Evesham Vale: The Sun Shines for "Monty"...

Hi all. Today was another pleasant outing on the footplate at the 15" gauge Evesham Vale Light Railway, based within The Valley country park in Worcestershire. What should have been my first EVLR driving turn of 2018: back in March: was cancelled due to heavy snow and so today was my first run since Christmas. I arrived at the headquarters of Twyford station at around 8:15am, swiftly joined by owners Adrian & Sandra. Despite the bright, calm morning the weather men had forecast violent thunder storms for just after lunch and with this in mind the rostered locomotive had changed from Severn Lamb "Dougal" to Exmoor "Monty". I did wonder whether to take "Dougal" regardless as I have "Monty" quite a lot but the thought of being pelted with rain in a lightning storm put me off. With the loco shed opened up, "Monty" was rolled out into the morning sun in readiness for preparation to begin...

Thanks to a similar forecast "Monty" had been used yesterday too and so remained nice and hot. Having cleaned the grate with the iron and performed all of the usual checks both in the smokebox and the firebox, I lit a pile of rags on the shovel. Once burning well the rags would be tossed onto the grate and wood added...

Having bundled a pile of wood into the box with a few shovelfuls of the Welsh coal on top, the doors were closed and the engine left to get on with it. The Welsh coal is usually fairly smokeless but during the initial light up you do get some smoke effects. As usual a compressed air line was connected up to provide an artificial draft...

With the fire lit and burning well, efforts were turned to cleaning the engine: Peek for the brasses, Pledge for the paint work. Once the engine was clean it was time to grease the main rod bearings and top up the remote oil pots. One thing I like to do at Evesham is swap the regular disc for a headlamp...

With "Monty" now ready for service (and before time) we sat down for a quick cuppa' in the mess room. Tea supped, I returned to the red 0-4-2 as she simmered quietly on the shed frontage. With all ready I warmed the cylinders before gently driving "Monty" off shed. Out at the mouth of the yard, the usual blow-down procedure was performed, violently expelling any deposits which may have collected at the foundation ring. Evesham engines are blown down every morning...

With that it's time to lock the facing points for the day before backing the engine onto the waiting train. Coupled on, we awaited the 10:30am outing...

Right on time, "Monty" was given the "Right Away" and off we went. The engine steamed freely as normal. She's very pleasant to be on: willing, free steaming and powerful. After a good run around the 1.25-mile circuit, "Monty" returned to Twyford. As usual the job was easy with this lovely engine...

After a couple of trips on the three-car rake the fourth closed coach was added for almost the rest of the day and most trains were full. The forecast turned out to be completely incorrect and a mixture of sun and cloud in warm and muggy conditions resulted in a sweltering afternoon on "Monty". It was like being in a giant egg poacher...

Even in this relentless muggy weather a fire isn't far away...

The day's 13 trips went largely without hitch and on the whole it was a very pleasant afternoon - despite the heat in the cab. Next time I'm in the same position I'm taking "Dougal" come hell or high water! Talking of water, I tend to take water at the column with the red Exmoor every 3rd trip. This helps to not only keep the tanks topped up but also keeps the feed water cool for the injectors...

At 2:30pm the traditional Evesham Tea & Cake was kindly delivered to the footplate. This time though it was joined by an extremely welcome flask of cold squash to help with the temperatures. The cake was very tasty as usual...

"Monty" awaits departure with the 2:30pm train for Evesham Vale...

In bright sunshine, the engine is seen at Evesham Vale on the returning 4pm trip. The Met Men could not have got today more wrong...

Happy in her work, "Monty" strode homeward up Twyford Bank...

As per the summer timetable the last train left Twyford at 4:30pm and after a pleasant final trundle through the country park we returned to base. Unusually the last train returned to Platform 2 at Twyford as part of a positioning move in readiness for tomorrows Bank Holiday two-train operation...

It was actually quite a novelty pulling onto the turntable from Platform 2 road and running back light engine through an empty Platform 1...I've never done that before! Once out at the mouth of the yard I unlocked the facing points and set the road for the shed. "Monty" groaned steadily through the tight point work before coming to rest back on the shed frontage. It was then time to deaden the remaining fire, fill the boiler, empty the ashpan and give the engine a good clean. Finally, I reversed "Monty" back into the shed on her final breaths of steam before "Dougal" was shunted on top by the green Lister. That's it then folks - job done...

After another very nice footplate day I left Evesham at around 5:45pm for home. Thank you to Adrian & Sandra for rostering me and for your continued hospitality - always a very nice day. Thanks all, until next time, Sam...

Tyseley: The Castle of Castle's...

Hi all. A very short and sweet post from today's outing to Tyseley Loco Works in Birmingham for the regular Saturday working party. We spent a good few hours at work on the wonderful Castle Class No5043 "Earl of Mount Edgcumbe"; for me she is the undoubted Castle of Castle's. A good day in good company. Cheers, Sam...

"Giant Miniature Weekend" 2018...

