Six Wheels on my Wagon

 Saturday 13th was a busy day, I had far more things that I could or would have liked to do than there was even the remotest possibility of getting to in person.  In the end, various admin activities at Toddington won out.  One of the activities that I would have liked to have done, but obviously didn't was to attend the Flying Legends air display at Duxford.  In the end, a little bit of it came to Toddington.

The unmistakable sight & sound of a Spitfire

Also on the list of things that I would have liked to have done, would have been to join the members of Dinmore Manor Locomotive LTD on their visit to Paignton to ride behind Dinmore Manor and sail on the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle.  I am advised that a good time was had by all.

Dinmore Manor at Paignton (photo courtesy of Martin Ginger)

The big shift has finally happened, the space for the new mess facilities to be constructed has been cleared.  A correspondent wishing only to be known as "The iPhone Photographer" kindly sent me the following photos of the event.

A usefully large HIAB

The old oil store being lifted onto a container wagon...

...and shunted across the yard to become the new wood store.

The new oil store takes up residence in its final location

The training cabin, flying without its usual pilot, Steve, at the controls.

 Amongst the items to be shifted, was what used to be 3850's boiler, which has now been sent off to join the frames of 3845 at DMLL's private location.  Just in case you had forgotten, it is the boiler previously attached to 3845 that is currently being restored at Riley's for use on 3850.

3850's old boiler takes to the air...

...before landing on a lorry.

Crews are now expecting to be booking on an hour or two earlier than usual in order to locate the oil & wood stores.  All hope of locating other important containers has been abandoned.

Moving on to Wednesday, more coal has arrived

That should keep us steaming for a while (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

It wasn't just us in steam either, there were seven steam powered cars in the car park.

The collection of steam and other vintage cars being admired in the car park (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

This one looks rather grand (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

You wouldn't kick it out of your garage for leaking oil would you! (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

A view of the boiler (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

I have far more questions than answers I'm afraid; do you need to have a fireman as well as a driver? What sort of boiler pressure do they run at?  I presume that they need a boiler certificate, even though these days they will no longer require an MOT?  Where do they keep the coal?  Come to that, where to they keep the water?  Do you need a special category of driving licence to drive one of these?   If it blows off, does it obstruct your view of the road ahead?  I'm sure that some kind soul out there will know the answers and be able to tell me.

Moving on to Friday, it was another footplate experience day, this time  Gold one.  The big difference from the crew point of view is that you don't get a sticky bun at the start of the day, however on the plus side you do get a cooked breakfast and a very nice packed lunch provided.

The fireman still needs to pitch up early and dispose the loco (in this case 2807) from having been running the day before, without the benefit of having a cleaner to help. As many things had been relocated on Monday, one of the first tasks was to locate the oil store and wood store.  The new wood store was actually the old oil store and was located close to where the old wood store had been.  The new oil store had been relocated to where the old oil store had been.   Confused, you should be.  Anyway, everything was located and more importantly able to be opened with the appropriate keys.  There was even enough wood in the wood store, which had been a source of concern as Roger, who makes sure the wood store is stocked had been away on holiday.

The new wood store

 As is usual on these turn outs, a shunt was required, we needed to get 6023 out of the shed first thing so that a warming fire could be put into it.  We left 35006 on the pit on road 9 to shunt into the shed in the evening.  That was a big mistake, it was absolutely hammering down with rain when we got back.

35006 watches on whilst 2807 starts to come into steam

 The day started with some control familiarisation sessions by running up and down siding 1, before setting off for a couple of round trips.  There were eight participants, who arrived on the footplate in pairs at each station (except Hayles Abbey Halt), taking it in turns to drive and fire.  Like the silver footplate experience course a couple of weeks before, Mark was the qualified driver.

Control familiarisation on siding 1 (Mark on the right)

 The weather forecast was more than a little dubious, Mark and I decided in the end that we would risk not putting up the storm sheet on 2807, it doesn't keep you particularly dry, but it does obscure the view when running tender first.

