While thinking this week that
the weather has turned much
colder, a well known phrase came
to mind.
I looked up google and
found the following answer to
the question what does Brass
Monkey mean?
To freeze the balls off a brass
monkey means it is very cold.
... It is widely believed that a
brass monkey is a brass tray
used in naval ships during the
Napoleonic Wars for the storage
of cannonballs (piled up in a
pyramid). The theory goes that
the tray would contract in cold
weather, causing the balls to
fall off.
This week we received the
following from Andrew Starr
'I note that there are
exceptions to Tier 2 regulations
which say it is possible for up
to 15 people to meet for a
“formal support group”. The
Broxbourne/Hoddesdon MRS raised
significant lottery funding (ca
25k) by describing themselves as
a “men’s support group”. What do
we need to change or add, in
terms of branding or
constitution (or nothing) to
change to DHMRS mental health
support group? '
In response to this interesting
idea, may be we could could get
help for our train spotting and
anorak wearing - the general
view of the media and public at
large.
we could all sit in a circle -
socially distanced of course and
then in turn
I am an
anorak******************etc
Seriously, it may be worth
having a look at and members
suggestions are welcome,
remember we would need the
support of the church in
reopening.
In the meantime, it seems a good
idea to stay indoors have
another coffee and catch up with
the latest newsletter.
Recent photos in the Newsletter
of a Western loco reminded me
that I had spent some time
photographing them in their last
year of operation. However,
rather than upsetting the great
majority of members by including
any more of the GWR than is
strictly necessary, here are
some more acceptable locations
to remind you of what used to be
the everyday.
Photography in the 70s and 80s
was a much more demanding
business than it is now. Colour
films were slow, typically 25 or
60ASA, and 35mm film cameras had
a limited range of lenses unless
you were very well off. The
professionals tended to use
medium format cameras with a
much larger negative, and higher
quality as a result. It is
difficult for those brought up
with cameras and phones from the
last 10 years to grasp just how
difficult it was to get a good
photograph.
As train speeds increased the
need to be able to freeze the
action became more difficult. On
a bright day with a typical
slide film a shot at 1/250th
at f8 on a 135mm lens would get
you a reasonable result, by
which I mean that you could just
about make out the loco number
when projected on a screen. A
dull day and it would be a very
much less sharp result. And most
cameras had no or very limited
metering, so either a light
meter or a good guess and
experience determined the camera
settings.
Digital cameras allow multiple
shots so that the ideal one can
be selected, and the rest
rejected. Roll film winds on
slowly. You had one shot for a
high speed train. A slow freight
and you could risk a second shot
if you had a zoom lens, but not
otherwise as with a fixed length
lens the subject would be too
close, or else your first shot
would be too far away! Add to
that the cost of film and
processing, and films were
either 24 or 36 exposure, and
you had to be really sure that
the shot was worth taking.
So, having given some context to
photography 45 years ago, you
can appreciate why there are not
more photographs around of the
everyday railway scene. I hope
the following selection will
bring back fond memories of what
was running on the ECML.
We start at Hatfield on 16th
July 1975 with unidentified 31
and a 45 or 46 on a bulk cement
train running on the up fast.
The coal yard was still rail
connected at that time. 08s used
to bring wagons up from Brent
coal yard on the Midland. I
didn’t visit Hatfield much at
this time and never managed to
see these trains. It was all
gone quite soon after this
photograph was taken.
Hatfield still had a siding on the Down
side and the barrow crossing plus
barrows are features long gone.
Upper; 1975, the wiring is in use for
suburban trains as far as Foxton and
Hitchin. 55021 Argyll & Sutherland
Highlander and lower, 31264 on the 09.30
ex Cambridge. The benches may well have
been from LNER days.
Welwyn North on 23rd
September 1975 and 31209 is on a ballast
train. 46032 is on the Up cement train
on the same day. Not much has changed in
these two views.
55004 on an up service south of Sandy.
