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