"BVR 6 romps towards Runway Curve with the 13:15 to Aylsham"
Throughout the years I've always said that three things can make up a perfect day out on the footplate: a good crew, a good engine and good weather. Today, amazingly, we had all three as we made an Autumn visit to the home railway of Norfolk's own dawn chorus denier 'Eddie the Late': the Bure Valley Railway. Following on from our visit to the North Norfolk yesterday, myself and John met up at 08:30 for breakfast at our accommodation for the trip: The Two Lifeboats in Sheringham. It was a real pleasure waking up to a sea view and I think both of us were despondent at the thought of returning to our inland homes. Once suitably nourished after a hearty full english breakfast, we loaded our gear into the car and set sail for the BVR's Aylsham base. Pulling up in the car park under a cloudless blue sky, the sight of BVR 6 "Blickling Hall" warming up on shed road No1 was the first thing to greet us...
By now it was 10:30 and driver Eddie was coming to the end of his morning preparation in readiness for two round trips to Wroxham and back. I last visited the BVR in 2018 when I joined Eddie for a day out on the footplate, once again aboard BVR 6. You can find that post by clicking here. Five years later, I was back to do it all again, joined by first time visitor JB. We'd been thinking about doing a trip like this for quite some time, mainly to give John an understanding of the BVR for when we're chatting about it during our occasional meals! (Myself and Ed both knew he'd enjoy it over here so decided to make it happen). Once changed into our footplate gear, myself and John were led over to the Aylsham signalbox where we were signed in. Here there is a diagram of Aylsham station, although the controller actually gives permission for all train moves on the railway from this location. Locomotives are contacted via radio in order to receive permission to enter different sections of the 9-mile route...
Eddie and the friendly team at BVR had kindly booked myself and John our seats aboard the two trains we'd be joining today, both in the front compartment behind the locomotive in each direction. We agreed that John would complete the first round trip on the cushions so that he could get an idea of the place, whilst I joined Ed on the footplate. (I had after all been before). We would then swap for the second round trip. After a safety briefing, I was issued my footplate pass...
The first train for BVR 6 was planned for departure at midday, leaving us an hour or so to explore the site under the guidance of our guide Alan. John, an avid 9F fan, would later purchase Alan's book on the class from the Aylsham book shop...
"Alan and John discuss a new coach under construction"
The tour of the site included a look around the station building, the workshop and the running shed. Below, JB inspects the footplate of Vale of Rheidol lookalike No8 "John of Gaunt". I think that this shot really shows the scale of these 15" gauge locomotives, particularly the tank engines. They are the biggest 15" gauge locomotives you'll find in the UK, if not the world. I also think this would look nice in GWR green...
I was thinking as we walked away from BVR 8 about the name. John of Gaunt always springs to mind as the father of Henry IV who deposed Richard II, as depicted in the 1595 Shakespeare play bearing the latter's name. I later discovered that John of Gaunt was Lord of the Manor of Aylsham, hence the naming of this engine. By the time we'd had our shed tour, Eddie had backed a gleaming BVR 6 down onto the front of the waiting stock. Departure time was nearing and the sound of BVR 7 barking towards us could be heard on the breeze as she approached the bypass tunnel...
"BVR 6 displaying driver Eddie Jones nameplates"
Sure enough, right on time, BVR 7 appeared over the brow of the hill and rolled into the opposite platform with the 11:15 ex-Wroxham train...
As the train came to a stand, we were given the "right away" for Wroxham and duly departed into the Norfolk countryside with our train...
"Departing Aylsham on the footplate of BVR 6" (T.Haynes)
Soon enough, once out of the tunnel, we were flying through the fields aboard the rock steady BVR 6. Delivered new in 1994 (with sister BVR 7 not far behind), No6 is loosely based on the Indian ZB 2-6-2s. Originally built by Winsons, both of the ZBs (and indeed the rest of the BVR fleet) have been heavily modified since their builds and have become far more economical and powerful machines...
Riding on the footplate at the BVR is quite exhilarating, particularly aboard a big tender engine like BVR 6. We rattled along very nicely in perfect weather and all too soon Eddie was applying the air brake to slow the train for Wroxham. Here, BVR 6 was uncoupled from the stock and turned on the turntable in the shadow of the standard gauge Wroxham signalbox. Myself and John both gave Ed a hand in turning the engine before we continued the run round. The blue sky was beautiful...
Once turned and screwed down at the Aylsham end of the loop, the engine was blown down to the required levels as dictated by the arrows on the gauge frames. The process of blowing down aims to remove any solids which may be in suspension having been boiled off during evaporation. If not removed, the solids will congregate in the lower areas of the boiler and firebox, such as the foundation ring. Blowing down violently expels water from the foundation ring and hopefully the majority of the solids along with it. There should then be less to remove during a washout...
