Turn 112 - Firing the 7F

 Well, I've not used the torch yet (apart from in the firebox) but the sun is rising as I drive to Weybourne now, as we near the end of the summer holidays and start to roster for the yellow Autumn service; the volunteer newsletter, Poppylines, is talking about plans for the Santa's and the Norfolk Lights Express.

Today is a new challenge - a firing turn on the old bogey, the 7F upon which I have occasionally come to a sticky end. Regular readers will know what I'm talking about!

The old 7F has a drop grate, and the previous crew had left a very thin fire, so it didn't take me long to get rid of the remaining ash. I'd scooped a barrow full of ash out of the smokebox before I started on the fire, and I'd got myself a bucket of rags and paraffin to try to avoid climbing on and off the loco more often than I had to.

The tender had mostly dust and ovoids, so with Driver Paul's words ringing in my ears I shovelled a few scoops under the arch, followed by a lot of wood to get it hot really quickly. in this way, you can light the fire without making much smoke.

During prep, I have to admit that I had forgotten to check the injector isolation valves fitted to this loco (and the B12) - you must make sure these are fully open and wound back to seat the valve at the 'open' end of the travel. When I spotted them, they were already open from the previous day.

Prep went very smoothly that day and Driver Henry and I managed to clean the boiler barrel, smokebox, cab, running boards and tender between us by the time we went off shed.

The day was pretty uneventful really - I fired the first three trips quite successfully, though the first trip up to Weybourne was a bit cold, as it often is - I think we were around 150 psi when we arrived at Weybourne, but with some coal and a bit of blower it was soon up to pressure - I had plenty of water though. You need a decently thick horseshoe in the back of the firebox. 

I drove the fourth trip with Driver Henry on the shovel, and we had a spirited run on the way up which brought a smile to a few faces when we stopped at Holt, and a cautionary look from Driver Henry when he thought I shouldn't give it any more - he was still grinning though!

The 7F is fitted with the Midland pattern brake valve, which operates both the train brake and the loco brake: 

It's described in the LMS 'Black Book' or "Questions for Enginemen &c." to give it it's proper title, and it shows this nice cutaway diagram below.

It's a bit unusual in that the operation of the steam brake, even light engine, needs the ejector to create vacuum in the train pipe 1. The operation of the vacuum brake is fairly obvious from all the holes in lever 7 - operate the lever to 'on' and air is admitted to the train pipe. Now, the steam to the loco brake cylinders controlled by the steam brake valve 4 - it moves to the right to admit steam to operate the brake to on. 

You'll see that the steam brake valve 4 is operated by the lever 5. Lever 5 is operated 'off', to the left, by a piston 3 - in normal running this has vacuum at 2, and ambient air pressure at 8 (see the holes drilled in the 'piston rod'). When the vacuum brake lever is operated 'on', in addition to allowing air into the train pipe (which lessens the force on piston 3, holding the steam brake off) the ramp part of the brake lever pushes the steam brake lever 5 to the right, opening the steam brake valve and applying the steam brake - the steam brake will come off again as the lever is moved to off, increasing vacuum and the force on piston 3.

Now, if the loco is standing with the tender brake on, steam can be saved by switching the ejector off. If this happens, lever 5 can move to the right since it is not restrained by piston 3, which in the absence of vacuum is free to move to the right - which would allow the steam brake to come on, wasting steam. To prevent this, there is a hook at 6 which holds the steam brake off in the event of there being no vacuum.

This hook is specially shaped to hold the steam brake on when you want the vacuum off, but don't want to use the handbrake - perhaps at a signal, when the guard is testing his brake, or when you are about to move off. It's got a notch in the top of the hook which holds the lever 5 in the 'steam brake on' position, as shown in the picture above, and you can easily flick the lever out of this notch to let the brake off when you are pulling away.

This braking system is quite different to the other locos, which all have separate vacuum brake and steam brake levers, and takes a bit of getting used to. My first stop at Weybourne was a bit more sudden than I would have liked, but the stop at Holt was as smooth as you like and in the right place - I overdid it on run around though and managed to stop the loco halfway into the headshunt, so that I had to get it moving again. The rest of the trip was fine, and I'd got used to it by the time we got back down to Sheringham.

We had a bit of shunting to do before home time - our train needed to be moved to the loop, so that we could pull the dining train out for the fish and chip service. Driver Henry handled that, as my experience is really not up to that kind of precision driving!

Disposal was pretty straightforward - there was a bit of clinker at the back, probably caused by all the ovoids we'd used. 

