How on earth did I get talked into that?

I have some excellent news to share with you.  On Saturday, two members of the steam loco dept have been passed out.  Chris Chewter is now a qualified fireman and Cliff Faulkner has made the grade as a driver.  Congratulations to both of them on their well deserved promotions.  So far no photos of Chris have emerged from Saturday however I can at least give you a link to a rather excellent photo of him taken by a visitor to our railway sometime last year.  Ignore the caption that comes with it, everybody on the footplate, regardless of how many people are up there is a driver in the eyes of the public.   I have received a photo of Cliff taken immediately after having been passed out as a driver in front of Dinmore Manor, which is the loco that he was assessed on.

Driver Faulkner, photo courtesy of Sean Nielsen

There is more good news too, 2807 has finally arrived back at Toddington after her extended repairs at Tyseley:

2807 in the yard at Toddington on Sunday

It was very nice to see her back with us again.  She was in steam and ran several running in miles up and down siding one during the day, but I'm afraid that I have no photos to show you of that.

 We have a new cleaner, Jim.  Well in truth, Jim has been a member of the steam loco dept for a considerable time, but hitherto has spent his time working on the DMUs.  In the past he has been a fireman on the East Somerset Railway, so should settle in quickly into his  new role.

Jim fetching wood to light up Dinmore Manor

 The rostered fireman for Dinmore Manor was John.  He's more usually a midweek fireman, so it was nice to see hm around on a weekend.

John has an early morning brew having got his fire lit

Andy takes a break from oiling up 4270

 It seems that some reorganising took place on Saturday, the lamp lockers have been relocated into the oil store.  Hopefully this alert will save crews going to the old location in the David page shed and wondering where on earth the lamps have disappeared to. 

New lamps for old.

Steve oils up Dinmore Manor, while 4270 raises steam

For me, it was a fireman training turn on Sunday.  I was delighted when I discovered that my steed for the day was 4270, having not been out on her before.  Owing to a clash of diaries, my firing instructor on Sunday was Ben rather than Ade.  Before we set off, Ben felt the need to try some transcendental meditation to prepare himself for the horrors of a day on the footplate with me.  I don't think that it helped him much.

.... and relax!

 The reverser on 4270 is a bit stiff.  Apparently it's quite common with newly restored locos.  It wasn't quite as stiff as Andy and Ben would have you believe in this photo:

Looks more like a tug of war

Notes to myself from the day include that 4270 generates a lot of steam with remarkably little coal.  She caught me out a bit on the first trip, the second and third were better. 

One of the things that a fireman needs to be able to do is stop the train should the driver become incapacitated.  On the second trip into Cheltenham, both Ben and Andy put in Oscar worthy performances and feigned death.  I considered offering to save their families the cost of a cremation by chucking them straight into the firebox, but my self preservation instinct kicked in and I decided that I'd best have a go at stopping the train before we tore straight through the platform and off into Hunting Butts tunnel.  Brakes on a steam loco are rather different to a car.  With a car you press on the brake lever to put the brakes on and take your foot off to release the brakes.  With a train, you use the brake lever to slow the train down, move the lever back to the 'off' position, and the brakes stay on, slowing you down more and more.  You need to use the ejector to create more vacuum if you want to release the brakes and just roll along.  Consequently stopping a train where you want to is not as easy as stopping a car where you want to.  I'm happy to report that I managed to stop it in the platform, at which point Ben and Andy both miraculously recovered.


The red timetable gives a long layover at Toddington between trips.  Andy tried to make himself comfortable.  

It's a hard life at times

 I think I can spot a bit of a theme here:

Andy 'chilling' whilst we waited at Winchcombe to cross Dinmore Manor

Crossing at Winchcombe

Some more amateur theatrics with the ostensibly hard to move reverser.

4270 still has one or two small items that require to be sorted, having entered traffic in a bit if a rush to be in time for the 'Back to Black' gala.  The 'GWR' lettering on the side will at some point be replaced with 'Great Western'.  The fire door flap is present and correct, however it is thus far bereft of a chain.  You can flip it up and down with your shovel if you want, but flipping it up and down whilst firing would be a bit tricky:

Flap but no chain

The only other thing that stood out for me that is yet to be attended to is the pep pipe.  Hitherto, I had failed to fully appreciate the value of the pep pipe in keeping the cab floor tidy and the coal damped down.  To be fair, it usually rains so much in England that damping down the coal isn't usually necessary, however Sunday was rather hot and dry.  

