Chapter 9: First Day of Work
(January 9th 2012 – 9:30am; Tidmouth Sheds)
Carrie, wearing warm clothing, along with a set of dark navy-blue work overalls over them, an orange hi-vis jacket on over that, a good pair of solid work boots upon her feet, and a good pair of work gloves on her hands as well as a peaked railway cap on her head, stood along with the other teenagers within the main crew building and awaited for their assignments for the day. It was the very first day of Sir Topham Hatt's new apprenticeship recruitment scheme, and every single one of the teenagers taking part were very eager to get to work on this first day of a new path in their lives.
But for Carrie especially, it was the beginning of something brand new in her life to enjoy and to really set herself up to challenging herself personally to see if she could really do the work that she volunteered for, as well as to make her new life here on the Island of Sodor work.
She had a really great Christmas only a few short weeks before, and she had really enjoyed it to the fullest; after rising at about 8:05am on Christmas morning, she went downstairs to the living room where the Christmas tree had been set up and opened her presents. She got the latest iPhone, an iPad, a laptop – which Ralph helped her set up, some writing materials, a large box of chocolate bars and a few other things as well, which really pleased her. To make the day even more special, fresh snow was falling outside, covering the landscape with white and thus giving everyone on the Island of Sodor a traditional old fashioned white Christmas.
Ralph was particularly pleased to see his daughter very happy with experiencing her first proper Christmas away from Margaret's iron fist, and he couldn't have remembered ever feeling so happy before in his life up to that time, particularly as his previous Christmases before then would be of him usually spending Christmas Day alone in his house, or even enjoying it with his friends on occasion.
Later in that day, Carrie and her father settled down for Christmas dinner; for Ralph, this year it was a large side of roast beef complete with all the trimmings, including roast potatoes, carrots which had been glazed and roasted, boiled peas, boiled cabbage, and bacon-wrapped asparagus with a rich and hot gravy. Carrie really enjoyed the dinner, and she really felt by day's end that her first proper Christmas had been a really big success, with high hopes for an even better Christmas the following year.
In the days following December 25th, Carrie spent a lot of time with the new friends she had made and exchanging any gifts with them, and doing lots of fun things with them, including building snowmen in the main park in Knapford, having snowball fights and lots of other fun things as well. And when the evening of New Year's Eve rolled around a few days afterwards, Carrie, her father and their friends went out with many other people to Knapford Station again to see the firework display and to welcome in the New Year of 2012. Once again, just like with the party at Knapford Station on Christmas Eve, many of Sodor's most famous engines were also in attendance at the party.
And just like with the party on Christmas Eve, Carrie and Simon along with their friends all socialised with the engines and the others. And at the stroke of midnight, they turned their eyes to the dark and clear night sky high above them as the first fireworks shot into the air and exploded with loud bangs, bright stars and sparkling flashes, with a huge variety of colours to be seen in the sky, from red and orange, blue, gold, green, silver and purple, as they welcomed 2012.
For Carrie, it was one of the most memorable evenings of her life, and the fact she was with people that she could call friends made it an even better occasion.
But at the same time, Carrie was very eager to get started with the new apprenticeship scheme when the time to start finally rolled around. She was determined to do her very best and to prove to the others, as well as herself that she was capable of doing it.
When she joined up with the other teenagers on the morning the scheme began, she was very eager to get started on this new leg of her life and learn what it took to run steam locomotives and how to work on a railway.
The first thing, after they had all gotten dressed into their uniforms in the changing rooms, including overalls, hi-vis vests and other protective clothing, they received their instructions, directly from Sir Topham Hatt himself, on what they were to do for the first day. Most of the work to be done today would be within the main depot around Tidmouth Sheds, and would involve cleaning the engines, helping to light fires in the fireboxes and oiling them up ready for their runs, as well as some basic maintenance where it was necessary.
After the briefings, which included an extensive health and safety briefing about what to do, as well as who to speak to in the event of an emergency, the group stood up and headed outside to start their first day of work.
"I can't believe this is it…first day of work." Carrie said to Simon, as they headed out into the yard and over to the engines who were waiting for them to arrive.
"Me too…and I'm hoping we'll have the best time while we're on this scheme." said Simon, as he smiled and thought of the time that lay ahead.
Arriving in the yards around Tidmouth Sheds, they set to work; Carrie along with Simon, Olivia and Sophie were assigned to help light up fires in the fireboxes of some engines, before they went to help clean the bodywork of said engines while the fires slowly built up.
The four, along with a few others and some workmen, were led over to the shed near to the main engine shed and turntable, where a number of different engines were sitting and waiting to be lit up and cleaned, ready for their next jobs. Much to Carrie's slight surprise and amazement, there were three large American-looking steam locomotives, each of which was a 2-8-0, sitting with the other engines on the lines leading into the shed. One of them was painted in a light grey with the smokebox in black and "Transportation Corps U.S.A." written in white on the tender, while the other two were painted in a plain, unlined B.R. black livery with late B.R. crests on the tenders.
"Well, these are the locomotives you'll be starting on today, you lot…" the foreman said, to the young recruits as they lined up before him, "…each of these engines you see before you have just undergone a major overhaul and are just to restart work either later today or tomorrow morning. So, they're gonna need to have their fires lit, their valve gear and motion oiled up and their bodywork cleaned and polished before they can begin their work." said the foreman.
"Yes, sir." the four new recruits said together.
It wasn't too long before the four recruits, as well as some of the crews assigned to help them, were starting off on their assigned tasks. Carrie and Simon were led up to the footplate of one of the American steam locomotives by the shed; in fact, it was the one in the light grey livery. Their first task for the day was to help light the fire. Carrie soon learned the three American locomotives were members of the U.S. S160 Class 2-8-0s that were once operated by the U.S. Army's Transportation Corps (U.S.A.T.C.) during World War II for use on the war-ravaged European railway network (7). Carrie was amazed to see that there were American-built steam locomotives over on this side of the Atlantic, having never expected to see such engines over here on Sodor when she had agreed to start on the apprenticeship scheme.
(7): The U.S.A.T.C. S160 Class 2-8-0 is a class of utilitarian steam locomotive that was built in very large numbers by the United States for use on freight workings, including the movement of large quantities of military hardware and civilian goods, in Europe during the Second World War. In total, well over 2,100 examples of the class were built by various companies throughout the United States, including the American Locomotive Company, the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and the Lima Locomotive Works, before production of the class finally ceased in 1945.
As they were meant to be used on railway lines within European countries, all of which had a much more restricted loading gauge than the railways in North America and the United States, they were much smaller in size than the typical classes of enormous steam locomotives that were usually seen running about on North America railroads at that time. Also the class had to be designed to adapt to European coupling and buffing gear, as on railroads in the United States all locomotives used a centre buffer coupling known as the buckeye, whereas in Europe outside buffers and a centre coupling hook were used, so a much stronger buffer-beam assembly was required than what would normally be seen or fitted on North American locomotives.
The frames for the locomotives were cut from 4.5in wide cast steel, but a few were frame-cut from 4.5in steel plate. The wheels were made of cast steel, and the driving wheels were fitted with 3in wide steel tyres. In order to provide a smooth ride when running on poor quality track, the front two driving wheelsets were sprung independently from the rear two. The tenders for the S160's were very large compared to British designs, and could hold up to 5,400 gallons of water and 8 tons of coal. The bunker also had insets above the water tank, just like on the British W.D. Austerity Class 2-8-0s and 2-10-0s, which helped to improve visibility from the cab when running in reverse.