I finished the day by clearing out the pit and left with a lot more confidence in this old girl than I arrived with - I had let it blow off once, had no water level problems and certainly hadn't stopped in section!

Turn 111 - Firing the 4MT

Wednesday marked a return to normal service - up at 05:00 for a trip to Weybourne, to prepare loco 76084, the BR Standard 4MT and take it out for the day with Driver Ed.

GWR tank loco 4270 has been delivered for the gala - but the gala has been postponed. It's here until 40's weekend, so perhaps I will get to look at it?

The 4MT hasn't been out since washout, but it was in steam in the yard all day yesterday so was quite warm - but there was nothing much in the smokebox. I dropped the fire in the pan and had a look around the firebox before lighting up - I am putting a lot more wood on these days and it went easily, with little smoke.

There's a tender full of water from yesterday, 3500 gallons, despite the fact that the tender water gauge only shows 3000 - it's a temporary one apparently. I cleaned the boiler barrel and the cab while tending the fire, but Loco B, the Y14 was behind us and went on the pit first.

Driver Ed took a break while we waited.

We dropped a bit of ash in the pit but there was no need to clean the pan out and I hooked on to the Y14 for us to go down to Sheringham together. We stopped at the West box for them to unhook and go on to their train, but we waited a while for ours - Carriage & Wagon were working on the train brakes.

Our first trip up was a bit underwhelming - the boiler pressure was down to 160 psi as we drew into Weybourne to drop off the shed crew breakfast, and I was short of water, because I was short of heat. I took a bit of time to warm it up before we left, with some blower and a lot of coal but I should have put a lot more on in Sheringham and at Dead Man's - Ed's quite enthusiastic with steam and the loco was cold.

The first half of the second trip was much better but it was too light in the back. I fixed that at Weybourne and we went up at 210 psi, arriving with 3/4 glass.

The third trip was perfect. I fired the front and back much more heavily than usual, but there were no blow offs - in fact none all day. I even fired over the baffle at one point! 

Back in Sheringham, we get ready to run around and Driver Ed asked if I would like to take the next one up - of course I would! Why would I miss a driving opportunity? Past experience of driving the Y14 on a train, and the 37 on a train told me that I need to keep eagle-eyes on the vacuum gauge, because over-braking will be my downfall.

I hooked on, and then with about five minutes to go I put the steam brake fully on and moved the large ejector lever to the vertical position, to see it create 21” Hg on the vacuum gauge. The train was now held on the loco brake and the Guard could do his brake continuity test. The cylinder drain cocks were open, as we had been sitting there for 20 minutes or so, and when the Signalman cleared the Platform Starter and the Section Starter, I set the reverser to 70% of full forward gear.

Driver Ed told me that when the whistle comes I could let the steam brake off first, as the tender brakes take a while to come off. That done, I shut the cocks, give a quick toot on the whistle and set the regulator to 60 psi, and we slid gracefully out of the station.

I've got to thank S&T Volunteer Mick Ladner for this picture - the only one of me driving a train that I have seen.

I notched up to 60% almost straight away and we gently accelerated up to 10 mph, the speed limit on the crossover, as Driver Ed fired. Going past the West box, the train picked up speed and we rolled steadily over the crossing.

I opened the regulator a bit more to get up to line speed as we completed the 1 in 333 and started the ascent to Dead Man’s. Cresting the hill, I shut off, set the reverser to 20% for coasting and brought the brake pressure up to 15” to test the brakes and get a feel for their action - much more than 15” produces a significant slowing effect, helping me to know what to expect.

With the cut-off back up to 50%, I opened up for the 1 in 80 up to Weybourne, shutting off at the Up Home signal so the hill would knock the speed back, to achieve the 10 mph limit at the crossover. I was back on the brake lever at the footbridge, slowing the train further and hovering around 14-15” Hg. Driver Ed had told me to stop on a ‘rising brake’, that is, with the vacuum increasing towards 21”. Doing this allows the remaining vacuum further down the train to bring the coaches to a stop but prevents a sudden jolt - the whole train appears to glide to a stop. You can then apply the brake fully.

Very satisfying.

After another smooth start at Weybourne we arrived at Holt with another steady stop, but now we needed to unhook and we would have to squeeze up. Winding the reverser to 70% full back gear, I gave the regulator a tiny nudge and shut it immediately, applying the steam brake.

I unhooked, having left the regulator closed, the reverser in full back gear and the steam cocks open, and we ran around.

