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.
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