Chapter 21: Hauling the Mail
(Friday, April 20th 2012 – 8:00am; Tidmouth Sheds)
In this chapter, Carrie is gonna get the chance to work on the footplate of Percy, Sodor's No.6 engine!
Stepped out from the woman's changing rooms wearing her work clothes with a dark blue boiler suit being worn over them, and a good pair of solid boots on her feet, and her work gloves in her pockets, Carrie headed downstairs, ready for another day of hard work. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she turned and went into the cafeteria to get a cup of hot tea and a pastry, or two, before she went out into the main depot to choose which engine she wanted to work on for today. Joining up with the queue, she got a hot cup of tea at the drinks section before then going over to the pastry counter and choosing a Danish pastry, filled with a rich, sweet custard and lightly dusted all over with crisp white icing sugar.
After getting the things she wanted to have in the cafeteria, she met up with Simon and they both made their way out to where many of the other engine crews, and most of the other recruits who were in the apprenticeship scheme, were out in the depot.
As she sipped her tea, and took the odd bite out from her pastry, Carrie couldn't help but look around and up at the weather; the morning sky was quite clear, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen anywhere at all. Though the morning air was still a little bit cool, it would warm up as the day went on. By now, spring had firmly arrived on Sodor, and its effects could be seen everywhere; leaves had grown back onto the trees, and the fields were lush green and often full of bright flowers that added a splash of colour to the scenery.
In the different towns and villages on Sodor, more and more people could be seen walking about the streets in t-shirts and shorts, a clear sign that the weather was getting warmer now that winter was finally over. Many were already thinking of the approaching summer, and no doubt the very busy times that would come during those months when the countless numbers of tourists and holiday makers arrived on the Island of Sodor.
But at that moment, Carrie wasn't thinking of how busy the coming summer would become once all the tourists arrived on the island; she was far more interested in the "here and now" of what the coming day ahead would be like, and which engine that she would be going to work on for today.
Once all the recruits who were present were all gathered together in the yard, none other than the Fat Controller himself stood in front of them all and addressed them.
"I'm very pleased with everything you've all been doing on the railway so far, but as the next few weeks go by, I'll be expecting more from you all. This is the traditional time of year where we begin our preparations for the coming summer season, and so there's gonna be a lot of work to do, either out on the main line or on the various branch lines in the lead-up to the summer time." said the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir!" all the recruits said at the same time. At the same time, Carrie started to feel a little bit nervous about what had just been said by their boss; knowing that the summer season was getting closer and closer by the day, the work was gonna pick up quite a bit, and it would mean that all the trains would be getting longer and heavier, as well as the chances of working either later into the evening or starting off earlier in the morning on some occasions.
"All right everyone, it's time for you to go on the engines you want to work on for today. Let's get to it." said the Fat Controller.
As the recruits began the process of selecting what engine they wanted to work with today, Carrie noticed that a number of other recruits weren't with the group, in particular Alice and Sophie. But then she suddenly remembered that they had been assigned to a late train that was going to be working over to the eastern side of Sodor, most likely to Vicarstown, so they no doubt stayed the night over in the Vicarstown crew building and would be on their way back on one of the morning trains from there.
Very soon though, it was Carrie's turn to pick the engine she wanted to work with for today; she looked around for a few moments, as the available engines looked towards her with some anticipation and wondered if she'd pick them or not.
"I'll go on…Percy, sir." Carrie said, as she pointed to the little green tank engine. And Percy smiled broadly, pleased that Carrie had chosen him for today.
"Thank you, Carrie." Percy said, with some excitement in his voice.
"Very good, and so Simon…which one will it be for you?" asked the Fat Controller, as he glanced at Simon. For a few short moments, Simon looked about from one locomotive to another, trying to make up his mind.
"I'll go on No.90770, sir." Simon said, as he pointed to the WD Austerity 2-10-0 who was sitting on the track beside Percy.
"Very well, Simon. I think that can be arranged." said the Fat Controller.
"And besides, I've never had a chance to work on one of the W.D. Austerity 2-10-0s before, so I want to do that today while I have the chance." Simon said.
"And it should be a busy day out for you today, son. It'll probably be a lot of freight working for today." Simon's father said. He was standing a few feet away from his son, and was looking ahead to the day of work he had ahead of him.
"I know, dad. But I don't mind that." Simon said, as he looked towards his father.
"All right, Simon." his father said, with a slight sigh.
As there was still some time left to go before they could leave the yard and go out to work, both Simon and Carrie went about to help the crews of the engines they would be working with for today to get both Percy and No.90770 ready for the morning's work, and whatever tasks that would be coming their way. Carrie, an oil-can, and some old rags in hand, began work on topping up the oiling points of the motion on Percy's wheels, as Simon did the same on No.90770.
"What sort of work will we be getting today?" Carrie asked Simon.
"Well, I'll probably be working with heavy freight of some form for today, that's a definite certainty…especially as these engines were designed for freight work." Simon said, as he removed a cork from the oil reservoir of one of the coupling rods and slowly poured some oil into it with his oilcan.
"I don't mind what sort of work I'll be assigned to today." Carrie said, as she continued with the job of oiling the motion.
They both found out what their tasks would be very shortly, as the Fat Controller stepped up to them with the inspector following with a clipboard in his hand.
"All right, you two…" the Fat Controller said, as the two teens suddenly turned their attention to him, as did the crews of Percy and No.90770, "…here are you tasks for today." The inspector handed the clipboard to his boss, who then looked through it.
"Okay No.90770…the first task for you and your crew today is to go straight over to Knapford Harbour and collect a large shipment of timber, bricks, and steel girders that arrived last night, and bring them straight to the hotel building site close to Wellsworth Station. Once that's been done, you're to collect a load of trucks in the yards at Wellsworth and bring them to Vicarstown." said the Fat Controller.
"Yes, sir. Very well, sir." said No.90770.
"And you don't mind that sort of work, Simon?"
"No, not at all, sir." Simon said.
Then, the Fat Controller turned his attention to Carrie and Percy.
"Okay, Percy…your job for this morning is to collect some empty trucks in one of the sidings at Tidmouth Station and bring them straight up to Arlesburgh along the Little Western, and then you're to collect the mail vans up there. When you've collected them all, you're to go down along the Little Western to Knapford, and collecting the mail at each station along the line. Once you've collected the mail at Knapford, you're to take all the mail straight to Sodor Airport, while making stops to collect more mail at Crosby, Wellsworth and Maron Stations. You'll be assigned your next jobs once you're down at the airport."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Percy said. He always liked taking the mail train, and today was going to be no different.
Then the Fat Controller turned his attention to Carrie.
"And Carrie, you're gonna have a slight change to your usual routine for today."
"In what way, sir?" Carrie asked.
"Well…when you get to Sodor Airport with Percy later today, you'll transfer over to another engine. Alice will be arriving there on another engine, and so you and her will swap engines after lunch this afternoon. So, you'll be going on the engine Alice worked on this morning, and she'll be going on Percy for the rest of the day." said the Fat Controller.
"Very well, sir. I understand." Carrie said.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Carrie. It'll be a nice change to work on two different engines on different duties today." Simon said, as he did his best to reassure Carrie.
"Thanks, Simon." Carrie said, as she smiled at him.
"Best of luck out there today you two. Anyway, I'd best be off. After all, I've got a lot of other work that I really need to get done today. Cheerio." said the Fat Controller, as he handed back the inspector the clipboard before the two men turned and walked away.
"You know, Carrie…the mail train reminds me of a poem that was written about the mail train from London to Scotland over on the mainland a long time ago." Simon said.
"Really? What is it?" Carrie asked, as she gazed to Simon and wondered what the poem was.
"I'll give you just a few lines of it." Simon said, and, after clearing his throat, these are the lines of the poem that he gave to Carrie.
"This is the Night Mail, crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order,"
"Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop at the corner, and the girl next door,"
"Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb, the gradients against her, but she's on time."
"Past cotton grass and moorland bolder, shovelling white steam over her shoulder,"
"Snorting noisily as she passes, silent miles of wind-bent grasses,"
"Birds turn their heads as she approaches, stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches,"
"Sheepdogs cannot turn her course, they slumber on with paws across,"
"In the farm she passes, no-one wakes, but a jug in a bedroom gently shakes."
"And where was that from, and who wrote it?" asked Carrie, impressed that a poem like that would be written especially about a mail train.
"It was shown in the 1936 film Night Mail, and was written by a man called W. H. Auden especially for that film." Simon said.
"Is that all that's in it?" Carrie asked.
"No, there's a lot more than that. It's just that what I've recited are the verses I remember the best about it. And some of the rest of it is read at a fast pace." Simon said.
"Oh, I see. Could you show it to me later?" Carrie asked.
"Sure, I can do that." Simon said, as he smiled at Carrie.
"Anyway, let's continue getting our respective engines ready." Carrie said, as she turned to continue oiling up around Percy, and Simon did the same around No.90770.
A few short minutes later, just as Carrie and Simon finished doing the different little tasks they needed to do before they could leave, Ralph White stepped up to them.
"Are you two almost ready to go?" Ralph asked, as he stepped up.
