Chapter 30: Last Job / Evening Out
(Friday, May 25th 2012 – 16:45pm – local time; Brendam Docks)
Okay, I intend for this chapter to focus mainly upon Carrie as she finishes up after another long day of hard work out on the railway and then goes out together with her friends for a relaxing evening. I intend to follow this chapter with one that's set back in Chamberlain, Maine, which will see something I don't think any of you will be expecting to see at this stage of this story.
The air was filled with the sounds of intense activity that was going on within Brendam Docks, but in particular it was very busy over at the main ferry and cruise ship terminal area, where three very large car and passenger ferries, each fully loaded down with passengers, tourists, and holiday-makers, had docked at the main terminal area not long before. One had arrived up from the busy port of Liverpool, a second one had arrived from Holyhead on the coast of Wales, and the third ferry had come over from Ireland, more specifically from Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin.
Each of the ferries that had arrived at Brendam Docks today was about 830 feet in length, and each one of them was carrying over 3,700 passengers aboard, as well as many different vehicles on their vehicle decks, and not only private cars, but large lorries that were carrying heavy cargo, as well as tour buses with their own passengers, even motorcycles and bicycles as well. The ferries had just recently docked and were secured to the quaysides, their bow doors were opened and the vehicles were soon rolling out from the cavernous interiors where the vehicles stayed during the voyage.
However, many of the passengers on the three ferries had come over to Sodor without their cars, and they now were disembarking from the large ships via the covered boarding bridges. From there, they went down into the terminal and to the ticket offices where they bought their tickets to board the different trains that were waiting down on the dockside tracks.
Among the engines that were waiting down on one of the platforms at the terminal station was L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A2 Class 4-6-2 No.60545 Eclipse, and he was waiting for some of the passengers to board his own train so he could take them up the line to Knapford Station. He had sixteen coaches coupled behind him, in anticipation of the large number of passengers he was expected to take away from here to Knapford. Standing on his footplate, Carrie and Simon were both looking back along the fireman's side and they were watching as the large numbers of passengers came out from the terminal, with their luggage, and set about boarding the coaches behind Eclipse. They were both somewhat astonished by how many passengers were getting off the four ferries, and by how much luggage some of them had with them; Carrie saw one woman getting aboard the coach immediately behind the tender with TWO luggage bags on wheels behind her.
"Goodness me…I've been living on Sodor my whole life, and I don't recall ever seeing it this busy down here before." Simon said to Carrie.
"I just hope that all these passengers can be brought to where they need to be before nightfall. I certainly wouldn't like to be amongst them and not be able to get to the hotel I booked before night." Carrie said.
"Yeah, I can understand how someone might feel about that." Simon said, as he turned his head to look back along the platform. They could clearly hear individual voices within those who were stepping onto the platform and boarding the train, including kids excited at going on a train, railway enthusiasts talking about the things they would do on Sodor, as well as the sounds of porters moving trolleys laden with larger items of baggage to the coaches.
Just then, some sounds behind them caused both of them to turn round; the driver and fireman were stepping back onto the footplate. They had white cans of tea in one hand each, as well as a brown paper bag in their other hands.
"How have things been here, you two?" the driver asked.
"Well…to be honest, there's been nothing to be worried about here. It's those crowds we've been keeping a close eye on for the last few minutes, so as some of them don't try and take a ride over to Knapford on the footplate." Simon said.
"Well...I wouldn't blame some of them if they tried to do that!" chuckled the fireman.
"And we've been keeping a watch on the fire and the water level in the boiler as well, so there's been no problems there." Carrie added.
"Well, that's good to hear, and we've brought along some more tea to keep us going until we can get back to Knapford, as well as some rich chocolate fudge brownies as well." said the driver, as he and the fireman placed the two tea cans onto the metal warming plate just over the firehole doors, and then they produced the brown bags they had to reveal each had two large, and very rich chocolate brownies inside.
"Thanks for this, fellas. I'm feeling famished." Simon said, as he and Carrie reached for their mugs and went over to the tea cans.
"Me too. I can't wait to get to get off duty and clock out for the day. And I can't wait to get dinner later on with our friends." Carrie said, as she and Simon had fresh hot tea, already mixed with milk, poured into their mugs. Then they choose the brownies they wanted to have, and they sat on the front of the tender to enjoy this little snack before they set off. The driver and fireman also enjoyed the tea and the other two brownies, and waited for when they would be able to head off on their way, which would be at precisely 5:00pm sharp.
Both Simon and Carrie were feeling quite tired after their long day of work, as both of them had been on their feet for much of the day on the footplate of Eclipse, where they had gone along the Southern Main Line from Knapford to Vicarstown in the morning, and then back again in the early afternoon. And then they were sent down from Knapford here to Brendam Docks in the mid-afternoon to take some of the passengers who had arrived on the ferries. And so, by this point in the day, both of them were absolutely knackered from having been on their feet for so long, but luckily neither of them was particularly dirty as no coal dust had blown about during their day-long work.
"I wonder if there's any more coaches and engines coming down to take all these passengers away from here." Simon said, as he took a bite of his brownie and then washed it down with some tea.
"I'm sure there might be. After all, I doubt we could take all those passengers on the coaches we have behind us." Carrie said.
"Yeah…something tells me that our train might be full up to standing room on this run." said the fireman.
He was right about that; in the 16 coaches that were coupled behind them, many of the seats were already filled up, and many passengers were having to stand at the ends of the coaches, with some having to sit on their suitcases and bags. It was proving to be a big challenge to try and fit any more people inside. In the two buffet coaches, some of the exhausted passengers were lining up for whatever refreshments were on offer, which meant the buffet attendants who were on duty behind the counters were soon kept busy serving the new passengers, and trying to keep some form of order as they went about their work.
As Carrie and Simon waited for the time when they would be able to set off on their way home, there came the sounds of a horn and the distant sounds of a diesel engine coming closer and closer towards them. Looking out from the driver's side of the cab, they saw a long line of coaches being moved along the empty line adjacent into the platform to their left. Mixed in with the sounds of the coaches being moved into place on the adjacent line was the sound of a diesel engine. A short while later, as the last few coaches were slowly moved into place, they saw the diesel who was moving them; it was none other than Salty, the dockyard diesel who never seemed to be short of seafaring stories, and who always seemed to be enthusiastic about the work he did.
"Arrrgh, and there we are, all these coaches in place!" Salty said in his nautical way, as he came to a stop. After he was uncoupled, he slowly reversed from the coaches.
"Well done there, Salty. After all, all these passengers need to be moved out from the docks as soon as possible." Eclipse said, as he listened to the growing crowds of passengers within the terminal area.
"Ahoy there, me hearty! Aye, the Fat Controller himself arranged to have plenty of extra coaches brought down here to deal with the expected crowds!" Salty said, as he spoke to the Peppercorn A2.
"Come on, Salty! We've got more work to do here, including getting more coaches for these trains!" his driver called.
"Aye there, driver! Let's go!" Salty said, and, with a short blast of his horn, he set off to the sidings to ready more coaches.
A minute or two later, the engine who was to take away the train that Salty had assembled beside where Eclipse was standing came into view along the line, slowly reversing, tender-first, towards his train. This locomotive was painted in L.N.E.R apple green livery – which looked like it had been recently painted on – and on the side of its tender were the letters L.N.E.R. and which had been painted in yellow letters with red edging, while its number was painted on its cab sides in yellow with red edging as well. The locomotive, which had eight driving wheels, was No.2010 Waverley, and he was a member of the L.N.E.R. Gresley P2 2-8-2 Class (52), which was a class of powerful engines that was designed for use on very heavy express trains. His front end was of the original semi-streamlined appearance, and his L.N.E.R. apple-green paintwork had been thoroughly rubbed down and polished until it shone brightly. Carrie could see the valve gear on this locomotive looked very much like British Caprotti valve gear, but as she found out later on, it was actually Lentz rotary-cam poppet valve gear.
