Tyseley: An Afternoon With The Castle...

Hi all. If all happens to fall right with my shifts the day before a trip, I try to make the effort to get over to Tyseley to assist with the Friday afternoon loco prep. Today, in very warm sunshine, I arrived at the Birmingham site of the former 84E shed at around Midday. Having changed into my overalls and wandered down through the bustling workshop, I found the engine for tomorrows outing warming up on No1 road. The jewel in the crown of Tyseley Loco Works is the immaculate Castle Class 4-6-0 No5043 "Earl of Mount Edgcumbe", built in 1936. The 80-year old lady is off out for the day tomorrow, taking a sprint around South Wales and back up to Hereford before returning home. I'll be joining the lads on the trip aboard the Support Coach and apparently every passenger seat aboard the train is full - that's always good to hear! I spent a few hours this afternoon cleaning the Castle's cab brasses, helping with shunting, trimming the coal and working the signalbox. Tyseley is a great pleasure to be involved with, particularly when helping on and around engines with a pedigree as strong as the one this Castle possesses. She's a beautiful machine - roll on tomorrow! Cheers all, Sam...