Turn 151 - Firing the 7F

 Another Tuesday, another firing turn, and another chance to enjoy the S&DJR Class 7F, 53809.  Third Man Ben, cycling in with a lot of time to spare had spent his morning with buckets of oil and paraffin and the engine was gleaming; the weather was a bit overcast and the picture doesn't do it justice.

We have plenty of time to get ready on this turn which makes a relaxed start to the day and we loped down to Sheringham with 140 on the clock - we have an hour to wait.

In contrast to last week, we had a tender full of fossil coal - this is excellent on this loco which is quite hungry, but steams really well if you feed it in the right places.

I took the first trip up, over firing as it turned out. As usual, I had the boiler full and the fire raging as we left Sheringham, watered on the way over Dead Man's & fired in the cutting. We had a nail biting six minutes at Weybourne waiting for the down service. Driver Mark was taking it easy - we didn't use much water as its a powerful loco and we had the Quad-Arts on the back, so I still had very high water while we waited. I resolved to ease back on the second up, and made use of the slacker and the ash pan sprinkler.

Firing again in Weybourne, we sailed up the hill easily and I was on the injectors again in the cutting, arriving in Holt with plenty of water and a fire which needed managing for a few minutes but settled to around 180 while we ran around.

The second up was a repeat performance, but I left the shovel alone at Dead Man's and arrived in Weybourne a little more relaxed.  

Ben took over at Holt and fired the next two very happily; I took over for the fourth down & disposal, keeping the water high and feeding it gently. A little bit too gently as it turned out - I fed it a lot more at Dead Man's and again, with dust and small bits of fossil coal as we went into the yard. The boiler was already full, but I wanted something in reserve so we could top it up after cleaning the fire. That few shovels of dust gave me 20 psi.

On disposal, I cleaned the pan twice - once to get rid of a lot of ash, and again after we had cleaned the fire. I thought there would be a lot of ash, since the pan had been quite full after prep, but I'm sure I didn't need to go to that effort.

Same time next week? 

Turn 150 - Firing the 7F

 It's Tuesday and it's a maroon service - two steam locos and a diesel, the Class 14. We are second off-shed after the BR Standard 4MT and I'm pleased that Third Man Henry has been in touch and will light up for us - I don't have to arrive until 07:30. It's not that I mind getting up early, but this turn is over 11 hours and if you start before your scheduled hours you will run out of time - you are only permitted to do 12 hours straight with 12 hours between shifts.

With Henry there, I was able to give the paintwork a good clean. The frames look like a job for later though:

It looked pretty good by the time we were ready to leave:

 

We took coal - a bucket half full of ovoids and half of fossil coal. The ovoids were on top, so I got to fire the first and second trips on ovoids, and Henry fired the 3rd and 4th on fossil - a lot of which was dusty.

There's no blow down valve on this loco; you treat hard water with tannin which keeps the solids in solution until you wash it out - which you do more frequently than on engines which you can blow down. These use soft water, which precipitates the solids out to the foundation ring so they can be blown out on a daily basis, which extends the washout cycle.

This loco is very sensitive to water levels, so I agreed with Driver Ed that we would aim at half to 3/4 glass throughout the day. Firing the first and second showed the engine wasn't too happy with the coal, my technique, or a bit of both - it wasn't maintaining pressure very well and we were arriving with it heading down to 140 - it redlines at 180; the water levels were spot on all day.

Having a look in the box, I realised that with a big back end in I was allowing the middle to get too thin, like the illustration from the Black Book - I've not fired this for a while and an unfamiliar loco takes a bit of getting used to; filling the hole in resolved the problem and I fixed it on the second trip.

It wasn't the magic bullet though. When people say 'big back end' and 'keep the front covered' that might work for fossil coal but on ovoids you need a lot more thickness - they don't shake down, any more than the coal in the tender moves forwards to avoid you double handling.

Next time I fire this I'll need to put a lot more in the front with more bed thickness; my back end was fine.

On the way back, I fired the front to keep the pressure up and let the back burn through - we had suspected it had clinkered and a few minutes with the bent dart proved that it had, though not badly. I cleared it out in Sheringham and laid a bit in the back end to save Henry a bit of time.