(52): The L.N.E.R. P2 Class 2-8-2 Mikado express passenger steam locomotives were designed by the legendary Sir Nigel Gresley, and they're one of the most iconic classes of steam locomotives ever built. They were designed and built to be used on heavy express passenger trains along the arduous route that ran from Edinburgh vis the Forth Bridge to Aberdeen via Dundee in Scotland, known as the "Aberdeen Road", and hauled heavy expresses and sleeper trains, such as the "Aberdonian", along that line.
The Edinburgh – Aberdeen Line was known for its steep gradients and sharp curves, and express trains that ran on the route often had to be hauled by North British Railway 4-4-2 Atlantics, such as the N.B.R. C10 & C11 Classes, that would often run double-headed – in other words, two locomotives and two crews had to work on the same train – which was often a costly and difficult procedure. When Gresley's A1 Class Pacifics were introduced onto that route, they often struggled to haul the heavy express trains. Due to weight restrictions along some parts of the route, particularly with the stretch going over the Tay Bridge across the Firth of Tay at Dundee, the A1 Pacifics weren't allowed to double-head the heavy express trains, and they also weren't allowed to be piloted either.
Even rebuilding the A1 Class into the later, more powerful A3 Class - starting in the late 1920's - didn't completely solve the problem. Gresley himself wasn't too pleased about the heavy expresses that ran from Edinburgh to Aberdeen being hauled by Atlantics double-heading along the route as he always believed that trains should only have ONE locomotive at the front of them.
So, in 1932, work began on designing the new class of locomotives to take over the work of hauling heavy trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, but it wasn't until May 1934 that the prototype locomotive of Gresley's brand new P2 Class, No.2001 Cock O' The North, emerged from Doncaster Works. And it was a very unique and different steam locomotive from any that had ever been seen on British rails before.
It was the first British express steam locomotive to have a 2-8-2, or Mikado, wheel arrangement. It was fitted with Lentz rotary-cam actuated poppet valve gear, and it was the very first British steam locomotive to be fitted with a double-chimney and blastpipe that was paired with a Kylchap exhaust system . An ACFI feed-water heater was fitted on the fireman's side just behind the smokebox - making No.2001 the only member of the P2 Class to be fitted with such a system, as well as the largest and last L.N.E.R. engine to be fitted with it - and the firebox was 50-sq-ft in size, which was quite large for any British steam locomotive built up to that time. It was also the very first British steam locomotive to be fitted with a Crosby-chime whistle, which had been presented to Gresley from Captain Howey of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, and which would later be fitted to Gresley's later designs, including the A4 Pacifics. No.2001 also had this very distinct semi-streamlined front end - which was based off of the front end of Gresley's W1 Class sole 4-6-4 No.10000 - and it had a V-shaped front at the cab, which was designed to give a better view forward and which would also be used on later Gresley's A4 and V2 designs, as well as on the later Peppercorn A1 and A2 Class Pacifics.
Even the tender that was coupled to No.2001 was quite experimental in its construction, as it was of all-welded construction rather than the traditional riveted construction – which also helped to lighten the tender's weight by a little over 1 ton – and it ran on spoked wheels. The tender carried about 9 tons of coal and 5,000 gallons of water. It was also the first time that a Gill Sans nameplate had been fitted to a British steam locomotive.
In total, six members of the Gresley P2 Class were built. These six locomotives were;
No.2001 Cock O' The North, No.2002 Earl Marischal, No.2003 Lord President,
No.2004 Mons Meg, No.2005 Thane of Fife and No.2006 Wolf of Badenoch.
As all six locomotives were intended to be used in Scotland, their names reflected the region where they would be working. Their names are references to Scottish Dukes, Lords, Earls, and the Mons Meg cannon at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh. If any more members of the class had been built beyond the original six locomotives, then they too no doubt would have carried Scottish-themed names as well.
All six locomotives were built at Doncaster Works between May 1934 and September 1936, and all six locomotives were fitted with three cylinders, which were all cast together in a one-piece monobloc arrangement, with the cylinders being 21in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke. Combined with a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements that was pressed to 220psi and driving wheels that were 6ft 2in in diameter, the P2 Class had a maximum tractive effort of 43,462lbf, which made the P2 Class the most powerful express passenger steam locomotives to ever be built in the U.K., and easily exceeding the 40,000lbf of tractive effort generated by the L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class Pacifics. All six members of the class were painted in the L.N.E.R.'s traditional lined apple green livery.
After entering service in June 1934, No.2001 Cock O' The North was tested out on a train of 19 coaches which weighed almost 650 tons on a journey that ran from London King's Cross to Grantham and Barkston; during that journey, she reached an average speed of 50mph, with speeds exceeding 70mph at times, with the highest speed reached being 76mph. During the trip, drawbar tests were recorded, and a peak power output of over 2,000 horsepower were recorded.
During another test run in July, while going along Stoke Bank heading southwards, No.2001 Cock O' The North managed to reach a maximum recorded speed of about 88mph while descending the bank, thus achieving the highest speed ever recorded by any member of the P2 Class.
In December 1934, No.2001 Cock O' The North was taken out of service and sent over to France to be tested on the brand-new S.N.C.F. rail testing facilities at Vitry-sur-Seine just outside of Paris, which was done as there were no similar rail testing facilities anywhere within the U.K. at that time. This visit came about as Gresley was good friends with the famous French railway engineer André Chapelon, who had helped to arrange the visit. For much of her visit to France, No.2001 was accompanied by Gresley's assistant, Oliver Vaughn Snell Bulleid, as he was a fluent French speaker and knew quite a bit about French Railways, or the S.N.C.F., and their facilities.
No.2001 stayed in France until February 1935 and underwent testing on the Vitry-sur-Seine facilities, but many of the tests within the facilities gave mixed results due to problems suffered with the new P2. At times, No.2001 had trouble maintaining an adequate steam pressure in her boiler, and both her bearings and axleboxes ran hot a few times. A new oil type was used to try and combat this, but it made little difference.
While she was in France, No.2001 went out for a number of runs at times, including to Tours and Orléans, and she was also put on exhibit at Paris Gare du Nord Station. Oddly, when No.2001 ran out on the French railway system during her time over there, her axleboxes and bearings never suffered from any form of overheating. No.2001 eventually returned to the U.K. in February 1935. Upon her return home, No.2001 spent some time working on the East Coast Main Line between London and Doncaster before she finally entered service in Scotland in June 1935.
No.2002 Earl Marischal was built in October 1934, not too long before No.2001 was sent over to France. Although she looked very identical to the first member of the class, No.2002 was very different from No.2001, as instead of the Lentz rotary valve gear, she was fitted with more traditional Walschaerts valve gear with piston valves on the outside with the inside cylinder being driven by Gresley's conjugated valve gear. Also she had no ACFI water heater fitted, as the one that had been fitted to No.2001 proved to be problematic in service, and so instead relied on more traditional exhaust steam injectors. Her tender was also very different in its construction, as it was built in the more traditional riveted manner and ran on solid disc wheels instead of spoked wheels.
Although No.2002 was fitted with a Kylchap exhaust system and a double chimney and blastpipe just like her older sister, it was found that the draughting through the boiler was different from No.2001, and the exhaust beat from the chimney was softer, which often led to smoke and exhaust steam drifting down and obstructing the driver's view ahead. It was found that the semi-streamlined front-end wasn't particularly effective at lifting the exhaust clear of the cab when it was paired with Walschaerts valve gear, and so a second set of smoke deflectors had to be placed onto No.2002 to try and solve that issue. It worked, but the aesthetic appearance of the locomotive was ruined somewhat by them, and resulted in No.2002 being given the rather unfortunate nickname of "big ears". However, No.2002 proved to be far more efficient than No.2001, due to its lower cylinder clearance volume and as the stepped-cam cut-off modifications that had been made to No.2001's valve gear had reduced economical working. So as a result of this, all later members of the P2 Class would be built with piston valves.