One of the participants using modern technology to check the weather forecast.

 Something that I hadn't expected, was that one of the participants would turn out to be a former driver on our line.  Dave had retired in 2007, some time before I started, so our paths hadn't crossed before.  His particular interest was getting to drive the new section from Toddington to Broadway, in his time we didn't get as far north as Stanway viaduct, never mind Laverton or Broadway.

Dave easing the regulator open

 It is often said that driving a steam locomotive is rather like riding a bicycle, you never forget how to do it.  Dave demonstrated the truth behind this by both driving and firing faultlessly.  It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Dave.

Another departure from the silver course is that the participants can have a go at coupling and uncoupling if they want.  Some of course didn't want to, whereas others were as keen as mustard.

Steve was one of the keen ones

 Another thing that helped was that when we got to Broadway, we had assistance on the run round:

Andy operated the points for us at the north end...

...whilst Richard operated the ground frame at the south end.

 In the vicinity of Laverton, each time we passed through, we encountered a large flock of crows on the track bed.  They flew off of course as we approached, but they were there every time we passed, something must have been attracting them.  The best guess was perhaps they were feeding on flying ants or some other insects.

It was all a bit Hitchcockesque when they lifted into the air.

 Andy also made himself extremely useful by pulling coal forward when we stopped at Toddington for our packed lunches.

Andy shovelling coal forward... thanks Andy!

Some preferred to take selfies on the footplate whilst driving

Dave uncoupling us from the stock.

Judging by the smiles on everybodies faces, all the participants had a very good time indeed.

We had just got back to Toddington at the end of an otherwise largely dry day and were coaling up, when Mark ill-advisedly mentioned that we'd got away with it as far as the weather was concerned.  Providence having been well and truly tempted led to the heavens being opened and some extremely heavy rain.  We got soaked just running round to the shed, taking water and shunting 35006 indoors.

2807's cab provides very little shelter from the elements.

 Meanwhile, inside the shed a small team of Dinmore Manor volunteers were busy working on 3850, in this case drilling holes in the new plate that will fit between the extension frames under the cylinder block.  The original was being used as a template.

Mike drilling through the old plate into the new.

I was back at Toddington on Saturday for my sins too.  The evidence of the previous evening's deluge was to be found in the old ash pit, which bore a close resemblance to a swimming pool.

In at the deep end.

 As noted near the start of this blog post, all the big things, such as 2874's boiler and the training cabin had been shifted from the area just south of the old goods shed, where our new welfare building is to be erected.  That still left a few smaller, but nonetheless fairly weighty items from 3850 to be removed.

Smoke box, chimney and sand box.

 These are all items that will not exactly move easily manually, and it was perhaps not very surprising that many of our number pleaded to be excused on the account of having bad backs.  Mark pressed the telehandler into service and the various items were largely relocated into a convenient 5 plank wagon that had been shunted into the yard for the purpose.

Smoke box on the move.

The smoke box, chimney & 2874's cab roof all found their way in here.

Although they look quite flimsy from a distance, the drop down doors on the 5 plank wagon turned out to be surprisingly heavy, it was a two man job to open or close them.

 By the end of the day, the only remaining item in the way of the new welfare facility was the toilet/shower block.  That will be removed in the next week, foundations for the welfare facility will be laid soon thereafter.

Soon to be a building site.

Having spent the night in the dry of the shed, 35006 was pulled out onto a pit again to have her brake blocks changed.  Like pretty much everything on a steam locomotive, the brake blocks are pretty hefty items and they needed winching up into place.

Bob about to hoist up a new brake block

 The job was largely, but not entirely done by the end of the day.

The last task to be taken on by team Dinmore Manor was to get the final wheel set underneath the tender that will run behind 3850.  The refurbished vacuum cylinder had been installed and some modifications to the pipe work were undertaken before the last wheel set could be installed.

Mike shortening a vacuum pipe

 Not all the the pipe work had been painted, in fact one of the shorter ones was still in primer, I gave it the benefit of some grey undercoat.

