An Exmoor Sunday: "St Egwin" of Evesham...

Hi all. In the continuing hot and sunny weather it was a relief this morning to find that my Evesham turn was rostered to the large Exmoor 0-4-0 "St Egwin". I don't think I could have survived a day on "Monty" in this heat! I arrived at the Twyford base of the EVLR at just gone 08:00, in plenty of time for the 08:30 sign on. Having met up with owners Adrian & Sandra, we unlocked the engine shed and rolled the green tender engine outside. With England's recent World Cup defeat, a lot more passengers than originally planned were expected during the afternoon. "Egwin" had been used yesterday and so was still nice and warm...

With the compressed air line attached in readiness, I made all of my usual checks before lighting up some rags on the shovel...

With the rags blazing away on the grate, I added a good pile of dry wood on top before a bed of coal. I then closed the large 'pizza oven' style door and left the engine to get on with it with help from the air line. With an engine as hot as this you only need enough draft to keep the smoke from coming back...

There's always a nice atmosphere on shed at Evesham on sunny mornings like this. The occasional "Good morning" from a passing dog walker is all that breaks the sound of birdsong and the crackling of the fire as you make your way around performing your preparation tasks. As the fire begins to catch, the chimney exhaust briefly turns a lot darker as the open cast Welsh coal starts to take...

With the fire going well it's time to start cleaning: Peek for the brasses, Pledge for the paint. It's a good half hour with the rags to get around the loco...

"Egwin" has a very rigorous cleaning procedure, right down to the little brass padlocks which lock the safety valve adjusters. She always comes up lovely...

With "St Egwin" nearing immaculate condition, Adrian & Sandra appeared with a tray of tea which we enjoyed in the breezy shade of the trees on the picnic bench. Tea supped, I returned to the engine to grease the main bearings and fill the motion oil points and pots. With the lubrication tasks complete all you have to do is charge the air reservoir to full pressure before leaving shed. The engine was shining in the sun as we pulled up at the mouth of the yard to blow down the boiler. The blow-down procedure violently expels steam and water at the foundation ring, hopefully taking with it any harmful deposits which leave the water during evaporation into steam...

Job done, I dropped the engine down the line a little further before assuming reverse and hissing backwards with the drain cocks open. This is really your first proper use of the regulator and any accumulated water in the exhaust passages and blast pipe will leave the chimney any second. If you're going backwards the buffer beam tends to receive the black smuts rather than your nice clean boiler barrel - it doesn't always work but it did today! We then slowly backed down onto the articulated open coaches for the 10:30 departure for Evesham Vale...

Leaving Twyford following a "Right Away" from the Guard, "St Egwin" easily got the weight moving and we had a very nice circuit. This is a very strong engine and the rebuild she received last year has brought her back to as new condition. Here, the 0-4-0 waits for departure from Evesham Vale with the returning 11:00 trip...

Simmering in the sun prior to the departure of the 12:30 train...

The "Road Ahead" at Evesham Vale on the returning 12:30...

"St Egwin" was named after Egwin of Evesham, a Benedictine monk who died in December 717. He founded Evesham Abbey and was at one time the third Bishop of Worcester. The locomotive was built by the Exmoor Steam Railway for owner Steve Bell in 2003 as works number 312 to run at Evesham...

The 14:00 train was a birthday special for Toby. The afternoon workings were strengthened to four coaches and it was advisable to take "Egwin" steady on the banks with the massive abundance of dry grass. A large patch of ash at the foot of Fishers Bank was a tell-tale giveaway to a large lineside fire that took place a few weeks ago. Thankfully we had no fires today despite the hot weather...

 A look at the pleasant workable cab aboard "St Egwin"...

Waiting in the sun at Evesham Vale with the returning 15:30 trip...

A steady fire in the box of "St Egwin". The Welsh coal had provided a constant heat all day long despite being run fairly thin to prevent blowing off...

My last trip with "St Egwin" was the 16:00, with the 16:30 being taken by diesel "Cromwell" to give us a head start on disposal. The Exmoor is off to Fairbourne for a gala next week and so we had a few more jobs to do...

On shed after a pleasant last trip, "St Egwin" had her fire thinned, ashpan emptied, boiler filled, tubes swept, smokebox emptied and coal space cleaned. It was then time for a final buff up of the paint and brasses prior to putting her back in the shed. After a day in this sweltering heat, the tubes nearly finished me off...

Well that's it: another great day at Evesham. Thank you to Adrian & Sandra for their continued hospitality and thanks to Steve for providing me a great engine to drive. My next EVLR turn is August Bank Holiday Sunday. Until next time, Sam...