The S160s also had a Westinghouse air pump fitted on the front of the smokebox on the left-hand side, and this was used to operate the brakes on the locomotives, though this was often woefully insufficient due to the long distance from the driver's brake valve over to the brake cylinder.
The engines of the S160 Class, just like all North American steam locomotives, were also fitted with power-operated reversers, a feature that was greatly welcomed by British and European railwaymen. These devices were fitted on all steam locomotives by law in North America just in case trains ran away so that the locomotives could be reversed for braking effect.
The S160s were fitted with two outside cylinders that had were 19in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke. With their 4ft 9in diameter driving wheels and a boiler pressure of 225psi and fitted with superheating, the S160 Class had a maximum tractive effort of 31,490lbf.
The S160s were designed for quick and efficient building, but not for long term operations. Their axle-boxes were lubricated with grease instead of with oil, but that didn't prove very efficient, particularly when maintenance was delayed during the war for various reasons, so the axle-boxes often would run hot. Braking was also poor by European standards, with the Westinghouse steam brake often proving woefully inadequate. This was perhaps not that surprising, as in North America at that time, every train would have been continuously braked, whereas in Britain it was the exception rather than the rule.
Another major fault with the S160 Class was the single water gauge glass, which was of a design unfamiliar to British crews. If the valves weren't fully open, then the crews could be misled into thinking there was an adequate water level even though it was becoming dangerously low in reality. In such a low water condition, it allowed the stay bolts holding the crown sheet to fail with little warning, often resulting in a catastrophic boiler explosion. One such boiler explosion resulted in the death of a G.W.R. fireman in November 1943.
The class was used extensively to move military hardware on Britain's railway network in the time prior to D-Day in June 1944, with 174 engines going to the Great Western Railway (G.W.R.), 168 to the London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.), 50 to the London Midland and Scottish Railway (L.M.S.) and 6 going to the Southern Railway (S.R.). These S160s were said to be "running in", but in reality they were replacing damaged stock, and allowing the British railway system to cope with the increasing military traffic, particularly during the run-up to the D-Day Landings on June 6th 1944. Another 400 S160s were put into storage by U.S.A.T.C personnel at the Ebbw Junction locomotive depot on the G.W.R. where they were dispatched to Europe after D-Day.
The S160 Class had a number of features which would be incorporated into the later classes of the B.R. Standard steam classes, including rocking grates, hopper ashpans and self-cleaning smokeboxes, which made the later engines easier to service, easier to run, and easier to operate. They were powerful, rugged and versatile locomotives, and could be fired on almost anything.
After D-Day, the S160s, including those that had worked extensively on Britain's railway system, were returned to the U.S.A.T.C. and shipped over to France, where they worked hard on railways on the Continent of Europe for the rest of the war in moving troops and supplies up to the front lines, as the Allied Forces advanced deep into Germany.
Post-war, the class was used extensively by various European countries, including Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Poland. However, Great Britain never used the class on its post-war railway system, though some examples were re-imported in recent years for use on various heritage railways throughout the U.K., including on the Great Central Railway, the Dartmouth Steam Railway, and the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. One of the more famous examples of the class is No.5197, which once worked on the Fushun Industrial Railway in China in the years after the war, but is now privately owned and based on the Churnet Valley Railway, where it's currently in working order.
Ironically, some examples of the class were used by the railways of both North Korea and South Korea during the Korean War in the early 1950's; many of those S160s that were used by North Korea had been shipped to the Soviet Union in WWII, and who then sold some of them to North Korea after the end of the war, as well as 100 locomotives which were sent to South Korea by the United States in 1947.
Many examples were also used on the various industrial railways in China for many years after the end of the Second World War - with some examples working well into the 1990's, where they were modernized with larger cabs and higher stacks. They often worked with operators in heavy industrial work, including in the many coal mines that were located all over China.
Within the A.U. in this fanfic, a large number of U.S.A.T.C. S160s did see post-war use on Britain's railway system, becoming a part of the B.R. Standard Classes and being numbered from No.96000 to No.96360, with most of them being painted in unlined B.R. black with late crests on the tender. However, some of the other examples were also painted in their original U.S.A.T.C. light grey livery, hence why some of the S160s in this story will be in both liveries. Another change to class in this story is those running in British service in this A.U. are rebuilt to be more user friendly to their British crews, including having the controls being reconfigured so as to make them more familiar to British crews.
"Well then, let's get the fire lit up. The sooner the better, I'd say." Simon said, as he rubbed his hands together vigorously before he put his gloves back on.
"Okay…now Carrie, what I want you to do…first of all…is to put an even layer of coal over the grate in the firebox, and it has to be just enough to cover the grate." the foreman said, as he handed Carrie the shovel.
"Okay, sir." Carrie said, as she took hold of the shovel before turning round to the tender behind her.
"And remember, Carrie…don't rush yourself. Just go nice and easy, and take your time." the foreman said.
"All right then." Carrie said, as she got the shovel positioned in her hands in a way that suited her. Then she thrust the shovel forward into the coal space in the tender, before pulling it back a few seconds later with a load of coal on it and turning round and thrusting the shovel through the firehole doors and depositing the coal as far forward as she could. And that was what she did for the next five minutes or so, as Simon and the foreman looked on. She could feel her muscles on her arms get a little sore as she continually swung round back and forth, but she continued on, thinking "This is hard work, but I know I can do this."
It wasn't too long before the foreman looked in the firebox and told Carrie she had done the job perfectly well, much to Carrie's satisfaction.
"Okay, onto the next stage; Carrie…I'm gonna go down to the wheelbarrow below the cab and I'll hand you the lengths of timber to you, and I want you to hand them to Simon, you'll then put them inside."
"Yes, sir." Simon and Carrie said together. The foreman went down to the wheelbarrow below the right side of the cab while Carrie stood at the cab entranceway and Simon knelt down in front of the open firehole doors. Then he handed pieces of timber, including lengths of smashed up pallets, up to Carrie who then handed them to Simon, who then placed them in the firebox. They had to be careful though, as some of the pieces of pallets still had old rusty nails sticking out of them, but they got the job done without a problem, with a few pieces of timber still left in the barrow afterwards.
Soon though, it was time to light the fire. The foreman brought onto the footplate an old metal bucket filled to the top with very oily rags, and placed quite a few of them into the shovel which Simon was holding onto. Then, taking out a box of matches, which were extra-long ones, he handed them to Carrie.
"Do you want to do the honours?" he asked.
"Certainly." Carrie said, as she took off one of her gloves and then took the box of matches, opened it and took a match out. Striking the match on the side of the matchbox, she slowly put it under one oily rag that was sticking up and watched as the rag slowly caught alight. Carrie then quickly blew the match out and then put her glove back on, not wanting her hand to be out in the cold air any longer than necessary.
After a few moments, where the flames were allowed to catch and build, Simon carefully pushed the shovel into the firebox and, slowly tipping the shovel up, slid the burning rags off the shovel and into the middle of the coals and timber. Slowly, the coals and pieces of wood caught light and started to slowly burn, giving off dark brown smoke.
Then with the foreman's instructions, Simon took the shovel and carefully placed some larger lumps of coal, one at a time, around the slow growing fire followed not long after by some pieces of timber left over in the wheelbarrow.
"Well, I guess that's it for now." Simon said, as he and Carrie watched as the fire took hold and more of the fuel ignited.
"Indeed, but we will need to keep a close eye on it as the day goes on. Come on, let's get to the next task at hand." the foreman said, as he stepped off the footplate.
"Come on, Carrie." Simon said, as he stood up.
"Okay, Simon." Carrie said, as she too stood up and followed Simon off the footplate.
