Turn 140 - Second Man at the Mixed Traction Gala

 Another unusual timetable today. Driver Andy and I are rostered to the Class 31 for most of the morning followed by a transfer to relieve the crew of the Class 37. 

Our first job is to prepare and start up the 31 & the 66. Andy is a professional driver and does this all the time, so I get to do the whole job on both locos under his watchful eye.

The next job is to fuel the 31, then go down to Sheringham for another railway breakfast, supplemented today by some extra black pudding from Andy, who doesn’t enjoy the bloody delicacy.

We did the first up trip on our own, with Andy driving; I drove down to Weybourne, where we picked up the 66 on the front. We were scheduled to stop a loco length before the end of the platform, and should have agreed where that was and maybe I wouldn’t have stopped short! Stopping short is not a happy situation, because a passenger may attempt to alight onto the platform ramp and injure themselves; you can’t safely correct the problem because someone may have opened a door already - one of the reasons we have central door locking on the main line nowadays.

So that was the end of our independence - we spent the rest of the day as a brake translator for the 66 or sitting on the end of the train dragged around by the 47 or the 9F. Brake translators are required because the 66 is air braked - the stock is vacuum braked, so the 66 operates the air brakes on the 31 and the 31’s dual braking system applies the vacuum brakes on the train.

The 66 is a Canadian design, and isn’t to my taste aesthetically but it’s quite a beast. 

Of course the hot weather is here now and we are in the season of lineside fires. We had a grandstand view of Fireman Sid and Guard Henry dealing with one caused by the 9F:

The end of the turn came in the form of a relief crew waiting for us at Weybourne.

Normal service will be resumed next week!