Of weather or not 

23rd July 2023

English can be a funny language. No, not funny, anachronistic. I found myself reflecting on idioms this week (no, not idiots, idioms, but I sometimes reflect on idiots too).. If I think you're driving too fast, I can tell you to Slow Down! or Slow up! - It is accepted as the same, and therefore effectively interchangeable. But the converse doesn't work. You're driving too slow; I can recommend that you Speed up! but telling you to Speed down! just doesn't seem to work.

So we had had a few worries with the winch on 'T3' last week during loading - Andrew had attributed it to a strained suction hose. When HFS had swapped the winch set-up from my T1 to their T3 they put Lister, tank and battery on a subframe but spaced them such that the suction hose had to do a 90 degree on a less-than-preferable radius and was under strain the whole time. Andrew suspected that the hose was damaged internally and blocking the flow to the pump. So on Monday, amongst other calls, I picked up some 1" bore fabric-reinforced hose, and a couple of ends and clips. After finishing some other work on Tuesday I actually got as far as Matlock with the intention of driving down to the trailer and changing the offending hose before it struck me that we would be meeting up on Wednesday and might as well do it then.

Adam had said half-ten on Wednesday so I was a little taken aback when at nine-forty he rang to ask which loco we were collecting. It transpired he had set off at eight-thirty from his Ilkeston depot and it was a much shorter journey than from his old yard. I was already on my way so pointed him to where the loco was sat. By the time I arrived he and Ian had already got the ramp part built and were concentrating on packing it up level but I left them to it, hopped up on the trailer neck and proceeded to detach the old hose and renew it.

The loco we were collecting is one that has featured in these pages before when we uplifted it from Sheffield - A Thomas Hill 'Noddy' Vanguard and one of those converted from a Sentinel 100hp steam loco. Some at HNRC's had a soft spot for it (I have, said one fitter, it's called Romney Marsh) but it had ended up on a headshunt that had been disconnected from the main yard and the loco put on the sales list. Loading it was straightforward and there were no incidents with the winch, but at 25tons it was hardly a significant test. Adam and Ian headed back to Ilkeston, aiming to be on the road at 08.00 Thursday.

Wednesday evening Andrew was talking to Mark Sealey and was asked whether the 03 could be in traffic on Saturday as the rostered 47 was out of action with a leaky brake valve that wouldn't be ready in time. Andrew checked with me and I agreed, so out went the news that it would be a little green diesel instead of a big green one. I really needed to get my driver's paperwork back up to date (I had of course been certified a decade ago but that had been lapsed after our not quite seeing eye-to-eye with a certain MD). I had all this in a folder as passed to me by Gordon Bennet but thus far it hadn't got on my priority list, in fact it hadn't really got as far as my list waiting to get on the priority list. But I was going to be out Thursday and most of Friday...

I set off at 07.30 Thursday as I am further north starting than Adam and our planned ETA was about noon. On that basis I should have overtaken him somewhere well down the M1 but it didn't work out that way. The M1 stretch past Leicester is always a problem at peak times and the overheads were warning of 20 minute delays. The queue began just after Junction 22 (many had turned off to take the A50 down to the A46 and come back on at 21A, but this only gummed up the J22 exit slip and didn't help at all) and a mile or so further on I saw the low loader sat in lane 1. The problem with Leciester is that at 21A the A46 funnels 2 lanes into the M1's 3 but only making 4, then you've got those leaving or rejoining at the services, followed immediately by two lanes trying to turn off at the next junction either to go into Leicester or onto the M69. If going south on the M1, it pays to get into one of the outer lanes, which was where I was when I saw the loco. Over the next half hour or so we made slow progress, but finally when I reached the A46 I was aware that Adam was at least a half-mile behind, and although I was moving at about 8mph, there were 4 lines of traffic on my left that was standing still. I carried on but knew I needn't rush too much, and got to Tunbridge Wells at about 1pm, good time for a tea and a natter with the Spa Valley crew. Adam meanwhile, having got through that and other congestions, was obliged to stop for a break as even sitting in a traffic jam counts as driving. Thus he finally arrived at about 3pm, though being a Noddy he was able to come straight in under the bridge instead of the Cook's Tour round the houses.

