Shack: "It Turned Out Alright In The End"...

Anybody intimately involved with steam engines will tell you that things don't always go according to plan and today was one of those days. However, with some team work and co-operation we managed to soldier through and had a great day crewing the visiting Small Prairie tank No5542 at Shackerstone. The day started like most: just before dawn. I found myself in the car on my way to Shack at a little before 5am as myself & JB had five trips booked to us as well as a 'Gold' Footplate Experience course. A 'Foot Ex' day usually means an 08:30 off-shed time and so it's always good to get there in plenty of time to ensure that all is ready.

The morning was clear and bright with the suns rays giving an orange glow to the rolling fields as I slipped along the A444. It's never a chore driving to Shack through the Fen Lanes on mornings like this as a thin layer of mist hovers atop the hedgerows. My car was all that broke the morning birdsong as I rumbled past the gibbet post on the approach to Congerstone, where John Massey's body was chained following his hanging for the murder of his wife in 1801. Having unlocked the gates at Shack I drove along the old trackbed to reach the station. Once I'd unloaded my kit the familiar roar of the 'Drover' was heard tearing through the village and JB duly arrived in a cloud of dust. From the cars we wandered up towards the engine shed and, having signed in, found our way to 5542. The Prairie was giving off plenty of heat as she stood near the workshop door and it wouldn't take long for me to get her into steam. The cab was in good shape but I did have to make some adjustments to the fire-grate before I lit up. A pile of burning rags were soon ablaze on the shovel...

A reassuring crackle from the firebox confirmed that all was well and 5542 began singing almost immediately. JB headed off to thump the tea boiler into life: it took a merciless beating this morning and a barrage of colourful expletives before John realised the timer had tripped: one day he'll knock it clean off the wall! Meanwhile, I snapped a gently brewing 5542 as she stood under the shed lights...

These days I tend to oil the underneath to save John performing the acts of mountaineering required to get up inside the Stephenson's motion. It's a fairly straight forward layout and it doesn't take long to make your way around with the teapot and feeder. Dropping back down into the pit beneath the simmering brute, it was time to begin ashing out. Unfortunately, around this time a fault was discovered with the locomotive and I had no choice but to declare the engine a failure. Don't worry - nothing serious, easily fixed but not within the time-frame of the 'Foot-Ex' course which unfortunately had to be cancelled. Thankfully when the gent arrived he was actually sympathetic with us and understood that kit of this age does occasionally have issues. 5542 in particular has an amazing track record of reliability and it was just a shame that a minor fault stopped her this morning...

After discussions with the railway over the next move it was decided to run the diesel railcar for the first train at 11:00 and then examine the situation again after that. In our hour of need I knew just who to call - David! David lives a Thunderbird existence and I knew he'd be waiting by the phone to assist us. Thankfully, International Rescue wasn't playing squash today and kindly came to assist us. After some quick work by Adrian, JB and myself, 5542 was back in action and simmering away outside the shed by the time the DMU returned from Shenton at 11:55...

With a good fire in the box, 5542 rolled down into Platform 1 via No11 frame. We then crossed over to Platform 2 road via the signalbox to water up. The pressure was now hugging the red line and with a full boiler after sitting for so long I had no choice but to let it blow - much to David's enjoyment! He stood there on Platform 1 pointing in shock at the steam pouring from the safety valves and shouting "Steam...Steam...STEAM!" - there is never a good time to be seen blowing off by David! Rest assured 5542 was now nice & warm, in fact she blew off all the way to Bosworth without the need for the shovel now that the arch was hot. We were glad to have got her back in action for the 12:15 onwards as with it being Fathers Day there were footplate passes booked on the next three trips! Our first guy was an ex-Leicester Midland Fireman: a lovely chap who had had a very interesting life. Once back at Shack, we ran round before dinner break. 5542 simmered quietly (yes David quietly!) before the 13:45...

John kindly elected to fire the 13:45 despite his shoulder playing him up. I enjoyed driving 5542 on this trip and it was worth the stress in the morning. Here she is waiting at Shenton with the returning 14:20 run to Shackerstone...

We were both pretty worn out after the 13:45 but we only had two more still to do. The weather remained very warm and 5542's cab turned into a sweatbox. Nevertheless it's always nice to spend time with this engine: it's just lovely...

John was back on the handle for the 15:00 and we slipped steadily out of Shackerstone bound for Market Bosworth and Shenton. 5542 ticked happily through the Leicestershire countryside and despite a pile of slack in the bunker we had no trouble with steam. I don't like this Welsh coal really. Don't get me wrong, it burns well and makes plenty of steam but you seem to get so much dust and slack with it. It swirls around the cab sand blasting everything in its path and the slacking hose won't stop it for long under this warm sun. Soon enough, 5542 was in the headshunt at Shenton. The drifting steam is coming from the snifting valves...

5542 looks north towards Shackerstone with the 15:35 ex-Shenton...

It didn't seem like two minutes before myself & John were sat at Shenton with the last train of the day. I'd just coupled up and was taking a breather as we awaited the "Right Away". By now the sun had relented but it remained muggy...

Waiting at Market Bosworth for the final green flag home...

Arriving into Shackerstone just a few minutes down, 5542 was uncoupled before being returned to the engine shed for disposal. I'd ran the fire down and steadily topped up the boiler on the last run back and so there was little to do but put the iron through the fire, isolate the necessaries and finish injecting water. The fire was fairly clean and took little effort to calm before the chimney was capped...

With that we signed off and headed for home after an interesting day. After this mornings earlier fault we thankfully managed to get back in business again to complete four trips during the day. As usual 5542 was a pleasure and it's always nice to spend time with her. My next steam experience is in two weeks time for the Tyseley summer open weekend. Cheers all, Sam...