on with a brush; much better than I had left it:

We backed up to the pit to top up the axle boxes; I was bent double pumping oil while Driver Bryan topped up, and we chatted about Christmas plans. Following a full glass blow down (another demand for steam which the fireman must prepare for) we ashed out and I went beneath to wash down the brake rigging. I assisted Fireman Joe with the steam heat test, which involves opening the valves on the steam heat pipes at each end of the loco while the steam heat valve is opened to blow out the condensed water.

With Driver Bryan back and Fireman Joe off to get changed, we set back into the headshunt and headed off into Platform 2.

The service started slightly later than usual, as we did not have to go up the line to switch on the generators. I have no idea what I was thinking, but I managed to leave getting changed until very late  - 3 minutes before departure, in fact. My usual watch was playing up, racing ahead gaining 15 - 20 minutes, probably from the vigorous shaking it got when shoveling coal. I'd also been playing close attention to the fire. Fortunately we had more than an hour to wait, warming the train before departure and it was a rather warm day for December anyway.

I fired down to Sheringham, building the fire gently - we needed steam for heating, but we didn't want to be blowing off. We arrived safe and sound, with the fire building. I added some water on the rise up Dead man's which was a mistake, as Driver Brian needed the steam for the hill. Better to use the injectors as we crested the hill, when you can see what is in the boiler and there is little demand for steam.

Next stop, Sheringham buffet. Another good lunch from Chef Nathan and a round of tea. At this point we have a few visitors to the footplate - it is great to get people on board taking pictures to remember their visit. The visitors are really one of the best bits of life on the railway.

As usual, Joe fired the first trip up to Holt building up a good fire - especially the horseshoe around the back & sides, which you must protect on these locos; I did the run around and fired back down to Sheringham.

There were masses of people arriving at Sheringham for the second train - it has been a really popular event:

I maintained my Fireman's role while Joe unhooked & we ran round. We took on 1000 gallons of water from the Sheringham crane; and we made our next and last round trip to Holt - Joe firing up, me firing back.

Back in Sheringham we waved our goodbyes and made our thank yous to the passengers, and went back to the water crane after run around. This time we were light engine and I fired from Sheringham up to Bridge 299 on Kelling Heath where we stopped to switch off the three generators. Keeping the fire as light as possible, I topped up the boiler on the way back to Weybourne. This time, I left it a bit light and while nothing went wrong it was low enough to warrant a prompt from Joe for me to do something about it before we ran out of steam too early. I guess as you are going to clean the fire anyway you can afford to arrive with plenty of fire - just not raging and building pressure when you want to go home.

My concentration shows in this picture - I'm waiting for the pressure to come around after laying on another round - and hoping it comes around enough for me to arrive on-shed with a full boiler!

On night turns, I've decided that I have a decent set of lights to guide the way. I use the Bardic when off the loco or when signalling, and this rechargeable LED torch when on the footplate:

It's got a magnet in the foot, which is strong enough to stay on the cab roof when moving - the arm has a single LED in the end which is bright enough to see the main pressure gauge the steam heat pressure gauges and the fireman's side water gauge yet it's not so bright as to ruin the driver's night vision:

It's got a very large LED array that I can use when I am tying on. You can place it on the end of the tender or on the loco buffer beam and shine it above the couplings & bags.

This turn is almost the last one of the 2019 season, and what a great start to my railway career it has been. I've one more turn on a Mince Pie Special on the 2nd January, and that will be it until next season.

Turn 15 - Third Man on the 4MT again

Another day, another Norfolk Lights Express - but on a Wednesday this time. A pretty gentle day for me.

The loco was lit up when I arrived on shed at 10:30 thanks to Fitter Alan, and all I had to do was raise steam whilst cleaning the footplate and attending to the fireman's preparation duties. In the previous few turns I'd seen the water gauges on the 9F spring a leak while on the road - today, I made sure the glands were good and tight. It's easier to do that during prep when you have dry gloves and the gauges haven't had time to get too hot, since you have to do the nuts up with your gloved hand alone.