"Almost ready to go, dad." Carrie said, as he handed the oilcan and pile of old rags to Percy's fireman.
"Well, I wish you both the best of luck out there today, do your best…and stay safe." Ralph said, as he looked from Carrie and then to Simon.
"Thanks, Ralph. We'll be safe out there. Don't worry." Simon said.
"All right, I'd best be off then. Best of luck." Ralph said, as he turned and headed off to the locomotive he would be driving for today, L.M.S. Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 No.6108 Seaforth Highlander, who was in the later rebuilt condition and painted in a very smart L.M.S. crimson red livery. (34) He had been polished all over, and his smart paintwork on his boiler, cab and tender shone in the morning sunlight. Thin clouds of white steam were wisping out from various pipes and other points around the locomotive, showing he was ready to go and collect his morning train at Knapford Station.
(34): The L.M.S. Royal Scot Class 4-6-0 was designed by Henry Fowler was introduced onto the system of the London Midland and Scottish Railway between October 1927 and February 1930, and it marked the start of the "big engine" policy of the L.M.S., which until that point had followed the previous policy of the Midland Railway, which was a "small engine" policy. That had previously been a disadvantage as it often meant that two small engines had to do the work of hauling one heavy train. Over time, this became an increasingly unacceptable practice, as larger engines were needed to haul heavier and heavier trains over the L.M.S. system.
In 1926, the L.M.S. were given a loan of one of the G.W.R.'s Castle Class 4-6-0 locomotives, No.5000 Launceston Castle, for a series of tests along the West Coast Main Line for one month. The tests concluded that a powerful three-cylinder 4-6-0 design was needed for heavy express work, and so a previous design for a compound Pacific express engine, designed by Sir Henry Fowler, were cancelled. The L.M.S. originally asked the G.W.R. to build them about 50 Castle Class engines, or provide them with copies of the necessary drawings, but Swindon and the G.W.R. didn't provide them with either, so the L.M.S. asked for and received from the Southern Railway a set of drawings for a Lord Nelson Class locomotive.
In total, 70 Royal Scots, numbered from No.6100 Royal Scot to No.6169 The Boy Scout, were built at two sites, the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow – which built 50 engines – and the L.M.S.'s own works at Derby – which built 20 examples. The class were named after British Army Regiments, as well as a few that were given names that had previously been used by the London and North Western Railway (L.N.W.R.), but eventually those engines with former L.N.W.R. names were renamed in 1935 and 1936 after more British Army Regiments, e.g., No.6127 originally had the name Novelty, but was renamed in June 1936 to The Old Contemptibles.
The L.M.S. Royal Scots were three-cylinder locomotives, with two being outside the frames and one in between them, and each cylinder was 18in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke. These cylinders, combined with six driving wheels that were 6ft 9in in diameter, and a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi, gave the Royal Scots a maximum tractive effort of 33,150lbf. The tenders that the class were paired with the engines when they were new carried 5.5 tons of coal and 3,500 gallons of water, though these were replaced with larger tenders that carried about 9 tons of coal and up to 4,000 gallons of water. Both tender types ran on six wheels and were fitted with water scoops so the engines could replenish their water supplies from the water troughs that were found over much of the L.M.S. system.
The numbers and names of the L.M.S. Royal Scot Class were;
No.6100 Royal Scot, No.6101 Royal Scots Grey, No.6102 Black Watch, No.6103 Royal Scots Fusilier, No.6104 Scottish Borderer, No.6105 Cameron Highlander,
No.6106 Gordon Highlander, No.6107 Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, No.6108 Seaforth Highlander, No.6109 Royal Engineer, No.6110 Grenadier Guardsman,
No.6111 Royal Fusilier, No.6112 Sherwood Forester, No.6113 Cameronian, No.6114 Coldstream Guardsman, No,6115 Scots Guardsman, No.6116 Irish Guardsman,
No.6117 Welsh Guardsman, No.6118 Royal Welch Fusilier,No.6119 Lancashire Fusilier, No.6120 Royal Inniskilling Fusilier,
No.6121 H.L.I (later Highland Light Infantry, City of Glasgow Regiment), No.6122 Royal Ulster Rifleman, No.6123 Royal Irish Fusilier,
No.6124 London Scottish Regiment, No.6125 Lancashire Witch (later 3rd Carabinier), No.6126 Sans Pareil (later Royal Army Service Corps),
No.6127 Novelty (later The Old Contemptibles), No.6128 Meteor (later The Lovat Scouts), No.6129 Comet (later The Scottish Horse),
No.6130 Liverpool (later The West Yorkshire Regiment), No.6131 Planet (later The Royal Warwickshire Regiment),
No.6132 Phoenix (later The King's Regiment Liverpool), No.6133 Vulcan (later The Green Howards), No.6134 Atlas (later The Cheshire Regiment),
No.6135 Samson (later The East Lancashire Regiment), No.6136 Goliath (later The Border Regiment),
No.6137 Vesta (later The Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire)), No.6138 Fury (later The London Irish Rifleman),
No.6139 Ajax (later The Welch Regiment), No.6140 Hector (later The King's Royal Rifle Corps), No.6141 Caledonian (later The North Staffordshire Regiment),
No.6142 Lion (later The York and Lancaster Regiment), No.6143 Mail (later The South Staffordshire Regiment), No.6144 Ostrich (later Honourable Artillery Company),
No.6145 Condor (later The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. (West Riding)), No.6146 Jenny Lind (later The Rifle Brigade), No.6147 Courier (later The Northamptonshire Regiment),
No.6148 Velocipede (later The Manchester Regiment), No.6149 Lady of the Lake (later The Middlesex Regiment), No.6150 The Life Guardsman, No.6151 The Royal Horse Guardsman,
No.6152 The King's Dragoon Guardsman, No.6153 The Royal Dragoon, No.6154 The Hussar, No,6155 The Lancer, No.6156 The South Wales Borderer, No.6157 The Royal Artilleryman,
No.6158 The Loyal Regiment, No.6159 The Royal Air Force, No.6160 Queen Victoria's Rifleman, No.6161 The King's Own (later King's Own), No.6162 Queen's Westminster Rifleman,
No.6163 Civil Service Rifleman, No.6164 The Artist's Rifleman, No.6165 The Ranger (12th London Regt.), No.6166 London Rifle Brigade, No.6167 The Hertfordshire Regiment,
No.6168 The Girl Guide, No.6169 The Boy Scout, and No.6170 British Legion.
From late 1931, several forms of smoke deflectors were fitted to the class to try prevent the drifting smoke and exhaust from the chimneys from obstructing the forward vision of the drivers. At first, straight sided deflectors were tried out on the class, but they were eventually replaced with deflectors that had angled tops, and these were fitted on both sides of the smoke boxes.
During their service on the L.M.S., the class proved to be very successful locomotives, often able to haul heavy 420-ton trains without banking assistance up gradients like at Shap and Beattock, and working long distances between Euston Station in London and Carlisle, as well as between Crewe and Perth. Initially, the class did have some problems, most notably their high coal consumption, but once modified piston valves were fitted, it cut the coal consumption from 70 pounds per mile to 35 pounds per mile.
In 1933, the L.M.S. were invited to send a locomotive and train over to the Century of Progress International Exposition that was being held in Chicago in the United States, and so a member of the Royal Scot Class was chosen to be sent over. It's thought to have been No.6152 The King's Dragoon Guardsmen disguised as No.6100 Royal Scot. While in the U.S.A., the engine and its train ran 11,194 miles during its tour, including crossing the Rockies, as well as visiting Canada, and was seen by over 3 million people.
An experimental version of the design was built in 1929 with a very high-pressure boiler, which was pressed to 900psi. It was numbered and named No.6399 Fury, and was a three-cylinder compound built by the North British Locomotive Company. Unfortunately, during a period of trials on No.6399, one of the tubes burst and caused the death of a travelling inspector on the footplate of the engine. As a result of this, the locomotive never entered normal traffic, and it was eventually rebuilt in November 1935 along more conventional lines with three cylinders and a taper boiler. It did suffer from some steaming problems, but once it was fitted with a double chimney, its steaming capability greatly improved. The rebuilt locomotive was renumbered and renamed No.6170 British Legion. The locomotive's appearance served as a blueprint for the later rebuilt Royal Scot design, but it essentially remained a unique one-off design.
In 1942, the original boilers of the class were starting to become life-expired and the older-style smokeboxes were proving very difficult to keep airtight, and so, after the success of two 5XP Jubilee Class 4-6-0's being rebuilt, the whole of the Royal Scot Class were completely rebuilt from 1943 to 1955. It was quite substantial work that needed to be done to them, which included constructing brand new taper boilers, cutting brand new frames - which were slightly shorter than the original frames, new double-blastpipes and chimneys, new front bogies, as well as casting new cylinders, although in most cases, the original frame stretchers, wheels, cabs, and fittings were all retained on the re-built locomotives. Initially the rebuilt class members lacked their smoke deflectors, but these were eventually reinstated. No.6103 Royal Scots Fusilier was the very first example to be rebuilt, which took place in June 1943, and No.6137 The Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire) was the very last one to be rebuilt, which was completed in March 1955.