No.2003 Lord President, which was built in June 1936, had a very different appearance to the previous two locomotives, as it was the first of the class that had the streamlined wedge-shaped front, which was very identical to the streamlined front seen on Gresley's brand new A4 Pacifics, which had been introduced onto the East Coast Main Line in 1935. This sloped wedge-shaped streamlining was also much more effective at lifting the exhaust clear of the cab and keeping the driver's view ahead clear. Once No.2003 was completed, the design became the standard model for the next members of the P2 Class.
No.2004 Mons Meg, which was built in July 1936, was identical to No.2003, except for the fact that it was fitted with a by-pass valve in an attempt to try and reduce the ferocious blast from the exhaust, which would often pull too hard on the fire, often lifting it off the grate. However, oil would carbonise in the valve and cause it to get stuck either in the open or shut positions, and often the mechanical linkages would seize up due to lack of use. But anyway, many drivers would never use it, as it caused the locomotive to steam badly when it was on uphill stretches of line. A new design of by-pass valve was fitted to No.2004 in an attempt to remedy this matter, but problems of oil carbonising still occurred, which meant frequent periods of time where the system would have to be completely dismantled so that it could be properly cleaned. It was proposed to fit an automatic valve, but that never went beyond the design phase.
No.2005 Thane of Fife, which was built in August 1936, was rather unique in the fact that it was fitted with a single chimney, unlike all the other members of the class who had double chimneys. It would be the only member of the P2 Class to be fitted with a single chimney, and as a result, although the diameter of the blastpipe was increased slightly to ease the steaming problems, No.2005 was always seen as the "black sheep" of the class, with the footplate crews often saying the single chimney was a hindrance to the ability to steam properly. The reason a single chimney was fitted was to see if a more powerful blast would be able to keep the exhaust drifting from the chimney clear of the driver's view.
No.2006 Wolf of Badenoch, which was built in September 1936, was fitted with a much different boiler from the other members of the P2 Class, as her boiler had a larger combustion chamber fitted in it, as well as having the two tube plates placed one foot closer together. The larger combustion chamber meant there was a much better chance of all the fuel in the firebox completely combusting. The boiler on No.2006 became the prototype for the 118a boiler design that was used on the Thompson Pacifics, as well as the Peppercorn A2 and A1 Pacifics, including on the brand-new Peppercorn A1 No.60163 Tornado.
Due to the different variation between the six locomotives, all were given different sub-classifications, with No.2001 as fitted with Lentz poppet valves being classified as P2/1. No.2002 to No.2005 being classified as P2/2, and No.2006 being classified as P2/3.
Eventually, both No.2001 and No.2002 were rebuilt to bring their appearances into line with the other four members of the class. No.2002 was fitted with a streamlined front in October 1936 when it went in for its first heavy repair. However, when No.2001 underwent its first heavy repair in 1938, it had to undergo a much heavier rebuilt, which as well as putting on the new A4-style front end, included having the Lentz valve gear removed, a brand new cylinder block being cast, which incorporated piston valves for more traditional Walschaerts valve gear, as well as having the ACFI water heater removed and replaced with a more traditional exhaust steam injector. Once No.2001 had been rebuilt with its new streamlined front end, all six members of the P2 Class were fully completed, and No.2001 was reclassified as P2/2.
One major reason why the ACFI feed-water heating equipment was removed from No.2001 was due to the fact that the maintenance costs of keeping the equipment in running order was found to be much higher than the fuel savings. Another reason was that due to the system's tendency to build up scale, the equipment needed to be cleaned out with acid every six weeks, which in turn led to more problems of pipe joints being damaged. And so due to those problems, No.2001 became the very last British steam locomotive to be fitted with an ACFI feed-water heater.
Once the P2 Class were in service on the Aberdeen Road, they set about doing their work, which mainly involved their chosen work of moving the very heavy passenger trains between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, as well as working on the fast fish and meat trains that ran on the line as well. Regardless of whatever jobs they were given, they could always be counted upon to get them done. All six engines were also fitted with a tablet exchange apparatus so that they could exchange tablets for working on a single line section of the Aberdeen Road that ran between Usan and Montrose South.
However, there were some problems with the class during their time in service; one of which was with the Lentz valve gear on No.2001, as the cams were found to have badly worn out after only 10,000 miles which is nothing in railway terms. So, because of those problems with wear on the original valve gear, the original infinitely variable cams used on the Lentz gear was replaced with stepped cams giving six cut-off steps, which unfortunately completely ruined the fuel economy of No.2001, and was the main reason why Lentz gear was never used on a wider scale on British steam locomotives afterwards.
Other problems experienced with the class included the crank axles breaking; this particular problem came about as the P2s had eight driving wheels, which of course wouldn't slip like an engine with six driving wheels would. The P2s were quite powerful, but the crank axles used on the P2s were the same design as used on the A3s, and it meant that considerably more force was being applied to the crank axle when the P2s were setting off. There were at least four, maybe even five, occasions where the P2s broke their crank axles, including with No.2005 Thane of Fife at Stonehaven Station on 18 July 1939, and with No.2004 Mons Meg when she broke her crank axle at Kirkcaldy on 27 May 1942. All the instances of crank axle failures took place at low speed, when the forces that were being placed upon the crank axles would normally be at their highest, but thankfully as the speed was very low, there were no serious consequences for the locomotives or their crews. The last known occasion where an example of the P2 Class broke its crank axle took place in July 1944 when No.2003 Lord President broke its crank axle two miles south of Aberdeen Station when she was working a morning express from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.
The front pony trucks used on the P2s weren't particular effective at guiding the locomotives into the curves, as they were Gresley's own patent swing-link system. Despite various modifications made, the front pony trucks remained a constant problem and often caused excessive wear upon the leading pair of driving wheels, including on the outside crank pins, as well as instances of the axleboxes overheating. There were also occasions where the middle big end bearings would overheat, which was usually caused by the forces being applied by the three cylinders. If that happened, the drivers who spotted the problem would fail the locomotives and refer them to a fitter.
Excessive coal consumption actually wasn't as much of an issue with the class as had originally been expected, or even presented by some writers and historians; that was only due to the fact that No.2001 excessively consumed coal when she had stepped cams fitted on her Lentz valve gear. However, the excess coal that the class did end up burning was used when the engines were actually sitting in engine depots awaiting their next jobs and not when they were running out on the main line. The reason for this was that the class were never used as they should have been, but were only used with one engine running on part of the Aberdeen Road to Dundee, and then another engine taking over while the first engine then sat in the depot waiting for its next job while the coal it had was being needlessly burned through unnecessary misuse.
Whenever the P2s needed heavy maintenance, they were usually sent to Cowlairs - on the outskirts of Glasgow - or down to Doncaster, as maintenance facilities in the areas of Scotland where they worked were quite limited. Although it was estimated the class would need to cover 70,000 miles in between works repairs, the P2s could often cover much greater mileages in practice; No.2006 Wolf of Badenoch covered nearly 119,000 miles before its first heavy general overhaul, which shows the quality of Gresley's purpose-built design.
One of the most commons myth about the P2 Class is that they had a reputation for spreading the track and derailing, which was said to be due to the long eight-coupled wheelbase of the P2s. However, there's no first-hand evidence to prove this at all, and certainly there's no recorded instances of the P2s derailing on the main line or causing any damage to the track as some authors have described. During their work from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, they often ran on sections of line that were owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (the L.M.S.) who possibly may have banned the P2s from operating over their sections of line if there had been instances of the track being damaged or spread.
