Of stops and starts

30th April 2023

That's enough to give you a nasty shock over your breakfast. - isn't it? Another photographic tour of PR with the 03 this week.

The early part of this week did not go to plan. That plan had been that I would meet Adam and Ian at the Colne Valley Railway at about 10.00 to unload the 08 loco we had uplifted from Shackerstone on Friday. To get to Castle Hedingham I need to get to Cambridge and head M11 south, which broadly means taking the A14 east to Cambridge. To get to the A14 though I have a choice of routes - the most northerly is virtually due east to Newark and down the A1, the mid route is Nottingham and then the A52 to Grantham and the most southerly down the M1 and swing left on to the A14 at that massive complex where the M6 breaks away from the M1. Occasionally there is also the cross country through Oakham and past Rutland Water, but broadly speaking the longer the cross country part, the slower overall so it often boils down to Newark or the M1/A14 and on Monday, by toss of a metaphorical coin, I opted for the familiar route to Newark (oft travelled when collecting or returning grandson). Adam and Ian though were routed south on the M1 and on to the A14.

Unfortunately, a smash at that junction ended up with an artic hanging off the side of an elevated section, and the M1 southbound was closed with Adam, Ian and 08 stuck therein. For 3 hours they had to wait, and although he wasn't going anywhere, it counts as driving time so when finally he did get to move he was required to take a 45 minute break almost immediately. So not needing to rush I got to Castle Hedingham at about 10.15 and had a pleasant time talking with the 08's new owners and seeing the arrival of a minibus full of young men there to discuss a Bollywood filming contract. At 2pm Adam and Ian finally arrived and we rushed to get the loco off - needless to say the upward slope of the loading ramp at the CVR and the stiffness of the 08 meant that it almost had to be pulled off the trailer. Four hours behind schedule therefore, Adam and Ian set off for the East Kent Railway where we had planned to pick up another loco that afternoon, although I had bowed out of that one as I had a stack of work to do back home. Alas Adam's efforts were in vain, as the only permitted access road to the EKR was closed for resurfacing and he couldn't get on to site until first thing Tuesday morning. I met them late afternoon back at Shackerstone and again the 08, being somewhat devoid of parts and exceedingly stiff, had almost to be dragged off the trailer.

For some time the automatic steering on the trailer has been causing trouble and this has deteriorated such that we decided to stop it until repairs could be effected. I assumed the offending part would be the same as that on T2 so stripped that one, cleaned it and took it along to Shackerstone, but on Wednesday Adam phoned me to say not only was it different, the original wouldn't come off anyway. An on-site conference ensued and it was agreed that he would instead get his 4-axle trailer (let us call it T3) ready to deputise by putting rails on and borrowing the winch from T1. I went down again on Thursday to view progress, returning via Derby and collecting another bottle of acetylene for Andrew.

Friday I was out on a service job which brings us back to the weekend once again. I said last week that the 03 would have a day in traffic and to keep an eye on the Peak Rail website, but it was only Thursday that the website changed from D8 being out on Saturday to D2128, though it did come out earlier on Facebook. Thus Saturday morning it was down to Rowsley. We had left the locos with 873 leading, then RS8, D2128 and finally Tom, but we needed the 03 over a pit to check axlebox lubrication. For that matter we would need 873 over a pit to do its service properly so set about bringing both locos back down to the shed and up on to the pit road. The previously rostered D8 crew, Mick A and Ray E, were instead to be my pilotman and secondman (my driving ticket having lapsed after a certain Mrs Statham decreed that 'Peak Rail will never use your locos ever again...') which in theory meant that if the 03 were to fail, they could pop back and recover us with D8, though in practice whether it had sufficient fuel to do so was another matter.

Anyway Andrew largely left me to it: the leakage drum had overflowed (note to self, don't leave it a fortnight) so that went back in the tank and the side rods and axleboxes topped up, oils and coolant checked. Then it was time to change from overalls to 'train driver's outfit' and get the loco running. Andrew had swapped the front coupling for another one that wasn't seized and left me an emergency coupler just in case. It was about quarter to eleven when we were off shed and by the time we were coupled and vac tested it was too late to grab a cup of tea.

Within a couple of minutes we had the right-away from the guard and it was time to be off. The track at the end of the platform is always a bit greasy so I just get the train rolling before accelerating (it is after all 5mph in the platform and 10 within the station environs), but then it's power on and get the speed up. Ray and Mick take it turns for the other chair but there's plenty of space in the cab. Over the hump and its downhill to Church Lane, slow down a bit to give the Bobby time to do the gates and pull off the board, easy past the box so Ray can pass him the token and then anyway its 10mph along the extended loop and in to Darley Dale platform.

I must confess that I don't get much practice at the vac brake, least of all with a non-lapping valve. You want to stop just before the starter but finding a point at which the train brakes start to retard (bearing in mind that (a) there is a time lag and (b) the 03 does not, at the moment, have a vac/air valve so unless you can operate both brake handles independently you're relying on the coaches) requires some practice and my first effort leaves a bit to be desired. Never mind, after a few minutes the gates open, the board comes off and the Guard gives us the green.