The rebuilt Royal Scots proved themselves to be very good engines, and extremely capable, with each of them giving sterling service on both the L.M.S. and later on the London Midland Region of British Railways. They were capable of hauling the heaviest trains, though they could be rough-riding machines at times. Their power output per ton was much greater than on any other British 4-6-0 steam design, and they even outclassed the Great Western 60XX King Class 4-6-0s.
Towards the end of their working lives, the Royal Scots ventured on the metals of the ex-Great Central Railway, often working between London Marylebone and Nottingham, Derby, and Sheffield, until they were withdrawn from service between 1962, starting with No.46152 The King's Dragoon Guardsmen, and 1966, with the final example withdrawn being No.46115 Scots Guardsmen.
Thankfully though, two examples of the Royal Scot Class have managed to survive into preservation, No.6100 Royal Scot, and No.6115 Scots Guardsman, with both engines being in their rebuilt forms.
No.6100 Royal Scot; originally built as No.6152 The Kings Dragoon Guardsman in June 1930 at Derby Works, she swapped identities with No.6100 and went over on the tour in North America in 1933. She was rebuilt in June 1950 before being withdrawn from service October 1962. She was initially preserved by Billy Butlin and put on static display at his holiday camp in Skegness being painted in L.M.S. crimson lake livery. She left Skegness in 1971 and was returned to steam in 1972 and worked until 1978, but was eventually sold by Butlins to Bressingham Steam Museum in 1989. In 2009, it was decided to restore the engine to full working order, and she was overhauled to main line standards which was completed in 2015. After performing the necessary tests, she entered main line service in February 2016. In December 2024, Royal Scot was taken out of service and is on static display at the One Collection in Margate, with no timeline set for its next overhaul to commence.
No.6115 Scots Guardsman; built at the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow in October 1927, she's famous as one of the engines that appeared in the classic 1936 film Night Mail. She was rebuilt in August 1947, and was the very first member of the Royal Scot Class to be equipped with the distinctive curved smoke deflectors. She was also the very last member of the class to be withdrawn from service, having been removed in January 1966, and it was preserved at the Dinting Railway Centre in 1969 before being moved to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. However, due to the locomotive's weight, it was unable to travel over much of the K.&.W.V.R., and so was moved away in the mid-1970's in order to work on the main line.
For much of her preservation career, Scots Guardsman has done extensive work both on different heritage railways around the U.K. as well as having seen extensively use out on the main line, including special tours on the Settle and Carlisle line. One of the most important events that she took participated in in more recent years was taking part in the Olympic Torch Relay for the London Olympics in 2012 in place of L.N.E.R. A3 Class No.4472 Flying Scotsman.
With a short, but deep, blast from the whistle, Ralph slowly opened the regulator and, as the reversing gear was set all the way to full reverse, No.6108 Seaforth Highlander slowly reversed along the line, and then out of the depot towards the junction that would bring them to Knapford Station. As Seaforth Highlander left, both Carrie and Simon watched for a few moments as clouds of white, billowing condensed steam shot out from the cylinder drain cocks and heard the sharp blasts of the exhaust at the chimney. In a few short moments, Seaforth Highlander had left the yard and was on his way to Knapford, and so Carrie and Simon went on with preparing Percy and No.90770 for their day of work.
A few short minutes later, with all their preparations done, they were ready to be off on their way. Carrie climbed onto Percy's footplate and waited for them to set off, as Simon did the same on the footplate of the larger W.D. Austerity Class 2-10-0.
"Are we all ready to go?" Percy asked, as he bubbled in anticipation.
"Yes, Percy. We're all ready to go." his driver said, as he readied himself to go. The fireman was ready too; the pressure on the main boiler pressure gauge was up, and the fire was burning nicely in the firebox. At the right-hand side of the footplate, Carrie leaned out and waited for the off.
Then the driver blew the whistle and opened the regulator a little; with a wheesh of steam, Percy moved forwards and out of the yard. As they set off, Carrie turned and called over to Simon, standing on the footplate of No.90770.
"See you later on, Simon!" Carrie called to him, as they moved off.
"Okay Carrie, I'll see you later!" Simon called, as he waved to her before Carrie pulled herself back into the cab. For the next several moments, Simon watched Percy get further and further away from him, until he left the yard and disappeared from sight.
"Carrie will be all right, Simon. She's with a good crew and an equally good engine." the driver said to Simon.
"I know, sir. I know she will." Simon said, as he turned to the driver.
"Anyway, let's get ourselves going. After all, we've got another busy day full of hard work ahead of us." the driver said, as he reached for the whistle chain and gave it a quick pull, sending out a short sharp blast from the whistle.
"And off we go then!" said No.90770, as the driver opened the regulator. With a wheesh of steam from the cylinder drain pipes, the big W.D. Austerity 2-10-0 moved off the shed.
(Insert soundtrack – Percy Season 2 Theme)
Percy was rolling along the line and getting close to Tidmouth Station, where he would collect the trucks before delivering them to Arlesburgh. As they rolled smoothly along the main line, Carrie, standing behind Percy's driver, looked out from the right-hand side of the cab and looked ahead; the line they were travelling on, as well as the line beside them that went back to Knapford Station, was clear of any other trains, and the signals they had passed so far had shown "all clear" as they went by them.
Having gone over the impressive steel girder bridge that crossed over the wide estuary that ran north of the very busy, yards at Knapford a few short minutes before, they were now in the countryside and making good time to Tidmouth Station.
Then, they heard the sound of a whistle from somewhere ahead of them, and Carrie looked ahead to see which engine that would be coming in the opposite direction. They saw it soon enough; coming round the bend ahead, with white-grey exhaust being blasted out sharply at the chimney, was L.N.E.R. Gresley V4 Class 2-6-2 No.3408 Chieftain, who was on his way down the line to Knapford with the morning train from further north. He had eight very smartly turned out maroon red coaches following smoothly along behind him, each of which was full of passengers, who were either on their way to work, or on their way to catch another connection to another part of the island at Knapford Station.
Approaching Percy travelling in the opposite direction, who gave a short whistle in greeting, as well as a cheerful "Good Morning!" as he got closer, No.3408 Chieftain also whistled in reply and called out "Morning Percy!" before he went on by with his full coaches following along behind.
It wasn't long before Percy arrived at Tidmouth Station, and went into the siding to collect his empty trucks; not including the brake van, there were eight of them. The shunter coupled Percy to the first truck, and the driver made his inspections of the other coupling and such along the train before they could leave. On Percy's footplate, the fireman made sure that the fire was in good order and there would be plenty of steam before they could leave, as Carrie went and placed a headlamp onto one of the lamp-irons on Percy's forward buffer-beam. Having read through many of the railway books her father had collected over the years at home, Carrie now knew very well which head-code was required for which type of train, and for a short train of empty mineral wagons, like they were coupled up to now, she placed the headlamp onto the right-hand lamp-iron on Percy's forward buffer-beam.
"And there we are…all in place." Carrie said.
"I think you've done a very good job so far, Carrie." said Percy, as he smiled down at Carrie.
"Do you really think so, Percy?" Carrie asked, as she looked up at the little green engine.
"Of course. We all talk about how all the new recruits did at the end of each day, and all the engines who've worked with you so far all say that you're doing a great job…just like all the other recruits are." Percy said, as he reassured Carrie that he was telling her the truth.
"Thank you, Percy." Carrie said, as she smiled at him.
"Hey come on, Carrie! It's almost time for us to leave!" the driver called from the cab.
"Coming!" Carrie called, as she ran to the cab and climbed aboard.
A minute later, having been given the all-clear to depart, the driver sounded the whistle and opened the regulator. Slowly, Percy moved out from the siding and out onto the main line, with the trucks following along smoothly behind him.
"Would you like a go at the shovel, Carrie?" the fireman asked.
"Sure would." Carrie said, as she took hold of the shovel and set to work at firing.
Percy rolled through Tidmouth Station, where Oliver was standing at one of the platforms with his coaches, with Toad the brake van coupled at the back, and picking up passengers. Giving Oliver a cheerful toot on his whistle, Percy passed through the station and onwards to the junction where he would be diverted onto the Little Western.
(Insert soundtrack – Percy Season 1 Theme)
Once on the Little Western, Percy picked up speed and made his way along the line, passing the familiar sights and stations along the way. During the journey along the route, Carrie did take her turn with the stoking the boiler when the shovel was handed to her, and, despite the limited space within the cab, she was able to keep the boiler stoked with enough coal to keep the fire burning brightly, and thus to make enough steam.
Soon they came upon Tidmouth Hault Station, where Duck could be seen sitting at the platform on the down line with his coaches. His passengers were clambering aboard, and he was waiting for the guard to blow his whistle so that he could set off again. The signal for the up-line was set to danger, and so Percy had to stop.
"Morning, Duck. Everything okay this morning?" Percy asked, as he came to a stop.
"Morning, Percy. Everything's going fine for me this morning. I'm taking my passengers from Arlesburgh down to Knapford. I'm pleased to say that nothing bad has happened yet." Duck said.