When the war began in September 1939, and the railways came under immense pressure due to the need to support Britain's war effort, the P2 Class were often used on special trains that took them away from the usual area where they were intended to work on. For example, No.2004 Mons Meg was used on heavy troop trains that ran between Perth and Newcastle. Similarly, No.2001 Cock O' the North and No.2004 also worked on the odd passenger trains to Glasgow alongside Gresley's Pacifics. In the early war years, the P2 Class were driven by other crews other than their regular assigned crews, which allowed for much greater flexibility of working with the Operating Department. The conditions of war-time working took their toll on the class, particularly with regards to maintenance, yet despite that, the P2s continued on with their work in the early war years.
However, after Gresley died in office in April 1941, his successor Edward Thompson took over as C.M.E. of the L.N.E.R., and he had far different ideas about how to run the L.N.E.R. system than his predecessor had done, as by this point the Second World War was raging and there were there was rising passenger and freight traffic demands, along with wartime shortages of materials and manpower. In this sort of wartime operating conditions, it was felt that cheap was needed rather than best. He believed in building a limited number of locomotive classes, but which would then be available in very large numbers, which would be highly suited for a wide area of operations, and could handle any kind of job they were tasked with doing. One of Thompson's plans was for a Pacific-type engine which would be an non-streamlined A4 Class engine with 6ft 2in driving wheels and with Walschaerts valve gear driving all three cylinders, and which could then be used for mixed traffic work .
It's been suggested that Thompson made largely unsubstantiated claims about the P2 Class in order to justify rebuilding them. From 1943 to 1944, he had the six P2s rebuilt into rather ungainly, and rather unsuccessful 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives, which were then re-designated as A2/2. No.2005 Thane of Fife was the first to be rebuilt, in January 1943, No.2006 Wolf of Badenoch in May 1944, No.2002 Earl Marischal in June 1944, No.2001 Cock O' The North in September 1944, No.2004 Mons Meg in November 1944, with No.2003 Lord President being the last to be rebuilt, in December 1944.
The original pony truck was replaced by a bogie design, the original boiler barrels were shortened by 2ft 0.25in, so as to provide a longer smokebox so the chimney wouldn't foul the superheater header, and the live steam pipes from the superheater header to the cylinders were made as straight as possible. A new front-end drive was also designed with three cylinders that were 20in diameter with a 26in piston stroke. Thompson used a divided drive for the A2/2 Class, with the centre cylinder driving onto the first pair of driving wheels and the two outside cylinders driving onto the second pair of driving wheels. However, all three connecting rods were the exact same length, and so it resulted in the outside cylinders being set further back behind the leading bogie, and this gave the A2/2s a rather ungainly appearance compared to other L.N.E.R. Pacifics.
Thompson also had Gresley's complex conjugated valve gear removed and replaced it with three independent sets of Walschaerts gear, with one set going to each cylinder. The double chimney with the Kylchap exhaust system was retained, and small wing-type smoke lifters were put into place on each side of the double chimneys. All six A2/2s originally ran without their names for a while, but eventually they all regained their names.
With their three cylinders being 20in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, and with 6ft 2in driving wheels and a boiler that was pressed to 225psi, the new A2/2s had a tractive effort of 40,318lbf, somewhat less than their original tractive effort had been when they were P2s. The weight of the A2/2 Class was 101.5tons, much reduced from the P2 weight of around 110 tons.
The A2/2s steamed well and retained much of the power of the original P2s, and the reduced weight meant there was a high power-to-weight ratio. Though they were good at hauling high speed expresses, they acquired a bad reputation for wild, unsafe riding when they were running at high speed. There were other problems with A2/2 design; their lighter weight, the reduction in the number of driving wheels from eight to six, and a lack of adhesion which would often cause the driving wheels to slip when the class was setting off, which meant they could no longer be used on the Aberdeen Road. It also limited their haulage capability and so they couldn't reach their theoretical power, even though their coal consumption was reduced. Another problem they had was that as they had been adapted from very different locomotives, there was a major question of reliability; the A2/2s suffered quite badly from frame movement, vibrations, and fittings often coming loose. The divided drive caused by the stretched design meant that modifications were needed due to the frames flexing and suffering from stress damage.
Due to their mechanical issues, the A2/2s spent a lot of time out of service and in the workshops undergoing maintenance to keep them in working order; e.g., No.2006 was admitted to the workshops a total of 30 times between 1945 and 1959 compared to only 11 visits by A3 Flying Scotsman during the same period, and as a result they covered poor mileages; e.g., No.2001 covered 91,301 miles between works visits in September 1954 and August 1956. The class also had a reputation for rough riding, especially from crews who were more used to the smoother rides of Gresley's Pacific designs.
Upon nationalisation in 1948, the A2/2s were renumbered from No.60501 to No.60506 and late 1949/early 1950, they were transferred south to sheds along the East Coast Main Line, such as York and Peterborough, after which they were repainted in B.R. green livery. From their new bases, the A2/2s worked more extensively, often hauling fast fitted freight trains, or stopping local passenger trains. They also ran trains as far south as London, as well as special trains to places like Sheffield and Nottingham. As they were reallocated from Scotland to much further south, the six of the engines had their tablet exchange apparatuses removed.
But as a small class of locomotives, it was inevitable that A2/2 Class would be the first to be withdrawn from service. Withdrawals started in November 1959 with No.60505 Thane of Fife and No.60503 Lord President, followed by No.60501 Cock O' The North in February 1960, No.60504 Mons Meg in January 1961, No.60506 Wolf of Badenoch in April 1961, and No.60502 Earl Marischal in July 1961, and each one was cut up at Doncaster Works. Only one member of the class manager to cover more than one million miles during its life on the line, and it was Earl Marischal, and she managed to cover 1,034,854 miles in her career, of which 360,907 miles were covered when she was a P2, and 673,947 miles covered when she was an A2/2. By comparison, Lord President covered the fewest miles of any member of the class during her life; only 754,781 miles, of which 246,283 miles as a P2 and 508,498 miles as an A2/2.
So, despite all the various different problems the Gresley P2 Class had, they were actually quite a bold step forward in terms of British steam locomotive design. Although they did have a reputation for heavy coal consumption, this was really only a problem with the doyen of the class No.2001 Cock O' the North in its original form with Lentz valve gear with poppet valves. It's been said they were unsuitable for the Edinburgh - Aberdeen route for which they were originally designed and maybe should have been transferred south to work along the East Coast Main Line where the longer fixed wheel-base wouldn't have been much of a problem as it would have been for the line they were intended to run on. But as with all locomotive designs, the P2 Class was a trade-off between the different conflicting requirements the L.N.E.R. had to balance.
However, the story of the Gresley P2 Class doesn't end there; in 2013, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, the very same company who built the first main line steam locomotive to be built in the U.K. since 1960, the 50th member of the L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A1 Class No.60163 Tornado, announced their intention to build the seventh member of the Gresley P2 Class, in the form of No.2007 Prince of Wales. After forming a subsidiary company, called the P2 Steam Locomotive Company, the project to build No.2007 kicked off in early 2014, with the very first component to be made being the smokebox dart, which was made by former Top Gear presenter James May. Ever since the project was launched, considerable progress has been made on the construction of No.2007, easily making it the fastest new-build project in British railway preservation history, with the entire cost of the project estimated to be somewhere between £5.5 million and £6 million.
Selecting the name of "Prince of Wales" for the new Gresley P2 is a major departure from the names that were carried by the original six locomotives, all of which had names that were based around Scottish Folklore. So, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has sought and received permission from the British Royal Family to use the Scottish version of the title "Duke of Rothesay" for when No.2007 visits Scotland and for other special occasions. The name of the locomotive was unveiled on November 14th 2013, the birth date of the then Prince Charles. Despite Charles ascending to the throne in September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the name of No.2007 will not change.