By the time Fireman Paul arrived, I had over 80 psi on the clock, the tank was full and the brass was clean. We went for tea.

Driver Dave arrived, and in no time we had 160 psi on the clock and it was time to test the injectors and push back. The tender was virtually empty, so we took on two buckets from the loader; Fitter Alan is a dab hand at getting the coal right where you want it with no spillage, and pretty soon I was up on the tender raking it level & pulling it forward. We ashed out; the 4MT had had a warming fire in it the previous day, which mean that the back of the ashpan was brim full - that soon fell prey to the pit hose.

We pulled forward again, and as I'd just done all the heavy jobs Fireman Paul cleaned out the pit while I looked after the fire; I had a few hurried sandwiches from my lunch box before getting changed and signing out the Long Section staff ready to let us out of the yard.

Then it was time to go - up the road with Fitter Mark to switch on the generators, then down to Sheringham to pick up the train, followed by two round trips to Holt. All pretty uneventful; the last Light Engine trip up the line is great on these turns - it's moonlight, the train lights are all gone, and you can run up non-stop at normal line speed to switch off the generators.

We arrived back at Weybourne and I jumped off to let us into the yard - this time, Driver Dave signed off the ground frame on my training schedule so I'm now certified competent for that. During disposal, we had a graphic lesson on why you need to be careful with fire irons - by the time we had finished cleaning out the fire, the picker was glowing red hot - Driver Dave quenched it in the injector overflow.

And that was it - I stayed by the pit to put the lamps away and shovel the ash onto the heap while Dave and Paul stabled the engine and loaded on some firewood for the morning.

Another Norfolk Lights Express turn next week, and then a two week rest for Christmas.

Turn 14 - Third Man on the 9F

On the Norfolks Lights Express, the 4MT and the 9F alternate every 10 days. After my turn on the 4MT last week, the 9F was now in service (it started yesterday). When I arrived on shed at 10:30 it had already been alight for an hour, the boiler was full and the hose was in the tender so there was little prep for me to do.

Climbing into the cab, my first job was to get the grime off the roof with some paraffin and rags:

I kept an eye on the fire as I worked.

We only need one paraffin lamp from the store on the NLE, it was already on board from yesterday; the train has two special white lamps that are in the shed on charge:

There was a fair bit of coal too. I closed the doors and pulled this forward. You don't need a coat for long even in the winter:

When you clean the cab roof it may not look like you are achieving much - unless you only do half of it...

Our first trip was to drive up to Bridge 299 (taking the Holt Road over the railway on Kelling Heath) to switch on the generators for the various woodland displays. This is a Light Engine movement starting with a turn in the Ground Frame, then a ride up the line to Averies Curve where we do a lot of climbing about to start the generators.

Next, it's down to Sheringham to hook on and warm the train, and have a late lunch. A lady came along with a film camera to have a chat with us today - I wonder if we will see ourselves on the telly?

Awful picture, sorry...

Our first trip was all about filling that huge firebox and getting the engine warm - it's a lesson for the next turns to get the engine hot during prep, especially on the bigger locos. On the second trip she was raring to go, even blowing off at one point.

As usual, I was on observation duty, calling out signals, coupling/uncoupling and operating the points at run around. We also fill the tender before leaving Sheringham for the second train and before disposal. I've got to find a better way of doing this in the dark as it takes both hands to hold the hose and leaves you holding the torch in your mouth...

I fired the Light Engine trip from Sheringham up to Bridge 299 & back to Weybourne for disposal. I shoveled enthusiastically (and dare I say quite accurately) on the way up and I was pleased that there was no loss of power, no low pressures and that I could top up boiler for most of the trip. I fired sparingly on way down and we arrived on shed with the boiler full, 200 on the clock and the fire very low - perfect. You want to turn up on shed with the boiler full, plenty of steam to do your disposal movements without touching the fire, and a low fire so that it doesn't make steam when you have left it alone. I had the dampers closed on the way back to keep it calm.

Watching Tony today and Phil the week before, I think my shovelling technique is improving - there is less clattering around the firehole, and more more coal in the right places.

Roll on next week.