The recruits were soon busy at their next tasks on their assigned engines; oiling up the motion, coupling and connecting rods and any other moving parts that needed to be oiled up, as well as the mechanical lubricators just behind the two large outside cylinders. Carrie quickly learned that to oil up the rods a cork had to be removed from above the oil reservoirs and then, using special oil cans, filled up the oil reservoirs before replacing the corks.
They also had to really, thoroughly polish the rods as well, and were given old rags and polish to accomplish that task. The job was necessary in order to spot any defects or problems that could cause any issues when the engine was out working on the main line.
Carrie did the very best job she could with the polishing, and she rubbed the rags back and forth, determined to clean off the rods so she could see anything that looked out of the ordinary as well as to be sure the rods were presentable. Soon, she finished polishing, and the foreman came round to have a good look at Carrie's handiwork.
"You've done a very good job there, Carrie. Well done." the foreman said with a smile, as he finished up with his inspection.
"Thank you, sir." Carrie said, feeling proud with her work.
"And Simon…you've done a very good job too." the foreman said.
"Thanks, sir. And are there any problems with the rods?" Simon asked.
"No, Simon; everything's in order with them." the foreman said.
"That's good…very good." Carrie said, as she smiled a little. Then the foreman looked at his watch; it was 10:58am.
"Why don't you two go and take a break for a while? After the work you've done so far this morning, I think you've both earned it."
"Thank you, sir. It'll be nice to get out of this cold." Simon said, as he and Carrie went off to the nearby crew building to get a hot drink.
Soon, with a large mug of hot tea in their hands, Carrie and Simon went back outside and went over to speak with the three S160's they had helped work on during the morning. They were soon stood in front of one of them, S160 No.96100 in B.R. unlined black livery.
"Hello Carrie…hello Simon." said No.96100 in his American accent, as Carrie and Simon stepped in front of him.
"Morning, No.96100." Simon said, as he took a sip of his tea.
"It's nice to meet you, Carrie, I hope you're doing a good job so far." No.96100 said.
"I am, and I think I'm doing the very best I can." Carrie said, as she smiled.
"That's good to hear, Carrie. And I heard you and Simon receiving the praise of the foreman just a short while ago. He isn't always the easiest of people to please…just don't tell him that though."
"Well, not everyone is, I suppose." Carrie said, as she giggled a little. She paused a moment and took a sip of her tea before she spoke again. "So, how long have you and any other engines in your class have been on Sodor for?"
"Well, including me there's six of us here on Sodor. Three of us, including me, are painted in the unlined black B.R. livery we were painted in when we ran on British Railways between 1948 and 1968, and the other three of us are all painted in our original U.S.A.T.C. grey livery. And the six of us have been part of the Sodor Railway since 1965." No.96100 said.
"Wow, that's a very long time to be here." Carrie said.
"It is. But at the same time, the six of us are happy to be living and working here instead of being elsewhere." No.96100 said.
"And what would your normal duties be from day to day?" Carrie asked.
"It would usually be heavy freight workings on the main line, and occasionally along the various branch lines on this island as well. Yet, we have pulled passenger trains from time to time as well." No.96100 said.
"Did you ever work over on lines on the main land before you became part of B.R.'s stock?" Simon asked, as he took another sip of his tea.
"I did indeed. It was during much of 1944 right in the run-up to, and for a short time after, the D-Day landings on June 6th 1944. Then in early September 1944, I and a few others in my class were sent across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France and we worked on the railways of Continental Europe for the rest of the war, including all throughout France, in Belgium, the Netherlands and in Germany in the time after the war had ended." No.96100 said.
"So, I imagine that you saw quite a lot of uneasy sights in your time over there?" Carrie asked, with some anxiousness.
"Oh, I did…I did…and a lot of it is stuff that I wouldn't wish for anyone to see. A lot of it are things I still do lose sleep over every now and then…but still I try not to let what I saw bother me too much." No.96100 said. Carrie immediately sympathized with No.96100, and the thoughts of what he saw and went through over in war-ravaged countries. He also sympathized with him about losing sleep over the things he'd seen, something that she herself had often experienced at times based on her own experience with bullies in Ewen High School.
"Well…that's good to know, No.96100." Simon said.
"And when did you come back from Europe?" Carrie asked.
"It was in during the bitter winter of late 1947 – early 1948, and about 360 or so of us came over to the U.K. and we were taken in by the newly formed British Railways not long after we arrived. We were painted into plain black not long after we started service, but we didn't receive our B.R. numbers until late in 1951." No.96100 said.
"And most of your work over there was on freight work, I assume?" Simon asked.
"Of course, freight work was what we mostly did. And it all varied from fully fitted freights, all the way to loose-coupled freights, and we worked at all different times of the day and night, on the main lines and branch lines too. And the odd passenger train and special excursion tour was added in for good measure too." No.96100 said.
"And is that something the new recruits, including me, will be experiencing from time to time while we're on this apprentice scheme?" Carrie asked; she already knew the answer from what her father and Sir Topham Hatt had told her, but she just wanted to add something to keep the conversation going.
"Of course, Carrie…when you're here with the scheme, you'll get to try everything that the other crews on the railway are doing…even working trains at night as well." No.96100 said.
"Thank you." Carrie said, before she took another sip of her tea while it was still hot, deeply appreciating the warming effect it gave on a cold day like today.
A few minutes later, with their break finished, Carrie and Simon climbed onto the footplate of No.96100 and checked the fire they had lit earlier on in the morning. It was now burning brightly, with the coals inside the firebox glowing white hot. Simon took hold of the shovel, turned towards the tender and thrust it forward into the coal before turning and placing the fresh coal into the middle of the hot fire.
Carrie stood up and took a good look at the British-style boiler pressure gauge; the indicator needle was already indicating a steam pressure of between 50psi and 100psi.
"I'm amazed that the steam pressure has come up so quickly." Carrie said to Simon.
"Yeah well, since the fire was lit, we've all been working hard on getting No.96100 ready for his work and the steam pressure has come up in that time." Simon said, as he brought his hands close to the firebox doors and warmed them with the heat coming out. Carrie did as well, and it felt good to get her hands warmed up from a hot fire, as even with gloves on, they were quite chilled on this cold January day.
"Oh, that's so much better!" Carrie said, as she felt her hands warm up.
"Absolutely, and there's nothing better than having a hot fire like this to keep you warm on a day as cold as this." Simon said.
"I agree." Carrie said, with a smile. But they had to leave the warmth and comfort of the fire and move onto their next job; this one involved more polishing and cleaning, but it was cleaning every inch of the locomotive and tender so they shone and were in perfect presentation when they ran on the railway. All the new recruits got involved and helped with cleaning the locomotives they were assigned to work on, and using rags and polish, as well as small brushes to clean out the smaller nooks and crannies, they worked for much of the rest of the morning to get the engines clean and sparkling.
A little later on in the day, once the job of engine cleaning had been fully completed, it was lunchtime and it was time to cook hot food again on the shovel in the firebox of a locomotive.
"So, what are we having for lunch today, Simon?" Carrie asked, after they had climbed onto the footplate of No.96100, having thoroughly washed their hands in the crew building beforehand.
"Well…today, we're gonna be having…ribeye steaks." Simon said, as he took out a pack with two ribeye steaks in it.
"Very nice, and will we be having anything else with it?" Carrie asked.
"Absolutely, I'll fry up some onions on the shovel too, and we can have a hot steak and onion sandwich with tea. You like onions, don't you?" Simon asked.
"Of course." Carrie said.
