Chapter 6: A Day on the Railway
(Meanwhile, far away on Sodor)
For Carrie, the last few days here on the Island of Sodor had been one of the best times of her life that she had ever experienced so far; she'd already met many of the other engines that ran on the railways of Sodor. By now, all the other engines had all heard the news of what Carrie's life back in Chamberlain, Maine had been like for her, and each of them were quite shocked at having been told some of the details of what Carrie's previous life had been like, they were all very determined to see that she would have a much better time here on Sodor.
At one time in the not too distant past, Carrie would have been freaked out by seeing steam locomotives with faces on their fronts when she first came to the Island of Sodor, but now that she'd been given the chance to meet some of the many different steam locomotives that ran on the island and speak with them face to face, she didn't find it at all that strange an experience anymore.
Carrie had also been given the chance to meet with and speak to quite a few other teenagers her own age, including quite a number of girls who were also going to be joining the new apprenticeship scheme in the new year with the hope to work as engine drivers on the railway in the future. This surprised Carrie a little bit, as she had expected railway working to be a man's job.
She'd also seen one of the highly detailed maps of Sodor to see how all the many different railway lines all over the island were laid out. She'd seen there was the main line that ran in the south of the island from Knapford in an easterly direction to the eastern terminus of Vicarstown, via towns like Maron, Wellsworth, Cronk and Kildane. At one station called Kellsthorpe Junction, the main line divided into two separate routes, with both going to Vicarstown, one of which went close to the southeast coast of Sodor and cross over an estuary, before both spurs joined up again at Vicky Road just a little to the west of Vicarstown.
Another main line left from Knapford and went in a northerly direction, going inland a little from the coastal line known that was on Sodor as "The Little Western" before it linked up with that line just north of a small coastal town called Arlesburgh West where it continued on north, going along and slightly inland from the coast, until it got to a major rail junction at a place called Heartfield, where they were a large number of rail-connected businesses, as well as a large marshalling yard for rolling stock. Here the line continued on towards the north while another spur went east southeast for quite a distance and via several smaller junctions, depots and stations through the hilly centre of the island before it then turned southwards and joined up with the southern main line at another rail junction just to the east of Cronk and a little to the north of Kildane.
From Heartfield, the northern main line continued on north until it reached a place called Harwick which wasn't too far away from the northern tip of the Island of Sodor. At this point, there was a large deep-water port terminal which included a facility for the unloading of different varieties of cargo, including imported iron ore. The northern main line then continued on until it reached the two most northern railway stations on the Island of Sodor, Emily Road and Nort, before it then turned in a south easterly direction generally following the north-eastern coastline until it reached the junction of Vicky Road just to the west of Vicarstown Station.
Carrie also noticed there were other lines on the map too; just west of Maron Station, there was a junction where a high-speed triple track line began and ran parallel to the main line and the coastline with one station at the coastal town of Norramby before it continued on north before splitting in two directions, one went directly into Vicarstown Station while the other spur went along a bridge over the narrow strait of water between Sodor and England. Then there was the loop line that went from the southern main line at a junction to the east of Crosby Station before it went in a north-westerly direction back through open country and over several other railway lines and rivers towards Tidmouth Sheds and hence back down to Tidmouth Station and back to Knapford.
There were also numerous branch lines on the island as well, some of which were double-tracked and allowed for long and heavy trains to run over them, with stations along their lengths serving both passengers and freight. Some of them connected the different main lines to each other and through some of the most scenic places on the Island of Sodor. Marked on the map along the different railway lines all over the island were the various different industries that the railway lines on Sodor served, including factories, harbours, mines, quarries, refineries, farms and yards, as well as all the different areas where tourists would go and visit during the summer months, including the castles, museums, beaches, the hills in the middle of the island where people would go for hikes and picnics, and many other different tourist attractions across the whole island.
She also saw where the airport was on Sodor; it was located to the south east of Maron Station and had a number of lines going through the station just outside the main airport terminal and runway, The lines going to the airport started from a junction along the main line just a few miles to the east of Maron Station before going all the way past the large and expansive station at Sodor Airport before heading south east to re-join the main line again at a junction to the north west of Kildane upon Barn. (N)
(N): For information as to why the railways on Sodor are laid out the way I described them above, go onto DeviantArt and check out "The Island of Sodor's Railway Map (2021 edition)" by CPHRailProductions. I'm also gonna take inspiration from other maps of Sodor as and when necessary to do so, for example to describe certain routes in a certain area of the island.
Carrie also saw there were various other standard gauge lines on the island, some of which were branch lines that ended after only a few miles or main lines which ran along the coastline in a few places, and all of which were connected to the main line at some point. She also noticed the narrow-gauge railway, known as the Skarloey Railway, that began at Crovan's Gate and went up into the high hills and mountainous areas to the various tourist spots in the higher areas of East Central Sodor. She knew there was plenty of railway line for her to travel over when she began her apprenticeship in the new year.
(December 6th, Morning)
On the very cold and crisp morning of Tuesday December 6th at 8:00am sharp, Carrie and her father Ralph arrived at Tidmouth Sheds, and met up with a small number of other teenagers who were around the same age as Carrie, about 36 of them in total, including a few she hadn't had a chance to meet yet, who were also going to be joining the apprenticeship scheme in the new year.
Today, in order to give them all some readiness for the apprenticeship scheme and to give them all a little taste of what they'd signed on for, they were gonna be getting some experience of riding on the footplates of whatever engines they wanted to go on and get a look at how a steam locomotive worked, as well as to get a taste of what life on the footplate of a steam locomotive was like, as well as the work involved.
They were all dressed in clothing that was appropriate for working on a railway, including good solid boots, gloves to keep the coal dust off their hands, as well as to protect their hands from the heat of the fireboxes if they were to have a go at firing during the course of the day, and dark blue boiler suits as well, with bright orange high-vis vests and peaked railway caps. For Carrie, it felt more than a little bit strange to be dressed in such unfamiliar clothing like this, yet at the same time it was very exciting to be dressed ready for a brand-new phase of her life.
Thomas and many of the other engines who Carrie had already met at the sheds a few days earlier were all there at Tidmouth Sheds, as were quite a few other engines as well, and Carrie was astonished at how different each of them looked and their wheel arrangements, their sizes and whether they were tender engines or tank engines.
There were even a number of strange-looking steam engines which Ralph told Carrie were articulated locomotives known as Garratts. The design consisted of a cab and boiler with a wide large firebox placed between two power units, basically two locomotives in one, with a 2-6-0+0-6-2-wheel arrangement, over which sat water tanks at both ends and the bunker containing the fuel placed immediately behind the cab. The Garratts were painted in plain unlined B.R. black with early B.R. crests upon the cab sides and numbers on the water tanks. (2) From the impressive appearance of him, this Garratt engine looked like he could haul pretty much any kind of heavy train that he was tasked with hauling along the main line.
(2): The Garratts here in this story will be the L.M.S. Garratts, of which 33 were built and a few of which will be appearing in this story. The class were designed to pull very heavy coal trains from Nottinghamshire to London and were introduced between 1927 and 1930. All but two of the class were fitted with rotating coal bunkers which helped to reduce the amount of coal dust entering the cab and were self-trimming, which meant the fireman didn't need to go into the bunker and drag coal forward.
The reason they were built was because many trains on the former Midland Railway, who had always been used to sticking to a "small engine" policy, were being doubled-headed by small and often underpowered 0-6-0's. This way of running trains was considered by the L.M.S. Railway Board to be increasingly uneconomical, especially as passenger and freight trains were getting heavier and heavier all the time, which meant that much larger and more powerful locomotives were needed to deal with the increasingly heavy trains.
The first three L.M.S. 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratts emerged from the Beyer Peacock and Co. Works in 1927. They had four cylinders - two on each power unit - that were 18.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, driving wheels that were 5ft 3in in diameter, and a boiler pressure of 190psi, which allowed the L.M.S. Garratts to have a tractive effort of 45,620lbf, which meant that they could easily handle the kind of work that was assigned to them, though that depended on the ability of the firemen to keep the large fireboxes effectively fed.
A further 30 examples came out from Beyer Peacock between August and November 1930. All had conventional bunkers, but from 1931 all except two of the first three engines were fitted with Beyer Peacock's self-trimming revolving coal bunkers, which were sloped towards the footplate. As those bunkers revolved, they helped to move coal down to the footplate, meaning that firemen didn't need to go into the bunker and move coal down, and also helped to reduce the amount of coal dust going onto the footplate. However, the Garratts were still unpopular to drive, as the coal dust could still get blown into the cab, and the introduction of covers to prevent this didn't prove too effective.
All 33 members of the class were stationed at Toton, Hasland, and at Wellingborough, although the sheds at Toton had to have longer roads provided in order to accommodate the Garratt's.
However, the L.M.S. Garratts were problematic machines to operate, especially for those crews who hadn't been properly trained to work on them; working a loose-coupled freight train of between 1,000 and 1,500 tons had special problems and thus needed very experienced crews with which to operate. Some of the trains were so long they sometimes took up sections of track that had different gradients, and so the utmost of care was needed when starting, or even stopping, a loose-coupled freight train that long and that heavy.