The photo was taken from the trackbed of
the Cambridge line. Telegraph posts
still became attached to locos, although
now the wiring supports make it more
difficult to get a shot lined up.
31206 shunting vans at Sandy on 30th
December 1975. Access all areas applied
at many locations at that time.
46043 on an up train about to go under
the A414 North of Hatfield on 6th
May 1976 This would have been taken in
the evening. The trains are almost
completely hidden now by the trees
alongside the line. Some of these
coaches are probably familiar to our
Hertfordshire Railtours patrons! See
what I mean about the posts?
47457 between the tunnels in 1980. There
were fences, but attitudes to line
siding were rather more relaxed.
A 312 train on a down service in 1980.
These wooden framed slam door units
provided the first electric services for
the outer suburban services. They had a
relatively short life being replaced by
the 317 units.
A summer evening in August 1982 and
47426 trundles through the back road at
Welwyn Garden City while the luggage
trolleys sleep quietly on.
A class 40 on the down parcels on an
evening in July 1981.
31186 on another ballast train at Welwyn
North in 1981.
40187 at Brookmans Park on the evening
of 21st July 1981 with the
parcels train. Looks like the engine
could do with some attention… Safety
fences and buddleia bushes now block
this viewpoint which was a great one in
the later part of a summer’s day.
55008 The Green Howards at Knebworth and
a 312 unit on the down service train, 13th
June 1981. The GNR wooden buildings were
still in use. Taking the photo from the
platform ramp gave me a very good low
angle shot that suited the Deltic’s
front.
The Midland Main Line in 1976, Finedon
Road, Its changed a bit since then!!
A couple of “Wardrobes” (20 059 and 076)
near Isham.
And finally, Knebworth was still
gas-light in 1976.
Volunteering on The Epping Ongar
Railway
Part 2
As mentioned last time the EOR
has some quite severe gradients
which can try many a fireman if
they are not prepared and on top
of the job. Below is the
gradient profile from Epping to
Ongar. (Click on it to enlarge).
Although the EOR doesn’t have a
station at Epping yet, there
have been various rumours about
the possibility of one, trains
currently run to about 200
metres short of the EOR – London
Underground boundary. As there
is no run round loop here all
trains are topped and tailed,
usually by a steam diesel
combination. As you can see the
start from the Epping end is
therefore at 1 in 70 steepening
to 1 in 56. With wet rails and a
heavy train (up to six coaches
at times) pulling away can be a
real challenge. It is not
unknown for the diesel to slip,
particularly if it is the class
31, and for the steam loco to
pull the whole load. This will
only work if the sanders on the
engine are working properly and
it is a suitably strong loco
such as the N2 when it was based
there.
The climb continues up to
Coopersale and then the fireman
can have a breather as the line
drops towards North Weald. The
only issue here is to stop the
loco blowing off whilst ensuring
that there is still sufficient
steam for when leaving North
Weald or indeed passing through
non-stop as on the Santa’s.
Straight after North Weald there
is another challenging climb at
1 in 90 up to Marconi bridge.
For trains leaving North Weald
it is essential for the fireman
to ensure that he has a good
head of steam and a full boiler.
Depending whether the loco is
chimney first or bunker first
the boiler will of course tip
the other way once over the top.
Therefore, if for example the
loco is chimney first, the water
which has been covering the
crown of the firebox will surge
towards the front and possibly
leaving the firebox crown
uncovered. If this happens it is
possible for the crown to
distort and for a fusible plug
to blow which will spray water
and steam into the firebox. This
will help to cool the fire but
really only acts as a warning to
the crew that there is a serious
problem. The loco won’t be going
any further, the fire will need
to be thrown out and it will be
almost certain the firebox will
be distorted requiring a very
expensive repair. Fortunately, I
have never seen this happen
although I have heard of cases
on other railways.