"Splendid, now let's get to work." Simon said, as he took the shovel and, using the water pipe hose on the footplate, thoroughly cleaned the shovel down before pouring some oil into it and then placing the blade over the fire to get the oil heated up.
While she waited, Carrie, after really thoroughly cleaning her hands so as to get rid of any dirt and oil, sliced up two onions on a chopping board on a flat area on the front of the tender. She sliced the onions up as thinly as she could, which meant the onions would cook a little faster. She also opened the pack of steaks, and then dusted them with seasoning, including a dash each of salt and pepper, as well as special steak seasoning to help the steaks taste nicer.
Soon, with the oil in the shovel having heated up nicely thanks to the fire, Simon carefully placed the two steaks into the hot oil and, with the oil sizzling loudly on contact, he pushed the shovel into the firebox to allow the steaks to cook.
"How do you like your steak, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"I like it well done please, Simon." Carrie said.
"Me too…I like my steak well done every time too." Simon said.
"When shall we add the onions in?" Carrie asked.
"Not too long…in a firebox as hot as this…the steaks should be done in no time at all." Simon said, as he kept a close eye on the two steaks on the shovel.
After three or four minutes, Simon turned the steaks over to allow the other sides to cook through, and after a few more minutes, with Simon pulling the shovel out, Carrie added in the onions onto the blade among the two steaks. With that, Simon pushed the shovel back into the hot firebox and allowed the steaks and onions to cook.
It wasn't too long before everything had finished cooking, and Simon pulled the shovel out, turned round and, using a long-handled cooking tongs, placed the onions and two steaks onto a large piece of crumbled up tin foil, so as to allow them to rest for a few minutes before they tucked into it.
A few minutes later, they assembled their steak and onion sandwiches on soft white rolls, and topped them with a little of what sauces they wanted and, with mugs of hot tea in their hands, they tucked into their sandwiches.
"Hmm…now this is delicious." Carrie said, after she swallowed her first bite.
"Absolutely…and there's really nothing as delicious as a steak sandwich like this. After all, as far as I'm concerned…nothing can beat something like this." Simon said, after swallowing before he took a sip of tea.
"Hmm…" Carrie murmured as she took another bite of her sandwich, and savoured the taste, the flavour and juiciness of the steak and onions within the break roll. After swallowing that bite, she took a sip of her own tea.
They soon finished their lunch, and suitable fortified, they set themselves back to work again, as the foreman arrived on No.96100's footplate to check on them.
"Okay, you two…ready to get back to work?" he asked.
"Yes sir, we are." Simon said, as Carrie nodded.
"Well then, let's check the fire first of all." the foreman said, as he looked through the open firehole doors at the fire burning merrily within.
"Better add some more fuel before you go onto your next job." the foreman said, as he looked at Simon.
"Very well, sir." said Simon, as he reached for the shovel.
"Could I have a try please?" Carrie asked.
"I don't see why not." the foreman said, as Simon, with a smile, handed the shovel to Carrie. She took the shovel and, taking a deep breath, loaded it with coal before she turned to thrust the fuel into the firebox. And, as Simon and the foreman watched, she loaded the shovel with another load of coal and did the same move again, but this time, by swinging the shovel to the right, managed to place the load of coal into the back right corner.
"You're doing quite well, miss." the foreman said, impressed by how Carrie was placing the fresh coal strategically into the firebox.
"Thanks, sir." Carrie said, as she thrust a third shovelful of coal, with as much force as she could, into the middle of the firebox.
"May I have a try, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"Sure, Simon." Carrie said, as she handed Simon the shovel before she stood aside to see how Simon did it. She was very impressed by how Simon, with the shovel laden with heavier loads of coal, easily managed to put the coal to where it was needed in the firebox, including in the back corners, along the sides of the firebox as well as in the area under the firehole door. She was particularly impressed by how Simon swung from side to side as he placed the coal into the firebox.
When he placed about six shovelfuls of coal in, he put the shovel aside by the coal space in the tender and took a moment to rest.
"I'm amazed, Simon…you make that look so easy." Carrie said, in amazement.
"Well…I'm just a bit more used to exercise and lifting heavy things." Simon said, modestly.
"Okay Simon, I think that's probably enough coal on the fire for now…let's get on to the next job." the foreman said, as he stepped off the footplate, and Carrie and Simon followed. Before she stepped off the footplate, Carrie noticed the needle in the boiler pressure gauge showed the boiler pressure at 150psi.
A moment later, they found themselves standing along the left-hand side of No.96100.
"And what's our next job, sir?" Carrie asked.
"Well…the next task is to top up the sand box of No.96100." the foreman said.
"And where is it?" Carrie asked, as she looked along over the driving wheels and valve gear.
"It's…up there, Carrie." Simon said, a little anxiously as Carrie looked up to where Simon was pointing his finger. She noticed an odd-looking box-like thing sitting on top of No.96100's boiler, about midway behind the smokebox and chimney at the front and the cab behind.
"Oh, my goodness…you mean…the sandbox is on top of the boiler?!" Carrie said, in slight shock and horror when she saw the sandbox and how high off the ground it was.
"Yes, and that's quite a common feature of steam locomotives built in North America…but don't worry…please rest assured, we have a safe way of getting sand in there." the foreman said, reassuringly.
"And where is it?" Carrie asked, as she looked around.
"Right over here." Simon said, as he pointed down the track to a raised building with a flat platform that was about 12 feet above the ground. There was a railing lining the side that was close to the track, but it looked like portions of the railing were removable.
"That building there, and there's one of them in every standard gauge rail yard and depot on Sodor, is the safest and most efficient way to get sand into the sandboxes of the S160 engines…and it hasn't failed yet." said the foreman.
"Does it mean we move No.96100 forward to fill the sandbox?" Carrie asked.
"No, we'll leave that to the crew. We'll just wait at that building for the engine to come to us and then we'll fill up the sandbox." the foreman said.
"Shall we go over there?" Simon asked, as he noticed the crew for No.96100 arrived in the yard, with all their tools and stuff they needed.
"Certainly, and I'll show you the ropes of topping up the sandbox." the foreman said, and the three of them headed over to the building.
They arrived at the building by the trackside and waited for about 5 minutes as they got the sand ready, and then with a short, but loud, blast of his American steam whistle, No.96100, with dense clouds of white steam wheezing from the cylinder drain cocks, slowly rolled forwards towards them. The driver, with help from a man standing by the trackside, kept rolling very slowly forward, with his hand firmly on the brake lever ready to apply the brakes as soon as he was given the signal to stop.
"And STOP!" the man called and throwing his arms and hands to his sides. Catching the signal, the driver quickly pulled on the brake lever and, with the brakes squealing loudly, No.96100 came to a stop in the correct place, with the sandbox on top of the boiler right at the point where it would be topped up.
"And there we are…now then…let's get that sandbox topped up." the foreman said. He turned to face Carrie and Simon; both of them were wearing goggles over their eyes and facemasks to cover their mouths and noses, as it was highly likely any loose sand would get blown up while they were topping up the sandbox.
"Okay you two…let's get that sandbox topped up." the foreman said, as he too put on his own pair of goggles and facemask. And giving a nod, Carrie and Simon set to work.
Simon reached down and opened up the two small doors on top of the sandbox, and once with them opened, he and Carrie started to fill the box up with very fine dry sand. They did the job slowly and carefully, to be absolutely sure they spilled none while they did so They also made sure to be sure the sand was very evenly spread in the box and that it was all level before they filled more into it. At times, slow drifting smoke from the short, squat chimney interfered with the work, but they pressed on with the job at hand
They soon finished filling the sandbox, and Simon closed up the two small doors securely and stepped back onto the raised platform with Carrie.
