We are near the end of the season now and I've only two booked turns left - both Mince Pie Specials, which are early starts with four round trips - much like a green or yellow timetable, but starting a bit earlier - the first train is a bit later as well, which gives an extra hour for carriage warming and having breakfast.
All the crew were on shed early - Driver Paul, Fireman Sid and Fitter Alex, so as befits the rostered cleaner I went down to light up. The 9F had had a warming fire in it the day before, but was relatively cold. She lit up easily though, with a lot of wood and with a few air gaps - I had already been sternly told by Driver Paul that I wasn't to make clouds of black smoke - and with the blower wide open, I didn't.
With the fire going, the lamps ready and the pit hose in the tender, I joined Fireman Sid who was already hard at work cleaning the paintwork. Sid puts a lot of effort into cleaning locos and they always look immaculate when he is on duty.
She came around in good time and we were soon on the pit, and I filled the axleboxes as directed by Driver Paul. Next, we ashed out and as they set back to take on coal I cleared the pit. Getting close to time, Fireman Sid handled two glasses blown down and we went off to change.
I was last out of the changing room, so I made my way to the ground frame to let them out. Down in Sheringham, the buffet staff had laid on a full English breakfast for us, plus a fourth one for Fitter Alex - which he wasn't to see for a while...
While we were down in Sheringham, I took the opportunity to quiz the crew on a couple of points from my Route Knowledge exam that I didn't know the answers to.
Sid fired the first up, and the 9f showed how cold she was by refusing to exceed 160 psi for much of the trip. Sid showed me a new technique - he covered the front and built a really big back end, right up to the top of the flap, filling in the middle as we went over crossing. This was not to Driver Paul's taste - he keeps it very thin - but it works. We slowed through Weybourne attempting to deliver Alex breakfast, but it took a phone call to drag him out of the shed to collect it on our way back. It must have been pretty dry, having spent an hour on the warming plate protected by a wet cloth.
Sid fired very lightly on the way down, burning the fire through to get rid of ash & clinker.
Back in Sheringham, Sid handed over the shovel for me to fire the second & third trips while he swapped sides with Driver Paul. On the second up, I had the fire ready apart from my usual controlling hole in the middle which I filled in between the box and the AOCL - much to the consternation of Paul and Sid: this is any easy way to fail your test in a few seconds. You should let firebox heat take you out of the platform and over the crossing, so you can concentrate on seeing the train out of the station, collect the token and see the train safely over the crossing.
We got up OK, with no dramas - I was a bit heavy on the second down - too much coal. There was no blowing off but had to take avoiding action - the blower was all but off, the dampers were screwed shut and the door was open as we ascended the 1 in 333 up to the crossing. It's best not to do this - the fire could end up clinkered if you don't burn it out.
I had no pressure or water problems during the day but Driver Paul was critical of my coal placement - I was being too heavy handed & imprecise, like I needed to use the jeweller's screwdrivers, not the impact wrench. Next time I'll make an effort to put less coal on the shovel and be very deliberate about where I put it. You can fire a loco heavily and it will get you there but you will waste a lot of coal.
From 'Good Firemanship':
On the third up I had a hole in RH front corner - but short of the corner. I was concentrating on getting coal to the front, but failing to moderate my shovel action so it would fall just short of the corner. The result was 210 psi all the way up which wouldn't have been noticed by many people but Paul & Sid are both very experienced firemen.
There's people who can fire, and there are good firemen. I can make the engine go but I need to do some refining to be good at it.
We watered on the fourth up, which Sid fired, and back in Weybourne on the down trip we were relieved by the second crew who would provide the Norfolk Lights Express service.
Next one, and last one for the 2021-2022 season, next Sunday. It's another Mince Pie with Fireman Sid and Driver James, on the 4MT.
No comments:
Post a Comment