Ready for some black top coat when it dries out.

 The axle boxes are rather heavy lumps of cast iron, and are not exactly easy to manoeuvre into place.  Once again, its an awkward two man job in a fairly confined space.

Mark (centre) and Mike locating one of the axle boxes onto an axle.

By the close of play, we had both axle boxes in place and the tender lowered onto them...

...and even had one of the springs in place.

Not a bad day's work in the end.

Over the course of the last week or so, we have been fortunate enough to have a number of people pass out as footplate crew.  The first is now driver Jones...  yes, we have our own "Jones the Steam".

Driver Jones (L) with Inspector Lacey. (photo courtesy of Dan Wigg)

We were getting rather low on firemen, so getting two passed out in the space of two days has boosted our number considerably:

Inspector Irving (L) congratulates fireman Hunt. (photo courtesy of Chris Irving)

Fireman Bartlett (L) with Inspector Irving.(photo courtesy of Chris Irving)

 Congratulations to all three on their promotion.

 And finally, a conversation I had with one of the participants on the footplate experience revealed that it was a common misconception that each heritage railway owns its own locomotives and rolling stock.  Whilst this is true for a number of the narrow gauge lines, most heritage railways do not own their own locos.  The locomotives are mainly owned by owning groups (typically not for profit companies) and in a few cases by wealthy individuals.  The way that it worked is that several decades ago, groups of like minded people identified a suitable wreck at Barry, clubbed together to raise the funds to buy it and eventually transported it to one of the nascent heritage railways and spent many long years (usually decades) raising funds and slowly restoring their engine to running order.  All of the ex-mainline locos that we have at the GWSR took this route into preservation, one of them (4270) is currently owned by a single person, the rest are owned by companies in which shares are publicly available and you can if you so wish own your own little bit of them.  Getting your loco into steam from a rusty wreck is a long and expensive process.  Once it is running, your task then is to hire it out to a heritage railway typically for a steaming fee payable for each day that it runs, though in some cases the fee is based on mileage. The steaming fees have to cover most maintenance costs and hopefully, after ten years when its boiler insurance certificate expires, you'll have enough left in the pot to cover the cost of the heavy general overhaul that you have to undertake.  Boiler overhauls are always going to be a six figure sum, even for a smallish loco, larger six figure sums for larger locos.  That is all on top of the not inconsiderable costs of fettling the bottom end; bearings, bushes, tyres etc all wear and are costly items to replace.  The recent phenomena of extremely low interest rates and soaring metal prices coupled with the raising of retirement ages (making it harder to get active volunteers) have all conspired to create a perfect storm against which the various loco owning groups are having to battle.  There are a number of very fine locomotives out there that have been through one boiler ticket and have stalled through a lack of volunteers and/or saved funds to return to traffic for a second time.  The holy grail for most owning groups is to get to the point of owning perhaps three locos, with two in traffic earning steaming fees, and one undergoing a heavy general overhaul.  The steaming fees being earned by the two covering the cost of the overhaul of the third.  You then end up with a sustainable business model and a steady stream of overhauls every five years to keep your volunteers engaged with.   This all dependent of course on your running loco(s) not experiencing a disastrous mechanical or boiler failure that keeps it from earning money.  Your ten year boiler certificate doesn't get suspended for the downtime, it continues to merrily tick away, and with it your prospects of earning any money to cover the repair bill for the next ten year overhaul.  Why am I saying all this? Well the answer is that Bradley Manor (owned by the Erlestoke Manor Fund) has recently suffered a broken piston rod whilst in service, causing extensive damage which will put it out of action for some time. This is at a time when their other loco, Erlestoke Manor is undergoing its heavy general overhaul.  More information can be found on the EMF website.  Strictly speaking, the EMF and the Severn Valley Railway where their engines usually run count as our competition, however in a very real sense they are our brothers in arms when it comes to preserving and operating steam locomotives, indeed a number of the volunteers in the GWSR steam loco dept also moonlight as volunteers with EMF.  If you manage to find a few bob lurking behind the sofa and were wondering what to do with it, I'm sure that at this time of trouble they would be more than a little appreciative.  Shares can be obtained by following this link.  Other heritage railways and members of external loco owning groups rallied round when we had our times of trouble with the slips at Gotherington and Chicken Curve, don't be afraid to help out elsewhere when it's needed.