"And the passengers seem to be pleased too." added Percy, as he heard the sounds of the passengers on the platform. They all sounded pleased with how the morning was going, and they were all boarding Duck's train without any incident.
"And I hope to get them all down to Knapford without any problems." Duck added.
Then a moment or two later, there came the sound of the guard blowing his whistle loudly, as he also waved his green flag. At the same time, the signal dropped, showing the way on Duck's line was clear.
"Oh, I'd best be off, Percy. I'll see you later on!" Duck called, as his whistle blew and he set off down the line.
"See you later, Duck!" Percy called, as he watched Duck leave the station with his passenger train.
"Okay!" Duck called, as he went on his way. Then, as the sounds of Duck's passenger train faded away, the signal dropped and the way was clear for Percy to continue on his way north along the line. With a short toot of his whistle, he was on his way again.
At one point as they rolled along, Carrie finished another go at stoking the boiler and went over to the left-hand side of the cab and looked out. They were travelling along a wide and raised embankment, with two tracks on it, and off to the left of them, not too far away, was the coastline and they were going nicely. Feeling herself smile, Carrie knew they were getting nearer and nearer to Arlesburgh, and should be getting there very soon.
They soon arrived at Arlesburgh station, and they parked the empty trucks into one of the empty sidings. With that done, they went over to the turntable and were turned round, ready for the return trip south with the mail train.
As they were being turned on the turntable, Carrie noticed a line of eight bright red mail trucks sitting at the platform at Arlesburgh, and they were being loaded up with sacks of mail, as well as lots of parcels and a few larger items too. The men loading up the vans were taking great care to place everything carefully down when they moved them, as well as to make sure they packed in everything as tightly as they could to ensure nothing would move during the journey.
"And that's what we have to take down to the airport, Carrie. And we have to stop and pick up more of it at all the stations between here and the airport." said the driver, as he looked towards the mail vans too.
"That's a long way to go, and it'll take a while for us to get down there." Carrie said, as it suddenly dawned on her the distance they would have to cover to get to the airport and the stations they would need to stop at before then.
"Don't worry, Carrie. We'll get to the airport before lunchtime, and the plane taking the mail over to Ireland isn't due to leave until this evening. So, there's plenty of time for us to get all the mail over to the airport." the fireman said.
"Okay then." Carrie said, somewhat relieved.
"But first, before we can leave here, we need to top-up Percy's coal bunker as well as his water tank." the driver said.
"Okay, let's get to it then." Carrie said, as the turntable came to a stop and they slowly rolled off of it.
In only two minutes, they began to make their preparations for the long trip from Arlesburgh to the airport with the mail train; a step ladder was placed beside Percy's bunker, and the fireman, with help from one of the yard workmen, set to work at topping up Percy's bunker by taking bags of coal, bringing them up the stepladder and emptying the bags into the bunker. In the meantime, Carrie began the task of taking an oil-can, and going round the motion and topping up the different oiling points, so that they ran properly when they set off on their way again. The driver also took the opportunity to refill the water-tank with water from the standpipe they had come to a stop beside.
As they worked, they heard the sounds of another two locomotives coming into the yard. Looking up from her oiling up tasks, Carrie saw the two engines come to a stop on two side by side lines close to where Percy was sitting. The two engines, both 4-6-0's and painted in lined B.R. Brunswick Green, were No.6800 Arlington Grange and No.6856 Stowe Grange, both of whom were members of the G.W.R. 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0 (35) and built for mixed-traffic work. They were both polished to a high shine, and their crews clambered off their footplates and set to work examining them before they went out for their next jobs.
(35): The G.W.R. 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0 was one of the most popular mixed-traffic classes ever to run on the Great Western Network. Built at Swindon Works between August 1936 and May 1939, 80 examples of the class were built in total and they were numbered from No.6800 to No.6879. The class was basically a smaller wheeled version of the highly successful 49XX Hall Class 4-6-0s, with 5ft 8in driving wheels as opposed to the Hall driving wheel diameter of 6ft, and many of the class incorporated various reconditioned parts, including the driving wheels, from withdrawn 43XX Class 2-6-0 Moguls.
One of George Jackson's Churchward's plans for freight and mixed traffic on the G.W.R., when he was the railway's C.M.E., was to introduce a new design for a 4-6-0 locomotive with 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels and a Standard No.1 boiler that could be used for mixed-traffic work. However, Churchward's design wasn't progressed with, and so the design was put aside for the future. However, due to the 43XX Class 2-6-0s struggling with the duties expected of them in the 1930's, Charles Collett revisited Churchward's original design. He modified the design so the cab and controls were to the current style.
Between 1936 and 1939, 100 examples of the G.W.R. Churchward 43XX Class 2-6-0 Moguls were withdrawn from service and replaced with the newer 68XX 4-6-0 Class, later known as the Granges, with each engine costing an average of £5,000. It had been hoped to replace the entire 43XX Class in this way with larger numbers of Grange 4-6-0s, as well as the new 78XX Manor Class 4-6-0s, however the intervention of the Second World War in September 1939 permanently halted this programme. Due to that, the next batch of 20 Granges that was scheduled to be built, from No.6880 to No.6899, was cancelled. Had the war not taken place when it did, it's very likely that there would've been 150 more Granges built, in addition to the 80 examples that had already been built, and the batch of 20 that had been cancelled.
As the Grange Class were intended to replace the older 43XX Class Moguls, they incorporated certain parts from the withdrawn 2-6-0s, including the 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels and motion. New cylinders were cast that were of a different design that that of the older 2-6-0s, with the separation between the cylinders and valves increased by 2.5 inches. This new design allowed the Granges to use the same motion as the 43XXs, but have the cylinders to be level with the driving axles. As the Granges were slightly lower in height than the 49XX Hall Class, they had the running plate raised above the cylinders. The class were originally paired with tenders that ran on six wheels and carried 3,500 gallons of water, but after the war some examples of the class were paired to larger tenders that carried up to 4,000 gallons of water. The two tender types were fitted with water scoops to allow the engines to replenish their water supplies from water troughs when they were on the move.
With their two outside cylinders, which were 18.5in in diameter with a 30in piston stroke, their six driving wheels that were 5ft 8in in diameter, as well as a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 225psi, the Grange Class had a maximum tractive effort 28,875lbf. This allowed the class the ability to do their mixed traffic roles with ease, whether they were hauling fast passenger trains from Paddington Station westwards to holiday resorts or working on slower loose-coupled freights, and it also gave them the ability to attack steep gradients with heavy loads, such as the South Devon Banks.
The names and numbers of the G.W.R.'s Grange Class were;
No.6800 Arlington Grange, No.6801 Aylburton Grange, No.6802 Bampton Grange, No.6803 Bucklebury Grange, No.6804 Brockington Grange, No.6805 Broughton Grange,
No.6806 Blackwell Grange, No.6807 Birchwood Grange, No.6808 Beenham Grange, No.6809 Burghclere Grange, No.6810 Blakemere Grange, No.6811 Cranbourne Grange,
No.6812 Chesford Grange, No.6813 Eastbury Grange, No.6814 Enborne Grange, No.6815 Frilford Grange, No.6816 Frankton Grange, No.6817 Gwenddwr Grange,
No.6818 Hardwick Grange, No.6819 Highnam Grange, No.6820 Kingstone Grange, No.6821 Leaton Grange, No.6822 Manton Grange, No.6823 Oakley Grange,
No.6824 Ashley Grange, No.6825 Llanvair Grange, No.6826 Nannerth Grange, No.6827 Llanfrechfa Grange, No.6828 Trellech Grange, No.6829 Burmington Grange,
No.6830 Buckenhill Grange, No.6831 Bearley Grange, No.6832 Brockton Grange, No.6833 Calcot Grange, No.6834 Dummer Grange, No.6835 Eastham Grange,
No.6836 Estevarney Grange, No.6837 Forthampton Grange, No.6838 Goodmoor Grange, No.6839 Hewell Grange, No.6840 Hazeley Grange, No.6841 Marlas Grange,
No.6842 Nunhold Grange, No.6843 Poulton Grange, No.6844 Penhydd Grange, No.6845 Paviland Grange, No.6846 Ruckley Grange, No.6847 Tidmarsh Grange,
No.6848 Toddington Grange, No.6849 Walton Grange, No.6850 Cleeve Grange, No.6851 Hurst Grange, No.6852 Headbourne Grange, No.6853 Morehampton Grange,
No.6854 Roundhill Grange, No.6855 Saigton Grange, No.6856 Stowe Grange, No.6857 Tudor Grange, No.6858 Woolston Grange, No.6859 Yiewsley Grange,
No.6860 Aberporth Grange, No.6861 Crynant Grange, No.6862 Derwent Grange, No.6863 Dolhywel Grange, No.6864 Dymock Grange, No.6865 Hopton Grange,
No.6866 Morfa Grange, No.6867 Peterston Grange, No.6868 Penrhos Grange, No.6869 Resolven Grange, No.6870 Bodicote Grange, No.6871 Bourton Grange,
No.6872 Crawley Grange, No.6873 Caradoc Grange, No.6874 Haughton Grange, No.6875 Hindford Grange, No.6876 Kingsland Grange, No.6877 Llanfair Grange,
No.6878 Longford Grange, and No.6879 Overton Grange,
In service, the Granges proved to be very popular locomotives with G.W.R. footplate crews, and, as they were mixed-traffic machines, they could be found working all over the Great Western network where weight restrictions would allow, from Paddington in London, Penzance in Cornwall, Fishguard in Wales, and Birkenhead near Liverpool, with Newton Abbot having a good allocation of the class. When hauling heavy trains, their power was appreciated, especially as their driving wheels were smaller in diameter than the Halls, and they could often be found working on all types of traffic, especially when taking heavy trains of perishables from Cornwall, including fruit and broccoli, as well as meat, milk, and fish trains, as well as special excursion trains such as rugby specials.
