Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 7, 2020 16:58:19 GMT
Tell you watch, book on with me at 02.00 on Thursday morning and I'll show you...!! Oh, and don't forget the biscuits.... Villain If I could I would! Seems a bit frightening to me, you can't exactly swerve any obstacles and the thing must take about half a mile to stop! I'd love to give you a cab ride mate but these days it's very hard to arrange officially, you definitely get a different view of the world up front. I tried to swerve to avoid a badger a few weeks ago, alas I didn't succeed in missing the poor bugger. Put me right off me soup so it did! Villain
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Jan 7, 2020 17:34:24 GMT
I'd love to give you a cab ride mate but these days it's very hard to arrange officially, you definitely get a different view of the world up front. I tried to swerve to avoid a badger a few weeks ago, alas I didn't succeed in missing the poor bugger. Put me right off me soup so it did! Villain Quite right too, otherwise you get some nutters in the cab who hijack it and then run it into tall buildings. Well that was the original irish plan anyway. whatever happened to irish jokes?
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jan 7, 2020 18:07:58 GMT
I got a cab ride once, in 81,from Manchester Victoria to Radcliffe one night, I knew a bloke who was a guard and on the Bury bound trip, the guards compartment was next to the cab, so the driver invited me to take the second man's seat.
That must have been one of the easiest lines to work on, it was a shuttle really, there were no junctions or connecting lines on it at all after the Manchester end.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jan 7, 2020 18:59:35 GMT
I got a cab ride once, in 81,from Manchester Victoria to Radcliffe one night, I knew a bloke who was a guard and on the Bury bound trip, the guards compartment was next to the cab, so the driver invited me to take the second man's seat. That must have been one of the easiest lines to work on, it was a shuttle really, there were no junctions or connecting lines on it at all after the Manchester end. I've had 2 cab rides - one between Sheffield and Leicester in a HST, and another between Doncaster & Toton Depot in a 66 - both accompanying my son.
I stand corrected, I had a "go" at driving (about 500yards - under supervision!) the Class 37 37075 - which doubled as the Class 40 that was actually used in the Gt Train Robbery at Keighley & Worth Valley.
It wasn't until the programme aired, my son pointed out that it was obvious it was a 37 because of the positioning of the headlamps....(aparently) This thing had both Vaccum and Air Brakes.
As Villain will tell us...
Getting it moving is one thing - stopping the bugger in the correct place is a different matter - and this was just the loco. Heck knows what it's like with 2000tons behind you....
I'll stick to my line of work I think! Just watch them who know what they're doing!
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jan 7, 2020 19:42:55 GMT
I've had a driving, and firing, turn at the East Lancs railway, under supervision too. It was on a Black 5 steam Loco, number 45337. I got to drive it from Bury to Ramsbottom and back, then did three return trips as fireman. That is hard work, better than going to the gym!
I know what you mean about the brakes, sparky, on the steam Loco it was a small handle which worked the steam brake on the engine. Firing I thought was more involved, in addition to shovelling the coal, you also had to keep a lookout for the water level in the boiler, and work the injectors which force the water into it from the tank.
It was a great day, and you got to appreciate what is involved in operating the trains.
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Post by Gene Hunt on Jan 7, 2020 20:03:02 GMT
Admin note:As this is quite an interesting topic, I have split the conversation from The Railway Children (Film) thread and placed it here in it's own right. GH
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Jan 7, 2020 20:07:38 GMT
I've had a driving, and firing, turn at the East Lancs railway, under supervision too. It was on a Black 5 steam Loco, number 45337. I got to drive it from Bury to Ramsbottom and back, then did three return trips as fireman. That is hard work, better than going to the gym! I know what you mean about the brakes, sparky, on the steam Loco it was a small handle which worked the steam brake on the engine. Firing I thought was more involved, in addition to shovelling the coal, you also had to keep a lookout for the water level in the boiler, and work the injectors which force the water into it from the tank. It was a great day, and you got to appreciate what is involved in operating the trains. Think most drivers were relieved when steam went out of use. Might be more romantic (right word?) but a lot more work. I can just remember going on steam trains in the Derbyshire region, early 60s.
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DI Alex Drake
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Post by DI Alex Drake on Jan 7, 2020 20:21:47 GMT
I got a cab ride once, in 81,from Manchester Victoria to Radcliffe one night, I knew a bloke who was a guard and on the Bury bound trip, the guards compartment was next to the cab, so the driver invited me to take the second man's seat. That must have been one of the easiest lines to work on, it was a shuttle really, there were no junctions or connecting lines on it at all after the Manchester end. I've had 2 cab rides - one between Sheffield and Leicester in a HST, and another between Doncaster & Toton Depot in a 66 - both accompanying my son.