Past Marconi and it is downhill
once again to Blake Hall after
which there is another small
rise to Perrills Footpath before
the final drop at 1 in 70 all
the way to Ongar. The final
challenge believe it or not is
the run into the platform which
is at 1 in 147. The problem
arises when a fireman has let
the fire die down to avoid
blowing off and then realises
that some steam is required for
this last little drag. I have
seen trains stall at the
beginning of the platform more
than once.
Of course, if we now look the
other way we face the 1 in 70
straight out of Ongar. The
fireman will therefore try and
build the fire up ready for this
but must try to avoid black
smoke as the local residents are
prone to complain regularly.
With some coal it is virtually
impossible, even with firing a
little coal at a time and hoping
the smoke will clear. Assuming
there is a good fire and plenty
of water we should be OK back up
to Perrills footpath, although
firing all the way will almost
certainly be required unless the
coal is long burning and stays
hot. The short drop to Blake
Hall gives a chance to rebuild
the fire and to make sure there
is plenty of water in the boiler
for the climb back up to Marconi
Bridge at 1 in 65. This is the
point at which some firemen get
caught out. I have seen several
stall on the climb. Perhaps
worse of all is when the loco
actually makes it over the top
but then expires with the rear
coaches still to clear the top.
Finally, with the drop back into
North Weald it is necessary to
now try and cool the fire, top
the boiler up and hope the loco
won’t be blowing off all the
time in the station. If the
train terminates here and then
has an hour before the next
Ongar train, as is the norm on
some of the timetables, the
problem is even more pronounced
and many is the time the loco
has sat in the platform for much
of the hour blowing off, even
with very little fire left in
the box. And then of course it
all starts again with
preparation for the next climb.
If the train continues to Epping
the initial climb at 1 in 73 is
fairly easy if the loco is still
very hot from the descent into
North Weald. After that it is of
course downhill all the way to
Epping again.
You can see that the EOR is
quite a challenging line from
both the fireman's and driver’s
perspective. Some other lines
such as the NVR are basically
flat by comparison!
So, I have tried to explain the
trials of the fireman but what
else can go wrong? Well an
instance I can think of is from
when I was still a cleaner. The
loco involved was 4141 and had
completed a couple of trips to
Ongar and back. However, on the
return journey the loco was not
steaming well. We had the usual
hour at North Weald and the
fireman decided to disappear
somewhere. The driver was not
particularly happy with this and
asked me to see if I could sort
out the fire whilst he was gone
knowing that I had far more
experience than the fireman. A
quick look in the firebox showed
a large amount of clinker. I
tried to break this up with the
rake* and then the dart* but it
was pretty obvious that the fire
was far to thick and the clinker
extensive and solid. It would
have been virtually impossible
to break this up without going
onto the shed and spending quite
some time hammering away with a
dart. The driver had a look and
agreed that the situation was
hopeless and decided that there
was no alternative but to fail
the loco. He was not to pleased
with the fireman and I am sure
that words were exchanged, not
least because he had abandoned
the loco when he really should
have been trying to sort out the
problem. The last train of the
day then of course had to be
diesel hauled.
Having explained above how
difficult it can be to stop a
loco from blowing off when it
has been working hard I will now
give another example of this.
This occurred on the Jinty which
was on loan at that time.
This also occurred when I was
still a cleaner so I can accept
no responsibility for this! It
was on the last train of the day
from Ongar and Wayne was the
driver. He decided to let the
fireman drive whilst he decided
to build up a really good fire
with a view to storming out of
Ongar and all the way back to
North Weald. This he succeeded
in doing and the loco sounded
absolutely magnificent on the
two climbs. Once on shed of
course the loco didn’t want to
cool down even though the fire
was all but gone and the boiler
filled up with cold water.
What happened next wouldn’t have
been apparent on most days as
the crew would have disposed of
the loco and gone home. On this
particular day there was bar-b-q
laid on for the volunteers and
so we stayed for a burger or
two. It was about half an hour
after disposal that the loco
decided to start blowing off
again. The fireman retuned to
the footplate and put the
injectors on again not that
there was much room in the
boiler to add much water.
