Turn 90 - Cleaning the 4MT

A simple turn this one - a Saturday, a green day (one steam and one DMU) and not a lot going on in the workshop. Fitter Alex and Third Man Tom are here early and we have the 4MT.

Third Man Tom is shed staff and doesn't get many turns, so I clean the smokebox and leave him to do the rest until Fireman Steve and Driver Foz arrive at 07:00.

I make a thorough job of the boiler barrel and smokebox, and Third Man Tom cleans the tender paintwork:

Here's the arty shot of the shiny smokebox:

I have an idle moment and go and make tea. This is the Terrier - it's due back to the KESR in 3 weeks, so everyone is cracking on with it:

Turning to Wissington, this is what slide valves look like:

Here she is, part way through her repaint:

Back in the yard, Fitter Alex blows down:

In an idle moment, I make a useful broom out of a head with a broken handle and a handle with no head. These are typical little jobs cleaners do:

When they are off shed, I clear up some ash someone has dropped in the four foot in Road 4 near the shed, spreading it into the potholes. I take the opportunity to get rid of some old boards and rags that have been laying in there for ages. There's four broken fire bars in the ash - I collect some other broken bars I find in the yard and put them in the 'scrap cast iron' bin. I guess that long bar is the centre section from the WD that cracked a few days ago:

Next job is to dispose the Y14, which has been taken out of service to get the driver's side injector steam pipe fixed - it's been leaking in two places.

For a change, I climb in the firebox and clean it properly (a change? weren't you in here last week?!). There's loads of ash in the smokebox.

Next, it's breakfast time, which I have in the picnic area the other side of Bridge 301. Breakfast arrives on the first 'up' train:

It's delicious - bacon, sausage, egg, tomato and mushrooms in a ciabatta roll:

I've finished with the Y14, and I need to go down to Sheringham to sign my Certificate of Competency - basically a declaration that I believe myself to be competent as a Passed Cleaner and that an Inspector agrees.

After chopping some wood, I take a break and wait for the second 'down' train, the DMU, to take me to Sheringham.

You can see well out of a DMU. I rather like them.

After a chat and a cup of coffee, I take the next service up again:

And it's back to breaking up pallets for the wood store...

Next turn is in just over a week - it's a firing turn with Driver Paul and Third Man Brad.

Turn 89 - Firing Test on the Y14

 Well here it is - the day I have been anticipating for a while. I am strangely relaxed and really looking forward to the day. Fitter Alan and Inspector Ed are here too.

The Y14 has other ideas - yesterdays report indicates there is a problem with the grate - a bulging firebar. I dive in and change it - which is a good idea as I can give it a proper clean at the same time. Alan offers to change it, but I'm in there. He stays on hand to make sure I'm OK and that things don't go squirly from the start. 

Next, watched by Inspector Ed, I go back to the shed to sign on and read the notices - he explains the check sheet he will work through to ensure that I have all the competencies I need. We go down to the loco and I begin prep as usual.

Driver Paul has drummed the Y14 lighting up procedure into me and it goes well - there is very little smoke, though I do get a prompt from Inspector Ed to bring it around a bit quicker. We were off shed on time but it would have been better with 100 psi when going on the pit instead of 50 - just imagine how that would have been if you had needed to blow down.

By the way - for those of you that like pictures in blog posts, there are going to be hardly any in this one. I was far too busy concentrating on the day to take pictures, so most of the ones in this blog post are library shots.

Sorry.

Anyway, I'm relaxed and well in control on the pit, ashing out, testing the injectors and coaling; Fitter Alex gives us a load of older coal from the back of the heap which is from the UK and is larger than the Polish coal on the tender, so we have a mixture today.

We head out and have a great day - the trips go reasonably well, I don't feel swamped or tired though I do most of the hooking on, most of the token exchanges and all the watering. Inspector Ed takes over the driver's seat for the third trip and Driver Gary behaves as my Third Man, hooking on and exchanging the token.

Inspector Ed is a lot more enthusiastic with the regulator than Driver Gary and, as I suspect, he leaves his seat on the hill. For the first time, I drive a train hauled by the Y14 - I've only done this once before and that was on the WD. We arrive in Holt quite comfortably, though I stop 10 feet short - which is ideal.

Gary is back on the regulator for the fourth trip, which is fine and I have the water well up and plenty of fire as we approach Weybourne Light Engine, ready for disposal.

Disposal goes like a dream, and I have enough fire to fill the gauges over the top nut and since these gauges have separate water and steam valves, you can set them so you can see when the water comes over the top nut. Very satisfying.