The third trip was a relaxing one for me - just a bit of hooking on & off. Henry, now through the ovoids and into the fossil coal had it just under 180 the whole way up with some smoke signals from the chimney. One of the features of using ovoids is that there is virtually no exhaust smoke, so you can't really tell when it has burned through.

Driver Ed was planning a little surprise for Henry. He'd been looking a little pale all day, mainly because he was covered in Factor 50 against the scorching Norfolk sunshine so it was perhaps less of a shock for Henry when Driver Ed claimed to be incapacitated at Kelling on the fourth up, and that he should take over. I sat back and watched as Henry took the train over Wind Pump and to a safe stop at Holt, with the miraculously-recovered Ed looking over his shoulder; all I needed to do was get a bit more water in the boiler. 

That's Henry another step closer to Passed Cleaner. 

I drove the fourth down, reminding myself how the Midland brake valve works and drove Light Engine back to shed. The stops were all good, including a yellow flag stop at Kelling; the Midlands style valve is easy to control using the vacuum, but personally I find the BR Standard combination brake valve easier to stop smoothly when you are Light Engine. 

Disposal went well; Henry was in charge under Ed's tutelage. 

I hope someone adds a chain to hold the upper ash pan door open though. 

Next turn? Same time next week, probably same loco. 

See you then. 

Turn 149 - Firing the Y14: Fish & Chips

A nice easy turn today, firing the Y14 on a Fish chip service - that's one round trip, non-stop on the way back, and starts with relieving the day crew of the 'A' loco and then disposing it afterwards. Here it comes light up from Sheringham:

The day crew usually ash out, and they had just taken water - all I had to do was warm up the fire and since we were a bit late we built it up a bit more then usual. We waited a little while at the yard exit signal to find that the signalman was locking his box out and we would be non-stop both ways.

It pays to keep the fire a bit thinner while waiting for the right-away on a chipper, because there is always someone who arrives late and you don't want to be blowing off in the station. The Y14 blows off a bit light anyway...

Our tea arrived, and with it a bag of chips for the signalman:

We made our round trip with the 37 on the back since there had been reports during the day of our brake ejector playing up. Taking no chances with safety, we had the twin exhausters of the 37 to supplement our vacuum if necessary, 

We had an excellent trip up with plenty of pressure. There were a couple of blows from the safety valves as we were late out, but we arrived with a good fire and plenty of water. Class 37 Driver Alistair came up with 600A on the power handle, taking his own weight  - about 103 tonnes, so we could work our engine harder to entertain the passengers.

The stop at Holt included one of the highlights of volunteering on the railway - fish & chips and tea, sitting on the footplate in the sunshine.

There was no run around at Holt - we decided that Driver Alistair would lead the train back down the hill, so all I had to do was keep the fire hot and the boiler full. Back in Sheringham, fed and watered, we uncoupled the 37 and haled the stock into the loop; the 37 moved over the crossover into platform 1 and we shunted the train back into platform 2, so we were positioned near the water crane. Filling up the tank took a few minutes as the sun set and with the 37 in tow we headed off up to Weybourne.

Driver Fozz was taking it easy and I had the boiler well up - I'd been feeding the fire gently for a while and it was thin, but hot and the gauge was still over 140 psi. By the time he had made his inspection and I had cleaned the fire, filled the boiler and ashed out it was almost burnt through.

A very successful disposal and a highly enjoyable turn.

Next, 12 days away from the railway to get my root canal fixed, do some work on the house, do a bike trip and see the kids and grandkids, and (most importantly) keep Mrs. H happy. I've done 16 firing turns this year so yar - there are five more booked before the end of September along with a Second Man turn and a Driver Training turn, and then we are into the October green service (one steam and DMU), and then it's Santas and Norfolk Lights. 

Will I get to thirty turns this year?

Turn 148 - Driver Training on the DMU

Finally, the day I’ve been looking forward to for weeks comes around - my first NNR driving lesson. OK, it’s not a steam engine (but I get to drive those pretty regularly) but it is the first turn I can properly call driver training, and it will enable me to get some extra experience and more learning done sooner than waiting for the time when (if) I’m invited to train for driving steam.