However, the loco stopped
blowing off and we returned to
the burgers. Low and behold
about 10 minutes later the loco
started blowing of yet again.
And so, it went on until we
left. This gives a good
indication of just how hot the
boiler and especially the brick
arch can get and stay hot.
Next time I will perhaps discuss
some of the other locos I have
fired on the EOR and there
vagaries.
*(Just to explain the fire irons
for those not familiar with
them. Some have more than one
name and these tend to originate
from whichever railway they were
on. The rake is perhaps the most
obvious as it resembles a garden
rake only much longer and of
course made completely of steel.
Depending on the length of the
firebox the length of the rake
required will be governed. Some
are very long and difficult to
wield particularly in the cab of
a tank engine. The rake is used
to pull and push the fire around
the firebox bars.
Next there is the dart which is
basically a long straight rod
and is used to break up clinker.
There is also a bent dart which,
as it’s name suggests, has a 90
degree bend in it and is used
for reaching the back corners of
the fire box.
A useful item and one that is
particularly hard to use is the
clinker shovel. Thus is of
course all made of steel with a
long handle and is used for
reaching into the fire box to
dig the clinker out. It is also
used for throwing the fire out.
There is also a slice which is a
bit like a dart but has a
flattened end and is used to
scrape across the bars to remove
clinker.)
Keith
Locomotive Maintenance
For those of you who have a
poorly loco and are missing
Steve's expertise; I hope this
guide that appeared in the Model
Railway Enthusiast magazine in
the late 1990's will be of some
help. It may even act as a
refresher course for Steve! As
the Ringfield motor is not
covered here Steve may be able
to show us how to service one.
Click on the top image to view
in your browser.
HARVEY’S WHARF
Part 2
The track laying has been
completed this week and the
point Cobolt motors have been
fitted. Next job is the wiring
which I hope to complete next
week.
There are two holes cut in the
back scene. The one on the left
is where the switches will be
mounted. This will be hidden
behind a low relief building.
The one on the right is to allow
access into a warehouse so that
wagons can be swapped and of
course the track cleaned etc.
The dip in the board on the left
is where the canal will be.
Keith
Was anyone a member?
MY FAVOURITE LOCOMOTIVE
You will probably not be
surprised to learn that my
favourite locomotive is Sir
Nigel Gresley. The day I was
born my father came home with
the Hornby Dublo 3 rail model.
Our model railway in the loft
started that day 29th March
1949.
YOUR FAVOURITE LOCOMOTIVE
Please email us details of your
favourite loco.
AT HOME WITH THE BICKNELL'S
If you have missed one of our
Newsletters you can find them on
our website
www.dhmrs.co.uk
QUIZ
Answers next week.
1. What is the largest city in
the world by population?
2. Who was the actor who played
Elton John in Rocketman?
3. What is the official language
in Brazil?
4. What US singer revealed this
year that he has Lymes disease?
5. True or false: The Statue of
Liberty was gifted to the US by
France
6. Who was behind the SpaceX
project where satellites could
be seen from space last month?
7. What colours are the five
Olympic rings?
8. What UK TV series is the
character Tommy Shelby in?
9. Which bird can fly backwards?
10. Who is Sir Keir Starmer?
Answers to last weeks Quiz.
1. Canberra
2. A backbone
3. Choux (we're not being strict
on spelling, but make sure you
let us know if anyone had a
funny/different way of spelling
it)
4. Finn Tapp and Paige Turley
5. River Nile
6. Number four.... BINGO
7. The hands and feet. There are
27 in each hand and 26 in each
foot.
8. Thunderball
9. Smithy
10. It is actually false. People
often assume they grow on trees,
however they grow on a
herbaceous plant or a 'herb'. It
is not a tree because the stem
does not contain true woody
tissue