There were other issues with the class as well; due to the plain bearings they were fitted with, which were an inadequate size, they regularly suffered from hot axle-boxes if they went over a certain speed, and also suffered from wear on their wheel flanges at times as well. Refilling the water tanks on their sometimes long journeys was often a time-consuming task, daily maintenance was often hampered by a lack of adequate spare parts - especially as they were a unique design, and the rotary bunkers and exhaust steam injectors also suffered problems at various times.
Eventually though in the 1950's, due to their complexity - as well as suffering from a lack of essential maintenance that had been experienced during the war years, the class were withdrawn from service in the mid to late 1950's, at which time they began to be replaced on their usual freight and coal duties by brand new B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0 heavy freight locomotives, which were far more versatile machines to operate.
None of the 33-strong class have survived into preservation, and maybe its just as well, considering how big and complex to maintain and operate they were, as well as with them being very expensive machines to run and maintain, especially when considering how limited the funds were for many heritage railways around the U.K. in their early years.
The sole Gresley 2-8-0+0-8-2 U1 Garratt built for the L.N.E.R. (London & North Eastern Railway), No.69999, it's B.R. number or No.2395, its L.N.E.R. number, will also be appearing in this fanfiction.
"Okay everyone…" the Fat Controller said, getting the full attention of the teenagers standing before him, and keeping themselves warm by a number of hot glowing braziers set up around the yard, "…now, we're gonna be arranging you in alphabetical order to the engine of your choice. Depending on your choices, you'll be assigned one at a time to a tank engine, and two at a time to the tender engines or to the Garratts, and you'll each have a highly experienced crew assigned to keep a close watch on you and to show you all the ropes while you're out today. I want you all to stay safe out there today, keep a close eye on what the crews looking after you are doing and, if the crews give you a chance to try some of the controls on the footplates, don't be afraid to try it. It'll be good experience." said the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir." all the young recruits said at once, as the Fat Controller smiled.
"Excellent, now let's get to it." and with that, the selections began and then the allocation of jobs for the day.
For a few minutes, Carrie watched as the other teens before her chose what engines they wanted to go on and were led over. Four of her new friends, all girls, went to the engines of their choice; one, a red-haired Scots girl called Sophie, along with another of the girls, went aboard Henry, who was given the job of taking a fully fitted freight train from Knapford Harbour along the line that went round the north coast to Vicarstown.
Another girl, a blonde-haired Welsh Girl named Alice went onto the footplate of Duck and would be working along "The Little Western" along the west coast of Sodor with the other engines that worked there, including Oliver and his brake van Toad.
An English red-haired girl, Olivia, chose to go on Thomas and would be working with him on his branch line, from Knapford Station to Farquhar and then beyond to the town of Ulfstead in a valley in the middle of the island and then to Kirk Machan, which was situated along the main line that ran from Heart-field down to the junction along the southern main line.
And the fourth girl Carrie had made friends with, a brunette Irish girl named Saoirse, chose to go on a B.R. Standard 9MT 2-8-2 Mikado with 5-foot 3-inch diameter driving wheels, with the number 94000 on the cab-sides, and one of the other teen boys went with her. They were given the job of taking a very long and heavy mixed freight train from Brendam Docks to Vicarstown and then bring a train of laden bulk sugar and grain hoppers back to Knapford. (N)
(N): The B.R. Standard 9MT 2-8-2, of which two different types will appear in this story as it progresses, will be just some of a number of fictional classes of steam locomotives made up for this fanfic. There was a plan by B.R. to build a mixed traffic 2-8-2 Mikado with 5ft 3in driving wheels, but that design eventually got passed over by the Railway Executive in favour of the more versatile B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0. The original plan for a B.R. Standard Mikado was a 2-8-2 version of the 7MT Britannia 4-6-2 Pacifics using the same boiler as on the Britannia's, but in this story both designs are actually based far more on the B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0.
There'll be differences between the two 9MT 2-8-2 Mikado types in this story; one class will have 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels (and will be numbered from No.91000 upwards) and the other will have slightly smaller 5ft 3in diameter driving wheels (and will be numbered from No.94000 upwards).
There'll also be differences within the two classes, although both classes will have three cylinders - two cylinders outside the frames with one in between the frames - though some will have single chimneys or double chimneys - paired with Kylchap exhaust systems - and some with Walschaerts piston valve gear and others being fitted with British Caprotti rotary cam poppet valve gear, identical to the Caprotti Valve Gear as fitted to the sole B.R. Standard 8P 4-6-2 No.71000 Duke of Gloucester.
Finally, it was Carrie's turn to choose the engine that she wanted to travel on for the day; she looked round the yard to make her choice as her father and the Fat Controller watched her from a few feet away.
"I'll choose…this one." Carrie said, pointing to one of the Garratt locomotives sitting along one of the lines close to the main sheds.
"Are you sure of taking that one, Carrie?" asked the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir. I want to try something large and with plenty of space in the cab." Carrie said.
"Very well, Carrie." her father Ralph said, as he then turned his attention to the only teen boy still left. "Simon…are you comfortable going along with Carrie on an engine that big?"
"Yes Ralph, I've always wanted to have a ride on one of those Garratts." said the teen boy, whose name was Simon Williams. A Sodor native – having been born and bred on Sodor, and thus a Sodor resident through and through - he was slightly older than Carrie by only two months, was a little taller than she was and had fairly light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He also had a very positive and upbeat "can do" attitude about him, which a lot of people who knew him really liked. Working on the railways of Sodor was something that was firmly anchored within his blood; his family had already worked on the Sodor railway system for three generations, with his father, grandfather and great grandfather all having been engine drivers on the railway. Simon was now the fourth generation of his family to join the North Western Railway, and he was also looking forward to being the fourth generation of his family to be an engine driver, with it having been a major personal aim of his for some years now.
"Very well then, Simon. You and Carrie go along on No.47988 and his crew for today." said the Fat Controller, as the crew for No.47988 stepped up with the tools, oilcans, two shovels and things that would be needed for the day's run.
"So, what's our task for today, sir?" asked the driver, as he looked at his boss.
"Well today, you're to go straight down to Knapford Yards and collect a long train of steel pipes, bricks, timber planks, sacks of cement and building sand as well as some machinery and then deliver it all to the new construction site just outside of Rossington along the northwest coast of the island. The new hotel and new holiday homes being built over there will need more building materials to ensure they can all be fully completed in time for the summer season next year. The train's gonna be very heavy today, so please be careful with it." said the Fat Controller.
"Very good, sir. And what route are we to take to get there?" Simon asked.
"You'll be going along the Southern Main Line past Wellsworth and Maron until you get to Rossington Junction to the southeast of Kildane upon Barn, and then you'll be taking the double-tracked branch line that runs from there all the way towards Rossington itself." said the Fat Controller. The driver and fireman of No.47988 didn't need to be told about the route they were to take, as they'd already looked at the notice boards in the main crew building not too far away about the route they would be travelling on for the day.
"Very well, sir. Anyway, come on you two. Let's get going. We've got a train to collect and deliver." the fireman said, as the group went over to No.47988, who was warming up as the heat from the fire went through his boiler and had a thin grey column of smoke rising from the chimney and thin white wisps of steam coming from the safety valves and the cylinder drainpipes under the cylinders on each power unit.
"Stay safe while you're out there today, Carrie. And I'll see you back here later sometime after 5:00pm." Ralph said, as he walked along with the group.
"Okay dad, I'll be fine." Carrie said, as she smiled at her father.
"Well, I'm glad we'll be on an engine with an enclosed cab today, everyone…just have a good long look at that sky." Simon said, as he pointed into the sky to the northwest. Looking up, they could see a bank of very dark clouds in the distance on the horizon. They had a very ominous appearance and seemed to be getting closer all the time.
"I heard on the weather forecast last night that there may be some snow falling later today." said the Fat Controller.
"Yeah, there's a very cold low-pressure front coming down from the far north, and it's sure to bring even more cold weather with it." Ralph said, as he rubbed his hands together.
"Well, we'd better get ourselves going then if we're to stay ahead of the weather." the fireman said, as he and the driver climbed up the steps onto the footplate of No.47988.
"Best be off, dad. We'll see you later." Carrie said, as she and Simon climbed aboard too.
"See you later, Carrie. Best of luck." Ralph said. Giving a whistle, and with the points set and signals showing "all clear", the driver slowly opened up the regulator and, with dense clouds of white condensation rushing with loud sounds from the cylinder drain valves, No.47988 gently rolled forward and headed out of the yard, heading to the Knapford Shunting and Freight Yards.
For a moment, Ralph stood where he was and watched as No.47988 slowly left the yard and disappeared under the bridge after going out onto the main line. And then the Fat Controller noticed the look of slight concern on his face.
"Don't worry, Ralph. She'll be fine out there today." said the Fat Controller.
"Oh, I know she will, sir. But…at the same time…I can't help but have my worries and concerns about her though, you understand." Ralph said.
"I know how you feel about that...but there's no time to worry about all that now, Ralph. You've got your own work to do." said the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir." Ralph said, putting on his railway cap as he and his fireman went over to their assigned engine for the day, B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0, No.92098, which was fitted with two Westinghouse air pumps within the running plate along the fireman's side. Today, they were assigned to work a very heavily laden iron ore train from the large port at Harwick down to Vicarstown, where the ore would then be taken over to the mainland and down to a depot where it would be unloaded before the now empty ore wagons would be brought back over to Sodor and then back to the port at Harwick for another load.