As of late 2023, No.2007 Prince of Wales is nearing completion at the new Locomotive Works in Darlington, with many parts for her - including the wheelsets for the locomotive and tender, the cab, main frames, as well as the iconic smokebox, as well as countless other fittings - having already been delivered, and much of the locomotive already having been assembled and on its wheels, as well as the tender tank having been delivered. Many smaller fittings have been made as the project has progressed, which means they can be put on the locomotive quickly when the time for it arrives.
The main frames for the tender, as well as the boiler – which is currently undergoing the final stages of construction at Deutsche Bahn's Steam Locomotive Works in Meiningen, Germany, and which will be an all-welded and all-steel construction – are due for delivery to Darlington Locomotive Works before or by the end of 2023. Very recently, the new all-welded cylinder block, which was built in Irvine in Scotland, was delivered to Darlington Locomotive Works, and is currently awaiting fitment to No.2007. And so it shouldn't be too long before we can see an L.N.E.R. Gresley P2 Class 2-8-2 back in action again, and thus Gresley's unique design can really be given the chance to prove itself and reach its full potential, which it was never given the chance to do so when it was first introduced back in the 1930's.
No.2007 Prince of Wales is being built in the very original semi-streamlined appearance, and so will look, for all intents and purposes, just like No.2001 Cock O' The North in her original form when she first emerged back in 1934.
However, as the new P2 is being built as a brand new member of the class instead of a replica of one of the original engines, many changes are being made to the design of No.2007 Prince of Wales, in order to ensure that she doesn't suffer from the same problems as the other six members of the class when they were in service in their original forms, as well as to ensure that she can run much better when she's out on the main line. These changes are being brought in so as to improve maintenance standards, lower life-cycle costs, address any historic problems the original six engines had, as well as to comply with the modern U.K. railway operating requirements and standards.
The changes that are being made to No.2007 Prince of Wales to make her more suitable to run on Britain's modern railway system include;
1: fitting her with an improved post-war V2 front pony-truck with spring-side control, instead of Gresley's original patent swing-link suspension design, in order to reduce the chances of the pony truck derailing and to allow for much smoother running on the main line. A special 3D computer model has shown that No.2007, when fitted with a V2 front pony truck, actually has a much better and smoother ride than that of No.60163 Tornado.
2: redesigning the crank axle to ensure that it's a much more robust structure and can last much longer in service than the crank axles did on the original six P2s, and to ensure that it will last for at least 250,000 miles before it needs to be replaced. The implementation of stress-relieving grooves in the new crank axle will also help in improving the life-span of this component.
3: fitting Timken roller bearings on all the axles – both on the locomotive and the tender – so as to reduce any running resistance and allow for greatly increased mileages between overhauls. These bearings have proven themselves on new A1 No.60163 Tornado, and so it makes sense to fit them to No.2007.
4: fitting a much-improved and beefed up version of the Lentz/Franklin rotary poppet valve gear, as developed and fitted to some steam locomotives in the United States, with improved cams that are far more resistant to wear and tear than the original cams were on No.2001, thanks to improved heat treatment methods and modern tooling. The decision to fit improved Lentz/Franklin valve gear to No.2007 was to make the engine look as close to No.2001 Cock O' The North as possible, instead of Walschaerts valve gear as per the original P2s, or British Caprotti valve gear as famously seen on B.R. Standard Class 8P No.71000 Duke of Gloucester. The new Lenz/Franklin rotary valve gear will incorporate the original infinitely variable cut-off cams as seen on No.2001 when she was first built, and so will help to reduce the coal consumption on No.2007 when she steams for the first time.
5: fitting a rocking grate and a hopper ashpan to No.2007, which the original members of the class never had fitted originally, and which will help in making the disposing of the fire at the end of a day's work a much quicker and cleaner task.
6: standardising as many parts and components with No.60163 Tornado as possible – including large items such as the tender and boiler, so as to ensure easier operations between the two locomotives. There's actually a considerable amount of commonality – at least 70% - between a Gresley P2 Class Mikado of 1934 and a Peppercorn A1 Class Pacific of 1948. Tornado's diagram 118A boiler runs at a pressure of 250psi, rather than the original P2 pressure of 220psi. With the cylinders being reduced slightly to 19.75in - due to the fact that rails have been moved closer to platforms to reduce the risk of passengers falling the gaps between the platforms and the trains - the higher steam pressure of Tornado's boiler will allow No.2007 to have a higher tractive effort of 43,685lbf, slighter more than the tractive effort of 43,462lbf on the original six P2s. As the boiler of Tornado is 16.5in shorter in length than those that had originally been used on the P2s, the smokebox of No.2007 is being lengthened by 16.5in to compensate. The larger smokebox will also allow for self-cleaning screens and a spark arrester to be fitted as well.
In addition, using Tornado's tender design, with the coal capacity reduced from 9 tons to 7.5 tons and the water capacity increased to over 6,200 gallons, will mean that No.2007 will have a much greater water reserve capacity so as to run much longer distances on the main line before needing to stop and have the water tank topped up with more water, with the range increasing from 80 miles to around 110 miles, with some in reserve.
7: redesigning the cylinder block so that it's assembled from welded, pre-fabricated steel rather than have it made from cast iron like on the originals – which will be a much more difficult and expensive engineering challenge to accomplish just to cast such an enormous component as a one-off, especially considering the high costs of making the necessary patterns – and reducing the diameter of the cylinders slightly from 21in to 19.75in to allow for better clearances when alongside station platforms. Using steel will allow the width of the cylinders, more specifically the outside cylinders, to be reduced by 2in, which will allow No.2007 to have the widest possible route availability on the main line, and without the risk of causing any damage to platforms.
The steam passages in the cylinder block have also been massively redesigned to reduce the chances of hotter incoming steam heating up the exhausted steam. On the original cylinder block on No.2001 Cock O' the North, this was a problem as with the thin walls - often only consisting of a single thickness of cast iron - separating the incoming and outgoing steam passages, the exhausted steam was being heated up, up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, by the hotter incoming steam. This always resulted in wasted energy not doing useful work, and the extra energy in the exhaust often made the blast so fierce that it would often have the habit of lifting the fire off the grate. And so, the new cylinder block for No.2007 Prince of Wales has been redesigned to eliminate this problem, as well as improving the internal streamlining of the steam passages based on research that had been done by André Chapelon in order to ensure that maximum power is retained, as well as to improve the economy of No.2007 Prince of Wales.
8: reducing the overall height of the locomotive very slightly – by taking at least an inch off in the height – so as to allow No.2007 the widest possible route availability on the British main line, and able to travel along routes throughout the U.K. that would have never seen a Gresley L.N.E.R. P2 Class 2-8-2 travel on them back in the 1930's and 40's.
9: changing the original braking system from a vacuum only brake system to a B.R. type dual air/vacuum system, so that No.2007 can work at pulling trains with vacuum brakes on heritage railways as well as air-braked stock out on the main line.
10: fitting backwards sanders to the driving wheels. In the 1930's, it wasn't seen as likely that a big express passenger steam locomotive would have to haul a heavy passenger train in reverse, but in more recent times, especially when running on heritage railways as well as for odd occasions when running out on the main line, many of the preserved engines do have to haul trains in reverse, and occasionally those trains can be quite heavy. So as well as having the usual sanders for forward drive fitted, No.2007 will be fitted with backwards sanders for when she has to haul trains in reverse.
11: fitting No.2007 with a modern and extensive electrical power supply system to run all the necessary electronics – which were never fitted to any of the original six members of the P2 Class – which are necessary if No.2007 is to run safely on the main line, including a Stone's generator, Train Protection & Warning System (T.P.W.S.), Onboard Train Monitoring & Recording (O.T.M.R.), Automatic Warning System (A.W.S.), GSM-R cab radio, as well as the newer European Train Control System (E.T.C.S.) in-cab signalling system.