I stand corrected, I had a "go" at driving (about 500yards - under supervision!) the Class 37 37075 - which doubled as the Class 40 that was actually used in the Gt Train Robbery at Keighley & Worth Valley.
It wasn't until the programme aired, my son pointed out that it was obvious it was a 37 because of the positioning of the headlamps....(aparently) This thing had both Vaccum and Air Brakes.
As Villain will tell us...
Getting it moving is one thing - stopping the bugger in the correct place is a different matter - and this was just the loco. Heck knows what it's like with 2000tons behind you....
I'll stick to my line of work I think! Just watch them who know what they're doing!
On the topic of getting it to stop in the right place, last September (that is 2018) I was meeting two friends from a music forum in Southampton to go to the guildhall to see Camel play. I had to make a connection at Westbury and was relieved that, when it got to me, the train was on time. Now I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that in the south west we get everyone else’s cast-offs and are living quite behind the times from the point of view of public transport. So we are used to being ferried about on trains from the 80s/90s at least. To my astonishment, what greeted me at the station was brand spanking new. Quite the novelty. First two stops, fine. Then we get to a few hundred meters from Exeter St david’s and the train stops. There is a tiny station just outside the city centre called Exeter St Thomas and that is where we stopped. A gradual build up in frustration from everyone who was meant to be changing for connections at the main Exeter station and many minutes of nothing happening later and we get told over the intercom that the station had been programmed in incorrectly. The train “thinks” we are at St David’s but because the platform can only accommodate 1 coach (we had 9 or so) we can’t open the doors because of the safety feature. We also cannot leave. Bear with us. HALF AN HOUR we were stuck there because of this excellent technology. And yes, I missed my connection but thankfully Andy Latimer didn’t start without me.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jan 7, 2020 20:45:57 GMT
I've had a driving, and firing, turn at the East Lancs railway, under supervision too. It was on a Black 5 steam Loco, number 45337. I got to drive it from Bury to Ramsbottom and back, then did three return trips as fireman. That is hard work, better than going to the gym! I know what you mean about the brakes, sparky, on the steam Loco it was a small handle which worked the steam brake on the engine. Firing I thought was more involved, in addition to shovelling the coal, you also had to keep a lookout for the water level in the boiler, and work the injectors which force the water into it from the tank. It was a great day, and you got to appreciate what is involved in operating the trains. Think most drivers were relieved when steam went out of use. Might be more romantic (right word?) but a lot more work. I can just remember going on steam trains in the Derbyshire region, early 60s. My Father in Law started his days as a "cleaner" at Canklow Shed near Sheffield in the 60s - where he would be emptying out ashpans on Steam Locos, cleaning out the fireboxes and soot and prepping locos for the next day.
My Grandfather opted for a much cleaner job in a Signalbox!!
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Villain
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Post by Villain on Jan 7, 2020 20:55:05 GMT
I've had a driving, and firing, turn at the East Lancs railway, under supervision too. It was on a Black 5 steam Loco, number 45337. I got to drive it from Bury to Ramsbottom and back, then did three return trips as fireman. That is hard work, better than going to the gym! I know what you mean about the brakes, sparky, on the steam Loco it was a small handle which worked the steam brake on the engine. Firing I thought was more involved, in addition to shovelling the coal, you also had to keep a lookout for the water level in the boiler, and work the injectors which force the water into it from the tank. It was a great day, and you got to appreciate what is involved in operating the trains. Think most drivers were relieved when steam went out of use. Might be more romantic (right word?) but a lot more work. I can just remember going on steam trains in the Derbyshire region, early 60s. When I started on the railway in '82 there were still a very large number of drivers around the country who'd stated in steam days, most of them started as engine cleaners and worked their way up as fireman before being passed out for driving. A surprising number of them started before the second world war too, on the LMS, SR, LNER and GWR. Plenty of them hated the new diesels and electrics when they were first introduced but soon got used to the warmer cabs and (relatively) comfortable seats. It was also quite a culture shock having such a panoramic view of the line ahead compared to looking down one side of a large boiler with pipes and handrails obstructing their view. There are still a handful of ex-steam men on the job now, working for the charter companies who run the various mainline steam tours up and down the country. One of our drivers who's coming up to retirement is best mates with the chap who was the fireman on Sir Winston Churchill's funeral train from Waterloo on 30th January 1965, very soon though all of these old hands will be gone, more's the pity. Villain
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