Thursday, 30th August 2012
It started on Thursday 30th August when I was Afternoon Driver at the 'Day Out With Thomas' event in Manchester, described here.
Saturday, 1st September 2012
I spent the following day at work but on Saturday I was at Peak Rail on a slightly less-famous six-coupled tank engine currently in the guise of 68013. Robin was acting as fireman so he'd had a very early start. I turned up just before seven o'clock which gave me time for oiling-round and the daily exam. Since this was the first steaming since a Washout, Paul was also on hand to pronounce the boiler 'Fit'. Harvey also arrived to issue us with the single line staff for the Rowsley - Church Lane section so that Robin and I were able to leave the shed, on schedule, at 8.15 a.m. for Darley Dale, where we were to pick up our booked Driving Experience candidate. Harvey worked the gates at Church Lane to let us through and we surrendered the staff. Once we had our Trainee on the footplate, Harvey loosed us over the Darley Dale level crossing and issued us with the Darley Dale - Matlock single line staff.
After two hours of Driving Experience, we returned light engine to Rowsley. By this time, the booked signalmen were on duty at Darley Dale and Church Lane to work the gates and signals and collect and issue the single line staffs. We stood clear of the six coach train in the platform at Rowsley whilst the guard supervised the coupling of the 'Class 31' to the north end of the stock then the guard called us onto the south end.
During the day, we made five round trips without incident to Matlock (Town) where we hauled the train to Matlock and the '31' dragged us back. There's a more detailed description of the 'Top and Tail' working at Peak Rail in the post A Day on the Footplate (2).
Sunday, 2nd September 2012
The following day I had an even earlier start at the Battlefield Line. David, the fireman, was being examined by John as we ran five trains to Shenton using '3803', the Great Western 2-8-0. It was the weekend of the annual Shackerstone Family Festival so we were running with five coaches rather than the usual four.
On the previous day, the coaches had been left in platform 1 but they needed to be moved to platform 2 before we started so that the train could be serviced. Although we'd had the water hose in the tender tank during preparation, we needed to move across to the water column at the south end of platform 2 to 'have a drink' before the coaches were moved. Once the train was in platform 2 with the north end clear of the foot crossing (currently the only passenger access to platform 2 whilst the footbridge is closed), we'd not be able to access the column.
There was some discussion about the best way to shunt the coaches but, in the end, we watered, hooked onto the south end of the stock and dragged the train up the cutting (having been instructed by the signalman to pass the Starting Signal at danger), until the last vehicle was clear of the crossover. With the points changed for platform 2 and the Inner Home disc signal 'off', we propelled the stock into platform 2, with Peter riding in what was now the leading vehicle, keeping a lookout and giving us handsignals. We left with the first train 'right time'.
The rest of the day didn't quite go as planned, I'm afraid. I'll tell you more later.
Tuesday, 4th September 2012
A day at work on Monday gave me a slightly more leisurely start but on Tuesday the alarm clocks (I use two) were set to 4.30 a.m., allowing me to sign on at Peak Rail (again) at about 6.50 a.m. This time, Chris was fireman and Rob issued the staff and let us over Church Lane Crossing. Once we had Dave, our Driving Trainee that day, on the footplate Rob let us over Darley Dale Crossing and issued the staff for the Darley Dale - Matlock section. The pattern of the very hot day was similar to the previous Saturday, until the middle of the afternoon when a problem with the steam brake manifested itself. We managed to keep going until the end of service when it became clear that serious attention was required before the next day. I left Ed, Rob and Chris in the Workshop addressing the problem.
[Dates corrected 19-Dec-2012]