12: removing the original ACFI feed water heater as fitted to No.2001 Cock O' The North, as the feed water heater only worked its best when the regulator was kept open for long periods of time, something which wasn't possible on the twisting gradients of the Edinburgh - Aberdeen Line. So No.2007 Prince of Wales will be fitted with a live-steam and an exhaust-steam injectors. The live-steam injector is based on those that were fitted to the Southern Railway's Bulleid Merchant Navy Class Pacifics - more specifically that which was fitted to No.35006 Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co, and the exhaust-steam injector is based on those that were fitted to the B.R. Standard Pacifics, specifically those that were fitted to No.70000 Britannia and No.71000 Duke of Gloucester.
13: fitting a speedometer, which the original P2s were never fitted with and an obvious modern requirement, so as to accurately measure whatever speed No.2007 is going at, either when she's out on the main line or running on a heritage railway.
Once No.2007 Prince of Wales is completed, she'll be certified by Network Rail and will, subject to some weight restriction, spend most of her working life out on the main line, where she'll haul special rail-tours and enthusiasts specials, including in places like along the Devon Banks, or on the "Long Drag" of the Settle and Carlisle Line in Northern England, as well as visiting heritage railways that are directly connected to the main line. As No.2007 will have a high tractive effort, she'll be able to pull much longer and heavier trains than most other preserved express steam locomotives will be able to do. No.2007 will also have her own dedicated support coach as well, and which will carry the crew, spare parts, and everything that's needed to keep No.2007 in good order when she's out on the main line.
However, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust isn't the only group in the U.K. that's building a brand new Gresley L.N.E.R. P2 Class 2-8-2 steam locomotive. The Doncaster P2 Locomotive Trust, which is based in Doncaster, are also working on a project of their own to build a new example of a P2 Class 2-8-2, which will be a replica of the original member of the P2 Class, No.2001 Cock O' the North. However, unlike the project to build No.2007 Prince of Wales in the original form, the Doncaster project to build replica of No.2001 Cock O' the North intends to build their new engine with the later sloping streamlined A4-style front end seen on the original No.2001 when she was rebuilt from her original condition in 1937. The frames for the replica of No.2001 were cut in 2014, shortly before those of No.2007 Prince of Wales were cut.
In this story, two fictional examples of the L.N.E.R. Gresley P2 Class will be appearing as the story proceeds, one of which will be in the original semi-streamlined condition with an improved Lentz/Franklin valve gear fitted, which will be No.2010 Waverley, and the second one, No.2009 Merrow, will be with the later streamlined A4-style front end with Walschaerts valve gear. Both of these P2s will have Scottish-themed names, as a tribute to the country where the class originally worked, and keeping to that tradition, e.g., No.2010 Waverley being named after Edinburgh's Waverley Station. And what will make these L.N.E.R. P2s in this story much different to how the class was originally is that their original 21in diameter cylinders will be paired to superheated boilers that are pressed to 275psi, thus giving them a much higher tractive effort of 58,505lbf, and thus making them able to haul much heavier trains.
Slowly and carefully, No.2010 Waverley buffered up to the front of his train and the shunter coupled him to the coach and connected up the brake pipes. As he did that, the passengers came down to the platform and began to board the coaches; once he was given the all-clear to go, Waverley would be on his way to Vicarstown with his train.
"I'll be glad to get all these passengers away from here. I'm sure they'll all want to be at their hotels before nightfall." Waverley said to Eclipse.
"And I'm sure my passengers will be glad to get to sleep tonight as well. I'm sure many of them are quite tired after their journeys on those ferries." said Eclipse, as he thought about the trip many of them must have made just to get here to Sodor.
"And I too will be glad to get some sleep when I can get to the sheds after this job." said Waverley, as he thought of getting some decent sleep after a long day of hard work.
"Me too. After all, driver has told me that there's going to be a lot more to do tomorrow." said Eclipse, as he thought about what the following day might bring in terms of work.
"Well, I know what my job will be first thing tomorrow morning; it'll be to bring the morning train from Vicarstown back to Knapford along the Northern Route. I know because driver told me earlier on." Waverley said.
"Well, you'd better get to Vicarstown as soon as possible with your train then." said Eclipse.
"Oh, I intend to." said Waverley.
A minute or so later, there came the sounds of a guard blowing his whistle loudly; looking back along the platform, Simon and Carrie saw the guard for their train waving his green flag before stepping into the front coach.
"Was that for us?" the driver asked, as he turned. He was sitting at his position on the left-hand side of the cab, with the controls set up and ready to go.
"Yes, that was for us! Right away, driver!" Simon said, as he turned to face the driver. Carrie then looked down at her watch; it was 5:00pm sharp and time for them to be on their way with their train.
"All right then! Here we go!" the driver said, as he pulled hard on the whistle handle and then, several seconds later, opened the regulator a little. At his position, the fireman opened the dampers to allow more air into the firebox as they began to set off.
As Eclipse's deep-toned whistle sounded, he slowly began to move out from the station, taking up the load of the very heavy train behind him, one coach at a time. The driver, who was sitting on his comfortable upholstered bucket seat, was very careful to make sure the six driving wheels didn't slip as they made their way out from the station, including making sure the sanders were being used to place sand onto the rails in front of the driving wheels to prevent slipping. He managed to do a good job, as Eclipse slowly made his way out from the terminal station, there wasn't any slipping of the driving wheels.
From the footplate, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side on the right-hand side of the cab and looked out as they pulled out from the station; looking over towards the other platforms, Carrie could see other express steam locomotives sticking out from just beyond the front of the platforms. Carrie could see, from closest to them all the way over to the platform furthest from them, was G.W.R. King Class No.6009 King Charles II, L.M.S. Princess Royal Class No.46204 Princess Louise, L.N.E.R. A4 Class No.4500 Sir Ronald Matthews, L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class No.6225 Duchess of Gloucester, and B.R. Standard Class 8P No.71001 Duke of London. As there had been reports the ferries arriving this afternoon were going to be absolutely full of passengers, the Fat Controller himself had made sure some of his most powerful express passenger locomotives, and plenty of coaching stock, would be made available to take the passengers to wherever they needed to go.
Not only that, but a few other engines, including a few who normally would work as bankers on Gordon's Hill, had been assigned from their normal duties to help out bringing additional coaching stock down to Brendam Docks in anticipation for the extra passengers that needed to be moved away. Among the coaches that had been brought down were a number of buffet coaches with extra catering staff.
Slowly and carefully, Eclipse made his way along the lines through the docks, where he went past all different sorts of activity that was taking place on the different quays and within some of the different sheds and other area; men were working away at loading or unloading cargo from different ships at some quays, loading food supplies onto ships for the crews, moving large loads along on yellow or orange forklift trucks. In some of the various sheds, bright blue-white flashes could be seen as men made repairs with their welding torches to various pieces of machinery for ships, or else were cutting through pieces of new metal to use for making new parts for whatever item of dockside machinery that needed to have new parts. Loud sounds could also be heard from different machines in the shops as men worked away on preparing parts that were required to be made.
At one point they went by a very long quayside, where they could see L.N.E.R. V2 Class 2-6-2 No.4800 standing and waiting for his long train of vans to be fully loaded up with cargo from two large freighters that were tied up to the quayside. They turned off to the right not too long afterwards, and made their way along the line that led out from Brendam Docks and along the line towards the Southern Main Line.
As they made their way out and away from the busy and bustling docks and along the line towards Wellsworth, they ran parallel to the estuary, which could almost pass for a wide and very slow flowing canal, that ran from inland a short way before it flowed out into the docks. The water level along this particular stretch was deep enough, even at low tide, that there were many different boats securely tied up either to buoys in the channel or else up against the long quayside that Eclipse was now running alongside. Various different types of boats that could be seen included smaller trawlers, canal barges, various other types of barges – some of which actually had cranes fitted on them - and a number of small harbour launches, and some men were seen busy working away on some of the boats.
