Driving A Romulus On Bank Holiday Monday...
Hi again all! Well, after a day at Shackerstone yesterday (crewing "The Blue Circle") I decided to downsize a little again today. Therefore, I went along to the GEC Miniature Railway in Coventry for one of their normal 7.25" gauge Public-Running days. (I had been invited to come along to this a few weeks before). Operating on the first Saturday & Sunday of each month from May until October, the GEC tends to run their 7.25" track on Bank Holiday Monday's as well; today was in fact one such example of this! With trains due to run between 2:30pm and 5pm, I opted to arrive at just before 1pm so that I could help with various bits & bobs. On my arrival, two loco's (a Y7 Tram and a Sweet William) were already on site and these were soon followed by two more (a Petrol Hydraulic named "Sammy" and a Warship Class). The 5th engine to arrive, "James" the Romulus (which I drove a few weeks before), was the engine I was to drive today; acting as a 'relief' driver for owner, James! After unloading the 0-4-0 (+ sizeable tender), we pushed her up onto Steaming Bay No2 where preparations began. After filling, oiling, lighting and cleaning, the bright-red locomotive began to "come round" and after about 45 minutes she (or is it he?!) was in steam. Below, you can see a view of the Romulus' cab with a 'close-up' of the controls...
On the Backhead can be seen the two sizeable gauge glasses (including shut-off's, blow-down's and protectors!), with the large regulator handle in the centre. I must admit, this regulator, like the one on my friend Dave's 14xx, is very nice to use as you don't feel like you're going to "snap it off" when you shut-off suddenly...as you do on some other engines I have driven in the past! To the right of the firebox can be seen the pole-reverser, beneath which can be seen the linkage for the manual drain cocks. In the bottom right of the image you can see the 'lug' for operation of the handpump. To the left of the firebox you can see the handbrake clearly. Just above that you can see the vacuum brake valve, set to the "exhaust" position in this case. At the back of the shot, on the inside of the 'cab-front' can be seen two gauges: the one on the left is the vacuum gauge whilst the one on the right is the pressure gauge. Both gauges are quite sizeable and easy to make out even when covered by a cloud of steam! Finally, atop the firebox we can see the main manifold. The two valves facing the camera are the steam feed's for the two injectors; the left hand one works on a higher pressure, the other on a lower pressure (water valves for both are on the tender). The large valve on top of the manifold is the central shut-off and the valve on the left (behind regulator) is for the blower. Last but not least is the vacuum steam valve which is the 'tiny one'(!) just next to the central shut-off...the whistle chain can then be seen in the background. All in all, this cab is spacious, well-maintained and easy to work from. A personal favourite of mine is the whistle in this case...it's so loud! Below, we see "James" on Steaming Bay No2 with the little, blue Sweet William ("Luna"), on Steaming Bay No1...
After steaming up, we brought "James" off shed and then stopped her on the "calling-on road" next to the Water Tower. Here we waited until "Sammy" brought the first train of the day back in. Owner James then drove the first trip for the loco, myself then taking over for the 2nd and 3rd. The loco is a driver's dream: the injectors always pick up, she steams well and she is more than capable of doing what is required of her. Best of all...the whistle is so loud! (Did I mention that before?!). After my 2nd trip I handed the loco back to her owner who then proceeded to do a few more trips himself before handing me back the regulator once again! (Kid in a sweet shop me!). Throughout the day myself and owner James basically shared-out the driving and the loco performed very well. Passenger numbers seemed good too, making some well-earned money for the GEC Miniature Railway. As well as "James", "Sammy" was in action and, for some of the day, "Luna" and the Y7 double-headed together. Best part of the day?; the 'Tea Room Ladies' were up to their fantastic tricks of bringing us as many cups of tea as humanly possible! As I always do, I think it's once again well worth crediting the 'Tea Room Ladies' for their support to the railway and it's loco crews...even if some of them are only "occasional visiting drivers" like myself! Thank you again ladies: bringing the tea right to "James"s footplate was a nice touch!!
Above, we can see the very nice Class-'Y7' battery electric (nicknamed "Toby"!) at rest in one of the rolling stock roads. Meanwhile, below, we can see the fantastic model of Warship Class diesel hydraulic "Formidable" which was seen operating briefly later in the day. This huge model celebrates a class of diesels which were at the forefront of dieselisation on BR's Western Region all those years ago. It is then a shame that only two full-size examples survive today: "Greyhound" and "Onslaught"...
By 5:20pm, passenger traffic, for "James" at least, had ended and we were back on Steaming Bay No2. The fire was raked before the ashpan and grate were dropped. Owner James then opened both of the loco's blow-down valves...filling the vicinity with water vapour! Blowing-down over, we pushed a slowly-cooling "James" down to the Loading Ramp, where her day had begun only 4 hours before! (Not a bad day's work!). My mum soon arrived to pick me up and so, after washing my hands, and saying my thanks and goodbyes to James and Gary(!), I headed for home. It had been another very enjoyable day with GEC and I must say that I admire this little railway very much for it's charm and, most of all, for it's friendly hospitality which I think is unbeaten anywhere else. (GEC should be very proud of this!). Thank you very much to everyone at the railway again for having me, particularly owner James for letting me drive his lovely engine again and, once more, to the 'Tea Room Ladies' for, "yes you've guessed it"...all the tea! Evening All...