Anyone who reads my blogs will know I get pretty enthusiastic about stuff, and want to live and breath it all - that’s why I have four Ariels and still hanker for more. This is the daily rider:

It’s a 1942 350cc machine, which spent most of it’s 71 years in Italy until I brought it back to the UK in 2016.

That enthusiasm for old-tech inevitably gets directed at other old stuff with wheels and an engine (internal or external combustion, I’m not fussed). I’d been given the traction handbooks - the owner’s manual in effect, and that was a chance to get some background on how these DMUs work - the engines, fluid flywheel, gearboxes, freewheel and final drive along with the electro-pneumatic control system that looks after it all - not forgetting the twin-pipe quick release vacuum brake system.

 Fitter Dave was around before prep started and we had a walk through underneath together (forgetting to put a 'Not to be Moved' board on the unit - a big no-no). This was good chance for me to see all the big bits and to check the final drive oil levels.

Driver Daniel and I worked through the prep pages in the Traction Handbook, and we left the yard for Sheringham to collect the guard and the stock for the buffet. One element of DMU prep is that the driver, who is usually flying solo has to prep the guards area and the passenger areas and having done this in the yard he hands over responsibility for these areas to the guard when the guard joins the train.

Our first trip was an Empty Coaching Stock move from Sheringham to Holt. During the Induction Day, Driver Daniel had told us that this move has to be signed off in your Driver Training Schedule before you are allowed to driver passenger trains - so I drove this trip, and Driver Dan signed me off when we washed up at the end of the turn.

I observed Dan for the rest of the day, watching what gears he used, how he used the quick-release vacuum brakes and how he used the ‘lap’ position. At the end of the day, I drove the ECS move from Sheringham to Weybourne.

I was a bit slow, it has to be said, but you get the hang of it. The stops were mostly OK, some were a bit sudden but it's easier than five Mk1s and a CCT with a heavy loco on the front. For the record, the 2-car DMU set weighs 58 tonnes.

A few notes from the first lesson:

• The trip up to Holt with this Midland power car and the Eastern trailing unit needs gears 1 and 2 - you don't need gear 3. You must let the revs drop completely before changing up, and you must always pause the throttle in notch 2 (there are four notches) before you speed up.
• The release pipe has a high vacuum and is there to allow the brakes to come off quickly. When you take the brakes off using the vacuum from the release pipe, the vacuum in the release pipe will drop - if it equalises with the train pipe and the brakes are still not off, you are going to have to put it in neutral and sit tight, speeding up the exhausters to get the brakes off. 
• Engine failures mean you are going to lose control air pressure and without that none of the controls will work (this is why you have to use local engine start in the morning). If you break down and need a tow, you will have to use the last of your air pressure to set the final drives in the right direction.
• If you're driving alone, there's a few things that you will do a little differently - for example if you break down, you will have to look after the train protection yourself - there's no fireman or second man to take the flags, lamps or tablet for you. If you are using the Long Section Staff to get into the yard, you are going to leave staff in ground frame, drive in, then go and get it - there is no-one to help you. 

Like most diesel services, disposal is a breeze. Switch it off, shut the windows, lock the doors and check it over. Drain the air receiver and you are about done. 

I can see this new activity is going to force me to learn drivers rules - there is a fair bit I don't know or don't know very well. I'm sure the technicalities of driving the DMU are going to come reasonably quickly - it is certainly easier than juggling the demands of a steam engine so I will have to put some effort into getting the rules questions signed off.

Next turn - back to steam with a Fish & Chip service in a couple of days.

Turn 147 - Driving the Y14

This week’s blog post has a bit of an odd title for a firing turn but the reason will become clear. After signing on and reading the notices I joined Third Man Brad on the footplate of our steed for the day, the GER Y14. The fire was blazing, we had three hours to go and the boiler was already at 40 psi - heaven knows how it got up so quickly, though it’s quite a small boiler and it had been out the day before. 