"Peckett 'Harrogate' Meets The Miniatures" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Giant Miniature Weekend" 2018 began for me once again at not long after 6am - up with the dawn chorus and out into the truck to carry on setting up for Saturday. With stacks of tickets sold - more than four times more than last year - we had a lot of visitors to attend to and the show had to be as good as it could be...

"7am at Statfold Junction"

After a walk around the running shed to meet the morning crews, I drove down into the field where Fergal Roche's 6" Savage "Spud" was basking in the morning sun. Fergal and Mick had brought their engines all the way from Corke in Ireland - a fine achievement and I think a testament to the great experience we try to provide at Statfold. We appreciate their support immensely...

Now, due to the fantastic photos kindly sent in by Old Glory reporter Malcolm Ranieri, this post is picture heavy and so I won't ramble on too much. Regular readers will know about the miniature do routines from previous years and it was much the same this weekend. I will say however that it was just wonderful this time - I loved every minute of it. We had many, many visitors, the sun shone brightly all weekend, the trains ran well and to plan, the miniatures turned up 102 strong and it was just a fabulous atmosphere. Here are some pictures of the Saturday...

"Steve Leedham's 3" Fowler Ploughing Pair" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Full Size Visitors - Fowler 'Elsa' with 'Odin' - Aveling D-Type" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Railway Engines - 'Trangkil' and 'Harrogate' The Peckett" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Saturday Day Visitor - Keith Turley's 'Abbie Jane' - 6" Allchin" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Ian & Chris Clipston with their 4.5" Foden" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 4" Burrell and 4" Garrett" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Brazil 'Trangkil' Meets The 6" Burrell Roller" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Beautiful 6" Roller 'Distraction' by Andy Attwell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Chris Webb's 'Wendy' - 4" Burrell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Wonderful 'Isibutu' the Tongaat Bagnall" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Foster 4" Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Adrian and his fine Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Fergal Roche's 6" Savage Little Samson" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Hudswell 'Alpha' Meets The Samson" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Phil and dog Freddie with their 4" Burrell Road Loco" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Just Part of the Massive Saturday Line-Up" (Pic - S.Brandist)

"An Interesting One - 4" Burrell SCC in WD Livery" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 6" Burrell Devonshire and 4.5" Foden" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two 6" Burrell's - Agricultural and Devonshire" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Foster Road Loco - 4" 'Shirley B' by Tony Baldwin" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Visiting Fowler Showman's 'Repulse', ex-John Murphy" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 4" Foster" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two Garrett Brothers Meet" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Popular 4.5" Foden Fire Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another Fowler Showman's - 'Sir Henry' by Hugh Stannard" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Statfold Station" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The 6" Garrett 4CD 'Pegasus' by Adrian Nutting" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another 4" Foster On The Move" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Andy Marshall and his 4" Burrell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Popular 9" Tasker" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Riley's 'Maud' - 4" Mac" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Early Arrival 'Errol' by Jerry Turner" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A 3" Aveling Steam Tractor" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Fairground Scene" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Two 4" Burrell Showman's" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Another 'Isibutu' Capture" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"A Garrett and a Hudswell" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Little Samson Pulling a 6" Burrell DCC" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Popular 6" Sentinel Steam Lorry 'Bessie' by the Booth Family" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"Rare Foden Six-Speed in 3" Scale" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Foster Crane Engine" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

"The Fine Organ" (Pic - M.Ranieri)

On Saturday evening we had another successful 'Exhibitor Evening Out' at the Roundhouse. The three evening trains were hauled by chunky Peckett 0-6-0 "Harrogate" which I drove on the first round trip. Here she is at Oak Tree on a light engine move prior to our return to Statfold to collect the passenger train...

After a cracking drive of "Harrogate" (I love that engine) I returned to the Roundhouse to help with proceedings at the evening party. That went off very well again so that's good. Following a very late Saturday night we swiftly moved into an equally fantastic Sunday. The sun shone again, we had many happy visitors and on the whole the day went without a hitch. All in all it had been a wonderful weekend...

I grabbed one or two quick shots during our busy Sunday. Here, "Trangkil" waits at the station having arrived from Oak Tree...

Lunchtime was very busy in the catering area...

During the afternoon I had a trip standing in the middle on the beautiful Savage centre engine which hides within the confines of Ashley's Steam Gallopers. What a lovely old thing. I was really impressed with the whole set-up...

Finally, to round this post off, it can only be a sunny shot of "Isibutu"...

After a manic couple of hours getting things packed up and exhibitors onto the road home, the job was done. What a fabulous weekend but I tell you what - every single one of us is totally, totally shattered! Thank you to everyone that helped with the event in any way shape or form, thank you to the many visitors who kindly supported us and thank you to everyone and anyone that has given me any moral support over this - we couldn't have done it without any of you! It was just great, really lovely. My words and pictures don't in any way do it justice - it was just fab. Thank you all again and thank you to Malcolm Ranieri for sending in all of these images for use. I'm very proud to say that "Giant Miniature Weekend" will return in 2019 over May 11th/12th - we look forward to seeing you. Thanks all, Sam...Zzz...