Again I take it easy over the crossing (where Ray collects the token) and the turnout where the lines single, it's a 10mph limit. Watching us go by, Andrew pauses on parts recovery on the 422 Fowler while Matt H is securing floorboards to the second German flat. But it's power on then for the climb to Redhouse, the exhaust noise echoing off the bridge.

Over the summit and if I go back to idle the side rods start clanking and in theory I could find the converter temperature rising, so I keep a little power on enough to maintain speed down the bank to the river bridge where the line swings left into Matlock. For now the signals here are X'd out of use and all permissions come from a yellow flag held out of the box window. As we approach I'm slowing down anyway but without the flag I must stop before the first Home. Finally there's nothing for it but to make a rather abrupt stop and as the coach brakes apply rather hard the flag appears from the window! Aagh! Brake valve back to release, rev the engine to accelerate the exhauster and after a few seconds we start to move again as the coach brakes let go. It's steady past the box, then on to the NR section and power on for the climb up to Matlock paltform 2. There are people on the platform so keep an eye out whilst gently bringing the train to a stand with the loco around about the footbridge - it's just 4 carriages (about 130tons) so no need to play roulette with the buffer stop.

After ten minutes the guard gives us the right away over the radio and the 03 propels the train gently back down the hill and through to the river bridge. The turnout reverses, the yellow flag comes out again and we draw forward into Riverside. I said it was 30 years since the 03 was last in Matlock and since then I've found several different pictures suggesting that this was a momentous event, on the 16th October 1993. Today we dump the vac, uncouple and with more yellow flag waving, run round and re-attach to the Rowsley end of the train.

After a few minutes it's another right-away from the guard and we head off for Darley Dale. The timetable allows 15 minutes for this, which would be about 10mph, and the 03 has no difficulty with only 4 coaches. The converter temperature maybe peaks at 75 deg C but given that we're running cab first and the fan/coolers are facing the coach end this is nothing. At Darley Dale the southbound platform is occupied by the steam loco and brake van on a pay-and-play and we roll past them and in to the far end of the platform to pass time.

Back at Rowsley I am button-holed by Tom D. As the dining rake is occupying the loading dock road, he's been told to get 3 wagons out of the Matlock-end headshunt and he can only do this by using E1 and shadowing us during the run round. Only E1 was blocked in by our leaving 873 over the pit and we'd innocently assumed that it wouldn't be needed. Anyway, this is accomplished and I order a bacon sandwich and an overdue tea. Only when the sandwich arrives the bacon has mysteriously turned into sausages.

The second run is much like the first, though without the unscheduled stop at the river bridge. On our return to Darley Dale the southbound line is empty and the message comes through that the Dining train is delayed. It eventually arrives, sans headboard, and we get on our way back to Rowsley.

As we pass over Church Lane a wedding party are posed, using the gates and train as a background to a group photo. The picnic area by the pub is full and wave as we pass. On my first return I was mildly admonished by the guard because I had stopped with the last carriage just a few feet in from the platform ramp, which I thought was about right, so second time I made sure to be another 30 feet or so farther on. I glance across and see that E1 has put 873 back on the road it was on  first thing that morning. The final run of the day is sans Mick who wasn't feeling too well. Stuart Graves has been turning up in all sorts of places during the day filming as he put it - to fill up space on his next dvd - and has kindly sent some stills that enhance this edition. Ray takes the throttle for the last leg back from Darley Dale and if I hadn't been aware that he was taught to drive by BR I would have guessed. But the 03 has completed its day and after dropping off at Rowsley the only thing to do it dispose of it. My plan had been to return it to the siding in front of 873, but two of those wagons are there and there's no room, so back we go to the shed and the pit road, where E1 lives. I shut everything down but as Mark is over by the dining set I go over and check and discover that E1 is needed to get the steamer out at 06.30 Sunday morning. Tempting though it might be to offer to get it out with the 03 or 873 I keep my mouth closed and instead he comes back with me and we swap E1 and the 03 around.

Sunday, and after a rather late start we're both back at Darley Dale. I had decided during the week to re-write the sub-program for the Hudswell that controls the gearbox and clutch from scratch so loaded this and incorporated a few other changes that I had made notes about. After lunch the loco was towed outside and I fired it up but I began to wonder why I had bothered. At one point I found I couldn't get the clutch out, the parking brake first wouldn't release, then wouldn't re-apply, then when I located the error and fixed it so that the clutch would come out, it started going in-out-in-out-in-out of its own accord. The culprit is the 'standstill' function, which is so sensitive that as the clutch comes in the momentary twitch of the gears is interpretted as motion. In the previous version I had put a small timer in to prevent this but in my 'new improved' had not thought it neccessary, apparently it was. Even then I replace all the 'Stand' conditions with the new, timed 'Movin' alternative I get one wrong and miss another so more frustration until eventually the loco is going up and down and the system is operating like it should. There's probably a few more tweaks to come up with but it's nearly there. Andrew has been back on the Fowler and I join him for a while but by 5.45 it's time to think about packing up and getting things ready for a Monday which includes servicing 873 (if we can get it back over a pit!).

So that's about it for the week. Come back next time when I promise not to come up with some obscure angle about the coronation. See ya then