At the de-brief, which seems to last forever as I still don't know if I have passed, Inspector Ed brings up a number of points:

• he says my methods are a bit unorthodox, adding that 'unorthodox' does not mean 'bad' and that he arrived at that opinion after we had made two successful round trips. Basically, I allow the pressure and water level to vary wildly by being reactive - perhaps I could fire more leaving Weybourne on the 'up', to avoid having to fire on the hill and to guarantee I could arrive with enough water without having to fire again after adding that water 
• he picked both Gary and I up on calling signals - platform starters as you arrive, calling platform and section starters separately, calling distant signals. Typically I don't call distant signals very often and I will usually call both the section starter and the platform starter as though they are one; I have never called a platform starter as I arrived at a station I was going to stop at, though knowing the state of that signal allows the driver to use more space in the platform if he wants to - and the signal is clear.
• Ed also noticed that I will watch the driver's side of the train, usually watching the train backwards as the driver looks forwards - I got in his way when we were going tender first. He said you should let the driver do his job, and the fireman should keep to his own side

So, in the end, he stood up, held out his hand and said 'congratulations'. Almost three years and 89 turns ago I signed on as a loco cleaner at the NNR for the first time and today, with Fireman Gary and Driver Ed I passed my assessment to become a Passed Cleaner. 

All that remains is to say thanks guys and thanks to all the volunteers and staff that have shown me what to do, given up their turns to let me fire and put up with all the silly questions, mistakes, clattering shovels on fire holes and Bismarck moments during prep.

It's been a blast, and now I can really look forward to the 2022 season.

Turn 88 - Third Man on the 9F

 This is an important turn - the last one before my Firing Test. We've got the 9F, I have my extended Carter shovel, and we are out with Fireman Richard and Driver Foz, so we are in for a good day.

I light up the big engine with a big heap of wood to get it good and hot, and it goes easily though I haven't got enough in the corners.

Fireman Richard raises steam, while I wipe over the paint and clean the tender. It's a red timetable day, so there is another loco being lit up alongside us - the GER Y14.

Last week, Chief Engineer Keith warned us that the coal we have currently was prone to falling through the grate whilst still burning, and continuing to burn in the ash pan, leading to damaged ash pans and lineside fires. I take this picture while checking the axleboxes with Driver Foz - you can see the ash pan is red hot and there is a fire burning in there:

We keep the ashpan sprinkler (which runs from injector #1) cracked open the whole day, and try to use mainly injector #1, or both injectors to keep the ash pan cool and the ash dead.

We took on two shovelfuls of coal at my suggestion, but since the 9F had only had a water change a few days ago, we didn't have to blow down. This wasn't very clever - it was spewing coal all over the footplate for the first two trips and I spent too much time clearing up.

Walking back through the shed to get changed, I took a couple of pictures of Wissington in her first new layers of green topcoat:

Wissy's safety valve covers:

Chatting at Sheringham over breakfast, Fitter Alan mentioned that I had my firing test coming up soon - on finding that it was in fact only a week away, Fireman Richard decided that I should fire all day, so I took over the shovel at Sheringham for the first up. It was to prove more challenging than I had imagined.

I was very light on first trip, on a big cold engine. This mass takes a lot of heat and I just wasn't giving it enough fuel to chew on. We had to stop and wait for the pressure to recover before we got away at Weybourne, and we were so long the guard came down to see what was going on...

The second trip was better, but Driver Foz said he would have liked a bit more pressure at the top - at least the water level was OK. The third trip was better - fireman Richard drove, and while it burned through on the hill we arrived in reasonable shape.

The fourth trip was fine, and after the difficulty the previous week on the WD I made sure I had enough heat for disposal.

Next week - firing test!

Turn 87 - Third Man on the WD

 This time next week, I shall be on the railway for my Firing Test, so I'm hoping in these next couple of turns to remind myself what to do!

It's a red service today, with two steam hauled trains rostered to provide seven round trips between them, plus two trips by DMU at the end of the day. We are rostered to the second loco, which goes out a half hour later and provides three round trips.

Fireman Steve is here early, and when I have finished cleaning the rather damp WD smokebox he lights up. Fireman Paul has the Y14, which is replacing the 7F which has sprung a leak in the tender water tank. The BR Standard 4MT is being lit up as well - it will haul the Ivatt 2MT down to Sheringham for it's return trip to the KWVR, and it's mainline equipment is being refitted and commissioned for the Cromer dining trains to start.

As I stand here on the tender, wiping down the dusty paint I see the day is rather overcast.

Fitter Bob provided a loader full of coal for us, delivered to the front of the tender such that we didn't have to do too much shovelling. I climbed up to trim it off before heading back to the changing room to get out of my filthy boiler suit.

Fireman Steve fired the first two trips, and I climbed around hooking on, handling the token and the water crane. The boiler didn't get much over 160 on the first trip, but by the end of the second it was over 200 psi and ready to play.

I took over the shovel on the second down trip, at Weybourne with a full boiler and a lot of fire - I didn't need to do much until we were back at Sheringham where I laid a bit on to keep the fire hot while we ran around and took on water.

By the time we came to leave for the third trip, Fireman Steve was in the driving seat and I had the boiler full and sitting at around 220 psi; driver Graeme was predicting that she would blow off. The valves weren't even feathering, and we set off out of the station and over the crossing with no drama. I decided not to fire again until we were at the top of Dead Man's, and she was still sitting above 200 by the time we got to Weybourne. I fired again when the down service arrived, and we set off up the hill.

