Evening all. Today I was booked to work another 'one trip wonder' at the Great Central Railway. I arrived in good time for my 12:30 book on and discovered that once again I was rostered aboard BR Standard Class 5 No73156. Having familiarised myself with the notices and signed the book, I wandered out into the yard to have a look at the first visitor for the upcoming Autumn Steam Gala. The Great Western Society's new build Saint 4-6-0 No2999 "Lady of Legend" was standing cold on No2 road, freshly arrived from her previous loan at the Nene Valley Railway. No4942 "Maindy Hall" donated its boiler and frames to the project and No2999 was completed in 2019. Being a Great Western fan, I found it interesting looking around the vintage look Saint. I do wonder whether I'll get a go on it before it leaves: it would certainly be nice to! Not far behind No2999 on No2 road but inside the shed was an immaculate looking No6990 "Witherslack Hall" which is just coming to the end of a beautiful repaint...
Having admired the immaculate Modified Hall (which will appear in repainted condition at the gala alongside the Saint and Pannier Tank No7714), I headed outside to await the return of No73156. I'd brought myself a meal deal along to eat before we took over the engine. As is usual, station tabby cat 'Onslaught' awoke from her afternoon slumbers at the sound of my opening sandwich wrapper! Having two tabby cats at home ourselves, I'm very much used to having someone nearby drooling over my food but it's not so much fun when they appear anywhere you sit! A purring 'Onslaught' was treated to a few scraps of ham which she wolfed down without taking a breath...
The BR standard soon rolled in from Leicester North with a five coach set, coming to rest at the appropriate stop mark in Loughborough's platform one. Once uncoupled, driver Pete and fireman Aaron reversed the engine over to the water column for a drink. I was stood at the base of the column ready to help with watering up...
With tender topped up, I swapped with fireman Aaron whilst driver Pete stayed on to take the engine around to the front of the 14:00 departure. Driver Rob then arrived (having been caught in an overrunning meeting) to relieve Pete. With around 25 minutes to go before departure, I decided not to rush the fire around too much as the class five would no doubt be blowing off in the platform if I did...
The engine had a tender full of Welsh which would again offer a change from the smoky stuff I was burning on No78018 last weekend on the evening diner. As departure time neared I began spooning a few lumps of the Welsh around the front of the fire, filling in holes and generally making the bed ready. With around five minutes to go I then tend to make up the back end, although I don't go mad on No73156 in this regard as she doesn't tend to eat much away at the back, not like the others seem to anyway. She's one of those that will chew all day on a good back usually. When the "right away" from the Guard came on time at 14:00, 73156 eased the five coach set into motion and off we went in the direction of Quorn. At this point we had just over 200psi on the clock and 4/5 of a glass of water. Rob then got the engine well underway.
As we steamed towards the A6 bridge I began to suspect something wasn't 100%. The chimney wasn't as grey as I would have expected with a fairly fresh fire and the pressure needle was nailed to the spot, if not falling. As we neared Quorn we were back to around 170psi, although as usual I kept the water well up as we never sacrifice water for steam. Another look around at Quorn saw me fill in the holes again but all seemed well. You can end up with too much coal if you're not careful so it's best not to over fire if you can. Leaving Quorn, it was clear that things were still not right as the engine dipped further towards 160psi and even 150psi. Nevertheless, cruising along at line speed and with the water well up the glass, we could keep going very much safely despite being "down the nick"! At this point I noticed that the back end wasn't doing what it was meant to do and I could see that it was very much caked around the back corners. This high slack content in the soft Welsh coal can cause you these issues sometimes as the slack knits together and doesn't allow air through the bed of the fire.
Sure enough, rolling into Rothley with (still) a strong water level and 160psi on the clock, I grabbed the bent dart from the tender tunnel and began working the back of the fire. Straight away the effect on combustion and the pressure was noticeable and the chimney turned a reassuring tinge of dark grey. By the time we had cleared the Rothley up section signal: working towards Leicester North: the engine was back on the mark and all was well again. Although it isn't much fun being down the nick, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when you can find the root cause of the problem and solve it without intervention from above. It's like steam engine problem solving! Here, a lightly feathering 73156 awaits right time at Leicester North...
On the way back, a rejuvenated 73156 steamed beautifully and I managed to run the fire down for our imminent disposal on No1 road back at the shed. Here, 73156 simmers quietly in Platform No2 at Loughborough (having just arrived) whilst we await 78019 to clear the way. She was currently watering up...
Once back at the shed we checked the smokebox, did the ashpan, checked the firebox and then filled the boiler before leaving 73156 for the night. Here she is lined up alongside the visiting GWR Saint replica at Loughborough shed...
I must thank Rob for another very pleasant 'one trip wonder' turn and I look forward to hopefully getting some trips out at the upcoming Autumn Steam Gala. We look forward to receiving the roster very shortly. Thanks all, Sam...
Please note any views or opinions expressed in this blog are merely personal and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person, group or organisation.
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