We agreed that Brad would fire the first two, and I would fire the last two. Brad must be near passing out, so we planned that he would do the whole job including hooking on, tablet, signals etc. as well as firing so there was little for me to do for a bit: I filled the tender axle boxes, checked the loco axle boxes and replace one of the trimmings, ashed out and cleaned the pan:

I spent a bit more time learning about the brake pump. This is the oil filler for the air side:

You fill the little priming cup with Westinghouse oil twice.

For various reasons we were late off shed and had very little time in Sheringham. RO Peter was waiting with our breakfast, and I hooked on; we left minutes later. Brad made a great job of the trip up.

Back in Sheringham, Driver Chris offered me his seat for the 2nd trip, and then again for the 3rd. I decided that with two complete trips under my belt including running around, taking water and buffering up I would suggest that Brad make a day of it and fire to the end, so he had a full day on the shovel; I mentioned this to Driver Chris and he suggested I take the 4th up as well.

The weather turned itself around nicely - during prep it rained more or less solidly for three hours; when we went off-shed it stopped and the day was warm and sunny. 

So, with three more trips driven (after one last week) the Y14 pips the 4MT as the loco I have driven most - hauling passenger trains, that is. Here are the statistics:

What did I learn this week:

• I remembered not to wind the reverser to the end - it didn’t get stuck, and I didn’t have coffee, tea or Henry’s clock in the way of the handle;
• The reverser securing chain comes loose in some positions, which Third Man Brad drew my attention to;
• You need the regulator in second port going up the 1 in 80 hills, otherwise it’s all a bit sedate. When you come out of second port, you close the regulator fully and whack it open again to full pilot port; however, sometimes you will catch a cushion of steam somewhere and it won’t shut. I’ve had this happen on the 4MT as well. The secret is, at least on the Y14, not to open it fully in second port.
• Controlling the vacuum brake is easy with the little trigger on the handle. What I didn’t know was that if you push the handle towards the front of the loco, it operates the large ejector which obviously brings the vacuum up quickly, but wastes steam (and makes a lot of noise) if you leave it on. 

• Due to a spring problem on the 9F, the Y14 is passed it’s due date for washout, and when this happens the boiler, whose water is contaminated is more prone to foaming. Now, Driver Christian had warned me that after going into second port I must notch back the reverser very gradually to avoid the boiler pressure dropping too fast and allowing the water to foam, which is dangerous (liquid water in the cylinders leads to hydraulic damage). I was successful at this several times until, on one occasion, the boiler was blowing off and the injector went on, which serves to churn up the surface of the water and bring on foaming. You get a dense exhaust with small particles of liquid water (not like priming where you get water on the windows) and soft fluffy chuffs. When this happens, you open the cylinder cocks, switch off the feed, notch up and close the regulator. 
• During the day, stopping was a bit variable. Each time I went onto the water crane I stopped in the right place; I learned from the DRS Drivers that the secret to stopping in stations was to come in on minimum regulator, slowly and under control and ease yourself to a stop - at one point, realising I was going to stop short I gave the engine a bit of regulator and moved it further before we came to a stop; I stopped on the down home twice and once at Kelling very successfully. What wasn’t so good was buffering up - I was giving the loco either too much brake or too much regulator and stopping short or coming onto the train too hard. Next time, I will leave some brake pressure on if I need to nudge it onto the train.
• I’d been passing Sheringham West Box quite slowly, since there  is a 10 mph speed restriction over the AOCL. Driver Chris suggested I speed up towards crossing as you don't want to encourage people to go in front of you. I was only doing about 5 mph…

Lastly, I need to develop and document some routines - for buffering up, standing, squeezing, ready for the right away. More of that later.

Back in Sheringham for the last time, Driver Chris took the set into the loop and we topped up the water tank. Back in the seat again for the last time I took the loco up to Weybourne light engine where we run through the station & back down into the yard, stopping nicely on the pit. 

Following my usual routine, I ashed out and cleared the pit while the guys stabled the engine.

A grand day out, again. Next it’s the NNRYDC meeting on Saturday, followed on Monday by my first DMU Driver Training turn.