The wagons they would be using for carrying the iron ore to its destination were special twin bogie ore wagons, with two air operated doors on both sides, that once ran on the roundabout iron ore workings on the long and arduous uphill route from Tyne Dock to Consett.
(With No.47988)
As they made their way down the main line to the extensive yards down at Knapford, passing by open country and through stations like Lower Tidmouth and Callan in the process, both Carrie and Simon sat at the back of the cab and spoke with each other about what the day might bring and who they might meet on their duties. Carrie felt very much as ease with Simon, as he was able to make her feel happy in a way she'd never felt before. He told her about his life on Sodor, his friends from school and what he wanted to do for the future, which was to drive trains.
Carrie often looked down to see what the fireman was doing in terms of keeping the boiler stoked with coal and the way he was doing the job, including placing the lumps of coal into the back corners of the firebox, along the sides of the firebox and the area under the fire-hole doors, which slid aside thanks to a handle on one side of the doors. Carrie was also interested in the rotating coal bunker right behind the cab, as it prevented coal dust from entering the footplate and helped to move the coal down to where it could be easily shovelled into the firebox.
They soon arrived at the enormous and extensive Knapford Yards without incident and carefully made their way to the long stretch of line, and past countless numbers of sidings, some of which were filled with rolling stocks and some of which were not. They soon arrived at the long siding where their train, consisting of about 50 various different wagons, including flatbeds, open topped wagons, some of which were covered with canvas sheeting that had been firmly secured in place so the wind wouldn't catch it, and some box vans, had been fully assembled, ready for them to take away in a short time.
Soon No.47988 had backed down onto the train, was coupled up and had the brake-pipes connected up, as the train had continuous brakes from one end to the other. As they wouldn't be leaving for a few more minutes, the crew took the opportunity to top up the water tanks, fill the sandboxes with sand and tend to the fire beforehand as Carrie and Simon went to speak with No.47988, having just checked that the electric headlights on the front to make sure they were showing the right head-code to indicate the train that would be pulled.
"It's nice to meet you, Carrie. Thomas and the others told me all about what happened to you and why you came over here to Sodor." No.47988 said, somewhat cautiously though, considering what he'd been told about Carrie's past in more recent days.
"Yeah, I knew that things weren't working out at home, and I was always considered the outcast, especially with the way everyone treated me back home. so I decided to pack up and leave, and come here to make a fresh start in life." Carrie said, not minding a bit as her confidence had grown quite a bit in the last few days.
"Yeah, your experience sounds no different to that of my own siblings and I…all those long years ago." No.47988 said, as he looked up into the sky and sighed.
"Really? What was your experience like?" Carrie asked, wanting to hear the story.
"Well…my classmates and I had quite a few problems while we were in service...back on the day. The bearings on our axle-boxes were standard bearings originally used by the Midland Railway, which the L.M.S., or the London Midland and Scottish Railway, insisted our builders, Beyer Garratt, use instead of being allowed a clean slate upon which to start. A very stupid decision really; those bearings were nowhere near the best and they frequently overheated if we went over a certain speed, which meant that we were quite slow in getting our trains about. Not only that, we'd other problems too; one example being back in those days, most freight trains that ran in this part of the world weren't fitted with continuous brakes like they are nowadays, and one of my classmates, when going down an incline with a very heavy loose-coupled freight in the British Midlands…she braked so hard to control the train's descent down the incline that when she was inspected at the depot later on, the inspector discovered – no doubt to his shock - that the brake-blocks on the driving wheels had actually melted from the effort." said No.47988.
"Goodness me." Carrie said, a bit stunned to hear a story like that.
"Also, you two…due to the fact that me and the other Garratts in my class are very strong machines, if the drivers didn't apply the power gently enough when starting off…it wasn't unknown for us to either crush older wooden framed wagons, thus spilling the loads everywhere, or even in some cases to completely rip the couplings out of wagons on the odd occasion." said No.47988.
"Good grief, and what happened after you were withdrawn?" Simon asked.
"I was withdrawn from service on B.R. back in '56, along with quite a few of my classmates, and was sold, along with a few of my brothers, to the then director of this railway not too long after. When we arrived on Sodor, we were brought into the works and underwent a really thorough overhaul, which included replacing the older Midland bearings with newer, more efficient roller bearings and other improvements, including a much-improved lubrication system with mechanical lubricators. The controller of this railway back in those days was determined to fix our problems and make up more reliable machines, and try to correct as many of the mistakes the L.M.S. made around the time we were built." said No.47988.
"I understand, because I recently overheard it from someone, that it also included replacing the frames as well?" Simon asked.
"Yes, in order to have the new roller bearings fitted to us, the original frames we were built with back in the late 20's had to be replaced with new ones specially cut from higher grade steel for extra strength, and that had been redesigned slightly so as to fit the new roller bearings and to better space out the driving wheels so as to allow for a smoother ride. It had to be done anyway, as our original frames had fatigue cracks starting to appear in them in more than a few places. We also had new cylinders fitted too, as the older ones we were fitted with then were starting to show their age by that point, as well as new all-welded all-steel boilers, each of which had a larger combustion chamber, a higher working steam pressure, increased superheating, and streamlined internal steam passages, which all in all proved to be much better for us than our original boilers had been." said No.47988.
"And are you all running much better now than you were back then?" Carrie asked, as a smile came across her face.
"Yes, ma'am. We're now able to run much more freely and at speeds that we never were able to reach back in the day on the L.M.S. or with B.R.." said No.47988, as he smiled a wide smile. Carrie was genuinely impressed with the story; if a steam locomotive like No.47988 could overcome his initial difficulties and emerge better than he'd been before, than maybe a human like her could as well.
"Hey come on, you two! Get aboard, it's time for us to leave with this train!" the driver called from the footplate, and Carrie and Simon quickly ran to the footplate and climbed aboard. Sitting down at the back of the footplate, they watched as the driver blew the whistle and gently opened the regulator, admitting steam into the cylinders.
"It's a very long and a very heavy train this one is." Simon said, as he looked out from the driver's side with some concern.
"Yeah, it is indeed, Simon. And full of building materials for the new hotel and all those brand new holiday homes. But don't worry too much, at least this heavy load will mean we can have a banker or two to help us up Gordon's Hill." the driver said, and Simon gave a quick nod.
"Yes, provided the snow doesn't get there before us." said Simon quietly, as he looked up at the dark bank of clouds getting closer and closer. Carrie looked out her side as the yards went by her view, with everything from lorries at bay platforms loading up box vans with sundries and such, to wagons being mended in sheltered sidings going by.
Soon, they were moving gently along out of the yards with the long and heavy train following steadily along behind them. Knapford Station, with its overhead glass canopy, soon came into view ahead and, with a short blast of the whistle and the steam reduced a little, No.47988 slowly rolled by on the line adjacent to Platform 1 at a steady 10mph.
Edward was standing and waiting at Platform 3 with half a dozen bright orange coaches, each of which was cleaned and polished to a high standard, standing behind him, as all his passengers boarded the train so he could take them on their trip down to Brendam Docks, where they were scheduled to catch the afternoon ferry over to Dublin.
"Hi Edward!" Carrie called, as she waved from No.47988's footplate on the fireman's side.
"Hello Carrie, best of luck out there today!" Edward called with a friendly toot from his whistle, as the train got further down the line.
"Thank you, Edward!" Carrie called, before she turned and sat back in the footplate as Simon smiled at her. She smiled back at him, before she turned her head again and looked outside at the dull winter scenery passing by; the bare leafless trees, with the open muddy fields that were no doubt frozen solid by now and very few people out and about on a cold day like this one. It was just a typical winter day, and no different from any winter day back in Chamberlain.
As they approached Henry's Tunnel, they were already going along at a steady 50 miles an hour, much faster than the L.M.S. Garratts would've been allowed to go back in B.R. days, all thanks to the roller bearings which reduced friction considerably.
"Come along, come along." No.47988 called to the trucks, just as they were about to enter the long tunnel
"We don't want to! We don't want to!" the trucks called from behind, but it was no use as No.47988 surged ahead at a good speed.
Going through the wider tunnel with the double tracks, Carrie looked out the fireman's side and watched the track stretch away into the distance ahead of them before she turned back to look at Simon; he was sitting directly behind where the driver was and keeping a close eye on what the driver was doing, as well as glancing outside the cab occasionally to see what was going by, keeping a sharp watch out for landmarks like level crossings, signals and signal boxes.
After closing the regulator, just a bit, and gently braking to bring the speed down, they passed through Elsbridge Station where Donald was sitting at the platform on the down line with a line of seven coaches, in crimson red and cream livery, behind him and waiting for his passengers to board so he could take them to Knapford. Giving a friendly toot on the whistle, to which Donald replied back with his own deep-toned Caledonian style whistle, No.47988 continued past the sheds and small yard towards the next station.