Some but alas not all of the pep pipe fittings

The hot and dry conditions had generated rather a lot of coal dust, which was particularly noticeable when running bunker first.  The end result was that by the end of the day, we were covered in it.  I usually avoid putting photos of me in here, but on this occasion, you really can't tell who is in this photo.

The coal begrimed crew of 4270

 After cleaning myself up as well as I could in the mess coach,  I spent half an hour in the shower at home, before I was clean enough to have a long soak in the bath.  By way of a comparison shot as to how a crew should look at the end of the day, Steve (Dinmore Manor's driver, posed with Ben and Andy).

Ben, Steve & Andy

When we'd deposited our coaching stock in the north headshunt at the end of the day, the guard (Claudette, who is Steve's wife) said that she'd wait with the stock for her 'knight in shining armour' and also that she was glad that Steve hadn't been driving 4270 as she really didn't fancy having to wash his footplate gear afterwards.  Mine is in the washing machine as I type, I expect it will need to go round several more times yet before it is presentable again.

  
And finally, last year, as you may remember, I did a sponsored walk in aid of the Broadway Station appeal, across the country from St Bees Head in Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire. You may also recollect that Tina, being a bit of a keen walker joined me for a couple of extra miles bolted on at the end, from Laverton to Broadway. Since then, she has somehow managed to twist my arm into doing something similar this year, only this time it would be a team event, open to allcomers in the steam loco dept and this time it would be along the Cotswold Way instead of the Coast to Coast. The Cotswold Way is 102 miles of the best scenery that the Cotswolds has to offer, starting at Chipping Camden and ending at Bath Abbey.

A map of the route can be found here:

The Cotswold Way route

Once again, I have modified it slightly. Being a fan of the late and much lamented Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, my plan is to start at Bath Green Park station (now a supermarket, so handy for getting in supplies), walk to Bath Abbey and then follow the Cotswold Way in reverse to Chipping Camden. Chipping Camden is of course not too far from Broadway, so to finish, we'd return to Broadway and then walk down the track bed as far as possible (given that the 5 bridges are now under repair) to Laverton, hopefully in time to catch a train back to Toddington.

The walk will start on Saturday July 26th and finish on Sunday August 3rd. That is a choice of dates that I now regret, as it will clash with the Diesel gala which will feature a Hymek, D7017 which will be visiting us form the West Somerset Railway. I have fond memories of diesel hydraulics from my dim and distant youth and will be sorry to miss it. 


GWSR Diesel Gala

Being intended as a team effort, an appeal was made to the members of the steam loco dept to join us. The usual list of pathetic excuses have been trotted out, to listen to them, you'd think that most of them are at death's door. A few have turned out to be quite keen though and we're expecting a number of people to join us for odd days here and there, but nobody else could manage to join us for the whole thing.

A few practice walks have revealed that I am not as fit as I was last year, and that Tina doesn't like going up hills. Tina only has little legs, so that is understandable really. She does have a liking for Licorice Allsorts and a encyclopaedic knowledge of plants and local history which she is more than keen to impart. I have decided that in addition to stout walking boots, my essentials for the journey will have to include ear plugs and a cattle prod a wizzy new app for my not so smart phone that can identify any variety of flora from just a photo and a week's year's supply of Licorice Allsorts.

I imagine that you're wondering where you fit into all of this. As usual, the answer is that anybody who wishes to sponsor us in aid of the Broadway Station buildings appeal is more than welcome to do so. As last time, you can send a cheque to Steve Sperring:

Please send cheques to:
Steve Sperring (Fund Raising Director)
Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway
Toddington Railway Station
Toddington
Gloucestershire
GL54 5DT

Please make cheques payable to GWRT with ‘Tina Sutton and Ray O’Hara’ written on the back.

There is something reassuringly antiquated as befits a heritage railway about posting off a cheque, however for those of you who are au fait with this new fangled interweb mularkey, you will find that you can now sponsor us online. Simply point your web browser at the following address and have your credit card details ready. If you are not up to speed with the interweb, but would like to use it anyway, simply locate a child under the age of 13 who will be only too pleased to assist, given an appropriate financial inducement.
 
Click here to donate online



NB, all proceeds go to the Broadway Station appeal, BTMydonate do not cream off a percentage