"And there we are…all done." Simon said, as he took off his goggles and rubbed his sweaty forehead, which was also spotted with a thin layer soot from drifting smoke from the chimney.
"Good work, you two. A very good job." the foreman said.
"It would've been slightly better if it hadn't been for that smoke." Carrie said, as she took off her facemask and goggles off before she rubbed her sweaty face.
"Well, hopefully next time, the next sandboxes you fill will be much closer to solid ground." the foreman said, with a small smile.
"Yeah, but let's get back down to ground now. I think No.96100 is about ready to set off." Simon said and, agreeing with him, they headed back down.
In moments, they were standing beside No.96100; he was all ready to go, with a near full head of steam, and was preparing to leave for his afternoon jobs.
"And we're all ready to head off." the driver said, as he turned to face Carrie and Simon.
"Good luck on your jobs this afternoon, driver." Simon said, as he and Carrie both gave a smile, being filled with pride at a job well done.
"We will, don't you worry." said No.96100, as he smiled down at Carrie and Simon as his driver climbed aboard the footplate, took his seat and gave the whistle a loud, short blast.
"Anyway, it's time to be on our way." said No.96100, as steam shot ahead along the track from the cylinder drain cocks as the driver opened the regulator.
"Best of luck this afternoon." Carrie said with a smile, as No.96100 slowly rolled forward and out of the yard onto the main line.
"Well done, you two…I think you both did a very good job getting No.96100 ready." said the foreman.
"Thanks, sir." Carrie and Simon said together.
"Now then, there's another engine coming into the yard in a few minutes that needs to be disposed of…and I wanna show you how it's done." said the foreman.
"Okay sir, let's go and wait for them." Simon said, as the three went over towards the shed.
They arrived back at the shed, and they only were waiting for no longer than three or four minutes when the engine they were expecting to work on arrived, slowly coming towards them tender-first. With a gentle squealing of the brakes, the engine, an L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A2 Class 4-6-2, No.60545 Eclipse (8), came to a gentle stop right over the long locomotive inspection pit within the shed.
Carrie took a moment to look over the locomotive; it was a very large, and impressive, express passenger engine with six driving wheels that were higher than she was. The engine and tender were both painted in British Railways lined Brunswick green livery with late B.R. Crest on the sides of the tender.
No.60545 Eclipse had certainly shown evidence of very hard work during his day out on the main line; all his wheels, as well as his connecting and coupling rods, the covers for the two outside cylinders and the area beneath the running plate, as well as his paintwork, were coated beneath a very thin layer of dust, smut, and grime.
(8): The L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A2 Class 4-6-2 Pacifics was one of the last classes of express passenger steam locomotives designed for the L.N.E.R. and came into service between December 1947 and August 1948, with 15 examples being built at Doncaster Works, only one of which, the first one No.525 A.H. Peppercorn - named after the class designer and last C.M.E of the L.N.E.R., Arthur H Peppercorn - being built under L.N.E.R. auspices.
There were plans to build twenty more examples of the class, but for reasons I don't know, that order ended up getting cancelled. With the exception of No.525, the class followed the previous L.N.E.R. tradition of being named after famous racehorses, specifically those that had won classic races. The class had three cylinders, two outside and one inside, which weren't fitted with Gresley's conjugated valve gear. They instead had three sets of Walschaerts Valve Gear driving the cylinders, which meant they didn't have the problems associated with a 2 to 1 motion.
The numbers and names of the Peppercorn A2 Class were;
No.525 A.H. Peppercorn, No.526 Sugar Palm, No.527 Sun Chariot, No.528 Tudor Minstrel, No.529 Pearl Diver,
No.530 Sayajirao, No.531 Bahram, No.60532 Blue Peter, No.60533 Happy Knight, No.60534 Irish Elegance,
No.60535 Hornets Beauty, No.60536 Trimbush, No.60537 Bachelors Button, No.60538 Velocity, and No.60539 Bronzino.
Unlike the A2 Pacifics that were built by Edward Thompson - including the A2/1s, the A2/2s, and the A2/3s - the Peppercorn A2s had a slightly shorter wheelbase, with the front bogie placed in a more conventional position, and all three of the cylinders driving onto the centre driving wheel. The exhaust ducts of the outside cylinders were amended due to the two outside cylinders being fitted differently. As the smokeboxes were shorter than the smokeboxes on Thompson's A2/3s, the Kylchap exhaust system was initially discarded from the design due to the limited space available, though the self-cleaning smokebox screens were kept. But when the last Peppercorn A2 was built, No.60539 Bronzino, a Kylchap exhaust system was fitted within the smokebox, though it did mean the self-cleaning gear had to be discarded. But it proved to be quite successful, as improved performance with better fuel economy and steaming capability was noted. So, as a result of this success, five more A2s were modified to have double chimneys with Kylchap exhaust systems in 1949.
Several features of Gresley-designed locomotives were reinstated on the Peppercorn A2s, including the V-shaped cab front, as well as the Banjo-dome steam collector on top of the boiler. Rocking grates and hopper ashpans were also fitted to the new design, which would allow for quicker disposal of the engines at the end of a day's work. Electric lighting was also fitted to the new class as well. However, on feature from the Thompson A2s was retained, and that was the divided drive for the three cylinders, with the outside cylinders driving the middle driving wheelset and the inside cylinder driving the forward driving wheelset.
Compared to Thompson's A2 Pacifics, those that had been designed by Peppercorn proved to be vastly better machines, as a number of faults that had been found with the Thompson A2 Classes had been rectified, including issues where the frames had been flexing, leaking steam pipe connections, as well as improving the balance of the engines. Around five of the Peppercorn A2s were fitted with multiple valve regulators
In order to keep within the maximum axle-loading of 22 tons, the boiler of the Peppercorn A2 Class utilised a small percentage of nickel plate in the boiler barrel, which helped to reduce the weight of the locomotive a little without compromising the boiler's integrity.
The Peppercorn A2 Class Pacifics were very similar in all appearances to the Peppercorn A1 Class Pacifics - in fact the two classes shared the very same three cylinder design with the cylinders being 19in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, as well as an identical boiler design which was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi - except that the Peppercorn A2s had slightly smaller driving wheels, 6ft 2in in diameter as opposed to the Peppercorn A1 Class driving wheel size of 6ft 8in. The slightly smaller wheel size allowed for a slightly higher tractive effort - the Peppercorn A2s having a tractive effort of 40,430 pounds with the Peppercorn A1s having a tractive effort of 37,400 pounds.
The slightly smaller driving wheels allowed the A2s to be a slightly stronger engine than the A1s, yet the 6ft 2in driving wheels were also perfectly suited for running express passenger trains as well as for running fast fitted freights, and at often quite fast speeds, with some members of the class even touching and exceeding over 100mph at times during their careers.
The A2s were slightly less economical in terms of fuel use than the A1s, but this was corrected with a larger firegrate of 50 square feet, which would be more than able to burn any kind of poor quality fuel and gave the class very high power and good endurance. When they first came out, the class were painted in the traditional L.N.E.R. Apple Green livery, but from 1949 the class were repainted into B.R. Brunswick Green livery.
The class were initially based at depots along the length of the East Coast Main Line, from Peterborough all the way up to Edinburgh. They also worked very well on the route that ran from Edinburgh up to Aberdeen via Dundee, where they proved to be very ideal locomotives for that line, where their greater power and acceleration were very much appreciated by their crews. On the Edinburgh - Aberdeen route, they replaced the Thompson A2/2 Pacifics - which were rebuilds of Gresley's Class P2 2-8-2s of 1934. The Scottish based engines worked to Perth, Glasgow, Carlisle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and occasionally other places further south.