Hi again all! Well, after a day at Shackerstone yesterday (crewing "The Blue Circle") I decided to downsize a little again today. Therefore, I went along to the GEC Miniature Railway in Coventry for one of their normal 7.25" gauge Public-Running days. (I had been invited to come along to this a few weeks before). Operating on the first Saturday & Sunday of each month from May until October, the GEC tends to run their 7.25" track on Bank Holiday Monday's as well; today was in fact one such example of this! With trains due to run between 2:30pm and 5pm, I opted to arrive at just before 1pm so that I could help with various bits & bobs. On my arrival, two loco's (a Y7 Tram and a Sweet William) were already on site and these were soon followed by two more (a Petrol Hydraulic named "Sammy" and a Warship Class). The 5th engine to arrive, "James" the Romulus (which I drove a few weeks before), was the engine I was to drive today; acting as a 'relief' driver for owner, James! After unloading the 0-4-0 (+ sizeable tender), we pushed her up onto Steaming Bay No2 where preparations began. After filling, oiling, lighting and cleaning, the bright-red locomotive began to "come round" and after about 45 minutes she (or is it he?!) was in steam. Below, you can see a view of the Romulus' cab with a 'close-up' of the controls...
On the Backhead can be seen the two sizeable gauge glasses (including shut-off's, blow-down's and protectors!), with the large regulator handle in the centre. I must admit, this regulator, like the one on my friend Dave's 14xx, is very nice to use as you don't feel like you're going to "snap it off" when you shut-off suddenly...as you do on some other engines I have driven in the past! To the right of the firebox can be seen the pole-reverser, beneath which can be seen the linkage for the manual drain cocks. In the bottom right of the image you can see the 'lug' for operation of the handpump. To the left of the firebox you can see the handbrake clearly. Just above that you can see the vacuum brake valve, set to the "exhaust" position in this case. At the back of the shot, on the inside of the 'cab-front' can be seen two gauges: the one on the left is the vacuum gauge whilst the one on the right is the pressure gauge. Both gauges are quite sizeable and easy to make out even when covered by a cloud of steam! Finally, atop the firebox we can see the main manifold. The two valves facing the camera are the steam feed's for the two injectors; the left hand one works on a higher pressure, the other on a lower pressure (water valves for both are on the tender). The large valve on top of the manifold is the central shut-off and the valve on the left (behind regulator) is for the blower. Last but not least is the vacuum steam valve which is the 'tiny one'(!) just next to the central shut-off...the whistle chain can then be seen in the background. All in all, this cab is spacious, well-maintained and easy to work from. A personal favourite of mine is the whistle in this case...it's so loud! Below, we see "James" on Steaming Bay No2 with the little, blue Sweet William ("Luna"), on Steaming Bay No1...
After steaming up, we brought "James" off shed and then stopped her on the "calling-on road" next to the Water Tower. Here we waited until "Sammy" brought the first train of the day back in. Owner James then drove the first trip for the loco, myself then taking over for the 2nd and 3rd. The loco is a driver's dream: the injectors always pick up, she steams well and she is more than capable of doing what is required of her. Best of all...the whistle is so loud! (Did I mention that before?!). After my 2nd trip I handed the loco back to her owner who then proceeded to do a few more trips himself before handing me back the regulator once again! (Kid in a sweet shop me!). Throughout the day myself and owner James basically shared-out the driving and the loco performed very well. Passenger numbers seemed good too, making some well-earned money for the GEC Miniature Railway. As well as "James", "Sammy" was in action and, for some of the day, "Luna" and the Y7 double-headed together. Best part of the day?; the 'Tea Room Ladies' were up to their fantastic tricks of bringing us as many cups of tea as humanly possible! As I always do, I think it's once again well worth crediting the 'Tea Room Ladies' for their support to the railway and it's loco crews...even if some of them are only "occasional visiting drivers" like myself! Thank you again ladies: bringing the tea right to "James"s footplate was a nice touch!!
Above, we can see the very nice Class-'Y7' battery electric (nicknamed "Toby"!) at rest in one of the rolling stock roads. Meanwhile, below, we can see the fantastic model of Warship Class diesel hydraulic "Formidable" which was seen operating briefly later in the day. This huge model celebrates a class of diesels which were at the forefront of dieselisation on BR's Western Region all those years ago. It is then a shame that only two full-size examples survive today: "Greyhound" and "Onslaught"...
By 5:20pm, passenger traffic, for "James" at least, had ended and we were back on Steaming Bay No2. The fire was raked before the ashpan and grate were dropped. Owner James then opened both of the loco's blow-down valves...filling the vicinity with water vapour! Blowing-down over, we pushed a slowly-cooling "James" down to the Loading Ramp, where her day had begun only 4 hours before! (Not a bad day's work!). My mum soon arrived to pick me up and so, after washing my hands, and saying my thanks and goodbyes to James and Gary(!), I headed for home. It had been another very enjoyable day with GEC and I must say that I admire this little railway very much for it's charm and, most of all, for it's friendly hospitality which I think is unbeaten anywhere else. (GEC should be very proud of this!). Thank you very much to everyone at the railway again for having me, particularly owner James for letting me drive his lovely engine again and, once more, to the 'Tea Room Ladies' for, "yes you've guessed it"...all the tea! Evening All... 
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