As they ran along the line, Carrie leaned out a little from the right-hand side of the cab for a few moments and felt the cold winter wind blow into her face, and heard the whistling of the wind, the chuffing from No.47988's funnel, and the sounds from the driving wheels whirring along the tracks go by her ears. Then, just before she pulled herself back into the cab, she noticed they were going along an arrow-straight stretch of triple tracks that was within a long shallow cutting with bare trees on the raised, sloping ground on both sides of the cutting. And then, Carrie could see that another train was coming towards them on the down line, with the locomotive exhausting white-grey exhaust from its chimney. As the two trains got closer and closer together, Carrie could see the other train was a passenger train - consisting of eight coaches painted in the dark green of the Southern Railway - which was being hauled along by No.31801, who was a member of the Southern Railways U Class 2-6-0 passenger locomotives. (3) As No.31801 went by No.47988, with both locomotives blowing their whistles and calling out "Hello!" as they went by, Carrie could see the S.R. U 2-6-0 was painted in B.R. black with red and white lining along the boiler and on the tender.
(3): The Southern Railway's U Class 2-6-0 was designed by Richard Maunsell to work on passenger trains, and they represented the penultimate stage of development for the 2-6-0 designs built by the Southern Railway, which had drawn from experience gained from similar 2-6-0 designs that had been built and operated on the Great Western Railway.
They were built so as fill the gap in cross-country and semi-fast passengers services, as well as to replace older and more obsolete 4-4-0 designs that had struggled with keeping up with the work of moving increasingly heavy passenger and freight train on the S.R. network. A total of 50 locomotives were built in the class in three batches at the rail works of Ashford, Brighton, and Eastleigh between 1928 and 1931. Of the 50 built, 20 examples were rebuilds of Maunsell's earlier S.E.C.R. K "River" Class 2-6-4T tank engines, which were known to be rough-riding locomotives over the cheaply-laid track of the former S.E.C.R. One example of the K Class, No.A800 River Cray, had been involved in the Sevenoaks railway accident in late-August 1927, which had been caused by the poor quality of the track. So because of that accident, the opportunity was taken to bring forward the construction of the U Class, with it being much cheaper to rebuilt the locomotives rather than built them from scratch.
The U Class shared the same 6ft 0in diameter driving wheels of the K Class 2-6-4T tank engines, as well as the same N-Class boiler - pressed to 200psi, and the right-hand drive was retained, as well as the same two outside cylinders, which were 19in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke, which gave the U Class a tractive effort of 23,965lbf. They were also paired with two different tender designs; one design carried 3,500 gallons of water, while the other - which was slightly larger - carried 4,000 gallons of water. Due to the K-Class 2-6-4T's being rebuilt, they lost their names due to the bad publicity attached to the class because of the 1927 Sevenoaks accident. Even the unique "River" tank that had been built with three cylinders, No.A890 River Frome, was rebuilt to the U-Class specifications, and eventually became the prototype to Maunsell's U1 Class in June 1928.
The influence of the Midland Railway was clear in the design of the U Class, with the water top-feed into the boiler being located inside a dome, while the cab area was a modified version of those used on the Fowler 0-6-0 designs and the K Class rebuilds. Other modifications included Midland Railway-style windows on the front face of the cab. Such modifications were typical of the Southern Railways attempt at creating standardised locomotives.
While in service, the U Class was modified in a number of different ways; smoke deflectors were fitted to the entire class in 1933 to prevent drifting smoke from obscuring the view of the drivers, and smokebox snifting valves that had been fitted to the class were removed by Oliver Bulleid, who also fitted U1 Class chimneys to the class, so as to improve their boiler draughting. There were detailed differences between the rest of the class, such as rearranged footsteps, but generally they all remained unchanged throughout their working lives.
In regular service, the U Class proved to be a reliable and economical design, often reaching speeds in excess of 70mph at times, due to the fact they were fitted with long travel valves. Their high-capacity, tapered boilers promoted free-steaming, and their 6ft diameter driving wheels allowed fast running over long distances. One drawback with the class was with their cylinder sizes and their cabs, which meant that they couldn't be used on the Tonbridge-Hastings Line, as they were out of gauge due to inadequate tunnel clearances along that route. But otherwise, their ability to go almost anywhere gave the class the nickname of "U-Boats", and their ability to steam freely earned them the greatest praises from their crews.
At one point, trails were undertaken with No.A629 when it was fitted with a special experimental German-designed pulverised fuel burner, which had been intended to improve fuel efficiency. But the experiment was halted when a minor explosion caused by the powdered coal came into contact with sparks from the blastpipe. Also, it was found that using pulverised coal was a false-economy, as the fine dust was sucked through the boiler and out the chimney without combustion taking place, so the locomotive was returned to normal coal burning in 1935.
In 1947, two examples of the class, No.1625 and No.1797,were converted to oil-burning, but the experiment was abandoned and the two locomotives were converted back to coal-burning in 1948 before anymore examples of the class could be converted.
Upon nationalisation of the railways in 1948, all 50 members of the class entered British Railways service. From 1955, 23 members of the class were fitted with chimneys from the B.R. Standard Class 4 4-6-0's, as well as replacement cylinders which had become heavily worn from intensive use by that time. A few members were also given replacement frames with a shallower curve between the front buffer beam and smokebox during overhauls.
In the 1960's, the U Class were used on services west of Exeter, though their large driving wheels gave them little advantage on the steeper grades that were found on this part of the railway network, with the smaller wheeled N Class being the preferred 2-6-0 design being the favoured form of motive power on these routes, with any heavier work being allocated to Bulleid's Un-rebuilt Light West Country Pacifics, which were within the weight restrictions of this area.
Withdrawals of the class began in 1962 when the first two examples, No.31610 and No.31630, were withdrawn from service. The rest of the class followed along over the next four years, with 1964 seeing the greatest number being withdrawn - 24 members of the class being removed from service that year. In 1966, the final four locomotives in the class, No.31639, No.31791, 31803 and 31809, were removed from service.
Thankfully though, four examples of the class have survived into preservation. These survivors include;
No.31618; owned by the Maunsell Locomotive Society, and currently on static display at Sheffield Park on the Bluebell Railway. Last ran in 1994, and will be overhauled once the overhaul on No.928 Stowe is completed. It was the second locomotive to leave Barry Scrapyard, in January 1969.
No.31625; rescued from Barry Scrapyard in March 1980, and last ran in 2001. Currently in storage near Corfe Castle Station on the Swanage Railway and awaiting an overhaul to return it to full working order.
No.1638; rescued from Barry Scrapyard in July 1980, and currently on static display at Horsted Keys on the Bluebell Railway and awaiting an overhaul. Last ran in July 2015, but was withdrawn afterwards with firebox problems.
No.31806; based on the Swanage Railway after being rescued from Barry Scrapyard in October 1976, but is currently operation and certified to run on the main line, having returned to service in 2021. No.31806 is also unique among the four surviving locomotives as it's the sole surviving locomotive of the rebuilt K Class "River" 2-6-4T tank engines. It was originally built as No.A806 River Torridge.
Carrie watched as No.31801 went rushing on by with his full passenger train, with him giving a friendly toot on his whistle as he went on by. After watching that train go by in the opposite direction, Carrie pulled herself back into the cab and sat down, while watching what the driver and fireman were doing, as well as chatting with Simon.
The rest of the trip along the main line went very smoothly, with the long and heavily loaded train following along quietly behind, until they neared Wellsworth Station, the last station on the main line before Gordon's Hill on the Knapford side.
"Okay you two. This is where we have to collect a banker or two to help us and our train up Gordon's Hill." the driver said, as he closed the regulator fully and began to work his brakes to gently bring the speed down.
"The hill has its name because Gordon once stalled halfway up there with a train a long time ago, and Edward had to come and help him." Simon said to Carrie.
"Is it a very steep hill?" Carrie asked.
"It's one of the steepest on Sodor for a standard gauge railway line to go up, with a gradient of about 1 in 40. That means for every 40 meters you travel in a straight line…you go up a meter or down a meter. And the three tracks of the Southern Main Line all go up the hill in a straight line for just a little over two miles. And that means a very hard climb for engines with heavy trains coupled up behind them." the fireman said, just as he checked the two water gauge glasses.
"And the rules clearly state that all passenger and freight trains, especially the very heaviest ones, such as this one we're hauling right now, need to have banking engines pushing at the back to help them get up the hill and to prevent any runaways should one of the couplings suddenly fail." the driver said.
"Oh, I see." Carrie said, as she started to understand.
"And the number of bankers a train might need depends on how long and heavy it is. For many trains, only one banker should suffice. But for the longer and heavier trains, usually there's a need for more than one banker. I once saw a train consisting entirely of oil tankers being banked up Gordon's Hill by four tank engines pushing very hard behind it. In fact, I'd say they had more tractive effort combined than the 9F that was pulling the oil train at the front!" Simon said, with a chuckle.
"All right then." Carrie said, as she went over to the driver's side and looked out ahead from behind the driver; she could see the station along the straight stretch of line in the distance, but in some long sidings that were well before the station on its western side, she could also see a number of different looking steam locomotives, with steam blowing from their safety valves and columns of grey-brown smoke rising from their chimneys.
As they slowed down and passed by the banker sidings, Carrie could see a number of different engines that were standing by and waiting to bank trains up the hill; there were a few G.W.R. Hawksworth 94XX Class 0-6-0T pannier tanks, two B.R. Standard Class 9F 2-10-0's, three G.W.R. Collett Hall 49XX Class 4-6-0's, L.N.E.R. Gresley V3 Class 2-6-2T's, L.M.S. Fowler Class 4MT 2-6-4T's, L.N.E.R. Thompson L1 Class 2-6-4T's, L.M.S. Fowler Class 3F Jinty 0-6-0T's, and a few other different tank engine types as well waiting for their next turns of duty to bank trains up Gordon's Hill (N).
