Morecambe: Former Midland Railway Morecambe (Promenade) station building, tracks long gone, now Tourist Information Office, performance space ('The Platform') and public house ('The Station')
I recognised the steam train as a 'Pull and Push' operated by one of a small class of Stanier 0-4-4T fitted for 'auto' working (this recognition possibly as a result of reading an illustrated article in the 'Railway Magazine about a similar service between Harrow & Wealdstone and Stanmore). From platform level, the engine looked similar to the six-coupled 'Standard Shunt' design which was a familiar sight where I lived but there were curious additions adjacent to the smokebox which I realised were part of the Vacuum Controlled Regulator which, when the locomotive was pushing the train, should have allowed the Driver to remotely control the regulator from a small driving compartment in the leading coach.
Stanier 0-4-4T, classification 2P, shown with original stovepipe chimney, later replaced (from 'British Locomotive Types, published by The Railway Publishing Company in 1938)
Click for larger view
Although I could be a shy child, I somehow struck-up a conversation with the fireman. Presumably my fascination with railways was apparent from my close observation. The fireman was young, lean, wearing overalls without a jacket and a beret (often preferred by fireman, to a 'greasetop' hat, it appeared to me at the time). Eventually, I was introduced to the driver who was middle-aged, wearing overalls with a jacket and a greasetop. He possessed the confident, patient bearing I'd seen in other drivers. When departure time came, I was confused to be told to jump onto the footplate. The locomotive was pulling the train on this journey to Lancaster Green Ayre, so the driver remained on the footplate and, once the fireman relayed the 'right away' to him, he tugged at the regulator and we started to move. I think that was the first time I'd been on a moving locomotive so I found the experience both facinating and terrifying. Pressed against the cab back-sheet, it was noisy, hot and, in the enclosed cab, unexpectedly dark. The unfamiliar lurching motion was unsettling and periodically, I had to avoid the fireman's shovel as he turned to scoop up coal from the bunker. I noted that, on the easy route, the fireman had less shovelling to do than I expected and spent most of his time keeping a lookout through the front spectacle, occasionally using an injector to maintain the boiler water level which, when operating, added a continuous roar to the cab noise.
All too soon, we arrived at Lancaster (Green Ayre). I thought I would be dismissed but the kindly driver explained that the train would now take the short single line to Lancaster (Castle), returning immediately. He would not take me on the footplate to that station, on the West Coast Main Line (presumably because there was always someone on the lookout for 'trouble' there). The fireman led me to the leading passenger compartment and told me to travel there. I remember protesting that I hadn't a ticket but the amused fireman told me not to worry and, should the guard query it, refer him to the footplate crew. We made our way up the gradient to Lancaster (Castle) which did appear big and important. I watched our driver walk the length of the train to reach his driving compartment when pushing and we soon returned to Lancaster (Green Ayre). The fireman collected me and I joined him on the footplate. This time, there was just the fireman and me on the footplate which seemed very strange. Although the engine was fitted with a Vacuum Controlled Regulator which should have given the driver control from his Driving Compartment, I never saw it used. There was an electric bell in the cab, operated from the Driving Compartment so, when the driver sounded this, the fireman opened the regulator. Once underway, the fireman decided when to adjust the driving controls for running between stations and I think he similarly decided when to shut off steam so as to drift to the next stop. That just left the driver with the delicate job of judging the brake operation to bring the train to a stop in the correct position. It was already obvious to me that a push-pull operation like this required close co-operation between driver and fireman.
By the time we arrived back at Morecambe (Promenade) after this momentous experience, fascination had almost overcome my terror of being on the footplate and I'm ashamed to say I probably asked to be able to do it again. The kind crew indulged me and I'm unclear how many trips I managed that day and the following day between Morecambe and Lancaster. Occasionally, a service would take the branch to Heysham and I was on the footplate for at least one of the Heysham runs. At that time, the station there still had its all-over roof and I remember the platforms being dark and gloomy and not at all inviting.
One of the few locomotive running numbers that sticks in my memory is the number of that Stanier 0-4-4T which I rode up and down on - 41901. I wonder if that kindly locomotive crew realised the seed they planted back in 1952? Thirty-six years later, I, too, joined the ranks of footplate crew in steam preservation.
Related posts on this website
Steam around Morecambe
Railways around Morecambe
Track Diagrams: Lancaster (Green Ayre) (Visit in 1967)
Return to Heysham (Visit in 2013)
Morecambe by Rail (Visit in 2019)
Video from 1960s by David Chandler
Lost railways of Lancaster and Morecambe: Episode 1.
[Picture & drawing added 9-Jan-2021]