However, due to their heavy weight and high axle-loading of over 18 tons, the Grange Class were forbidden from running on some of the G.W.R.'s branch-lines and cross-country routes that had previously been run by the 43XX Class 2-6-0s, such as along the Cambrian Main Line, and so the lighter 78XX Manor Class 4-6-0s were introduced specially to undertake passenger and freight duties on such lines.
When they were hauling special excursion trains, including seaside trains and heavily laden summer specials all the way down to Cornwall in the height of the summertime, they could often be seen piloting engines hauling up to 12 fully-laden coaches, weighing up to 500 tons, through Devon along the South Devon Banks, stretches of line going up and down hills that taxed many engines to their limits. They were also seen pulling football specials at times, particularly in the Midlands. During B.R. days, the class were given the power classification of 5MT by the management of the B.R. Western Region.
The Granges were also known to relieve larger or even pilot the larger express engines, such as the Kings and Castles, that were hauling the Cornish Rivera Express, which was the Great Western's most prestigious express passenger train, up the South Devon banks. In fact, the class were always known as "The Engineman's Engine" because of how reliable and versatile they were in service.
The Granges were used widely on fitted freight trains across the B.R.'s Western Region being allocated to such sheds like Shrewsbury, Oxley, Oxford, Pontypool Road, St. Phillips Marsh and Southall. They were also used on cross country passenger trains and relief train during many summers, becoming the true mixed traffic engines that they were designed to be.
The entire class was withdrawn from service on B.R.'s Western Region between November 1960, when the first example, No.6801 Aylburton Grange, was withdrawn, and December 1965, when the final four examples still running at that time, No.6847 Tidmarsh Grange, No.6848 Toddington Grange, No.6849 Walton Grange, and No.6872 Crawley Grange, were retired. During their careers, seven Granges covered over a million miles, including No.6800 Arlington Grange, No.6808 Beenham Grange, No.6809 Burghclere Grange, No.6817 Gwenddwr Grange, No.6824 Ashley Grange, No.6825 Llanvair Grange, and No.6825 Nannerth Grange.
Sadly, no examples of this popular G.W.R. class have managed to survive into preservation, with none going to the famous Woodham's Yard in Barry, or any railway societies, like those at Tyseley or Didcot, going ahead and saving an example. One example of the class was a candidate for possible preservation; No.6853 Morehampton Grange was considered for preservation by Tyseley particularly as it was still in excellent condition at the time, having been the final member of the Grange Class to have received a significant overhaul at Swindon. But unfortunately, although it had been set aside at Tyseley, the limited funds available meant that G.W.R. Castle Class 4-6-0 No.7029 Clun Castle ended up being chosen by the society for preservation instead.
However, in order to fill this particular important gap in the ranks of preserved locomotives, there is currently a project underway to build a brand new example of a G.W.R. 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0, which is going to be in the form of No.6880 Betton Grange. This engine is the first one in the batch of 20 new Granges that would've been built at Swindon Works had the Second World War not intervened. This engine will be the 81st member of the G.W.R. 68XX Grange Class.
Based at the Llangollen Railway in Wales, with some work having been carried out at Tyseley Works, the project has made good progress since it all began back in 1998, with brand new frames for the engine having been cut and assembled from new, and the boiler being acquired from No.7927 Willington Hall, and a spare tender frame acquired from No.4936 Kinlet Hall, and a cab being cut from new. A spare set of 5ft 8in driving wheels from G.W.R. 43XX 2-6-0 No.7325 has been acquired and re-tyred, and a front bogie gotten from No.5952 Cogan Hall, as well as two brand new cylinders having been cast for the new Grange, with the necessary patterns for them having had to be made from scratch.
As of early 2024, No.6880 Betton Grange is nearing completion at the Llangollen Railway, with the boiler already having been lifted onto the frames, and final work on the engine well underway. And so it shouldn't be too long before we can finally see a G.W.R. 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0 at work again, which should take place sometime within the first half of 2024.
On the afternoon of April 12th 2024, after more than 25 years of hard work, No.6880 Betton Grange finally rolled under her own power for the first time along a length of track at the Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham, England, becoming the very first member of the G.W.R.'s 68XX Grange Class to be seen in steam since the last one was removed from service back in 1965. Since then, No.6880 Betton Grange has run on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, the North Norfolk Railway, and the Battlefield Line, and recently arrived on the Great Central Railway on which she'll run for the first time.
"Good Morning, you two." Percy said, as he looked over to the two Granges being readied.
"Good morning, Percy." said Arlington Grange, as his driver began the job of oiling round his motion.
"Good morning there, Percy. And what job have you got to do next this morning?" asked Stowe Grange, as his fireman went and climbed up into his tender to move coal from the back down to the front.
"I'm taking the mail from here down to the airport. And I have to stop at most of the stations between here and the airport to collect more mail along the way. So, the train I have is going to be quite heavy today." Percy said.
"I wish that I was taking the mail today. It would be so much better than taking the trucks full of stone and coal down to the yards at Knapford." said Stowe Grange, in a slightly annoyed way.
"You're on freight duties again today?" Percy asked curiously.
"Yes…it's just one of those times, Percy." Stowe Grange said.
"And I've been assigned to take the milk train this morning, and I'll be stopping to collect the tankers and vans with containers full of milk at all the different lineside farms that I come across between here and Vicarstown." said Arlington Grange.
"And to help me with the mail train this morning, I've got Carrie White helping me out." Percy said, as Carrie stepped out from behind him with an oil-can and some old rags in her hands.
"Hello there you two." Carrie said, with a smile. She was quite familiar with both Arlington Grange and Stowe Grange, as she had helped to ready them on a few occasions during the mornings she had worked in the depot, and she had also worked on the footplate of Stowe Grange fairly recently too, on a passenger train the previous week when they travelled from Knapford Station down to Brendam Docks.
"Oh, hello there Carrie!" the two Granges said together, when they saw Carrie.
"Are you looking forward to working on the mail train today?" Arlington Grange asked.
"Yes, I am. I've never worked on the mail train before, so I'm looking forward to it." Carrie said.
"Hey, come on Carrie! It's time for us to leave!" the driver called from the footplate.
"Coming!" Carrie called, as she turned and ran back to the cab and clambered aboard.
After Carrie got aboard, she went over to the side of the cab where she could lean out and speak to the two Granges.
"Sorry, you two. But duty calls." she said, as she spoke to the two larger engines.
"I understand, Carrie. Best of luck out there today." Stowe Grange said.
"Help get the mail to the airport on time!" Arlington Grange said, as Percy's driver blew the whistle and opened the regulator a little.
"See you later, you two!" Percy called, as he slowly made his way out of the siding and depot, and then onto the main line before reversing back to the station to collect his train.
After slowly buffering up to the leading mail van, Percy was coupled up to it and the brake pipes were connected up. From the footplate, Carrie looked up to the clock fitted to the station wall; the time was 9:54am, and the train was due to leave the station at exactly 10:00am. Then, Carrie turned and looked back along the length of the train; the station staff and mail workers were loading the last packages and sacks full of letters and parcels from the large trolleys onto the six bright red mail vans. She heard the sounds of the doors being shut and secured, and saw an inspector going along the train and checking the doors before he made his way up to the footplate.
"Well driver, all doors are checked and secured. You're all ready to go." the inspector said.
"All right, we'll just wait for the guard to give the all-clear, and for the signal to drop and then we'll be on our way." the driver said.
"Okay, then." the inspector said, and he turned and went off back down the platform.
The last minutes ticked by, and then the guard, leaning out from his brake van at the back of the train, blew his whistle and waved his green flag. At the same time, the points were changed and the signal dropped showing the line ahead was clear.
"Right away!" Carrie called.
"Okay!" the driver said, as he pulled on the whistle chain and then opened the regulator. Slowly, Percy took up the load of the six vans and rolled gently out of the station, and down the line. The fireman shovelled some fresh coal into the firebox, as Carrie looked out from her side of the cab and watched the train pull out from the station.
"And they're all clear of the platform!" she called out to the driver.
"Okay, now let's get this show on the road!" the driver said.