Those engines that were allocated to depots down in England worked on a variety of different services from the depots they were based at, including on fast express passenger trains, slower local passenger trains, and on parcels services.
In 1963, three examples of the class, No.60525 A.H. Peppercorn, No.60530 Sayajirao and No.60535 Hornets Beauty, were ironically allocated to a former L.M.S. depot at Glasgow Polmadie, and there they replaced a number of former L.M.S. Stanier Princess Coronation Pacifics on the ex-Caledonian route that ran down to Carlisle.
In 1961 on Stoke Bank, the site of Gresley A4 No.4468 Mallard's world speed record of July 3rd, 1938, an example of the Peppercorn A2 Class, No.60526 Sugar Palm, achieved the highest speed ever recorded by a Peppercorn A2 when she reached a speed of 101mph. Sadly, No.60526 was never saved for preservation, and was among the first three examples to be withdrawn in November 1962, with the other two being No.60538 Velocity and No.60539 Bronzino.
The final years of service for the Peppercorn A2s saw many of them work on the lines in Eastern Scotland, particularly with their impressive performances on the Aberdeen Road from Edinburgh in the 1960's, a route for which they proved to be ideal engines for working the heavy trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. They were, in fact, amongst the last class of multi-cylinder steam locomotive classes to remain in service on Britain's railways. By 1966, only three examples of the class remained in service; these three engines were No.60528 Tudor Minstrel, No.60530 Sayajirao, and No.60532 Blue Peter, and they were all withdrawn by December 1966.
Thankfully, one example of the class has survived into preservation, No.60532 Blue Peter, after being withdrawn from service on 31st December 1966 from her final assigned depot of Aberdeen Ferryhill, after having worked a final rail-tour in October 1966 on the Waverly Route from Edinburgh to Carlisle, and on the West Coast main line over Beattock. She became famous later on after many people, through the B.B.C. programme of the same name, contributed to her restoration. She also became famous for her exploits during her B.R. days in Scotland, as well as in preservation for being a star performer on many heritage railways, as well as out on the main line.
On October 1st 1994, during the first run of a preserved steam locomotive from Edinburgh to York, No.60532 Blue Peter suffered extensive damage from a catastrophic uncontrolled wheelslip after she made an unscheduled stop at Durham to refill her water tank. But the footplate crew, who had never worked on No.60532 before, overfilled the boiler with water. As the train departed from Durham, an initial slip was poorly controlled by the driver who then reopened the regulator too early. The early slip caused water to jam open the regulator and allowed the engine to prime - where water is carried over from the boiler into the cylinders. It also allowed steam to flow freely into the cylinders, and this caused the wheels to accelerate and perpetuated the slip, which was caused by the heavy train holding the locomotive back. The wheels accelerated until they reached a rotational speed of 140mph before the cylinder heads blew off and the motion disintegrated, in a large plume of white steam.
The driver suffered injuries to his arms when he tried to get the wheelslip under control, as a result of the screw reversing gear whipping round when he tried to bring it back into the mid-gear position. When No.60532 finally came to a stop, the safety valves opened, causing pressurised steam to be released.
After the accident, Blue Peter was towed to Thornaby M.P.D., where the damage was assessed. It was serious; damage had been suffered to the outside valve motion, axleboxes, and to the coupling rods. One of the driving wheels had also moved on its axle. The accident report afterwards showed the importance of having the crews being properly trained to work on the specific locomotives they were to drive and not simply have a common knowledge of how to work steam locomotives in general.
Afterwards, the repairs to No.60532 took a full 18 months to complete. Once the repairs were finished, No.60532 was moved to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to be run in, and once that was successfully achieved, No.60532 resumed her career on the main line in November 1996, where she ran a charter train from Middlesbrough to Preston via Newcastle and Carlisle.
In 1998, Blue Peter ran a special excursion train from Edinburgh down to London to mark the 40th anniversary of the BBC T.V. Programme, Blue Peter, which played a part in her restoration and return to the main line.
No.60532's main line certificate expired in September 2001, and so she was based to the N.Y.M.R. where she ran in that line until her boiler certificate expired at the end of 2002. For a number of years after, she was on static display in Darlington Railway Centre and Museum for a number of years before being moved down to Barrow Hill Roundhouse, where she was repainted into British Railways apple green livery, similar to that seen on No.60163 Tornado.
Very recently, No.60532 Blue Peter finally returned to working order at the L.N.W.R. Heritage site near Crewe, with the work having finally been completed in mid-March 2024. The overhaul was estimated to cost around £600,000. Among the work that needed to be done to Blue Peter was having a brand new middle cylinder being cast, as the original one was found to have been badly life-expired by then, as well as having a brand new inner firebox being constructed. and having new wheels being cast as well. As No.60532 is intended to go back to work on the main line, air brakes and all the various different electronics that are necessary for main line running were also no doubt fitted to No.60532 as well.
On March 14th 2024, with the overhaul at last completed, No.60532 finally rolled under her own power for the first time in more than 20 years with some light engine movements in the yard at L.N.W.R. at Crewe, and was painted in B.R. express passenger blue livery. Once the airbrakes are fitted, she'll be moved to the Severn Valley Railway for trials before finally returning to work on the main line in the summer.
In this fanfic, a few different examples of the original class will appear as the story goes on, along with different examples from the batch of twenty locomotives that were planned but never built. So No.60545 Eclipse, again following the L.N.E.R. tradition of the class being named after racehorses, is an example of the unbuilt batch.
"Here we are you two…an express passenger engine to dispose of." the foreman said.
"I think we can work with this engine." Carrie said, knowing she could do the job.
"But let me show you what to do first of all, and then I'll watch you two carry it out." the foreman said. It took a few moments, as the foreman first spoke with the driver and fireman before they could start work on disposal.
The stepped up to the left-hand side of the engine, where the foreman showed them how to open the hopper ashpan beneath the firebox with a long metal rod that went into a fitting. Stepping up to the challenge, Simon took the rod and lifting it up and down a few times, he opened the ashpan and a large load of hot, dusty ash fell straight out into the inspection pit in a cloud of grey brown dust.
After that, the next stage was to drop the fire and for that the three stepped onto the footplate, while the driver and fireman waited outside.
Using the same long metal bar, the foreman, after putting on heat-proof gloves, lifted up a metal plate on the floor of the footplate on the driver's side and, knocking the catcher locks aside, placed the metal rod into a strange lever-like contraption which would move a connecting rod attached to the firebox grate which would help to drop the fire.
"Now you two, just look in the firebox and see what happens." the foreman said, as Simon and Carrie both looked into the firebox, still filled with bright, hot glowing coals. The foreman eased the lever backwards and forwards, which caused the grate on the driver's side to tip up one way and then the other which allowed the glowing coals and clinker to drop down into the inspection pit below.
Carrie was fascinated to see the grate move like that, and thought about how quickly it would mean disposing an engine would be.
After the foreman had finished and had replaced the catchers on the driver's side, he opened a similar plate on the fireman's side before he offered the heat-proof gloves and metal rod to Carrie.
"Do you want to have a try, Carrie?" he asked.
"Sure would." Carrie said, as she put on the gloves and then took hold of the metal rod. Knocking the catcher locks aside, she put in the rod into the lever mechanism and moved the lever back and forth; inside the firebox, the grate moved and dumped the last of the fire.