(N): This scene I'm describing here is based off of photographs and archive film footage that I've seen from the 1940's to the 1960's with steam locomotives waiting in the banker sidings just before Bromsgrove Station to bank heavy trains up the Lickey Incline to Blackwell on the Gloucester to Birmingham main line, although no L.N.E.R. designs - apart from the sole Gresley U1 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt - ever banked heavy trains up the Lickey Incline.
"Those are just a few of the bankers who are waiting their next turns to push trains up the hill whenever one should need the help." the driver said to Carrie.
"And many of the engines who work here on Sodor take turns working to bank trains up the hills." the fireman said, as he put on another shovelful of coal into the firebox before closing the firehole doors up and then checking the water gauge glasses above.
"And how many bankers will we need for a train this long?" Carrie asked, as she quickly looked behind at the length of the train.
"For the 50 wagons we have…I'd say we should have at least three." the driver said, as he reached forward for the brake lever and then gently applied the brakes as they approached Wellsworth Station.
As they steadily approached the western end of Wellsworth Station and the signal box that was on the opposite side of the line, the driver fully pulled on the brake lever and brought the train to a stop. Then, reaching up for the whistle chain above him, he give a short whistle blast. Then he paused for a moment and then gave three short blasts, indicating that he wanted to have three bankers help him up the hill.
"I need some help up the hill please!" No.47988 called.
"Peep! Peep! We shan't be long!" came the voice of one of the banker engines in the sidings.
Leaning her head out and looking back along the driver's side, Carrie could just about see three bankers roll out of the siding, one at a time with white-grey smoke chuffing from their funnels, and gently push up to the rear of the train. From what Carrie could see, the three bankers appeared to be tank engines.
After exchanging a series of whistles with the bankers to indicate they were in position, the driver gave one loud blast of his whistle and that was the signal for the drivers on the three banking engines to open their regulators. Slowly but surely, the train moved forward again and headed on the inside line through Wellsworth Station, where Carrie could see many passengers of all ages either standing on the platforms waiting for the next train or up on the footbridge connecting the two platforms and watching the train go by.
After they passed by under the road bridge right by the eastern side of Wellsworth Station, they headed along a gentle S-curve by the signal box and over a level crossing right at the junction where two lines diverged to go south to Brendam Docks. After another two minutes or so of going along smoothly along a stretch that was about a mile and a half long, they went under another stone road bridge, which was red in characteristic from the colour of the bricks used and had black smudge marks from smoke in the middle of it, and then round a gentle bend to the right.
Carrie and Simon were keeping a close watch from the driver's side as they approached the hill. The driver had the regulator open and reversing gear set just so, and the fireman shovelled some more fresh coal into the firebox to keep the steam pressure up. He had also put some more water into the boiler using the steam injectors, which generated a hissing sound as more water flowed into the boiler.
Then, they noticed the gradient start to climb as they went round the next curve, this one went to the left, and then as they went round this curve the three lines straightened out to the hill proper. Carrie was slightly astonished; she could see the top of the hill from where she was, but it was quite a long way off, and the hill certainly looked to be a lot steeper than it really was.
"Will we make it?" she asked, now suddenly noticing that they didn't seem to be moving too quickly as before.
"We'll make it, Carrie. It'll just be a bit slow going…that's all." No.47988 called, as he surged ahead with the train rattling along behind.
Carrie and Simon looked back towards the bottom of the hill; they couldn't see the bankers at the rear of the train as wagons were still coming round the curve but could just about hear the sounds of their exhausts chuffing away as they pushed very hard to get the train up the hill. Crossing over to the fireman's side of the cab, Carrie looked up the hill and saw another train topping over the hill and coming down on the down line heading towards Wellsworth.
The engine was a GWR 47XX 2-8-0 (4), No.4726, at the head of a very lengthy fitted freight of box-vans of various different sizes and types, con-flats carrying containers that had been firmly secured down, flatbeds and some tankers, and he went on by, giving a toot on his deep-toned whistle before heading to the bottom of the hill and disappearing round the curve. Then Carrie turned her head to look back up the hill.
(4): Another class of steam locomotive that will be appearing in this story as it goes on will be the G.W.R. Churchward 47XX Class 2-8-0 mixed traffic locomotives. These engines, which were basically an enlarged and more powerful version of Churchward's earlier 43XX Class 2-6-0 Moguls, were also known as "Night Owls" as they did much of their work, primarily pulling fast fitted freights, during the hours of darkness. These were the last locomotives to be designed by Churchward before he retired from the role of the G.W.R.'s Chief Mechanical Engineer (C.M.E.) at the end of 1921.
They were Britain's only mixed-traffic 2-8-0's, although the only other class of that wheel arrangement to regularly haul passenger trains were the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway 7F Class 2-8-0's, and were the only British eight-coupled class to be fitted with 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels. They were also the first Swindon design to ever have the steam pipes fitted on the outside of the smokebox. With their 5ft 8in driving wheels, two outside cylinders of 19in in diameter with 30in piston stroke, and a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 225psi, the class had a maximum tractive effort of 30,460lbf.
In reality, only 9 members of the class were ever built at all, and all of them were built at Swindon Works between 1919 and 1923. They were numbered from No.4700 to No.4708, so No.4726 is an example of further members of the class that, in my opinion at least, SHOULD have been built but ultimately never were for various different reasons.
The class looked very similar to another previous Great Western 2-8-0 design, the 28XX Class, but had larger driving wheels and splashers. The connecting rod was connected up to the second driving axle instead of on the third driving axle as on the 28XX Class. And just like other G.W.R. locomotive classes, both before and after, the cab controls of the Night Owls were standardised, though the 47XX Class were kept fitted with the original lever reverse they were fitted with from new instead of a mechanical screw as on most other large G.W.R. locomotives, although having a screw reverse gear would have made them much easier engines to run, especially on the passenger trains they often hauled late in their careers. To make it easier for the class to run around curves on the main line, tyres with thinner flanges were fitted to the wheels of the two middle driving axles.
In 1927, there was a proposal by Collett to give the engines names but, and despite support from the G.W.R.'s General Manager Sir Felix Pole, the idea was turned down, as names were normally reserved for passenger locomotives and it wasn't normal policy to name freight engines. Twelve possible names, from the old broad-gauge freight engines were suggested for the class. The proposed names were;
Behemoth, Bellerphon, Champion, Dreadnought, Gladiator, Hercules,
Mammoth, Plutarch, Romulus, Tantalus, Thunderer, and Trafalgar.
The class was mainly used to pull heavy, nocturnal vacuum-fitted express freight trains, usually on the main lines that ran from the West of England, such as Bristol, Plymouth and Exeter, as well as on the lines that ran out from Wolverhampton and Birmingham down to London, particularly on the line that ran from Birkenhead down to Paddington Station in London. Often in daylight hours, they could be seen simmering away inside the motive power depots they were assigned to while awaiting their next nocturnal duties. Many of the fitted freight trains the class hauled during the hours of darkness were often up to 70 wagons in length, with the class being sent out on four overnight trains each way with one of them in reserve. They were usually limited to going at speeds of 55 to 60mph, but because the class had no speedometers fitted, they often went at much faster speeds, often as fast as 70mph or even 80mph at times.
But the class were also used extensively on heavy passenger services too, particularly on seaside and holiday makers trains that would be seen during the busy summer months out of London to busy and popular seaside resorts within the West of England; these tasks usually being done after the railways were nationalised in 1948, when the ability and power of the class to haul such heavy holiday trains was very much appreciated by both their crews and the railway management. For such work, the class were turned out painted in fully lined B.R. passenger green livery. During their long runs from London to the West Country with heavy summer holiday trains, the class could often achieve quite impressive speeds on their runs, often up to and in excess of 75mph on occasion.
When it was first built, the doyen of the class, No.4700, was originally fitted with a Standard No.1 boiler, just like those that were fitted on the G.W.R. 28XX Class 2-8-0s, but that type of boiler was found to be not very efficient at producing the necessary quantities of steam a 47XX 2-8-0 needed, so a larger Standard No.7 boiler was fitted instead, and the G.W.R. 47XX Class was the only class of locomotive of the Great Western Railway that was ever paired with this boiler design. The other eight members of the class were all fitted with the newer larger boiler when they were built. In 1925, No.4700 had the distinction of attending the Centenary event marking the passing of 100 years since the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway all the way back in 1825, and she took part in the cavalcade of engines to mark the 100th anniversary of the railway's opening.
The class were originally coupled to tenders that ran on six wheels and carried 3,500 gallons of water and 6 tons of coal, but in 1933/34 these small tenders were replaced with newer and larger tenders that could carry up to 4,000 gallons of water and 6 tons of coal, which made a big difference in being able to travel longer distances with the trains they were expected to haul. The class could also achieve quite impressive mileages between overhauls and repairs, often reaching 100,000 miles in between intermediate repairs, and up to 300,000 miles in between heavy general overhauls.