Within a hot sweaty hour we had him unloaded, backed out and at ten past four he was on his way to the East Kent. After a few minutes I followed, but by now the Noddy had been fuelled and was going up and down for 'driver familiarity'.

Originally our timetable had been to have departed by half-one, and arrive EKR at 3.30, and Mathew P had agreed to push the loco up to us about 4pm. I had hurriedly exchanged messages and he predicted we wouldn't now get there until half-six. He was spot on, and worse still I had encountered more delays on the M25/M20 so Adam arrived just before me, thus the gate wasn't yet open. By 7pm the ramp was in place and the loco was pushed up from the station at about 7.15. A minor delay followed when we found that the rear lifeguards were still in situ and full length (the fronts had been pruned) but we got them off with Big Mak and the loco was winched on, again with no issues from the winch.

So at about 8pm we were all set to turn round, but a VW 4x4 was straddling the usual turn-round area (a houseowner told us it had been there a month and was it anything to do with the railway?) and so we had to use another side turn a bit farther on, but by eight-thirty Adam had left for Clacket Lane services, I had gated up the loading area and was on my way back to Darley Dale, reached just before 1 am Friday. A round trip incidentally of 510 miles.

Friday and not a spectacularly early start but I was off to Manchester to pick some material up, back for a late lunch and then a meeting with prospective customers over a transport plan. Andrew had popped in to Rowsley on Thursday evening and done some checks on the 03, but it was late afternoon before I had time to start going through the Peak Rail paperwork.

If Thursday had been a hot and humid day, Saturday was wet and windy. We both went up to Rowsley and did the usual checks on the 03, topping up side rods and axle bearings once we could get it over the pit. My secondman was booked to be Adam Bennet but having passed my paperwork to Mark Sealey I still needed a conductor until it was signed off, and as a trainee secondman was with Adam B that meant 4 in the cab for the first trip down

Adam and Dave collected drinks and when we got the green from the guard and I put the clutch in, the loco jerked and Ray's coffee went all over the desk! That mod I did on the Hudswell is planned for this when we get to re-do the transmission properly.

With memories of the Janus still fresh in my mind I found the comparison with the 03 in its favour. Granted on the wet rail you could sense it box, but it was far more responsive to throttle and the vac brake easier to control. For Stuart Graves though it was a surprise. Having determined not to come out filming the 47 again, the news that the 03 was standing in brought him down with his video camera. And a gift - the recent footage of 03 and Janus at work editted into 'The Briddon Country Pile Volume 1' and presented to me.

Once again I am indebted to him for some stills from Saturday to augment the blog. After the first return trip it was confirmed my paperwork was in order and my conductor dropped off to start driver training on the dmu. The 03 was now becoming a something of a pleasure to drive and only marred by the oil pressure warning light flickering from time to time even though the oil pressure gauge showed a steady and healthy reading.

A pasenger came up and asked me what engine was in it as it surely wasn't a Gardner. Another passenger had ridden behind it at Scunthorpe while yet another wanted to know if it was a steam loco or a diesel - I know an 03 is regarded in some quarters as an honourary steam loco but I think that big Swindon chimney had him confused. At Matlock Riverside on the last trip I was surprised to find Dave Lathrope as he is Darley Dale Stationmaster and I had been talking with him there while we had waited for time. It turned out he had ridden down to witness the propelling/run round procedure first hand. And so the day came to an end and the 03 was parked up by the loco it had stood in for.

Andrew has decided that although it must come back to the shed for us to carry out some minor work, until we are ready to get the converter overhauled and back on to hydraulic oil we had best keep it operational in case it is needed again.

Sunday and first job for me as to swap the keyswitch assembly in the crane, after which we did some more testing of the crane systems by lifting the neck off T2 and putting it on the deck. The forecast was for it to be dry until about 4pm. We broke off for lunch hoping the rain would ease. In the afternoon Andrew got soaked cutting some bits on the prefab ramp section as he makes it ready for deployment at Rowsley when required and then welded the brackets to carry the hydraulic oil reservoir on to the Lister power pack that is destined to go onto T1. The rain eased after 4pm.

So that's about it. The loco from EKR is still on T3 and should be offloaded tomorrow, but it is holiday season so I've nothing booked for this week and hope to catch up on quotes, a VAT return, etc., etc. Still, there'll be something to say next week, I'm sure. See ya then.