Best & Worst Locos to Drive

Anyone know how the hell did the crews cope on city of truro? I only ask as it's got such an open cab area that only just about covers the footplate area, plus all the crews had over their heads was a tarp between the tender & the cab.

It ran at bury on the east lancs a few years back before withdrawal. It did a weekend duty running in late december & alls I remembered seeing was the driver & fireman getting rather cosy with each other around the firebox door. The poor sods looked frozen half to death

 

The brevity of that engine's cab is far from unique and quite typical of the period, and not only on the Great Western. Go back a bit earlier and there wasn't a roof at all, and a bit a further and even the weatherboard wasn't there. Have a look at prints of the very earliest engines, and yes, they did run all year around. The weatherboard came only because speed rose to the point where the airstream caused sighting difficulties forward.

Footplate crews were men in those days!

 

There's a difference between forwards and backwards though - even a fairly rudimentary cab provides reasonable protection going forwards, and a front-line express locomotive like CoT would rarely have travelled backwards in normal service - in contrast to heritage line running where half the time you are running backwards. The poor protection afforded by tender locomotives in the 19th century in particular when running backwards was a frequent cause of complaint by the Board of Trade, particularly when such running might be seen as contributory to accidents; one notable outcome was the rise in development of tank engines (with at least equal protection both ways, even if not a full cab) from the 1860s forwards, which had been comparatively rare before that date.

Indeed, though I suspect to a typical man of the mid 19th century, if your employment options were to take a reasonably skilled job on the railways, or agricultural labourer outside in all weathers, then even with the rudimentary protection afforded by early locomotives, the job on the railway - with prospect of regular pay and reasonable security - would appear quite attractive. I suspect that when you started getting second and third generation railwaymen, who did not necessarily have prior experience of working outside as labourers with which to compare, was probably when railwaymen themselves started to demand better footplate conditions.

Tom

 

There was the interesting incident where Churchward fitted a big roomy cab with side windows to an experimental 4-4-0 similar to COT and the crews objected so much that they refitted a standard style cab in short order.

 

When the fireman overfills the boiler as you go into a tunnel on an engine without a cab (Sir Berkeley) you really learn the benefit of wearing a cap. The best bit was that the fireman was not wearing one!

 

As late as 1946/7 the Campbell Queens - Bristol Queen & Cardiff Queen were built without wheelhouses. The Masters wanted all round visibility when navigating the River Avon

 

Looking at it the other way, a good enclosed cab can hardly be the best enviroment on a warm summers day, I remember cabbing most loco's at railfest at the NRM about 10 or so years ago, but Blackmoor Vale stood out as the **** me that's hot! considerably more than than other less enclosed types that were in steam, can only assume the fireman consumes as much water as the loco.

 

You should try a USA tank!

 

I fired Sir Berkeley when it visited the Bluebell. Given the occasional loose bits of brickwork in the tunnel, I almost wished I 'd worn a bump hat. Not in keeping with the Victorian land cruise the train was marketed as though.
I enjoyed that one.

Russ.

 

Yes, there was something about GWR enginemen, who seems to have masochism bred into them. Driver L.C. Jacks of Tyseley and Saltley criticised the 8Fs because the valve gear was on the outside, so the driver didn't need to crawl around between the frames to oil it...

 

Damn! I really love that engine! I did a photo charter with it at the Valley, just after we had given it a V&P and it was a knockout!

 

I had 34007 for a day on the Severn Valley and rapidly fell in love with it. I did not find visibility a problem. It's not as if you have to steer the b******s. The steam - operated reverser was a bit of a ball - ache, but, I am sure, with familiarity and practice, would be fine. What a machine! I now understand the hype.

 

2968 was not called "The Mighty Mogul," for nothing. It is a great engine. If anyone doubts this, I will post one of my two essays about it. "42968 on the bank," and "Forties Fireworks."

Regards,

jtx

 

My favourite engine to drive, or fire, is, without doubt, a Stanier Black 5. I have an enduring love affair with 45110 which I will carry to the grave. However, I also love, Manors, Halls, Jinties, Castles, Jubilees, and all the others. I have been privileged to drive all the Big 'Uns from the pre - nationalisation companies, and they are all divine. This is, in no small measure, down to the people who maintain them. Thus, Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton, King Edward 1, Duke of Gloucester and Tornado: all sublime machines, necessarily heavily throttled on our line.

I also love the Bulleid Pacifics, of which we now have two on the Valley.

Like everything else, you have to get used to them.

Having spent a couple of weeks some years back on 80079, I recall saying to my driver, "With 6 of these, we could run a service."

I still think that.

 

Well, there's more than enough preserved!

 

Sorry to disagree but IMHO as with the 2MT 2-6-2Ts, not nearly enough!

Paul H

 

Enough to get 6 together to run one railway with nothing else though!

 

There would be a case for this. I met a retired senior railwayman (also an enthusiast) recently, who made me sound like a complete optimist! His view of the future of steam tourist railways was a bleak one.

Paul H

 

Economically more Standard Tanks might be desirable, but would it be from a interest/attracting volunteer point of view ?, I could see a "class 66 effect" of people being sick of standard tanks and being lost to the hobby as a result due to lack of variety.