By this time, I had put my forged Bulldog shovel aside and I was using the company shovel. The thing is with these wide firebox locos, you have to get the coal into the back corners if you are to avoid getting holes there. My Bulldog forged shovel is very flat, and it's very difficult to get the coal into the corners - you need a shovel with more of an angle to it. I've now repaired my cranked pressed shovel and I'll use that next time I fire the WD or the 9F.

The fourth round trip wasn't quite so good as the third - we were running at between 180 and 200 as Driver Graeme is a bit more enthusiastic with the regulator than Fireman Steve. Fireman Steve was in the tender during this trip, whenever we were stationary - he had the loco the next day, and wanted to pull the coal forward to prepare for that - and it helped me out as well.

It all went wrong on the way to dispose though. I was convinced I had enough fire when I left Sheringham, and the water was in the top of the glass as we romped up the hill - but of course by the time we were on the pit it was just over half full and the boiler was at 160 psi, recovering very slowly with a hole in the front left. I attempted to fill this and failed; and I left it alone while Driver Graeme checked underneath. It had risen to 180 when he was out again, and I managed to get it above 3/4 full; we stabled the loco and I cleaned the pit.

By the time we were done with disposal, the boiler was over the top nut and the injectors were dropping out - a bit close for comfort. I always say it's much easier to get rid of too much fire than re-heat a cool boiler, and I will be following that adage next time.

Turn 86 - Third Man on the Y14 - Spring Gala

 After the Thursday cleaning session comes the gala proper. I hadn't volunteered for anything on the first day, the Friday, but I was rostered Cleaner 3 on the Saturday which was to be two and a half trips on the Y14, with the vintage set initially and then half a trip with the mixed set.

This year, there is an evening shift and a night shift - the night shift starts at midnight and when I signed on a 04:15 Cleaner Nick had the boiler at 120 psi and a thin fire in the grate. I started polishing - in the pitch dark at 04:30 in the morning, looking after the fire while Nick went off to oil up one of the other five locos being prepared for the day.

By the time dawn broke over the yard I had finished the boiler and we were still at 120 psi, though with a full fire covering the grate which I could use to bring the boiler around very quickly. Passed Fireman Paul had arrived and right after I took this shot, we steamed down onto the pit to ash out and finish oiling up.

Fireman Steve signed on about 07:00, and together we cleaned the soot the Westinghouse pump had thrown over the boiler, and oiled up the smokebox while Steve polished some brass; we were scheduled to wait in the headshunt for half an hour, which gave me time to polish up the running plates.

She looks very smart.

As it was a gala turn, I wasn't, as a cleaner, allowed to do any firing so I spent the day engaged in the usual banter with the crew and with hooking on & off and taking water.

I did learn something new today, observing Fireman Steve and speaking to Driver Paul about the flap above the firehole. Hitherto I'd seen it as a bit of an irritation and habitually fired with it up - but of course it's purpose is to control the secondary air such that the incoming air is taken from the warm area around the fire door, which will have less of a cooling effect on the boiler.

The day ended just after 13:00 when we relieved at Weybourne by the afternoon crew, and we spent the next couple of hours milling about & chatting with the other volunteers.

Spring Gala - Loco Cleaning Day

 It must be Spring, as we are all on shed on a Thursday cleaning locos. Tomorrow is the start of the three day Spring Steam Gala, where there will be five steam locos operating over the whole day - the first train is off shed at 07:46 and the last is back on shed at 23:14, as there is a Murder Mystery train in the evening, and they all need to be prepared and warmed up.

There's maybe 12-15 of us here, and we have six engines to clean as one, the WD, will be the reserve loco. There's a lot of shunting going on as well as the shed staff shuffle the engines around to get them in the right position to take their first turn in the morning. 

I take the Standard 4MT with Fireman Richard and Cleaner Nick, and we spend the whole day on it, cleaning stuff that doesn't usually get any attention on a normal service day. She looks very smart when we are done; this shot was taken during a move and you can see we hadn't touched the chassis or the motion at that point:

The visiting Ivatt 2MT 41241 wears a maroon livery to commemorate the 50th anniversary of it's release from BR to the KWVR; when it arrived at the KWVR in 1968, BR would not permit it to wear a BR livery, though it has been in lined BR black for most of it's life. It makes a change to have a different livery, but I'm not sure I like it...

Here's Driver Dave and Fitter Tom on the footplate of the Ivatt, building the warming fire. Driver Dave lit all the warming fires during the day, and they would be tended overnight by the shed staff and by some early-start cleaners:

There's actually a fair bit of space to swing a shovel in there, but I bet there will be coal on the floor for most of the day when it's in service:

One of the things I rarely get to do is make a decent job of the characteristic injector pipework on a normal service day - there just isn't time before they get too hot. Today however is different. this is the 'before' picture:

And this is after an hour or so. The trick is to attack the injector bodies with paraffin and a wire brush, and then use emery and Scotchbrite, followed by Brasso, on the pipes. It's OK, but I could have done a lot more. There's a lot of scale on the pipes where water from the slacker pipe drain drops onto the hot steam supply pipe. This is quite capable of blunting emery tape and takes a lot of removing.

And after a day in the wind, getting mucky and covered in paraffin? Pub o'clock.

Picture unashamedly nicked from Inspector Joe. I'm sure he won't mind.