Eclipse soon went by the large shunting yards and by the junction that led off towards the china clay works, where the twins Bill and Ben could be seen close to the points and waiting for Eclipse to go by with his train so they could deliver a long line of trucks filled with china clay to the docks.
"Hello there, you two!" Eclipse said, as he went on by with his train, "Sorry to keep you waiting there while I go by with my train!" Eclipse said, as he blew his whistle loudly while he went past the junction. Bill and Ben watched with some annoyance as they watched the L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A2 go on past with his long train.
"We were here at this junction first!" Bill said, in a complaining sort of way.
"Yeah, how come we have to wait until he has to go on past us?" Ben asked, in annoyance.
"The passenger trains are more important than trucks full of china clay." said their drivers. But it wasn't too long before the last coach in the train went on past them, and they were clear to bring their china clay trucks down to the docks.
Now they were clear of the docks, Eclipse was able to build up some more speed and they went along up the line at a steady speed of 40mph, and went past all the different landmarks along the route that Carrie was now reasonably familiar with, having been along this line a few times in the last few months. They passed by places like a fishing village – which was similar to the ones that were on the Little Western, past Suddery Castle, then over the bridge that went over the river, and along the wide raised embankment that stood over the surrounding fields below it.
Then at one point, they came upon a stretch that went by some farms, where Carrie and Simon could see farmers at work in their fields with machinery, including tractors. Approaching, and then going through Lower Suddery Station, they could see L.N.E.R. L1 2-6-4T No.67748 heading back in the opposite direction back to Brendam Docks with more empty coaches, just in case they were needed. Both L.N.E.R. engines whistled in greeting to each other as they went through the station.
After going through the tunnel at the north end of Lower Suddery, Eclipse continued heading along the line, going past a number of different rail-side businesses along the way, until they eventually went past the scrapyard before the vicarage, and then soon came upon the vicarage orchard right by the line. Going past, they saw Trevor the Traction Engine chuffing about the orchard, with the Vicar at the controls. After giving a short blast on his whistle in greeting, and calling out "Hello!" as they went on past, Eclipse headed on towards the junction a little further on the line, as Trevor whistled back and called out "Hello!" in return. The Vicar also waved in greeting, and watched the train as it went on past the grounds in a swirling cloud of steam and smoke.
Soon, after slowing down, they came upon the junction that was connected to the Southern Main Line. With the signal arm down and the light showing green, Eclipse made his way out onto the main line and headed towards Wellsworth Station. Looking out from the driver's side, Carrie looked back and watched as the coaches made their way out onto the main line, and then looking forwards, she watched as they went through Wellsworth Station on the middle line. She could see another train on the up line, with Edward coupled to the front coach, and he was picking up passengers at the platform and taking them back to Knapford. Going over to the other side of the footplate, Carrie leaned out a little and watched as they went by the banker sidings, where she could see the different banking engines waiting in the different sidings for the next trains to bank up Gordon's Hill.
"Hey, Carrie…do you wanna have another go with the shovel?" Simon asked, as he offered her the shovel.
"Sure would, Simon." Carrie said, as she took hold of the shovel and got ready to stoke the boiler.
"Remember, Carrie…don't push yourself too hard, and don't put too much coal on the shovel. After all, you've had a long and hard day today, so don't stress yourself. Remember, only use small amounts." said the fireman.
"Okay, sir." Carrie said, as she pushed the shovel into the coal space. With only a few lumps on the shovel blade, she turned and placed the coal through the L.N.E.R. firehole door with the deflector flap and placed the lumps into the firebox. She did that at least six more times, each time with only a small amount of coal on the shovel, and made sure she placed the coal to where it was needed in the firebox. Taking the fireman's advice to heart, she didn't push herself too hard, and made her movements nice and smooth.
"Do you think that's enough coal for now?" Carrie asked, after placing the sixth shovelful of coal into the firebox.
"Yeah, I think that's probably enough for now, Carrie. Well done." said the fireman, as he took the coal shovel from Carrie.
"Thanks." Carrie said, as a second or two later, there came the sound of a bell sounding in the cab. This was the Automatic Warning System, or A.W.S. equipment, showing that the next signal they were approaching was at clear, and they could proceed on their way up the line.
"Let's hope it's not long before we can get back. I'm absolutely knackered after today's work." Simon said, as he drank some water from a bottle.
"Yeah, me too. It feels like the day has just gone slower than it usually does." Carrie said, as she sat down on the fireman's seat.
"Well, it can happen. Believe me, I've had that experience myself while working on this railway." said the fireman, as he went and checked the two water gauge glasses fitted on the backhead of the boiler.
"I'll also be glad to get something to eat tonight. I'm also glad we're meeting up with our friends to get dinner after we finished up here." Carrie said, as she yawned and stretched her arms out.
"Me too. And me feet are just killing me!" Simon said, as he leaned against the side of the cab behind Carrie.
"Don't worry, Simon. We'll be able to clock out for the day soon." Carrie said, as she turned and smiled reassuringly at Simon. He simply smiled back at her, and gave a nod of his head.
(A little later on)
It wasn't too long before Eclipse approached their final destination for the day; Knapford Station. Both Carrie and Simon were very relieved to see the familiar shape of the station appear in front of them as they went round the gentle bend before the station. With the signalman in his signal-box keeping an eye on things in the yard, Eclipse was sent onto the line that would take them alongside Platform 2. The driver, having already shut the regulator, gentle applied the brakes and carefully brought the train to a halt, with the front of Eclipse standing a short way beyond the platform.
"And we've made it back. At last!" Simon said, deeply relieved that finally they were at their last stop for the day.
"Yeah, and then back to the depot at Tidmouth Sheds, a nice hot shower, and then out to dinner with friends." Carrie said, as she thought ahead to a nice shower after a hard day of work.
"And I'm looking forward to it too." Simon said, with a smile. Going over to the driver's side of the footplate, they both looked out and back along the length of the train; they could see the many hundreds of passengers, and their luggage, getting off the train and making their way over to the footbridge, where they went up and then over the two lines to Platform 1, and from there out of the station, where they would then catch their transport to their hotels.
Behind Eclipse's tender, the shunter, having somehow managed to clamber into the tight space between the tender and front coach, uncoupled the coaches and then he disconnected the brake pipes. With that job done, he made his way out and up to the below the side of the cab.
"Okay, we're all uncoupled here!" he called up to the fireman, who was leaning out from his side of the footplate.
"Very good!" the fireman said, before he then turned to face the driver. "Okay, we're all free to head off back to the sheds!"
"All right! Let's go then!" the driver said, as he adjusted the controls before they could set off. Then he opened the regulator, and, after he blew the whistle, they slowly set off up the line towards Tidmouth Sheds.
(A few minutes later)
At last, having been turned on the turntable, No.60545 Eclipse slowly reversed into one of the berths at Tidmouth Sheds, and came to a gentle halt with a whoosh of steam and a slight squealing of his brakes on his wheels.
"And there we are…time to get ready to sleep!" Eclipse said quietly, as his crew, as well as Simon and Carrie, stepped off the footplate while the shed crew then went and took over.
"Have a good run today, driver?" one of the shed crewmen asked, as the driver and fireman went past him.
"We did indeed. And a few of them as well, moving heavy trains and the like, including our last of the day from Brendam Docks. But now…I guess it's time to sign out for the day and get some good and well-earned rest tonight." said the driver.
"Well, we've got a bit longer to go before we can clock off, so we'll get to work right now." said the shed crewman, as he and his men set off to work at disposing of Eclipse at the end of a working day, which included the jobs of dropping the fire from the firebox and emptying out the ashpan, as well as giving Eclipse a good rub down after his long day of work. In the meantime, his driver and fireman, as well as Carrie and Simon, would be off to the main crew building to get showered off and changed into fresh clothes before clocking out and leaving for the day.