Erlestoke Manor pilots Foremarke Hall at Toddington just before our 2016 gala

Bradley Manor in happier times

All the Benefits of a Convertible Car With the Heater Stuck on Full Blast

A recent conversation with Tony (Broadway Station Master and retired steam driver) revealed that he too knew Dennis Herbert who had been coaxed into joining Mike on the footplate of 6023, King Edward II as was mentioned in my last blog post.  He also mentioned a book that Dennis had written of his experiences on the footplate at Tyseley and later on Saltley, which spanned pretty much the entire BR era.  He also said that it was out of print and you couldn't find a copy on Amazon.  I regarded that as a challenge to my internet navigating skills and fairly swiftly managed to locate a copy in a bookshop in Bath.  Monies were exchanged and the book duly arrived in the post a few days later.  The tardiness of this blog post can in no small part be attributed to the fact that I have spent what little free time I have had lately reading this book rather than chained to my laptop.  If you can manage to track down a copy, I can thoroughly recommend it.  There are a number of references to journeys along our line, as well as to Colin Jacks who was a driver on the GWSR in our formative years.  Having recently had a turn on a B1 just after the gala, the reference to Dennis' one and only trip on one, having taken it over from another crew and failing to locate the drain cock lever to shut the cylinder drain cocks made for amusing reading. 

Best of luck in finding your own copy

You may have noticed lately that it has been rather warm. I have been out and about on the footplate on some of the hotter days.  If you cast your mind back to the 29th of June, I was firing Foremarke Hall.  This was also the hottest day of the year so far, I overheard the guard say that he had recorded 33 degrees Centigrade in the guard van.  The footplate doesn't have a thermometer, however I have no doubt at all that with the fire going, the footplate temperature was well in excess of that.  Suffice it to say that the brass monkeys were nowhere to be seen, on this occasion they were concerned that the heat would melt away the parts that they hold most dear!

We weren't the only ones out and about who had been foolish enough to light a fire, the lineside clearance team were at it too:

Lineside clearance team...

...and their fire

 You'll note that the lineside clearance team had the good sense to work on the other side of the track from their fire.  Unfortunately I needed to be rather closer to mine.

I have no idea who the chap is in the photo below, but for the first few trips, every time we appeared at Winchcombe, he appeared on the platform with 3 bottles of cold water for the crew.  I can't possibly stress enough how welcome this was.  He wasn't there for the last trip, and we had to resort to dropping Tom (cleaner) off at Toddington signal box to fetch us more water before we departed for Broadway.

Thank you very much, it was highly appreciated

 Even the C&W volunteers had erected a parasol to protect them during their tea breaks.

Looks like a nice spot to have a brew!

 Such was my desire to get as far away from the source of the heat as possible, I let Tom (cleaner) do much of the firing.  He's right handed, but confusingly shovels left handed.

He tried right handed to start with...

...but did rather better when he switched sides.

 We do have one driver who has threatened to pinch the bottom of any fireman who dares to fire from his side of the cab, I gave Tom some advice on how to use the shovel to change that driver's mind should this actually happen.

The drainage team were hard at work in the blazing heat too

Somewhere there is a photo of me taking a photo of them, taking a photo....

I was also out on 2807 last Thursday on a blue timetable, i.e. we were the only steam train running.  Some wag in the GWSR's official social media dept advertised the day as "With GWR 2-8-0 Heavy Goods engine 2807 on train 1 today, the crew get all the benefits of a convertible car with the heater stuck on full blast"  It was an annoyingly accurate description.  On this occasion there was no kind soul at Winchcombe dispensing cold water to thirsty crews, we had to make frequent trips to the buffet car to order tea (and yes, cake too).