Although the class were perfectly capable of doing any kind of job they were tasked with doing, their large size and heavy weight did somewhat restrict their route availability, which meant they could only work on the main lines, and so it was possibly one of the main reasons why no more examples of the class were ever built at all. The class were given the route availability classification "red", which meant that they had an axle-loading of 20 tons, and couldn't travel on routes that wouldn't accept a weight limit of less than 20 tons. In fact, the 47XX Class were barred from going into South Wales via either Gloucester or by the Severn Tunnel.
Churchward's successor as C.M.E. to the G.W.R., Charles Collett, later introduced the 49XX Hall Class 4-6-0 with 6ft diameter driving wheels and the later 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0 with 5ft 8in driving wheels, both of which proved to be far more versatile mixed traffic machines, as well as having the advantage of being available in larger numbers and having a much greater route availability, even though both the Hall and Grange Classes weren't as strong as the "Night Owls" were.
At one point, the G.W.R. Running Board did ask Collett to consider building more examples of the class, but with some modifications added, such as lengthening the chassis by about six inches to allow for a slightly larger cab with better shelter for the crew, a fire-iron tunnel in the tender and possibly fitting a screw-reverse gear in place of the more awkward lever reverse system which had been fitted to the first nine engines when they were built. However, Collett declined to build more "Night Owls" as he elected to build more examples of his excellent and slightly more expensive Castle Class 4-6-0s instead, which he felt would be much more capable on the faster freights as well as being better at hauling passenger trains too.
In 1946, there was a plan to renumber all nine members of the class as No.8800 to No.8808 in order to make way for another batch of pannier tank engines, but these new pannier tanks were instead numbered in the 67XX series, and so the nine 47XX 2-8-0s all retained their original numbers.
During their working lives, no major experimentation or changes were ever carried out with the 47XX Class, such as fitting double chimneys or doing other things to try and improve the draughting, and nor were they were fitted with speedometers. In 1952, there was a proposal put forward to replace the reversing lever with screw reversing gear, as their use on passenger trains was becoming more common at that time, but the proposal was turned down.
After the end of the war, the nine engines were initially painted in B.R. standard freight black livery, although No.4702 was painted in former L.N.W.R. mixed traffic livery, which was black with cream, red, and grey lining. But from 1957 onwards, the class were repainted into B.R. lined green livery, which made the engines look splendid. Under B.R.'s new power classification scheme, the 47XX Class were given the power classification of 7F.
The class were very highly regarded by their crews, who admired them for their ability to do any sort of job that was asked of them, whether it was their regular nocturnal fast fitted freight trains or the summer seaside specials.
The entire class was withdrawn from service from June 1962, with No.4702 being the first one to be withdrawn, to May 1964, when the final three examples of the class that were in service at that time, No.4703, No.4704, and No.4707, being withdrawn. Despite their limited usefulness and the limited routes they ran on, the mileages covered by the class were actually quite impressive, with each member of the class having covered distances exceeding more than one million miles. No.4707 achieved the greatest mileage covered by any member of the class when she was withdrawn, having covered about 1,720,000 miles. No.4705 recorded the second-highest mileage that was covered for any member of the class, having covered a very respectable 1,656,564 miles by the time she was withdrawn from service in December 1963.
Sadly, none of the original nine locomotives have been preserved, with none of them being sent to Woodham's Yard in Barry, South Wales, where they may have been saved from and returned to working order again. Luckily though, the Great Western Society, which is based at the Didcot Railway Centre in England, are working on a project to build the next and tenth member of the class, No.4709 for future generations to enjoy, with the project being undertaken by the 4700 Project Group. The new locomotive will use a mixture of new parts, and older parts sourced from locomotives that were formally stored in Barry Scrapyard. Brand new cylinders have also been cast for No.4709, and these have been redesigned a little so as to allow the new G.W.R. 47XX 2-8-0 to run on the main line without the risk of going over the modern British railway loading gauge.
In this story, a number of different members of the G.W.R.'s 47XX "Night Owl" Class, both the original engines as well as newer ones. will be appearing as the story goes on. What will make them all different from how the class was originally is that the pressure in their boilers will be at 250psi, which will allow the tractive effort to be increased to 33,845lbf, allowing them to haul even heavier trains. Also, some of those engines that are numbered beyond the original nine engines will also be fitted with a mechanical screw reverser instead of the more awkward lever reverse, as well as having a slightly larger footplate with a side window cab to give the crews better protection.
It seemed like ages getting to the top of the hill but was actually only about three or four minutes or so. and soon they came to the peak of the climb and started to pick up some speed as they went along a flat area that ran along a straight stretch for a few hundred yards. They passed by the signal box and sets of points at the top of the hill before they went down the other side along a much gentler slope, where there was no need for banking engines if they were to come back with another heavy train later on in the day from the other direction.
From the rear of the train came the sounds of the bankers whistling, which indicated to the driver and fireman that they were slowly dropping off the rear of the train one by one as they near the top of the hill. Carrie and Simon looked at each other and smiled; they'd made it over the hill and were now going down the other side of it!
"Well…that's that hill out of the way…well until the next time we have to tackle it anyway!" said Simon, as the train moved on towards Maron Station. Carrie smiled, and they settled back to enjoy the rest of the trip.
For the rest of the trip to Rossington Junction, things went very smoothly. Passing through Maron Station, they made their way over the stone viaduct which crossed the deep valley and headed on towards to Cronk. Before they reached Cronk, they passed by a wide canal which ran parallel to the railway for a mile or so before turning away. Not long after, they passed through Cronk Station and its freight sidings without incident before they passed by Murdoch, the bright orange B.R. 9F 2-10-0, who was heading in the opposite direction with a long and very heavy mixed freight train, made up of all different types of wagons, bound for Knapford.
Carrie loved every minute of the trip, it being her first-time experiencing life on the railway after all and in particular she loved the sounds of the railway, including the chuffing, the hissing of steam and the clacking of wheels on the steel rails as well as the loudness of the steam whistles and hissing of steam from safety valves.
It wasn't too long before they arrived at the station of Rossington Junction, and they paused in one of the long sidings for a short while before they went onto the double-tracked branch line leading to Rossington. It was within their schedule and, as they were running a little ahead of the schedule, they had some extra time on their hands.
While they were there, the crew, with Carrie and Simon joining in and observing, took the opportunity given by the stop to top up the water tanks from the water cranes at the side of the line, clean out the fire by removing any nasty clinker with special fire irons that were carried on board, check over all the brake blocks and to check the axle bearings to make sure they were okay, as well as to top up the oiling points on the motion if necessary.
Once that was all done, Carrie and Simon took the opportunity given by the break to have something to eat. After really thoroughly cleaning the shovel with the hosepipe used to wash down the footplate of coal dust, Simon showed Carrie how to cook over the fire in the firebox using the shovel as a frying pan.
"In the old days Carrie, when steam traction reigned supreme on Britain's railway system, this was done all the time. And it's a tradition that crews on this railway, as well as on heritage railways over on the mainland, are only too happy to honour." Simon said, as he placed the shovel, with some cooking oil in it, over the hot fire to heat up
"Will the food taste as it should?" Carrie asked, with some trepidation at a method of cooking that she hadn't expected to see.
"It will, Carrie. Don't worry." said Simon, with a certainty in his voice. It was clear that he had some experience of cooking this way before.
"Okay then, Simon...I guess I'll take your word for it." Carrie said, as she stood back and watched what was going to take place.
Once the oil in the shovel had heated up very nicely, they began the cooking; placing some thick slices of smoked bacon into the hot sizzling oil, followed by some British-style sausages, and then Simon, gently pushed the shovel blade back in the firebox over the glowing hot coals to allow the food to cook thoroughly, which only took a few minutes in that hot firebox.
When the bacon and sausages had finished cooking, they were taken off the shovel and put onto a plate, and then some more sausages and bacon were put on to cook. Once that batch was finished cooking and taken off the shovel, Simon broke some eggs into the still hot oil and pushed the shovel blade back again over the flames to allow the eggs to cook.
"And really can anything be cooked on a shovel inside a locomotive firebox?" Carrie asked, as she turned to the driver.
"Yes, ma'am, absolutely anything you want to have can be cooked on a shovel within a locomotive firebox. I've cooked steaks on the shovel on many an occasion, as well as bacon and eggs on many an early morning job." the driver said.
"And the flat plate here over the fire hole doors is always being kept quite warm from the intense heat coming out from inside. So, it isn't just used for keeping the oil cans as well as the tea cans warm, we also use it for keeping food warm until we're ready to eat it. I've also used it at times to gently heat up cans of soup or even cans of creamy rice pudding, which are a really nice treat to have on a very cold winter's day like today." the fireman said.
"Oh, I see." said Carrie, and she hoped that she could have some creamy rice pudding from a can gently heated up like that.
Once the eggs were cooked, they were taken off the shovel and they were ready to eat. Simon drained the excess oil from the shovel blade onto the hot coals beneath. When the oil hit, there came a bright white flame for several seconds as the red-hot coals ignited the oil.
Assembling her sandwich into a fresh mini-baguette with two slices of bacon, two sausages and a fried egg, topped with a little brown sauce and served with a mug of tea, Carrie sat at the back of the cab with Simon and tucked in.
"Wow, that's really nice actually. I never expected food cooked in a locomotive firebox to taste this way." Carrie said, as she savoured the cooked food in her sandwich.
"I'm glad you like it, Carrie. I felt this was something I had to show you while we were out today and while we had the time." Simon said.