"I'll be glad to get cleaned up; after all, with the heat of that fire and all the physical moving, I'm sweating quite a bit." Simon said, as he began to unbutton the top buttons of the set of overalls he was wearing.
"Yeah, me as well. And me arms are absolutely killing me! Especially after all that shovelling of coal we did today." Carrie said, as she took off her railway cap and then wiped down her sweaty forehead, leaving a few very thin streaks of coal dust behind.
"And I'm glad we're meeting up with the others for diner in a short while." Simon said, as they entered the main crew building and went up the stairs.
"Yeah, me too. Now let's go get ourselves cleaned up." Carrie said, as they arrived on the first floor and then went into their respective changing rooms.
(A short while later)
After having a long hot shower, so as to wash off all the sweat, grime and coal dust off herself, Carrie dried off with some fresh, and soft, white towels, and then set about getting herself dressed into the fresh clothes she had on her locker. As she dressed, she listened to the conversations between some of the other girls who were in the locker room with her; they were all talking about various things and subjects, including how their day out on the railway had gone, which engines they had worked with, as well as various things going on in their lives, the boys they were dating, and so on.
Carrie felt herself smile somewhat as she listened to the other girls chat with each other, and knew that many of them were also tired after such a long day of hard work, just like her.
It wasn't long before Carrie had finished getting herself dressed into her clean clothes, and she placed her work clothes into her bag, placed the towels into one of the laundry baskets in the locker room, and then stepped back outside into the corridor. A moment later, Simon stepped out from the men's locker room on the other side of the corridor; he was also dressed in fresh clothes, and had his bag with his work clothes at his side.
"Hey, Simon…feeling better?" Carrie asked.
"Oh, much better, now that I've had a shower and dressed into clean clothes." Simon said, as he stepped towards Carrie.
"Well, shall we go and meet up with our friends and go out to get something to eat now?" Carrie asked.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. Let's go!" Simon said, as he placed his arm around Carrie's shoulders, and they set off down the corridor and then on down the stairs towards the main entrance.
After clocking out for the day, they stepped outside and walked towards where they could see their friends, Alice, Sophie, Saoirse, and Olivia, as well as Stephen and Bridget Hatt, standing together and waiting for them to arrive.
"Ah, there you are, you two. We were wondering when you were going to show up." Olivia said.
"Yeah well, we just had to get ourselves cleaned up and dressed first. But we're here now." Carrie said, as she and Simon approached.
"That's good; so, shall we head on out to get dinner?" Stephen asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me. But where are we going to be eating at?" Simon asked.
"Well, we've seen this nice place in the centre of Knapford, which is quite a nice place where you can get pretty much anything you want to eat, and is very popular with many young people in this part of the island." Saoirse said.
"The place is called The Sunset Avenue, and has been around for quite a long time." Bridget said.
"And it's not that far from here, so we can get there quite quickly." Sophie said.
"Well, let's go then. I'm starving." Simon said, and, with them all agreeing unanimously with that statement, they all turned and headed off towards the restaurant.
(A few minutes later)
Having arrived at The Sunset Avenue, the group stepped inside the main entrance and were shown to one of the tables inside the large ground floor space. Carrie was impressed by what she saw when she stepped inside with her friends; lining two walls of the space were the buffet lines, where all sorts of hot and cold foods were on offer. There was a drinks station against the wall furthest away from them, and there was also a dessert buffet there as well. At some of the other tables before them, a few young couples could be seen eating their dinner, with a few others lining up together at the buffet lines and choosing what they wanted to have for dinner.
Behind the longest buffet, two chefs, all dressed in their white clothes, could be seen refilling some of the metal tins that were getting close to empty with some fresh hot food that had just been prepared in the kitchen that was behind two grey doors in the wall.
"Hmm…I think we're gonna have a good time here this evening." Simon said quietly to Carrie.
"Yeah…and I think we're gonna be spoiled for choice with what's on offer here." Carrie said, as she took in a deep sniff through her nose and savoured all the rich and delicious smells that floated all around them.
"Come on, let's go and get what's there before it's all gone." Sophie said, as they went and lined up at the buffet line closest to them, and grabbed white china plates that were sitting in a special warmer off to the side.
A little while later, with their plates filled up with what they wanted to have, and having grabbed the cutlery and whatever drinks they wanted as well, they went over and sat down at tables that were close to the middle of the room. As there were no tables in the space where all eight of them could sit together, they all sat down at two tables for four; Carrie, Simon, Saoirse, and Alice sat at one table, while Stephen, Bridget, Olivia, and Sophie sat at another table right beside them.
"Oh, I'm really looking forward to this. Especially after the long and busy day we've had today." Carrie said, as she placed her tray down on the table.
"Me too; I haven't had anything to eat since around lunchtime, and so I'm absolutely famished." Saoirse said, as she sat herself down and then picked up her knife and fork.
"Yeah, let's dig in before it all gets cold." Simon said, as he and Alice also tucked into their food. For a few long moments, the four of them, as well as the four at the other table, sat in quiet silence as they enjoyed their food. The only other sounds they could hear in the room were the sounds of other people having quiet conversations at some of the other tables, new people lining up and going along the buffet, music being played at a comfortable level from speakers mounted upon the walls, as well as the occasional sounds coming from the kitchen.
After a few moments, Simon then spoke up.
"Do you know that the circus is coming to Sodor in the early part of June?"
"Yeah, I know about that, Simon. After all, I sure that we've all seen the different posters that have been up for some time now, as well as all the pamphlets that have been on offer just about everywhere." Saoirse said, as she took a sip of Coca Cola.
"And the circus is always brought in on a long and very special train. And the train is made up of about a dozen coaches, as well as more than 30 trucks and wagons of various different types that carry all the equipment and gear that the circus needs to run. And many of us here have seen the circus trains many times over the years as it goes by to where it's set up on the island each summer." Alice said.
"I wonder if we'll ever be given the chance to go to the circus while it's here on Sodor." Carrie said.
"Have you never been to a circus before, Carrie?" Alice asked, just before she took a sip from her pint glass of Pepsi.
"No, with all honesty. The reasons for that are that in all the time that I was living in Chamberlain, a circus never came to town for some reason. If one did come to the local area, it would usually be in one of the larger towns that are outside of Chamberlain. Anyway, considering what my mom was like to me, I don't think she would've agreed to me going to the circus at all, as she would've considered circuses as sinful things." Carrie said, with some slight embarrassment from admitting the last part of what she had said to her friends.
"Well, never fear now, Carrie. As long as you're here, and you have the chance to do so, you may as well take the chance to go to the circus, and see what it's really like. Maybe you'll see that you'll have a good time when you get to visit it." Simon said.
"I think I'd like that, Simon. But don't tell me what a circus is like just yet. At least until I get a chance to go to it beforehand." Carrie said.
"Okay then, Carrie." Simon said, and they all continued on with eating their dinner. As they all ate, a thought suddenly occurred to Carrie; at about this time Ewen High School would be hosting the Junior/Senior prom, and it was always held at Ewen High School, and usually within the main gym hall. As Carrie wiped down her lips with a napkin, and then took in some of her drink, she wondered to herself as to what might be going on at Ewen High's Junior/Senior Prom this evening.
And that's it for this chapter everyone! Carrie's had a very good day at work, and we've introduced a new class of locomotive; the L.N.E.R. Gresley P2 Class 2-8-2. Now, I've brought in the L.N.E.R. P2 Class much earlier than I really would have wanted to originally, but then again, considering the numbers of passengers that were arriving at Brendam Docks in the story as well as the weight of the trains leaving from there, it made sense to use one member of the P2 Class for that particular job.
For the next chapter that's coming, well I think it's gonna be something that any of you won't be expecting to see, and especially quite so soon.