(Insert soundtrack – Post Train Theme Season 3)
The mail train rolled smoothly down the line, with Percy making good time as they headed along down the coast towards the Fishing Village. Carrie leaned out from the right-hand side of the cab, as it was the closest to the sea, and took in the sight of the calm open sea and white sandy beaches as they passed by. At times, Carrie thought she could see people walking about on the beaches, and knew that she could see the boats out on the sea, either smaller fishing boats, or even the much larger ships far out towards the horizon.
The morning was so calm and so peaceful, that she felt it was a shame to have to go and work today; it looked to be a fine time to go out walking along the wide-open beach with her friends and watch the world go by her as they strolled along.
It wasn't too long before they rounded the bend and came upon the Fishing Village. Passing by, Carrie looked out onto the quayside and saw a line of vans, about 10 of them altogether, sitting on the long siding on the quayside and being loaded up with boxes of fish brought in on the fishing boats earlier. Then as they went by, the vans blocked out Carrie's view out to sea, so she turned her head and looked forward. She could see a large engine coupled to the head of the train; as they went by, she could see it was No.1005 County of Devon, with his driver oiling up the motion on the left-hand side.
"Hello there!" Percy called, as they went on by, to which County of Devon called out "Good morning, Percy!" as the little green engine went on by with the post train, round the curve and down the line towards Tidmouth Hault.
They soon arrived at Tidmouth Hault Station after going through the tunnel cut through the cliffs, and came to a stop at the same platform they had seen Duck at a little while earlier on. Once they were stopped, the doors on the mail vans were opened up and the station staff began loading up the sacks of mail waiting on the platform into the vans.
As they waiting for this load of mail to be loaded onto the train and the all-clear given, Carrie checked the main steam pressure gauge to see if the steam pressure was okay, which it was. Then she double-checked the water gauge glass to see if the water level was at the correct level in the boiler, which it was. Looking over to the other platform, she couldn't see any passengers standing on the platform and waiting for the next train, only a few members of station staff who were doing various things, such as sweeping the platform, placing hanging flower baskets onto hooks on the walls, and keeping the station maintained ready for when the next batch of passengers arrived to catch the next train.
Meanwhile, the station staff were busy loading the mail aboard the vans, whether they were sacks filled with letters, small packages and postcards, or much larger packages that could contain anything. The sacks and packages were being tightly packed into the vans, so that they wouldn't move during the trip, yet they had to take care not to damage anything while they were loading the vans up.
It didn't take too long before the mail that had been waiting on the platform had been loaded into the vans; once the van doors were tightly closed, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. With the signal having dropped, they were on their way down the line again, with Percy having a heavier load to haul behind him, but he managed it without too much difficulty.
Now they were back on their way, and heading south parallel to the coastline, Carrie too the chance to do some more stoking of the boiler as they rolled smoothly along the line, with Percy slightly swaying from side to side a little at times as they went round bends. Yet despite that, Carrie had no trouble keeping on her feet as they went along.
(Later on)
After stopping at Tidmouth Station and collecting more mail waiting at the platform there, Percy made his way down the last stretch of line towards Knapford Station where more mail was to be collected. The lines were now getting busier, as there were now more trains going by him, including Henry going by on his way north with a long and heavy freight train behind him, James heading over towards Knapford Harbour with a line of empty trucks to collect cargo, L.M.S. Streamlined Princess Coronation No.6237 City of Bristol went by with one of the long-distance morning expresses to Vicarstown, and L.N.E.R. A4 Class No.4486 Merlin who was heading back towards Knapford with a morning express from Vicarstown.
Observing the heavy traffic that was going by them on the different lines beside them, or on the bridges going over them, and seeing how long some of the various trains were, as well as hearing all the whistles and how loud and deep-toned some of them were, Carrie was feeling a little intimidated at what she was seeing, and hoped they could get through this traffic.
"How do you manage getting through all this without anything happening to you?" she asked the driver.
"I know it's a bit intimidating, Carrie. But if you've been working on the railway for as long as I have been, you do get used to it, and you do manage to get through traffic like this safely." the driver said, reassuringly.
"All right, I'll go along with your experience then." Carrie said, still somewhat unsure, as she leaned out from the left-hand side of Percy's cab.
Soon, much to Carrie's relief, they soon arrived at Platform 1 at Knapford Station, where Percy slowly rolled up to the end of the platform before coming to a halt. Looking back along the platform from the cab, Carrie was a bit surprised just to see how many sacks of mail there were sitting on the platform and waiting to be loaded onto the train.
"That's a lot of mail. Will it all fit into the vans we have behind us?" Carrie asked the driver and fireman, with some concern in her voice.
"Don't worry, Carrie. It will. That's why we've got eight vans coupled behind us. There should be more than enough space in them to take all that mail." the fireman said.
"All right then…if you're sure about it." Carrie said, as she turned to look back along the length of the train.
The men opened the doors on the vans further back along the train, and set to work at loading up the sacks of mail and packages into them. As they did so, Edward pulled into the station at Platform 2 with a line of six older cream and dark green coaches behind him. Giving a short whistle, he came to a stop beside Percy.
"Hello Percy, how are you doing this morning?" Edward asked.
"I'm doing fine, Edward. I'm just taking the mail down to the airport this morning, and Carrie is going to be with me for the morning before she has to swap over at the airport later on today." Percy said.
"And is she doing so far?" Edward asked.
"Oh, I'm doing all right so far, Edward." Carrie said, as she stepped out from in front of Percy.
"Oh, good morning, Carrie." Edward said, as he smiled down at Carrie.
"And morning back, Edward. I'll be swapping over at the airport this morning with Alice on the engine she'll be on for the morning, so for the rest of the day Alice will be with Percy and I'll be on the engine she was on." Carrie said.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck with how it goes today, Carrie." said Edward.
"Thank you, Edward." Carrie said, with a smile.
Then, there came the sounds of another whistle from somewhere a little further down the line. Carrie, Edward, and Percy looked and saw another locomotive, which was a 4-4-0 just like Edward, slowly reversing into Platform 3. The engine was painted in Southern Railway green livery with black and white lining, with the cab-sides numbers and "SOUTHERN" on the tender painted in bright yellow, and was polished to a very high shine, so all the brass shone brightly.
As this locomotive slowly reversed very gently back onto its waiting train of eight coaches, Carrie could see the engine's name on a curved nameplate over the forward wheel splasher. It was No.927 Clifton, who was a member of the Southern Railways Schools Class 4-4-0 (36).
Carrie had actually worked with Clifton earlier on that week, when on Monday morning she had been assigned to work with him and she had helped take a passenger train of 10 coaches full of passengers from Knapford Station all the way down the Brendam Docks so the passengers could catch the ferry going to Dublin. That trip had gone very smoothly, with stops being made along the way at Cronk and Wellsworth Stations, although there had been some instances of the driving wheels slipping when they had to leave the stations. Carrie had done her bit of helping to stoke the firebox with coal all the way along the line for the trip, and had even been given a chance to try her hand at driving for a bit, but with the driver supervising her closely as she did so.
When they had finally arrived at Brendam Docks after their uneventful run, Carrie was still at the controls and keeping the train moving at a steady speed. When the driver took over for the last part of the run into the Docks over to the ferry terminal, Carrie had ever reason to feel very pleased with herself for having gotten the train to its destination safely.
(36): The S.R. V Class, which was also better known as the Schools Class, was designed by Richard Maunsell and was a smaller, cutdown version of the larger Lord Nelson express passenger 4-6-0 class, but also incorporated components from the King Arthur Class. The Class was built in order to provide a powerful class of intermediate express passenger locomotives on certain lines which could cope with high axles-loads, but had short turntables which couldn't take larger locomotives on them. The class could also be used on lines that had more restrictive loading gauges, particularly along the heavily restricted Tonbridge to Hastings Line.
The Schools Class was the very last steam locomotive design with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement to be built in the U.K. and it was fitted with three cylinders that were 16.5 inches in diameter with a 26 inch stroke. Paired with a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 220psi, and four driving wheels that were 6ft 7in in diameter, it gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 25,130lbf, which made the Schools Class the most powerful class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives ever to be built in Britain. In fact, it was also the most powerful class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive ever to be built anywhere in Europe. The tenders that the class were paired with ran on six wheels and carried 5 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water. No water scoops were fitted as there were no water troughs anywhere on the Southern.
With other and older classes that ran along the Southern system, including the Drummond D15 and L12 4-4-0 classes, approaching the end of their useful lives on the system, and Maunsell's original plan to use a 2-6-4T tank engine design shelved, it was decided to use a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement as it offered the advantage of having a short wheelbase for the restricted routes the new class would be expected to travel on, as well as allowing them to be able to use the small turntables on those routes.
Built at the Southern Railway's Eastleigh Works between March 1930 and April 1935, 40 examples of the class were built in total, and they were numbered from No.900 to No.939. They were named after English Public Schools, as some were located right by the Southern Railway network. When possible, the S.R. sent a newly constructed locomotive to a station that was the nearest to the school that it was named after, where it was named in an official ceremony and the students given a chance to view the cab of "their" engine. However, the size of the class meant that public schools from further afield, and thus well away from the Southern Railway network, were used for the class, such as Rugby.
