We are well in to December now, and after several days of 50 mph winds and rain I'm very pleased to arrive at the railway with a day of relatively calm weather. Jacob and I have to prep the loco which isn't a lot of fun in the wind and rain, until you get the fire warmed up. I'm surprised to find we are rostered on the 4MT - it turns out the loco roster has been rearranged to make better use of the time remaining between washouts on the 4MT and the 9F.
There's not much in the smokebox today, and when I am done with it Jacob cleans the grate and lays the fire. We make sure a lot of wood and rags goes on and it lights up well; Jacob moves into the tender to pull some coal forward for the fireman to raise steam.
It's a Norfolk Lights Express day, and we don't have to clean the paintwork as the locos are covered in fairy lights. The weather however has not been kind to the 4MT which has been standing in the yard for a couple of days having a water change - the motion is quite rusty on the seaward side so Fitter Alan has asked that Jacob & I clean it up with some Scotchbrite & oil:
Since Fireman Dan and Driver Keith are here to look after the footplate activities, Jacob and I can both get on with this job which leaves the loco looking very smart.
I had a go at 'quartering' the buffer heads:
It worked to a point - I was using 60 grit Scotchbrite, and it may have been better to use emery tape. The quarters are not very distinct.
With the loco heading for the pit, I head to the mess room to make a round of tea. When I get back, Jacob & Driver Keith are under the loco draining axle boxes & oiling up; next, we blow down and then it falls to me to swill out the ash pan. The pit hose is doing its usual thing - blowing as much water backwards as it does forwards and pretty soon my boiler suit is well and truly 'flame retardant' as are my trousers and boots. The crew go and get changed, while I stay on the loco to receive a bucket of coal and help Fitter Alan take a water sample. Jacob empties the pit:
I go and get changed and then head to the ground frame to let the loco out of the yard, and we are off up the line to start the generators.
Down in Sheringham, we get ourselves tied on and I go and organise some food - pasty and chips for me and Driver Keith, cheesy chips for Fireman Dan.
Dan fires the first up, which is a steady trip at over 200 psig which Dan makes look easy; I untie at Holt and run around. Back on the loco Dan stows his shovel and I fire the first down, which is just a matter of having enough fire to accelerate the train away from the stations and the 3 mph sections, and to replace the water we use. We arrive in Sheringham again with over 180 on the clock and 3/4 of a glass. Heading up, I'm trying to keep some water space for a change and take care to fire on the slow section up Dead Man's - this is where I let the fire get too low last time on this loco. It works more successfully and we don't lose pressure - I fire again on the way down to 303 for the 1 in 80, and then again in Weybourne. The crew warn me to fire more heavily in the back, which I do, but they are both concerned that there is a hole - which they can hear as a deep throbbing roar. I will have to listen for that in the future.
We get up to Holt without any embarrassing pressure issues and Dan takes over for the rest of the trip - I busy myself with hooking on and off, generators, and the ground frame. Back in the yard, ashing out we find unburnt coal in the pit - this is unusual. There may be a hole in the grate, and we leave a note for the prep crew on tomorrows shift.
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