Coming back onto the train I let a whiff of regulator get us moving at a walking pace, applying full steam brake as the buffers made contact - which was nothing like as gentle as the last time I did this, on the Y14. I’ll have to check that out.

I’ve realised over the past few weeks that I make mistakes in the afternoons, and that it’s down to hunger. I stopped for a sandwich and some more tea.

For the trip down, Driver Ed reminded me that you don’t get any time allowed for stops at Kelling, so once we had cleared the station limits I got up to line speed again, slowing for Aviaries. I was careful to keep the speed under control coming down the hill and made a successful stop in the right place at Weybourne.

Down in Sheringham, we had arranged to use the ‘extended stop’ - that is, to be allowed to pass the fixed Stop Board at Sheringham East, because the RO required the 2-car DMU to come in to platform 1 behind us. Since this would need some precise stopping, as we slowed for the West box Driver Ed and I changed places and I resumed the fireman’s role, stoking up and adding water ready for the next run.

After taking water at Sheringham, we returned Light Engine to Weybourne where we were relieved by Driver Foz & Fireman Jim, for the evening Fish & Chip service.

Another great day on the railway, with much learned. It was clear, especially watching Driver Ed fire the 4th, that you can make a deep bed with a lot of heat in it which will sustain the boiler pressure for a long time - his trip was steady at 210 from start to finish. So put more coal in Fireman Holyfield! He also fired on the hills, regardless of whether I had the regulator open or not, but the water levels were lower than I usually run with.

Interesting and highly enjoyable stuff!

Turn 110 - Second Man on the Class 37

 Well, it's warmed up again and there has been very little rain - or there hadn't until the railway made the decision to suspend steam services again. Today, as we arrive on-shed The Fates in their infinite wisdom, exerted their influence on our lives by pelting us with gobbets of water as we were preparing the loco. We were soaked through in minutes.

At least we weren't on the Y14.

By the time I arrived, half an hour early, Driver and owner Alistair had checked over the Class 37 which was nice and warm, having been preheated for four hours prior to us arriving - it has a diesel-fuelled preheater wired to a central heating controller. I went down to the oil store to get a pint of compressor oil, which was the only thing needing attention, apart from a windscreen wiper.

Duty Fitter Bob found us a wiper, which we trimmed to fit. Driver Alistair replaced it through the nose hatch:

We'd noticed during prep that one of the doors on the Second Man's side persistently caught on the rubber floor matting. Fitter Bob found me some 5 minute Epoxy which fixed that in a few minutes with the help of a lump of concrete to hold it down.

We fuelled up, and when the Class 20, which was on the A service, had gone off shed we were allowed into the platform - since I have now accumulated an hour or so on three diesel-electric locos, Alistair was happy to let me drive Light Engine down to Sheringham. It was pouring with rain, so we agreed that I would stop at the West Box and Alistair would put the loco on the train - to make sure we didn't lose grip and touch on too heavily. Observer Kevin joined us - he would do most of the hooking on.

We were soaking wet, so the cab heaters stayed on for a while.

The first trip was straightforward, and when we returned to Sheringham and had run around Alistair announced that we would swap sides for the second trip.

In the driver's seat, I followed his instructions explicitly, when to put power on and how much, when to brake and where to put the lever, when to slow for crossings. This would be the first time I had driven a diesel-electric on a train, but I was feeling pretty confident under Alistair's guidance and it went very well.

I returned to the Second Man's seat for the third trip

It was my turn again for the fourth trip. The trip up was OK; I took this picture showing the 37 in her new green paint as we waited at Weybourne for the Class 20 to come down:

The run around at Holt was OK, but the down trip wasn't so good. We had a stop at Kelling and  I wasn't so successful in following my Driver's instruction and took several attempts to get the train in the right place in the short platform each time stopping too early through allowing the vacuum to drop too much.

We were relieved on fifth down by the Fish & Chip crew so there was no light engine trip or disposal, but by the end I had completed 2 1/4 hours in the driving seat.

I'm well happy with that.

Turn 109 - Firing the 4MT: Fish and Chip Train

 A short turn this one, relieving the day crew and taking the BR Standard 4MT out on a fish & chip service.

Driver Grahame and I turn up at 16:25 on a sunny afternoon and we wait for the loco to show up. It's full of coal & water and the boiler is up to pressure, so all we have to do is wait in the headshunt for the 'B' loco, the 7F, to finish it's trip and for the DMU to come down from Holt.

Down in Sheringham, we hook on and wait, getting the fire prepared and chatting to passengers. I go down to the buffet car to collect our food.