"And there we are." Carrie said, as she replaced the catcher locks, thus securing the rocking grate firmly in position, and she closed the metal plate, before handing the things back to the foreman.
"Well done, you two. Good work!" the foreman said.
"Thank you, sir." Carrie and Simon said together
"Now all that's left to do up here is to close both dampers, and those controls in front of the firebox are what are used to close them, but let me show you how it's done." the foreman said as he reached down to two contraptions just in front of the firebox. He knelt down, reached for the damper controls and lowered. As Carrie and Simon stood aside and watched, the foreman, using the coal shovel, lifted the latch over the top of the firebox door which allowed the flap to fall and close the firebox door securely. Carrie was sitting in the driver's seat, which was situated on the left-hand side of the cab; it was an upholstered bucket seat very close to the controls in front of her, and it felt very comfortable to sit on.
"And that's one of the things you should always do after clearing out the firebox and ashpan. By closing the damper doors and firehole doors, it'll prevent cold air getting to the crown of the firebox and boiler while they're still hot. If that happens, it'll cause the metal to contract too quickly and distort its shape." the foreman said.
"Okay, sir." Carrie said, as she understood the reasoning for that.
"Now let's go and close the doors at the bottom of the hopper ashpan, and then this engine will be ready to go to the shed." the foreman said.
After they left the cab, they went down to where the control for opening and closing the bottom of the hopper ashpan. Using the long metal bar, the foreman closed the door and put the locking bar into position as Carrie and Simon watched.
"And that's that, you two. And this engine is disposed of and ready to go to the sheds." the foreman said.
"Okay, and what's next, sir?" Simon asked, as the driver and fireman of No.60545 Eclipse arrived to take their engine to the sheds.
"Last thing to do before you two clock-out for the day…is to top up Eclipse's tender tank with water before he goes to the shed. It's just a normal standard thing to do." said the foreman.
"Well, let's get down to the water tower then." Simon said, as he, Carrie and the foreman walked down to the water tower as, on the footplate of Eclipse, the driver released the brakes, set the reversing gear and opened the regulator a little. With dense clouds of white steam shooting out from the cylinder drain cocks, Eclipse moved slowly forward towards the water tower.
Once in position, Simon climbed up the steps at the back on the tender onto the flat area at the back and opened the lid. On the ground, Carrie slowly swung the arm of the water tower, by a length of rope, over to Simon, and he grabbed it and placed the rubber hose into the opening to the water tank. The foreman stood off to the side and observed the two go about the task at hand.
"And there we are…okay Carrie, water on!" Simon called. And grabbing hold of the valve handle before her, Carrie gave it a good firm twist with both hands and turned it in the direction to allow the water to flow.
"Water on!" she called, and the water flowed through the pipe and into the tender tank, with Simon keeping a close eye on it. As the tender tank was only about one-third full, it took a few minutes for the inflowing water to completely fill the tank up, but Simon kept a sharp eye on the water level as Carrie stood by below, ready to turn off the water once given the okay.
"Okay, water off!" Simon called, after a few minutes.
"Water off!" Carrie called, as she turned the valve in the other direction to shut off the water, making sure it was firmly shut when turned the valve all the way back.
"Good job, you two…good job." the foreman said. After making sure every drop of water went into the tender tank, Simon removed the short length of hose from the opening and closed the lid, as Carrie, pulling on a rope swung the arm of the water tower inwards so as to keep the track clear of obstructions.
"Thank you." Eclipse called out gratefully, before giving a short whistle as he steamed off to the sheds.
"You're more than welcome!" Carrie called out, as Eclipse pulled away. But then, a thought went through Carrie's head.
"If we've just dropped the fire out, how long will the boiler stay hot enough to keep making steam?" she asked, as she turned to the foreman.
"Don't worry about that; there's more than enough heat and steam left in the boiler for him to get to the shed. Boilers do take some time to fully cool down once the fire has been dropped…usually it takes about half a day, if not a little longer." the foreman explained.
"Oh, I see." Carrie said, now understanding.
"Anyway…come on, and let's get to our next job." Simon said, as Carrie and the foreman followed along.
(Later on, 5:12pm)
It was soon time to finish up for the day, and Carrie, Simon and all the other new recruits made their way to the changing rooms to shower and change up after their first day. All of them were feeling tired after the work they did, but they were all satisfied from the experience, and had learned a great deal from the experienced people assigned to look after them.
Carrie was feeling just as tired as all her new friends were, yet at the same time she was feeling grand after such an exciting day of work; it was a vastly better experience than anything she had ever experienced back in Ewen High School, and certainly the people over here were much better to be around.
After getting back into the ladies changing rooms, Carrie took a long hot shower and the chance to get the all the sweat, coal dust, soot and other grim off herself and out of her hair. Once she was finished in the shower, she wrapped herself up in towels and went back out to dry off and get dressed in fresh clothes.
As she dressed, she took the chance to talk with her friends about how their day had gone, and they all were eager to exchange information with each other about what they had done and how they'd gone about sorting out various problems.
Once dried off and fully dressed, Carrie left the ladies changing room and went out to meet up with Simon while she waited for her father to arrive. They sat together in the main canteen and chatted with each other while they waited.
"How are you feeling after today, Carrie?" Simon asked.
"I'm feeling tired, but satisfied to be honest. That was certainly a much better educational experience than anything I've experienced in my life before." Carrie said, with a smile.
"Oh, I agree. After a few weeks of lifting things and using the shovel with all that coal, you'll certainly be much fitter than you were before." Simon said.
"Of course." Carrie said. Then a few moments later, Carrie's father, Ralph, stepped into the canteen, with his bag at his side. He'd had a long day out on the railway too; he had been on the footplate of LNER Thompson L1 2-6-4T No.67735 hauling passengers back and forth along Thomas' branch line from Knapford to Kirk Machan via Ulfstead in half a dozen coaches (9). By this time of the day, Ralph was feeling a little tired from his day out working on the line and was eager to get home and get some rest before coming back to work the next day.
(9): The L.N.E.R. Thompson L1 Class 2-6-4T tank engines, built between 1945 and 1950 and numbered between No.67701 to No.67800, was the most powerful class of 2-6-4T tank engine ever to be used on the British Railway network. They were built in order to address the problem of a lack of modern tank engine designs on the Central and Eastern Sections of the L.N.E.R. The L1 Class replaced the Metropolitan Railway's six older K Class 2-6-4T tank engine design, as well as supplemented the earlier Gresley V1/V3 Class 2-6-2T tank engines on passenger and goods trains.
Fitted with two outside cylinders, which were 20in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke, a superheated boiler pressed to 225psi, and six driving wheels that were 5ft 2in in diameter, the class had a total tractive effort of 32,080lbf. The coal bunker could carry 4.5 tons of coal, and the water tanks could carry 2,630 gallons of water in them. Many other standard parts were used in the design; the boiler was based off that used on Gresley's V3 Class 2-6-2T tank engines, but upped to 225psi, and the cylinders were exactly the same as those used on Thompson's B1 Class 4-6-0 design.
Westinghouse brakes and vacuum ejectors were fitted to those engines that would be used on the Eastern Section. Different crew comforts were fitted to the L1 Class in order to make things easier for the crews, including electric cab lighting, electric head and tail lights, folding discs, as well as coal bunkers with insets cut out to allow for good visibility when they were running in reverse.
