"Lady of Legend": The Hall In Saint's Clothing...

"Firing a Great Western Saint" (A.Swan)

After a fantastic turn on 'Slack Alice' yesterday, today provided me with another Great Western engine to fire at the Great Central's Autumn Steam Gala. I was surprised when the gala roster came out a couple of weeks ago to see my name penned to one of the visiting engines for this Saturday morning turn with driver Pete. The loco was none other than Didcot's Saint recreation No2999 "Lady of Legend", completed in 2019. The original Saints were constructed at the GWR's famous Swindon works between 1902 and 1913, with a few variations between the different batches. Sadly, none of the 77 Saints survived into preservation, prompting the Great Western Society to recreate one in the form of No2999. The long legged Saints were very successful two cylinder machines which dominated Great Western passenger services until the introduction of the four cylinder Star class in 1906. Though the four cylinder engines were favoured for express work, the basic principles of the Saint design remained prominent right up until the end of steam on the Western region. Indeed, "Saint Martin" was modified by Collett to become the prototype of the highly successful Hall class.

When it came to building No2999, the GWS did things the opposite way to Collett by taking a Hall class and using major components to recreate a Saint. The frames for the engine and the Swindon No1 boiler were donated by ex-Barry engine No4942 "Maindy Hall". It was felt that there were enough Halls in preservation and so No4942 could, with modification, become the 78th Saint. New, larger driving wheels were cast (6ft 8") as well as new cylinder blocks. ("Maindy" would have been the outside steam pipe type, whereas this Saint sports inside steam pipes). As with all new builds, this engine often receives mixed reviews from critics but I think it looks beautifully elegant and it's the only chance I'll ever get to go on a Saint! I arrived this morning in good time for another early start. This time it was a 06:30 book on but I decided to get in a little before 06:00 in case the grate was bad. No2999 was steaming away on No1 shed road having been out late on the diner last night. It still had 40 pounds on...

Having checked the water level in the boiler and emptied the smokebox, I started work on the fire grate. Unlike on the Hall yesterday, I couldn't go into the box to clear things out as the front of the fire against the tubeplate was still lit and smouldering away. (I'm keen but not stupid!). Therefore I started working away with the irons. Thankfully No2999 was provided with some useful irons and the low tender allowed you to swing them with relative ease. The fireman on last night's shift had told me that he'd had a battle with the engine and the clinker at the back of the grate soon showed me why! In the end I leant through the firehole door with the coal pick and broke up the clinker on the rear portion of the grate before fishing it out through the door. The bars at the back were fairly solid, no doubt caused by the slack-heavy Welsh stuff in the tender setting itself across the top of them. It took a good half an hour to clear the grate but by then we were in a strong position for lighting up. "Phew!"...

I was relieved that my coming in early had bore some fruit as that could have cost us time if we hadn't have been ahead when we started! As soon as the fire was lit the No1 boiler started singing away and I sat on the fireman's seat for a breather. The two engine reps from Didcot duly arrived and set to cleaning the engine whilst myself and Pete carried on with the prep. All around us, the seven other locomotives in service were gradually raising steam. There was a great atmosphere...

Once Pete had finished oiling the inside Stephenson's motion, I went underneath with the hose and an iron to empty the ashpan. I was surprised at the size of the front pan: it was huge! This is no doubt because the increased height of the driving axle means you need to slope most of the ashpan forward of it. (Behind it there is a much smaller rear pan). Once ashed, we dropped steadily forward to allow the immaculate Hall to come behind us onto the pit to do the same. I was absolutely filthy, covered in oil and soot but, thankfully, the prep was done! I love the pre-Nationalisation engines but dear me does a rocking grate and pan make life easier! At this point I grabbed a quick snap of a simmering No2999 on shed before I went to get washed and changed. She's interesting to look at with her right angled front end (lacking the later Holcroft curves) and the inside steam pipes. Also note the tall footplate against the tender...

Unlike yesterday's turn with the Hall which was to Rothley only, today's two trips on the Saint would see us working the full line to Leicester North and back with passenger stock. For the first train we would be solo whilst on the second train we would be piloting the Hall. Our two departures were 10:30 and 12:30, with relief provided after the second trip. Soon enough we were coupled onto the front of the five-coach train waiting in Loughborough's platform one and departed on time for Leicester North. I'd made up a typical Western back end in the firebox and was poised to see how the Saint would react. Here, we set sail from Loughborough with driver Pete having just pulled the engine up on the pole reverser to get her into her stride...

"Barking towards Loughborough's up section signal" (P.Leigh)

Once underway, I was impressed with the sound and the steaming capability of the Saint. The exhaust note at the chimney (which incidentally is apparently a Grange chimney) was quite sharp and the larger wheels gave the impression of pent up speed. We were trotting along nicely when we passed through Woodthorpe...

"On our way to Quorn with 2999" (A.Edkins)

An undeniable issue was the injectors which did waste quite a lot of water, particularly the exhaust injector on the fireman's side. They both worked and they both put water in, but they did waste. The reps confirmed that the injectors were in need of a service. It wasn't a problem to us once we knew how to react to it, it just wasted water on the ballast. Other than that, I really enjoyed my time on the Saint. As I said further up this post, it's the only chance I'll ever get to have been on a Saint! After a pleasant run to Leicester North and back, a short break at Loughborough saw us coupled up to No6988 (6990!) before awaiting the stock for our double headed 12:30 working. Below is a rushed snap I grabbed of No2999 as she awaited the off under Great Central Road bridge with the Hall as train engine behind her...

The double headed run was very enjoyable, with the two Great Western engines barking away in typical fashion. It's just a shame that we didn't have more coaches! The Saint steamed very well once again and proved no hindrance throughout the journey. Here, the ensemble works past Kinchley Lane, approaching Swithland...

"Double headed Great Western 4-6-0s" (A.Edkins)

From Rothley, driver Chris on the Hall seemed to leave her shut-off and so the Saint took the now heavier train up to Leicester North. She had no issues doing this and romped up the hill to Greengate Lane where we shut-off steam to coast into the terminus. After a slightly extended run round in order to reorder the locomotives, we proceeded back onto the stock ready for a northbound departure...

The run back to Loughborough was equally audible and it was nice to see so many people out and about for the gala. There was a lot of interest in both the visiting engines and the freshly repainted Hall and I believe that passenger numbers were up on last year's event. Once safely back at Loughborough's platform one, I uncoupled us from the Hall before we ran over to No1 road via the shunt signal. Here we were relieved by the afternoon crew who had a few more round trips to do before disposal...

So, what's my review?: I liked it! I honestly really liked it. It was different. It was also very nice to tick it off and I'm glad to say that I've now been on a Saint, even one that was once a Hall! I've had a great two days firing at this year's Autumn Gala and I must thank the GCR team who organised this event for putting on such a great show. We must also thank Didcot for the opportunity to have and to crew "Lady of Legend". Thank you to the photographers who kindly gave permission for their images to be used in this post and thank you of course to anyone reading this rubbish. Over and out...

Please note any views or opinions expressed in this blog are merely personal and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person, group or organisation.