Remembering the last time I was out, I build a good fire and then feed it again before we get to the signal box, and add a couple more shovelfuls to the middle after we are over the crossing. I'm pleased to be up to pressure and to have the injector on going up Dead Man's; I feed the fire again on the way down and we arrive in Weybourne with plenty of water.

We've been feeding ourselves on the way up as well.

We stop in Weybourne for a few minutes to let the signalman switch out the box, and we are on our way. I've built the fire up around the back and sides again, and we are full of water but I am disappointed to see the pressure dropping to 180 psi as we crest Wind Pump - I've not got enough coal on and it's very thin, almost gone in the front by the time we get up.

Several times, Driver Grahame has opened my firebox door as the smoke has darkened. This isn't smokeless coal!

Back in Sheringham with a full boiler and plenty of pressure we have to wait for the train to be unloaded and for the pilot to pull the coaches off - we are in platform 2 and the 'A' set is in platform 1 ready for the morning. We wait ages - Grahame checks the water in the tender and decides refilling is a job for the morning.

We head back to Weybourne for disposal and home. No dramas, a bit of clinker but nothing much and as the sun sets we are done for the day.

Turn 108 - Firing the Y14

The barley is harvested and the weather is not quite so hot, so we are back to steam service this week - it's been 2 1/2 weeks on diesels for me. 

We arrive to find we are rostered to the WD according to the black board - but the WD is in the shed. Apparently we are to use the Y14, great fun and the perfect engine for a hot day. 

It lights up easily, with lots of wood and not too much smoke, and we set about polishing it up. 

Down in Sheringham, it was apparent that the coal was really dusty and the slacker pipe was nowhere near adequate to wet it - they are throttled so you cannot spray near-boiling water over your crew mates or the public. So, I had no option but to use my bucket, which usually carries my bottle of Fairy liquid, used for washing hands or the floor.

I spent the whole day looking for that bottle, only to discover it's whereabouts when I looked through the pictures I had taken of the crew of the 4MT...

Whilst the day started well, I'd not got to Weybourne before I realised I wasn't on form - by the time we had crested Dead Man's the pressure was dropping, mainly because I had avoided firing in deference to the tinder dry grass along the lineside. I had the injectors on over the level section and fired when the regulator was closed on the way down, but of course there wasn't enough recovery time and we arrived in Weybourne at something like 120. I made up the fire to get us up the next bit quite happily, but the next trip was much the same.

I asked for advice from Driver Christian, who has 140 firing turns under his belt, and his suggestion was to get the injector on up Dead Man's and fire on the way down. I tried this on the third trip up and arrived at Weybourne with 135 psi on the clock - a bit of an improvement, though I think if I'd not been trying to avoid firing on the way up Dead Man's I would have put more in the box on the level and put the injector on on the way down.

Still, Christian motioned me into his seat at Weybourne, and I drove the 3rd trip up from standstill at Weybourne observing the signals, right away and the proper reverser-brakes-whistle-regulator sequence as we moved off. Christian fired, noting that there was nowhere near enough in the back of the firebox. As we got up to line speed after the crossover I moved the reverser to mid-gear, closed the regulator and opened it again into second port for the trip up the hill.

Coming into Holt, I managed to stop more or less in the right place but it was less smooth than I would have liked - Christian suggested that I watch the vacuum gauge rather than try to feel for the brakes operating, with my lack of driving experience. I ran around the train and put the loco on the water crane, within a couple of tries.

The next challenge was to put it on the train, which was easier than I ever imagined - just edge the regulator open, shut it again, and let the pistons compress the steam in the valve chest to cushion the impact - as Christian said, it almost stops itself.

We had a footplate visitor for the 3rd down/4th trip up - Ed from the Kent & East Sussex.

While we were stationary, someone asked how much coal we would get through in a trip - my guess was perhaps 800 kg in a day, Christian's estimate was 1300 kg - no wonder my upper body strength is improving ! 

Disposal was uneventful, though there was lots of ash.

The learning from the day was to put more on the back, just like you do at Weybourne, so that it is full to bursting for the trip up Dead Man's, then fire when up to line speed going down the 1 in 333, then allow the loco to draw the fire against a closed door on the 1 in 97. Hopefully by the time you crest Dead Man's you will have enough pressure to allow you to use the injector, then you can top up the fire on the way down the 1 in 100 ready to ascend the hill into Weybourne.

Better luck next time. Follow your instinct, and don't over think it - it's your fire.