Going Great Central: Setting The Standard...

Evening all. Well, what a pleasant outing this was! Today I was booked for another third man turn at the Great Central Railway. Originally our steed was going to be immaculate GWR 6959 Class No6990 "Witherslack Hall", which we've spent the last few weeks polishing for the occasion. Sadly the Hall suffered a failure during Friday and was removed from service. The replacement was none other than the trusty Standard 5 No73156 which, although I've cleaned her plenty of times, I hadn't yet been out on. Well, what a thing. Norfolk-based late riser 'Eddie the Late' would have been green with envy over this one as these are his favourite engines. Designed by R.A.Riddles as one of the twelve BR standard classes, the Standard 5 4-6-0s eventually numbered 172 examples. Building on the success of Stanier's Black Fives, the new 5MTs were built with usability in mind. 73156: one of five preserved examples: was built at Doncaster in 1956. At 05:45 this morning she stands ready on the shed frontage with a barrow full of wood alongside in readiness for lighting the fire...

Fireman Paul had arrived a little earlier and had already cleared the grate and emptied the ashpan, no doubt aided by the rocking grate and hopper doors. Together we prepared the new fire bed and Paul kindly allowed me to light the engine up. With a covering of coal across the grate and plenty of wood on top, the smoke was soon rising steadily skyward from the chimney as the clock read 06:10...

Driver Martyn duly arrived and we greeted each other. Martyn has been a GCR driver for many years and is also one of the steam crew examiners at Statfold. Whilst the fire slowly came to life, the three of us busied ourselves around the engine. Martyn commented that he didn't need much time to lubricate the 5MT as it took around 15 minutes to do the whole thing! The addition of roller bearings certainly speeds up the oiling process. I meanwhile got to work cleaning the boiler barrel as the sun climbed higher in the sky. 73156 is seen here simmering in the yard...

Below is a footplate view I snapped of 73156s cab. The designers clearly thought about the ergonomics here as everything is right where you want it. Both injectors for example are on the fireman's side and everything on the driver's side is right under your hand. The driver can work all of the controls from the comfort of his/her seat...

Our first train was the 09:45 off Loughborough and so we were at the platform in good time. The stock was lightly heated to take the chill off, although the outside temperature was already rising nicely with a pleasant day in prospect...

For the first outward leg I stood behind Martyn and took in the sights and sounds of the Standard 5. Our turn today included two trips and so Paul suggested that I fired back from Leicester North and then outward again from Loughborough on the second trip. Paul would then bring 73156 back on our final leg in readiness for crew handover. I was very happy with that plan as it's always nice to have a go! The current coal is Columbian and it's like rocket fuel. It's hard to keep the grate covered (although we must) without having the valves lifting, particularly on 73156 which seemed to be one of the most free steaming engines I'd ever been on. The GCR was a high speed raceway in its heyday and so the gradients aren't excessive (1 in 176 for the most part) but you still need a good covering across the grate. The run back is mainly downgrade and so it's a battle to keep the 5MT quiet. Todays service was operated by mixed traction and so we laid over at Loughborough for an hour after our first run...

73156 steamed just as well on our second trip and I handed her back to Paul at Leicester North without having gone 'down the nick'! After the pleasant final leg back to Loughborough we handed the 5MT over to the afternoon crew before they took the engine for a splash of water at the tower. And that was that...

Today was just great. In honesty, I didn't want to get off and could have happily done another trip or two with the Standard 5. It was my second experience on an engine from the standard range (after the 9F) and I must say that once again I wasn't disappointed. Everything about this engine is nice. It was a shame to miss out on the lovely Hall but 73156 is a fine substitute. I must thank Martyn and Paul for their hospitality and company aboard the 5MT today: I had a great time. Also thanks to Paul for the lovely sausage rolls he brought along which went down a treat! Cheers all, Sam...

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