The numbers and names of the S.R. Schools Class were:
No.900 Eaton, No.901 Winchester, No.902 Wellington, No.903 Charterhouse, No.904 Lancing, No.905 Tonbridge, No.906 Sherborne, No.907 Dulwich,
No.908 Westminster, No.909 St Pauls, No.910 Merchant Taylors, No.911 Dover, No.912 Downside, No.913 Christ's Hospital, No.914 Eastbourne,
No.915 Brighton, No.916 Whitgift, No.917 Ardingly, No.918 Hurstpierpoint, No.919 Harrow, No.920 Rugby, No.921 Shrewsbury, No.922 Marlborough,
No.923 Bradfield, No.924 Haileybury, No.925 Cheltenham, No.926 Repton, No.927 Clifton, No.928 Stowe, No.929 Malvern, No.930 Radley, No.931 King's Wimbledon,
No.932 Blundell's, No.933 Kings Canterbury, No.934 St Lawrence, No.935 Sevenoaks, No.936 Cranleigh, No.937 Epsom, No.938 St Olaves, and No.939 Leatherhead.
Some modifications to the class were made during their working lives; the first ten locomotives were built without smoke deflectors, but these were added in August 1931, and the other class members were fitted with smoke deflectors from new. After the successful installation of Lemaitre multi-jet blastpipes on the Lord Nelson Class, Maunsell's successor, Oliver Bulleid, began fitting them to the Schools Class. However, no major improvement to the draughting was noticed, and so only 20 examples were ever fitted with them at all, with the most obvious difference in their appearance being a slightly larger diameter chimney.
One of the most unusual modifications that was made to any member of the Schools Class was done to No.935 Sevenoaks, when in March 1938 she was fitted with a rather interesting streamlined casing made of plywood that covered the locomotive and tender in order to try and give it a more modern streamlined appearance, based on the publicised streamlining that the L.N.E.R. was doing with Gresley's A4 Class, and the L.M.S. was doing with Stanier's Princess Coronation Class. No.935 was briefly renumbered as No.999 and was given the name Southern as well. This streamlining was eventually removed in April 1938 and the engine returned to its previous identity.
The class were first used on routes from Dover on the South Eastern Main Line and Eastbourne for London expresses, and were later used on the services from Ramsgate and from Hastings. As more of the class became available, they were also used on expresses that ran from Portsmouth and Bournemouth. The class were used with great success on the lines out of Hastings, although their high axle-loading of 21 tons meant that the permanent way on the Hastings line had to be heavily upgraded in order to accept the new class of locomotives. Three examples were allocated to Brighton, where they worked on cross-country duties to Cardiff and Plymouth, and as far as Salisbury.
The class were very highly regarded by their crews as one of the finest ever built by the Southern Railway, and for its size, the School's Class could turn in some very spectacular performances, including very high-speed running. In 1938, No.928 Stowe achieved the fastest run ever recorded for the class, when it reached a top speed of 95mph near to Wool Railway Station while hauling a train of four coaches from Dorchester to Wareham.
However, the class were also very prone to slipping when starting off, a major drawback to having such high power on a locomotive with relatively low weight, so the engines required very skilful handling from their footplate crews to ensure that slipping was kept to a minimum when they started off. All in all, the class proved to be very successful engines, but if the class had been fitted with much larger tenders with greater water capacity or had if water troughs been available on the network, they could have found much greater success over a much wider area.
During the Second World War, one example of the class, No.931, was fitted with protective armour plating around the cab in order to give the crew some protection from German air attacks which were a frequent danger in the early years of the war. However, the crews complained of the heat this armour kept in, as well as the claustrophobia, and so the armour was later removed. Some engines actually received war damage during German air raids, including when No.934 suffered serious damage when she was hit by a bomb on Cannon Street Bridge on the 11th May 1942, but she was eventually repaired and re-entered service.
Upon nationalisation of Britain's railways in January 1948, the class were given the power classification of 5P by British Railways, becoming the only class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive to be so awarded. After being renumbered from No.30900 to No.30939 and being repainted into Brunswick green livery by British railways, the class continued with their service on the Southern Region of B.R. – with two examples, No.30902 Wellington and No.30921 Shrewsbury, being briefly fitted with larger tenders from the Lord Nelson Class for use on longer runs in the Western Section of the Southern Region. They were also used on cross-country routes from Brighton to Cardiff and Exeter, as well as on boat trains down to Newhaven, and they also took very heavy summer specials to the coastal seaside resorts. The class remained intact until the first withdrawals began in January 1961, when diesel-electric multiple units began to take over much of their work.
The very first member of the class to be withdrawn from regular service was No.30932 Blundell's, which was removed from service in January 1961. The other class members all followed along at various intervals over the next two years, with the final 18 members of the class all being withdrawn en-masse from service on the Southern Region by the end of December 1962. There had been hopes to save the first member of the class, No.900 Eton, but the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful.
Thankfully though, three examples of the class have managed to survive into preservation. These engines include;
No.925 (B.R. No.30925) Cheltenham; built in May 1934 at Eastleigh Works, she was withdrawn in December 1962 after travelling 1,127,788 miles, which was one of the highest mileages ever covered by any member of the class. She's the oldest surviving member of the class and is part of the National Collection at York's National Railway Museum. It has travelled extensively on the main line and on various heritage railways. It's currently operational at the Mid Hants Railway, but its boiler certificate will expire soon, after which it will be withdrawn for a complete overhaul.
No.926 (B.R. No.30926) Repton; built in June 1934 at Eastleigh Works, she was withdrawn from service in December 1962 and, after being stored at Fratton Shed near Portsmouth, was overhauled at Eastleigh Works in 1966 before being donated to Steamtown U.S.A. in Vermont in the United States in 1967. She was shipped over from Liverpool to Montreal, and then made her way down to Vermont. Steamtown donated No.926 to the Cape Breton Steam Railway in Canada, where it ran quite regularly on the line from Glace Bay to Port Morien in Nova Scotia for a number of years, being fitted with a headlamp, cowcatcher and bell so she could run on Canadian rails, before returning to the U.S.A. in 1979. In 1989, No.926 was sold and returned home to the U.K., where it ended up at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, who overhauled it and returned it to full working order by 1990. She recently returned to service on the N.Y.M.R. after a lengthy overhaul. She's still paired with the unique high-sided tender that she had when she was in North America.
No.928 (B.R. No.30928) Stowe; built in June 1934 at Eastleigh Works, she was withdrawn from service in November 1962 and was stored at Stewart's Lane depot in London before being bought in May 1963. Moved down to the Bluebell Railway in 1980, she was returned to full working order on the railway in 1981. Stowe worked on the Bluebell for 10 years before being withdrawn in 1991 when she was in need of a full overhaul. As of 2023, Stowe is currently undergoing an overhaul at the Bluebell Railway to get it returned to working order again, with the Bluebell undertaking the heaviest boiler repairs ever undertaken on any engine they have as part of their fleet. Stowe is also the only survivor of the class to have never worked on the main line in preservation.
The tenders from two more members of the class have also managed to survive into preservation; these tenders once ran behind No.929 Malvern and No.934 St Laurence, with Malvern's tender now being used with S15 Class 4-6-0 No.830, and St Laurence's tender being used with U Class 2-6-0 No.1638 at the Bluebell Railway. Both tenders were once used as snow ploughs for a time after they were withdrawn from service with the engines who had used them.
"Good morning, Clifton." Edward said cheerfully, as the S.R. School's 4-4-0 came to a stop at the head of his train.
"And good morning back, Edward. And good morning to you, Percy…and to you as well, Carrie." Clifton said, as he smiled to Edward, Percy, and Carrie.
"What's your job for this morning, Clifton?" Percy asked.
"Well, it's just taking passengers from here down to Brendam Docks, and picking up more passengers at other stations between here and there. It all reminds me of the good old days of taking boat trains full of passengers from London Waterloo down to ports along the Channel coast." Clifton said, as he reminisced of the good old days.
"And are the passengers catching a boat to somewhere?" Carrie asked.
"Yes, they're taking the ferry over to Ireland later today." Clifton said.
"Well, please them a good ride down to the Docks." Carrie said.
"Thank you, Carrie." Clifton said.
A few minutes later, with his train loaded with the passengers who had been on the platform and the line ahead clear for Clifton to go, it was time for him to depart. With a short, but loud, blast on his whistle, and a loud whooshing of steam, Clifton set off on his first trip of the day.
"I'll see you all later!" Clifton said, as he slowly moved forwards out of the station, with his coaches following along behind him.
"Good luck today, Clifton!" Percy and Edward said, as they watched Clifton and his train leave. From where she was standing, Carrie simply smiled and waved as the train moved out and away down the line.
"Come on, Carrie! It's almost time for us to leave the station!" Percy said, as he blew his whistle a little.
"Okay, coming!" Carrie said, as she ran to Percy's cab and clambered aboard.
"Best of luck today, Percy. And get the mail to the airport on time." Edward said.
"I will, Edward." Percy said.
Two minutes later, having been given the "Right Away" from the guard, and with the line ahead clear, they were on their way again.