Of the 100 members of the class, only the very first member and prototype, No.9000, was built under L.N.E.R. auspices and came out from Doncaster Works in 1945, being the only member of the class to be built in Doncaster. The remaining 99 members of the class were built under British Railways auspices between 1948 and 1950, and from different works, including from Darlington Works - which built 29, the North British Locomotive Company - which built 35, and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns - which also built 35. The very last example of the class to be built, No.67800, was turned out from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns in 1950. There had been hopes to build 110 examples of the class, though in the event that number was reduced to just 100.
Those members of the class built by Darlington and Robert Stephenson and Co incorporated minor changes from No.9000, including different styles of cab doors, cylinder linings, boiler pressure, and fabricated axle boxes.
When the first member of the class, No.9000, emerged from Doncaster Works and entered service on the L.N.E.R. system in May 1945, it was well-received with praise by both enthusiasts and railwaymen alike, and it underwent a series of extensive trials and testing ever undertaken with an L.N.E.R. locomotive, barring Gresley's W1 Class 4-6-4. During its tests, it was often accompanied by a dynamometer car and hauled every kind of train possible, and often undertook duties that were normally handled by J50 Class 0-6-0T tank engines, K3 Class 2-6-0s, O4 Class 2-8-0 R.O.D.s, and Q4 Class 0-8-0s. It was noted that the prototype ran very smoothly, and often better than any other class of engine.
The coal and water consumption of the prototype were lower that that of other locomotives - with the water consumption being around 30 gallons per mile - and it was also capable of hauling heavier loads. In the latter part of 1945, No.9000 managed to cover around 10,000 miles, which increased to 28,000 miles in 1946, matching the distance covered by Gresley's earlier V1 and V3 Class 2-6-2T tank engines. However, one problem that was noted on No.9000 was its insufficient braking capacity when it was hauling heavy coal trains, though that isn't too surprising as the braking ability of the L1 Class wasn't as good as compared to other classes like the O4 2-8-0 heavy freight engines, which had about twice the braking ability.
After Thompson retired in 1946, the rest of the class were ordered by Arthur Peppercorn, who ordered for mild changes to be made the class, and which would then emerge under British Railways auspices.
The class were allocated to a variety of different depots and sheds within the Eastern Region, including at King's Cross Station in London, Hull, Darlington, Norwich, and Stratford, where they replaced many older locomotive classes, and handled suburban and stopping passenger services, with the occasional express passenger and freight duties too.
The L1 Class, which was originally meant to be used on slow and heavy freight trains, were instead used on passenger work a lot - including on commuter trains in big cities, including in London - and, unfortunately it meant that their axle-boxes, crank bearings and crosshead slides all suffered as such, not to mention other problems they had. When they were used on empty-stock workings, they often struggled to move empty sleeper cars out from King's Cross Station.
One such problem they had was they didn't have any axle-box wedges fitted on the axle-boxes, as Edward Thompson had dispensed with them on the new class, as he had been very keen to eliminate anything that had been previously practiced under Gresley. Unfortunately, it meant that the L1's caused considerable wear to their axle-boxes when they were running, and it proved very difficult to maintain them, as the axle-boxes had to be removed to re-line them, something that was far beyond the ability of many of the limited maintenance facilities at most depots. The knocking noises made by the L1's with their worn-out axle-boxes caused many to give them the nick-name of "Concrete Mixers", as the noises could often be heard from half a mile away.
Also, due to the fact that they had a lack of improved draughting and no self-cleaning smokebox, they had to be handled very carefully by their crews. Their side tanks were also a problem, as they were of welded construction and tended to leak at times.
Another problem they had was that their axle-boxes also tended to run hot, possibly due to the sharp curves at the end of platforms at terminal stations. Their water tanks also had a tendency to leak, again possible due to the sharp curves at some stations. In an attempt to rectify matters, in May 1851 five members of the class were fitted with manganese steel liners in their cylinders, which reduced the cylinder diameter from 20in to 18.75in and thus reduced the tractive effort from 32,080lbf down to 28,180lbf. The experiment didn't prove a success, but the cylinder-liners weren't removed.
Another experiment to try and reduce the wear on the axle-boxes was tried in March 1953, when five more locomotives of the class had their boiler pressure reduced from 225psi to 200psi. This experiment also ended in failure, and so the five members had their boiler pressure returned to the original working pressure of 225psi by October 1955.
One major problem the class did have, at least in the early years of their careers, was that their cabs tended to be a bit draughty at times for their crews, which could be quite uncomfortable for them, especially during the winter months. But cab modifications eventually solved this particular problem.
During their careers, the L1's replaced many older designs on commuter services, including the Gresley V1 and V3 2-6-2T tank engines, as well as much older tank engine designs, including the F5 and F6 Class 2-4-2T tank engines of the Great Eastern Railway (G.E.R.), the C12 Class 4-4-2T tank engines of the Great Northern Railway (G.N.R.), and G5 Class 0-4-4T tank engines of the North Eastern Railway (N.E.R.).
The class were withdrawn from service between 1960 and 1962 - as Diesel Multiple Units (D.M.U's) and Electric Multiple Units (E.M.U's) were taking over many of their duties. Sadly of the 100 L1 2-6-4T tank engines that were built, no examples have survived into preservation, with the last examples being withdrawn from regular service by the end of 1962, with the oldest example of the class being barely 12 years old when the withdrawals began in 1960.
As far as I know, there are no projects about to build a brand new example, or a replica of one of the original members of the class. But, I do have my hopes that one day we'll see one of these engines in steam again. And if a new one is built, then there's no doubt modifications will have to be carried out to the locomotive to ensure it runs much better than the original examples did.
In this fanfic, some original examples of the class will be appearing in various different roles and duties as and when necessary. Also, there'll be one fictional variant of the class appearing within the story, which will simply be a lengthened version of the original L1 Class 2-6-4T, but with three cylinders instead of two, a slightly longer boiler pressed to 250psi, and a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement; this version will be known as the OS1 and will be numbered from No.67900 to No.67999.
Ralph himself was feeling tired after a long day of working hard out on the railway, yet he was very eager to find out how Carrie had managed on her first day of work.
"Hey Carrie, are you ready to head on home?" he asked, after he came into the canteen.
"Yes, dad. I am." Carrie said, as she stood up from her seat.
"I'm very eager to find out about your very first day of work and how you got on and what you learned." Ralph said.
"I got on great today and I learned a lot, but I'll tell you when we get back home." Carrie said.
"Okay…and how did you get on today, Simon?" Ralph asked.
"I had a great day, Ralph…and I learned a great deal more than I would've in a classroom setting or even in some books." Simon said, as he smiled a tired smile at Ralph.
"That's good to hear, Simon...very good indeed…and well done, and I really hope that you'll continue to progress as the scheme goes on." Ralph said.
"Thanks, Ralph." Simon said.
Then Ralph turned his head and looked at Carrie.
"Well Carrie…time to head on home." Ralph said.
"Okay dad…" Carrie said before she turned her attention from her dad to look at Simon, "…I'll see you back here in the morning, Simon." she said.
"Will do…I expect that we'll be doing vey much the same thing here tomorrow." said Simon
"I think so too…anyway, I'll see you in the morning." Carrie said, as she went up to Simon and gave him a quick hug, which Simon graciously returned before Carrie pulled back, and turned to her dad. After she and Simon said "Good night" to each other, Carrie and her father left the canteen and went downstairs towards the main entrance door and made their way back home.
Carrie was feeling particularly good after her first day at work on Sodor, especially how much she had learned. And now she was eager to get home and have a really good night's rest before she went back and did it all over again.
And there we are, everyone! We've seen Carrie's very first day of work on the Sodor Railway! She seems to be doing a very good job so far, as we've seen! Now...will she be able keep doing a good job? Stayed tuned to find out in the future!