Of recording the floods

10th November 2019

Apparently Boris was in Matlock yesterday helping to sweep the floodwater debris out of Specsavers. Would he have if an election wasn't looming?

Yes it has been an eventful week in this part of England and sadly for the wrong reasons. So let's head back to the beginning. I didn't rush up to Tunstead on Monday as there seemed little point in getting started on anything when we were due to adjourn to Tunstead House to be interviewed by Discover Buxton at nine-thirty. By the time I arrived Andy had just finished pumping out the pit (it'll be full again now) and after a few minutes we headed across and met up with Netta and Michael to record pieces for the forthcoming Podcast.

After an hour or so we were joined by Roy G and later further recordings were made with him outside.

Michael had more chats with me and Andy up in the cab, although Netta didn't feel up to scrambling up. By the time all this had been completed we figuered we might as well take an early lunch and get down to some work after.

During the week I had an answer from Derek B about the brake control. You may recall that originally the brake shaft had a counterbalance weight which I assumed was meant to offset the tendency of the brake controls to fall to release when you let go. I had passed a question through to Derek if he could throw any light on where it ought to locate. To my surprise the answer came back that it was supposed to function like a car foot brake: take your foot off and the car brakes release. Now that's OK on a car - you still have your hands free to reach all the controls, but on RS8 you need your hands to operate the clutch and direction and if one hand is required to hold on to the brake - especially if you're at the opposite end of the cab - it's going to get decidely awkward. Besides, every loco I have ever driven has an air brake control that will stop in an applied position - somewhere. Hunslets were about the worst, like RS8 the brake valve was a cam-operated FD1 and the control will stay put in full-apply but nudge it and it will jump straight back to release, but on just about every other make of loco the brake lever stays wherever you put it.

Andy wasn't satisfied with this explanation, indeed, I had a sneaky suspicion the counterbalance wasn't an original bit, and he spent some time poring over the movement and forces involved and came up with a position for the counterbalance which had eluded me but seems to hold the linkage where you put it. Time will tell.

It was though time to dump the plain water and refill with 50/50 anti-freeze mix, but when I extracted the plug from the bottom of the radiator it proceeded to empty over the front engine mount and I decided a better means of draining was required before it was refilled. The plug was 3/8 BSP so a barrel nipple and valve is lined up to replace it. Andy had cleaned up the retaining bolts for the battery box and I had brought up the wing nuts, but the slot in the catch is only just narrower than ordinary M6 washers so I was left to find some bigger washers to make it work effectively.

There wasn't a great deal else - I compiled a list of things to bring next week for outstanding issues but it had begun to have that end-of-term feel.

On Tuesday a driver from Lomas at Buxton came down to view the shed access and my trailer and was joined by Roy G: it was all about them moving RS8 at Tunstead and back to us but whether they are now doing the job is unclear. The rest of the week has seen little to do with the collection, but on Thursday rain began to fall and although I was a little bit south and had a dry day, a large bank of cloud could be seen not far to the north and in Darley Dale it didn't stop all day. On Thursday night I went to visit a friend in Sheffield and practiced driving through floodwater in several places, but Friday morning at seven a.m. a phone call came through to the effect that someone on Facebook had reported floodwater 'almost up to Darley Dale level crossing' so I got up and was down on Station Road by eight-fifteen

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I showed you pictures of the crossroads known as Four Lane Ends under water, but this was far, far worse. It was indeed only 30-40 yards away from the crossing (but the track level is fortunately a foot or two higher) and a car about the size of a Clio could be seen up to its windows in fast-moving water.

An hour or so later an Air Sea Rescue helicopter circled and landed over by Redhouse, then took off and landed again for some time before finally heading away. Apparently this had been called in to recover the body of a Rowsley woman: the news reports said she had been swept down from Rowsley but local gossip was that she had been in the car we could see and got swept away when trying to escape from it in the darkness. Down at Matlock, the town centre was flooded and a photo I've been sent of the Derwent that morning (below) shows it above the bottom of the girders of Bridge 35 and level with the top of the wall by the A6.

Subsequently pictures have appeared on Facebook showing the crossbracing between the cast iron columns of the bridge pushed down and aside, and whether the column foundations have been affected will have to wait for the levels to fall sufficiently.

A view up the valley that morning gave the impression of a series of reservoirs, and a picture on the BBC News website, presumably from a drone just north of Bridge 35, shows at least half-a-mile of Peak Rail track underwater. Warney Brook, at the south end of Darley Dale yard, is normally a placid trickle, but was in full flow, deep and moving fast.

Although our shed escaped any real flooding, it would appear our south end slot drain was overwhelmed as we have about an inch of water again in the Track B pit - a return of the ornamental pond. On Saturday I had to zip up to Sheffield to collect some bits, but in the afternoon I was back at the shed with Andrew and although the water had subsided, Four Lane Ends was still closed. Today I was back again, with Andrew, Jagger, Luke and newby Thomas. The last three disappeared out to work on Jack. Andrew was doing some welding including re-doing that hinged box for RS8 and adding a handle to it. I was plodding on with a commercial job and conscious that it needed to be finished and I had other things waiting. After they'd departed, I loaded up for Tunstead tomorrow. The plans for the 'big reveal' on RS8 are all set for the 30th but after that we must consider another invitation event for others who have been involved, perhaps at Darley.

And on that note I'll leave you for this week. Further flooding aside, I should be here again next week, same time, same URL. See ya then.