Blown down, run round and coupled back onto the stock, driver Eddie got to work with the oil cans, preparing BVR 6 for the 13:15 departure...
Once again, right on time, we departed Wroxham for our 9-mile journey back to Aylsham. In the video clip below, BVR 6 easily flattens the bank out of Wroxham with her eight-coach train. She was quite honestly laughing at it...
For engines of 15" gauge, these machines really are powerful beasts. BVR 6 runs fast and freely even at a well reduced cut-off, with the eight coaches on the drawbar seeming no hindrance at all. The modifications carried out at the Bure Valley have really worked wonders and apparently both coal and water consumption have been massively reduced. They certainly have some go in them...
"The two sister ZBs pass at Coltishall on our return trip"
On the way back Eddie kindly allowed me to do some firing and (with my small shovel) I was soon flinging around some lumps of Wales' last Ffos-y-fran coal. For those not in the know, Ffos will be closing in November and so, in short, "that's your lot!". After a very nice run on the footplate back to Aylsham (the tunnel part is particularly exciting), we rolled to a stand in platform one. I quickly rushed to snap the front of the engine before the hoards of admiring onlookers made their way forward...
At this point Eddie went off to run the engine round (and turn her again) whilst myself and JB grabbed some lunch. A cold drink and a steaming hot cheese & ham toastie was the order of the day. Thankfully JB didn't have to face his arch nemesis (the formidable plastic tray) this time as the cafe staff kindly delivered our meals to our table. To add some context, if faced with a plastic tray, JB tends to end up wearing half of his lunch! Thankfully, today, we had no issues and our compliments go to the chef...
Suitably fed and watered, we returned to the engine shed where the workshop staff and volunteers were taking a breather for a cuppa'. We then brought out our hidden car guest that had joined us for our trip across from the Midlands: John's "Turdus Merula". Named after the common blackbird, this is one of John's thirteen (so far) 16mm scale coal fired Garretts. Well respected in his field, John builds these machines to order and this one I think he said was about the fifth one he made. Fitted with a coal fired boiler from the 2.5" Tich, his Garretts follow the design of the NGG16s, a few examples of which in full size can be found working on the Welsh Highland Railway. Here, John talks with interested BVR staff about the impressive Garrett...
With "Turdus Merula" safely boxed back up ready for her return to the Midlands, we rejoined Eddie and BVR 6 at the head of the 15:00 departure to Wroxham. This time, as planned, I was on the cushions whilst John joined Eddie on the footplate...
"BVR 7 arrives with her final returning train of the day"
Once out of a shaded Aylsham, BVR 6 was back in the sunshine and romping along once more. The journey to Wroxham, looking out from my compartment in the leading coach listening to BVR 6, was most enjoyable...
Once safely stabled in the platform at Wroxham, BVR 6 was again uncoupled and turned ready to run round. With some time to kill and the September sun still shining, I grabbed us a few ice creams from the station shop and these were quickly devoured. Before departure, our guard Keitao kindly took a picture of us for the memory books (and this blog of course!). What a great day out once again...
"Sam, driver Eddie and John at Wroxham with BVR 6"
Right on time at 16:15, Keitao gave Eddie the "right away" for Aylsham and off we went. This time I was further back in the train as I'd managed to find a coach with nobody else in. Not that I'm unsociable of course but, riding in your blues amongst the public can cause a few stares so I felt it best to ride solo and reflect on a great couple of days away in Norfolk. It was very pleasant to sit back and take a breather, looking out over the sunlit fields and listening to the repetitive clickety-clack...
"A moment of quiet reflection"
All too soon, the brakes were being applied for Aylsham and we came to a stand in platform two in readiness to take BVR 6 for turning, ashing and disposal...
The final move of the day was for BVR 6 to shuffle quietly back into the engine shed, alongside BVR 7 and the Leek and Manifold style tank engine BVR 9...
"Bedtime at Bure Valley"
With the final shut off of the injector, it was "that's all folks!". After a wash up and a change it was time for myself and John to hit the road back to the Midlands via Cambridge. What a day and what a trip. Massive thanks to well known sunrise misser 'Eddie the Late' for sorting all of this out and for being such a great host: cheers Ed! Massive shout out as well to the friendly and very welcoming BVR staff, all of whom came together to give us a great day out. Thank you so much for your hospitality. It's a lovely setup and shows just what can be achieved by like minded, driven individuals. It's such a professional outfit and is a railway to be proud of.
As for us three, well, what can you say? It's great that we can still enjoy trips like this and I guess it's nice that not everything that came out of Leicestershire's 'better off kept secret' was negative! It's a pleasure to know Ed and JB: cheers chaps. Finally, it's safe to say I think that JB enjoyed his day out on the Bure Valley...he talked about it all the way home! Thanks for reading folks as always. Ta-ra.
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