"Thanks for that." Carrie said, and clinking their mugs of steaming hot tea together they continued eating their hot lunch. At one point, another train went by them; it was a Gresley L.N.E.R. V2 2-6-2, No.4800, in apple green livery, hauling a long train of about 36 empty oil tankers behind him, with three empty box vans acting as barrier vehicles between the tender and the first oil tanker. The oil tankers were all weathered with dirt and streaks of black oil, but some very were heavily weathered with thick streaks of oil running down the sides of the rounded tankers from the sealed openings at the tops, and brown layers of dirt on the chassis and wheels.
(A short while later)
The crew, Simon and Carrie soon finished eating their lunch and sipped down the last of their tea in their mugs. With some hot food and tea in her, and having rested after the trip so far, Carrie felt much better and ready to continue on again.
Then, the driver took a look up to the sky.
"Good grief, just look at that." he said, pointing. Looking up, Carrie and Simon could see the dark clouds that had been around earlier were now overhead and stretching for miles in all directions. And the air all around seemed to have gotten colder than it had been earlier on in the day. Then, it started to snow, with the small white flakes starting to fall from the dark sky slowly at first, but then picking up a bit in the next few minutes.
"And here we are…the first snow of the season." the fireman said, as he looked out.
"Yeah, there hasn't been much rain in the last few weeks, Carrie. So that means the ground is quite dry and the snow, if it comes down hard and fast as I think it might, it'll build up on the dry ground very quickly." Simon said, as he looked at the snow falling outside.
"Oh, it's colder now." Carrie said, as she shivered a little and went over to the firebox.
"But please don't worry; just be glad that we've got a hot fire from within this cab to keep us warm." said Simon, as he looked at Carrie.
"Yeah, I'm glad we've got that." Carrie said, as she smiled a little while looking outside again to watch the snow coming down hard.
It wasn't too long before they were given the all clear to go and, with the steam pressure having built up nicely and No.47988 pulling hard to gain traction, which included the driver using the sanding gear, they were on their way again. After leaving the sidings, they approached the junction leading to the Rossington Branch Line. The points had been set and they were on their way north east to Rossington, along some of the most difficult terrain on Sodor.
As they headed along the section of line that was double-tracked, the snow came down even harder than it had done before and the wind started picking up a bit, and soon it had reduced visibility to roughly half a mile or so.
Carrie and Simon were both concerned, especially as the tracks did go up and down at times as they got further into the hills, and signal lights showing all clear appeared as low green glows in the distance before they came into view.
At times, Carrie looked out as they passed over bridges; sometimes there were small streams passing below and at other times they passed over deep tree-lined cuttings where railway lines, either a single track or double tracks, passed under the bridges.
They soon reached the station at the halfway point along the line. Here was where the line reached a point where it transitioned from a double track to a single line which ran for some distance through the hills to the north east before it became double track again. It was also the point where the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway met up with the standard gauge railway at roughly the halfway point of the narrow-gauge railway.
As they pulled into the station, they saw the signal at the end of the platform was red. So they came to a stop and waited for the train coming towards them to go by. Then Carrie saw there was a small brown narrow-gauge tender engine with a long line of loaded slate trucks behind him sitting at the narrow gauge line on the other side of the platform they were coming to a stop alongside.
"Ah hello there, No.47988. You're right on time." the little brown engine said, as the much bigger Garratt came to a halt at the platform.
"Hello there, Duke." No.47988 said, as exhaust steam hissed out of the cylinder drain pipes.
"You'd best be careful with that train of yours. Driver says the snow is going to be coming down hard for the rest of the day." Duke said, as he looked up into the sky.
"Thanks for the warning, Duke." No.47988 said, as Simon and Carrie briefly stepped off his footplate and went over to Duke.
"Carrie, this engine here is Duke, one of the oldest engines on Sodor." said Simon.
"It's nice to meet you." Carrie said.
"Nice to meet you too, Carrie. I and all the other engines here on the Skarloey Railway have heard about why you're here on Sodor. The things that happened to you back at home would certainly never suit His Grace." Duke said.
Carrie looked at Simon with a facial expression that seemed to say "What is he on about? His Grace?" And Simon chuckled when he saw Carrie's face like that.
"It's all right, Carrie. Duke is named after his namesake, the Duke of Sodor, and when something happens that shouldn't happen, he always says "That would never suit His Grace", so it's his own personal saying…a catchphrase if you will." said Simon.
"Oh, I see." Carrie said, now fully understanding before she turned back to Duke. "Sorry about that. I just wasn't sure what you were on about." Carrie said with a smile.
"It's all right, Carrie. I completely understand. So how are you enjoying your time here on Sodor? Is everything going all right?" Duke asked.
"Oh, I'm really enjoying it so far. All the people and different engines I've met so far have been very friendly, welcoming and supportive of me. And already I very much feel like I'm part of the community here." Carrie said.
"I'm very pleased to hear it, Carrie. The other engines on the Skarloey Railway are all busy with their own jobs at the moment, but I'll tell them that I've met you here today." Duke said, as he puffed away with his loaded trucks to do his next job.
"Thank you very much, Duke." Carrie said, as she smiled a big smile.
Then on the single standard gauge line from the direction of Rossington, there came the sound of a bell ringing followed by chuffing as another engine approached from within the veil of swirling snow. Then, the engine came into view and, going over the points, stopped at the water tower along the other platform; it was Toby the Tram Engine with his coach Henrietta behind him along with half a dozen loaded trucks behind.
"Hello Toby." No.47988 said.
"Hello No.47988. Bad out today, isn't it?" Toby said, as he looked up at the sky and snow while his driver took the opportunity to top up with water.
"It is, but we're making good time today so far. And we're well on our way to delivering this train on time." No.47988 said, indicating to the long freight train behind him.
"Just please take care though. The rails further on could be very slippery in the downhill stretch before you get to Rossington." Toby warned.
"We promise we'll be very careful going up there, Toby." Simon said, as he and Carrie stepped out from behind No.47988.
"Oh, hello Simon, hello Carrie." Toby said, as he smiled on seeing them.
"Good afternoon, Toby." Carrie said, as she smiled.
"How are you getting on today?" Toby asked.
"Great, I'm having a good time so far, and I hope I'll get a chance to learn a lot more while I'm here." Carrie said.
"That's good." Toby said, as his crew finished topping up his water tank. Just then the driver rang the bell on Toby's roof, as the signal dropped. "Oh, it's time for me to be on my way. Goodbye." Toby said, as he set off again.
"Bye Toby! Good luck!" Simon and Carrie called as the tram engine headed off in the direction their train had just come.
"Good luck today, you two!" Toby called, as he headed off down the line.
Soon, No.47988 was on his way again and completing the last few miles to Rossington. On the last few miles, Carrie even tried her hand at firing. With the fireman's expert guide and extensive knowledge of the job, as well as having only small amounts of coal on the shovel at any one time so as to get her used to the job and how to go about it, she was able to put the lumps of coal where it was needed in order to make enough steam.
Shovelling each load of coal while bending down to put it from the rotating bunker and then into a very hot firebox was very hard and physical work, certainly it did get her to sweat a bit, but Carrie knew she would get used to it with time, as this was better exercise than anything she had experienced in gym class back home. At one point, using all her might, she thrust another load of coal as far into the firebox as she could and managed to get the coal to the very front of the firebox.
Simon also tried his hand at firing and being more used to exercise, he was able to put slightly greater and heavier shovelfuls of coal into the firebox and able to swing them further towards the front of the box and along the sides to generate more heat there.
By the time he was done, sweat droplets appeared on his forehead and his face was spotted with a very light dusting of coal dust.
"That was a good workout." Simon said, as he sat at the back of the cab with Carrie, whose face was also lightly dusted with coal dust in a few spots.
"Yeah, and certainly a better workout than any time in gym class." Carrie said, remembering to how bad many of her gym class moments had been back in Chamberlain.
"I know what you mean." Simon said, and they both shared a chuckle at that one.
They soon arrived at the yards in Rossington, with the train fully delivered bang on time despite the increasingly snowy conditions. After pulling into the shunting yards, where No.47988 was detached from the train and the driver spoke with the yard manager, they were uncoupled from the train, and made their way to the motive power depot not too far away so get ready for the next job. The depot, which was well-equipped with everything the steam locomotives of Sodor needed, was right by the main line that went from Vicarstown to Knapford around the north coast of Sodor.
After they stopped in the depot over one of the loco inspection pits just outside the main engine shed, the driver, fireman, Simon and Carrie went into the main building to have a quick washup and a much-needed rest before they went back to work. There was always good camaraderie between the loco crews there, as well as hot drinks and food on offer.
At one point, as No.47988 was being serviced at one of the depot lines by a team of fitters ready for the return journey later in the day, B.R. Standard 9F No.92098 with 15 fully laden, and thus very heavy, iron ore hopper wagons and brake van behind him, came to a stop along the slow line that went right beside the depot. Ralph White was sitting at the controls on the left-hand side of the cab and driving, with his normally smart navy blue overalls covered with a light layer of black coal dust, orange-brown iron ore dust, sweat and thin streaks of lubricating oil in spots.
The reason for the halt was to allow a faster train to pass them by, which just a normal routine thing to do. After gently stopping the train by the signal box, which had a water tower beside it, Ralph and his fireman decided to take the opportunity given by the stop to top up the tender tank with water before they continued on again. As Ralph went to the water tower to swing the arm over to the tank, the fireman climbed up onto the tender tank.