For my sins, I was back on the footplate again on Friday, this time for a footplate experience day with Foremarke Hall.  This was more like the day before, except that we didn't have the benefits of a convertible car.

Mark (driver) prepping Foremarke Hall

 Before we got to the point where we started the footplate experience day, Mark noticed that a couple of the glasses on the hydrostatic lubricator had gummed up with cylinder oil.  What followed next was an impromptu lesson on how to clear them, Mark showed me how to do one, and I then did the other.  Useful stuff to get to learn.

Mark cleaning the first gummed up glass on the lubricator

 It was a silver footplate experience day, so I think that meant we had 12 participants in total.  I have occasionally been curious as to who reads this blog, as far as I can make out it is mostly the spouses of members of the steam loco dept keen to find out what their other halves have been up to, or members of the steam loco dept keen to spot any error that I may have made. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pair below (a father-in-law & son-in-law) were both readers.

John (L) & David

I suggested to Mrs Blogger that we might book a place on a footplate experience course for my father-in-law.  She suggested that it probably wouldn't be the ideal gift for him, but that perhaps it would be better suited to my mother-in-law. 

(L-R), Brian, Paul and Mark (driver)

The day relies not just on footplate crew & sticky buns, but a small number of volunteers who come along to assist in various ways.

Richard operating the water column at Cheltenham Race Course

Mark clinging on to the delivery hose

 Coming up the hill from Cheltenham Race Course is the most interesting bit as far as the firing is concerned, one of the participants managed to keep the needle just shy of the red line and the water at the top of the glass. 

Better than many of our firemen manage

 The GWSR volunteers who help out on these events usually take it in turns to accompany us on the run round.

My Wednesday correspondent, Peter was one

There is a working timetable published for the crew showing the the train movements and times, albeit the times are suggested rather than cast in tablets of stone.  I had taken the precaution of printing one and taking it with me.  It clearly showed that after lunch at Toddington, the train was to set off again at 14:00.   I had allowed the fire to run down as we arrived at Toddington at 12:45 and Foremarke Hall sat as good as gold in the platform.  At 13:20, I had just sprinkled a few lumps on the what was left of the fire at the back of the grate to keep it alive.  I was more than a bit surprised when the next two participants arrived at the footplate having been told that we were due to start again straight away.  I had to build up and push forward the fire in rather a hurry.

Meanwhile, there was much noise on the platform, some of the pine trees were being chopped down and mulched

Chopping down trees...

...converting them to sawdust

I'm not a fan of chopping trees down, but when you looked at the ones they had cut down, the innards had been hollowed out by either age or disease and I daresay that they presented a hazard.

As hollow as an election promise!

The footplate experience courses are all sold out for the rest of this year I'm afraid.  Should you wish to sign up for one next year, all the information that you'll need will found by clicking on this link.

The preparations for the new mess building are ongoing.  The area to the south the goods shed will be cleared shortly.  The new container with a side entrance functioning as the oil store will be moved to where the existing oil store is.

The side entrance in use (photo courtesy of Peter Gutteridge)

The old oil store container will become the new wood store, and the old GWR fruit wagon body that was the old wood store has now gone to Lydney on the Dean Forest Railway to be used as a S&T store.

The old wood store departing for Lydney (photo courtesy of Mark Young)

The preparations for the big move around included a big shunt, that amongst other things saw 2874 to and fro around the yard

2874 being shunted (photo courtesy of Martin Ginger)

And finally, a number of members of the Steam Loco Dept, including its current head have received long service awards.

Finance director, Richard W (L) gives John C his 15 year long service award.

John C in his capacity as head of dept, in turn handed out long service awards to Steve B, John H and Mark Y.  Thanks to all of you for a combined 60 years of contributing to the GWSR in general and the Steam Loco Dept in particular.