"Let's get going!" Percy said with determination, as his wheels dug into the rails. Slowly, the mail train moved out of station, and out onto the main line. Leaning out from the right-hand side of the cab as they headed out and steadily picked up more speed, Carrie felt herself smile somewhat. Now, they were on their way on the last half of their journey to deliver all the mail on train to the airport. So far, everything had gone very well on the trip and Carrie was hoping they would be able to get through the rest of the journey, while picking up some more mail at Crosby, Wellsworth and Maron Stations, and get their deliveries to the airport without having any incidents on the way there.
"Now we're on the main line…we can build up a bit more speed!" the driver said, as he opened the regulator a little more and then adjusted the reversing gear, allowing Percy to run a little bit faster as he went out along the main line.
"Let's get to the next station then!" Carrie said, with a big smile crossing her face.
(Insert soundtrack – Percy Season 5 Theme)
They made their way down the main line at a fair speed, passing through Henry's Tunnel and onwards down the line without any incidents occurring. As they went along, Carrie took another go with the shovel at stoking the shovel, placing fresh coal into the fire. Due to the small size of Percy's cab, it was a little difficult at times to swing the shovel round from the bunker and to place the coal into the firebox without bumping the shovel into things as she did so. But despite that, she did her best to get some fresh coal into the firebox to keep the fire burning brightly so as to make enough steam.
After stopping and collecting some more mail at Crosby Station, they made their way down the line towards Wellsworth Station. The eight mail vans were now almost full, and it wasn't very likely that very much more mail be taken aboard them, but there was enough space on them to take a little more mail before they reached the airport. Percy was having no trouble pulling these heavily laden vans; after all, he had pulled heavier loads than this many times before in the past.
However, on the footplate and leaning out from the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie was getting a little nervous as she looked ahead down the line. She knew that after Wellsworth Station was the steep gradient of Gordon's Hill, and that this train would need to get over it safely before they could reach Maron Station, and then the junction that led down the lines to the airport station.
They soon approached Wellsworth Station, passing by the busy banker sidings as they went. Looking ahead, Carrie could see two bankers reversing on the middle line back towards the sidings, having just banked another heavy train up Gordon's Hill. Putting on the brakes, the driver brought Percy to a slow and gentle stop at the platform, where a number of sacks full of mail sat waiting to be loaded onto the train.
As soon as they came to a stop, the station staff opened the doors to the rear mail vans and they began to load the sacks of mail onto the train. As the station staff went about this work, Percy's driver blew the special signal on the whistle, which indicated he wanted a banker to help him up Gordon's Hill. With a reply from the banker sidings close by, one of the engines on standby there moved out of the sidings and made its way over to the station. The engine was L.M.S. Fowler 2-6-4T No.2419, painted in L.M.S. maroon red livery, which looked very smart in the bright sunshine, and who was one of Percy's friends.
"Hello, Percy. Need some help up the hill?" No.2419 asked, as he gently buffered up to the rear of the brake van.
"Hello, No.2419. Yes, I think I'll need some help getting this heavy load up the hill." Percy said, as he heard No.2419 buffer up to the back of the train.
"It won't be long now…before we're over the top of the hill and then to Maron to collect the last load of mail. And then it'll be on to the airport to deliver it." the driver said.
"Good…after all time is getting on. It's half eleven now." Carrie said, as she pulled aside her sleeve and looked at her watch.
"Don't worry, Carrie. We'll make it to the depot near the airport in time for lunch." the fireman said, as he went to work building up the fire so there'd be enough steam for the climb up Gordon's Hill.
Soon, with the mail loaded, the doors closed, and the guard having given the right away, it was time for them to leave the station. After sounding their whistles, the drivers on both Percy and No.2419 opened their regulators at the same time and, with dense clouds of white steam and a lot of loud puffing and wheezing, both tank engines moved the heavy mail train out of the station, and under the bridge at the end of the station, and then on down the line towards Gordon's Hill.
"Let's get going! Let's get going!" Percy said, as he puffed on ahead towards the hill.
"I'm coming along! I'm coming along!" No.2419 called from the back, as he pushed the train with all his might.
They soon went under the bridge at the base of the hill, and around the bend onto the long straight stretch that went up the hill. It was here that Percy really felt the weight of the train pull behind him, and he was glad to have a banker help him and the heavy train up the hill.
Looking out the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie looked forwards directly up the hill as they made their ascent. From the back, she could clearly hear the very loud and sharp blasts from No.2419's chimney as he pushed very hard to get the back of the train rolling up the hill.
"We can make it! We can make it!" chuffed No.2419, as he pushed hard from the back.
Looking up towards the summit of the climb, Carrie then heard the sounds of another train coming towards them on one of the other lines. Then she heard the sounds of a whistle and loud chuffing, and then saw the smoke and steam puffing into the sky coming over the summit of the hill. Then, she saw the locomotive and its train coming over the top of the hill and come down on the other line back towards Wellsworth; the engine was L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A2 Class 4-6-2 No.60535 Hornets Beauty, who always liked to be called Beauty, and she was at the head of a special luxury train of 14 very smartly turned-out Pullman coaches, which were painted in chocolate and cream livery.
"Hello Percy!" Beauty called with a whistle, as she went on by.
"Hello, Beauty!" Percy called, as he puffed on up the hill.
Looking over at Beauty's train as it went on by, Carrie could see people sitting by the windows in the coaches and gazing out as they enjoyed their meals and drinks at their smartly laid tables, which were covered with smart white tablecloths.
Not too long after the last coach of Beauty's train went by them, Percy finally reached the top of the hill and, giving a blast on his whistle, he pulled forwards and took up the load of the train as No.2419 slowly eased off at the back, while blowing his whistle to indicate he was dropping off from the brake van. As the brake van reached the top of the climb, No.2419 eased off and slowed down as the mail train pulled away along the straight stretch of line before descending down to Maron Station. After going a little way past the signal box at the top of the climb, No.2419 stopped and, after the signalman set the points, he reversed over the points and made his way back down the hill to Wellsworth to await his next turn of duty.
(With Percy)
(Insert soundtrack – Percy Season 1 Theme)
After stopping and collecting the last batch of mail they had to collect at Maron Station, Percy departed from Maron and made his way down the line towards the junction that would take them down to the airport. He was feeling very pleased that all the mail had been collected, and that it would be soon be safely at the airport and placed on a flight which would be on its way from Sodor over to wherever it needed to be delivered.
As Percy went along the line towards the junction, Carrie, having finished with another go on the shovel, began to wonder which type of engine Alice would be on, and whether of not it would be a big one. She was finding the cab of Percy a bit of a tight space to be with three people on it, and was hoping to go on an engine with a larger and more roomy footplate.
"Junction's ahead!" the driver called, as he blew Percy's whistle and closed the regulator a little, before applying the brakes to slow the train down. Looking out ahead, Carrie could see that they were approaching the junction, with the lines to the right going directly to the airport.
"We're almost there! Will we have enough water to make it?" Carrie asked the fireman.
"Don't worry, Carrie. We should have enough to get there. Not far to go now." said the fireman, as he checked the water gauge glass, and then the main boiler pressure gauge.
They went by the signal box and then over the points, and down towards Sodor International Airport. It wasn't too long before the twin tracks widened out to quadruple tracks, and not too long after that, after passing under the very wide red brick road bridge, the enormous station came into view ahead, as the four lines widened out to 15 lines going to the platforms within the enormous station.
From the signal box at the north side of the station, the signalman set the points and set Percy towards Platform 14, which was the very long platform that was the closest to the airport terminal. Looking out as they came along side and slowed down, Carrie could see there were plenty of men and women, all dressed in their smart uniforms, all waiting with special electrically powered movers with trailers to unload the mail from the vans and bring it to the terminal before loading it onto the aircraft.
As soon as Percy came to a gently stop, the station staff opened the doors of the eight mail vans and began unloading the sacks of mail and heavy packages from the train and then loading it onto the motorised trolleys and trailers. Once the motorised trolleys and trailers were fully loaded, and the mail sacks secured down, they went on their way to take the mail to the airport terminal.
"And that's it…we've made it...home and dry." the driver said, as he wiped down his forehead with some relief.
"And the mail will soon be on its way to wherever it needs to go." Percy said, also pleased that the mail had been delivered to the airport safely.
"And good job on getting us and the mail here safely, Percy." Carrie said, with a smile. And Percy smiled too, happy that Carrie was pleased the job had been completed.
"Okay, Percy…" said his driver, "…let's get over to the depot and rest before our next jobs."
"All right then." Percy said.
A shunter had already uncoupled Percy from the train and, as soon as he gave them the "all clear" to go, the driver opened the regulator and they moved forwards, leaving the mail vans behind.
"And who will move the mail vans when they're empty?" Carrie asked, as they set off.
"Another one of the engines that works here at the airport station will take them away to the sidings a little later, Carrie. So they won't clog up the lines there once they're unloaded." the driver said.
"Okay then." Carrie said, somewhat reassured, as they left the station and made their way to the nearby steam depot.
And that's the end of this chapter everyone! And it also marks another major feat in the progress of this story! This chapter takes my Carrie / Thomas fanfic to well over 200,000 words.