It was a bit of a challenge for the fireman to get onto the tender tank using the ladders at the rear, considering the cold wind had gotten up and it was blowing the snow flakes, which were now falling very heavily, into his face, which chilled him quite a bit. But he made it up and, after opening the lid, Ralph slowly swung the water tower arm out and once it was place over the open lid, he turned on the water.
As the water flowed into the tender tank, Ralph then noticed No.47988 sitting within the depot line closest to the slow line with some of the depot crew going over him, cleaning out the fire, refilling with coal and water as well as a myriad of other jobs that needed to be done before he could go out on his next assignment.
"Well, looks like No.47988 made it here safely." Ralph pointed out to his fireman, who looked over into the yard and smiled broadly.
"I told you they'd make it here safely, Ralph. And to see No.47988 sitting in there now is proof of that." the fireman said, as he then turned his attention back to the water pouring into the tender tank. As they finished up filling the tender tank with water a few minutes later, there came a whistle from up the line and a moment later, Henry went by at speed on the fast line heading towards Vicarstown, a long line of box vans, some flatbeds, covered hopper wagons (Cov-Hop) and a number of different tankers following along behind him, heading directly down to the freight depot in Vicarstown.
After Henry went by, the points were switched and the signal dropped and No.92098, with a loud toot on his whistle and steam shooting out from the cylinder drain cocks in dense white clouds, was on his way again. Slowly, with a loud toot on the whistle, and a clanking and clunking, the heavy iron ore train left the Down Slow Line and was on its way down on the last stage of the trip to Vicarstown.
(Late afternoon; 5:10pm)
No.47988 arrived back at Tidmouth Sheds after a long day of work. After delivering the train of construction materials to Rossington, he then had to deliver another heavy freight train, this time it was a slow mixed goods, that afternoon from Vicarstown back to Knapford.
Again, Carrie and Simon were both on the footplate for the journey back, and they were both tired after a long day. Their sweaty faces and their overalls were coated with a light dusting of coal dust, showing evidence of the work they'd done during the course of the day, including trying their hands at firing again on the trip.
While on the trip back, the fireman had heated up some cans of creamy rice pudding, flavoured with a little cinnamon and vanilla, on the flat plate over the firebox doors. After opening the cans to allow pressure to vent out, he allowed them to gently heat up as they went along the line. It wasn't too long before the cans had heated up, and they were able to eat.
As Carrie took in her first spoonful of rice pudding, she savoured the sweet, creamy flavour and how the cinnamon and vanilla really helped improve the flavour. The gentle heat slowly spread over her tongue and warmed her up, perfect for doing so on a freezing cold winter's day like today, just like the fireman had said earlier. She felt a smile come across her face; this was something she could definitely get used to.
After they arrived back at Tidmouth Sheds, just as it was getting dark in the midwinter evening, they came to a gentle halt in one of the long sidings. The driver put the brakes on and they came to a stop over one of the long pits just in front of the shed, where the ashpan would be emptied out and the fire dropped. This would be done very quickly thanks to the fact the ashpan was a hopper design with a door at the bottom where the ash would simply fall and the fact there was a rocking grate in the firebox where, by using a lever to move the grate back and forth, the fire could be quickly dropped to the pit below, thus saving a lot of time when disposing of an engine.
Carrie and Simon stood aside and both watched as the driver and fireman showed them how disposing a locomotive was done. They watched as the fireman, using a long lever, which almost looked like a length of pipe, opened the hopper ashpan and the ash, still very hot, fell out into the inspection pit in a cloud of grey brown dust. Then the driver, inside the cab, using another lever, rocked the grate and forth causing the fire to fall into the pit too. The heat coming up from the coals, still glowing red-orange, in the pit below felt quite good to the two young teens standing out in the cold.
Once they were done, Simon and Carrie made their way over to the side of the yard, past where many of the engines, all tired after their day, were being disposed of and being cleaned ready for the next day, to where the other teens who'd experienced the railway were gathered. They looked just the same; tired, faces dotted with sweat and lightly dusted all over with coal dust. But they all appeared to be in very good spirits, despite the long and cold wintery day.
"Have a good day, Carrie?" Alice asked, as Carrie and Simon came up to them.
"Yes Alice, it was a good day. I learned quite a bit out there today, and it was a much more interesting day for me than being stuck inside an old school classroom in fact." Carrie said, as she smiled broadly.
"And just like the rest of us…" Sophie said in her distinct Scottish accent, "…you look like you could use a shower and a change of clothes."
"That I could." Carrie said, as she looked down at her dust covered overalls. She also didn't need to be told that her sweaty face was covered with a light dusting of coal dust.
Just then, there came the beeping of a horn and a moment later, as everyone's heads turned, the Fat Controller arrived before them in his smart blue car.
"Good afternoon, everyone; did we all have a good time out there today?" he asked, as he got out from his car and stepped over to the group.
"Yes, sir!" they all said at once.
"I've just spoken with some of the crews you were with today, and they're very impressed with how well you all did today. And they're hoping that you can all show your potential in the future when the scheme begins in January. And I'm really proud of you all." said the Fat Controller with a smile.
"Thank you, sir." all the teens said.
"Now you'd all better go and get yourselves cleaned up. You look like you all need it after the day you've had." said the Fat Controller.
"Well, come on. Let's get ourselves cleaned up then." one of the boys said, as the group dispersed; the boys went to the men's changing room and showers, while the girls went to their changing room and showers.
(A little while later, 5:35pm)
With everyone now showered and changed into fresh clean clothes, they made their way home for the evening with stories to tell of their day out on the railway. Carrie was especially pleased by the fact the showers in the ladies changing room had individual and private shower stalls with walls that went down to an inch above the ground, rather than the open showers that she experienced back in the ladies changing rooms in Ewen High School. It meant that for the very first time, she could really enjoy having a hot refreshing shower without anybody else staring at her, which would always make her feel very uncomfortable back home.
Now they were finished showered and were fully cleaned up, Carrie and Simon, with their bags on their laps, sat together in the main canteen of the building while waiting for Ralph to arrive. He was in the men's changing room, having a hot shower followed by changing his clothes after his own day of hard work, transporting heavy and dusty iron ore from the footplate of 9F No.92098, in the Tyne Dock to Consett iron ore wagons, all the way past Vicarstown to a depot just on the main land before returning to Sodor for another job.
At that moment No.92098, covered all over in a light layer of brown iron ore dust, soot and coal dust, clear evidence from his long and tiring day of hard work hauling a long line of fully laden – and thus very heavy – iron ore hopper wagons, was parked very close to Tidmouth Sheds and being disposed of by the shed staff, as he was due for some scheduled light repair work and a good cleaning, both on the outside as well as the inside of the boiler, first thing in the morning to ensure the boiler would produce steam efficiently. But the fire had to be dropped out from inside the firebox and the boiler left to completely cool down before that could take happen.
"So, did you have a good day out there with me today, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"I did, and a really great day it was too. And after today, I'll certainly sleep quite well tonight." Carrie said, as she smiled.
"Me too. Anyway Carrie…would you like to go to the Christmas Market in Knapford with me tomorrow?" Simon asked. Carrie looked at him for a few moments, unsure of what to say.
"Are you serious? Like a date?" she asked.
"Of course, like a date." Simon said, as he smiled a little and rubbed the back of his head in a rather nervous way. Even though Simon had plenty of female friends here on Sodor, he'd never had a serious girlfriend before.
"Sure, I'd love to go to the Christmas Market with you, Simon." Carrie said.
"Thanks Carrie, I really appreciate that." said Simon.
Then Ralph White stepped into the canteen through the main entrance doors, having finished his shower and dressed into fresh clothes. Following along just behind him was the Fat Controller himself.
"I've just spoken with No.47988's crew, and I'm very pleased with you two on how you did today. I think you're both gonna be a real credit to the railway when you start working here." said the Fat Controller.
"Thank you, sir." Carrie and Simon said, together.
"And Carrie…I think you're gonna go a very long way in life with the positive attitude you displayed out there today." said the Fat Controller, with a smile.
"Thank you very much, sir." Carrie said, with a tired smile.
"Now, you both get yourselves home and get some rest. I think you've both earned it after today." the Fat Controller said, as he turned and walked away.
"Yes, sir." Carrie and Simon said, as they both stood up from their table and grabbed their bags with their things.
"Hey Carrie, are you ready to head on home?" Ralph asked, while approaching the two.
"Yes, dad. Ah, Simon has asked me if I want to go with him to the Christmas Market tomorrow and I've said yes." Carrie said.
"So could I take her out for the day tomorrow, Ralph?" Simon asked.
"Certainly Simon, I think there'll be no harm in doing that. I'd like Carrie to experience a social event with other young people her own age." Ralph said, as he smiled.
"Thanks, dad." Carrie said.
"Shall we head on home, Carrie?" Ralph asked.
"Of course, dad." Carrie said, as she stood up from the seat.
"I'll see you outside your house tomorrow morning, Carrie." Simon said, as he too stood up from the table.
"Okay Simon, I'll see you outside my father's place in the morning." Carrie said, as she and Ralph left the canteen and headed to the bus stop so as to catch the bus home.
