Steam

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

What is so embarrassing Albert is that I have Romany gypsies in my ancestry and my wife has Irish Tinkers in hers. I worked with a lot of ex-Colwick men when I was a shunter at Nottingham sidings. There was some antipathy between them and Nottingham (16A) crews, but they generally got on well together. It was usually the Colwick men that would crew any steam specials on the main line as most of the Nottingham men started after steam had finished there.

My own grandfather started his railway days as a loco cleaner at 16A after WW1 and slowly worked his way up the ranks to driving expresses, but when he became an Alderman on Nottingham City council with responsibilities, he became permanent on the Drop Pit Shunt as it was easier to replace him should he be called to a council meeting. He was Lord Mayor of Nottingham in 1961 and was photographed for publicity on the Royal Scot. Sadly that was the last steam locomotive he took the controls of because when he went back to the railway after a year off, all the steam locos had gone from Nottingham and he was told to report to diesel training. With only a couple of years left to retirement he declined and spent the rest of his railway days sorting all the stuff from closed railway locations. Items such as signs, lamps and station seats were all auctioned at Derby until Collector's Corner was established at Euston.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

In addition, when my mum died in 2003 my dad gave me some of the family archive she had collected to sort. Amongst the items I found one of my granddads railway diaries for the year 1928. It makes very interesting reading about all the firing jobs he did along railway routes that are now just a memory. I sometimes wonder why she only had the one diary and what happened to all the others.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I was most fortunate to work at Derby (Etches Park) carriage sidings during the 80s and 90s and beyond. From the late 80s until at least 1995 we did all the preparations on preserved steam locos for the main line. As we had no less than 2 weighbridges, we could handle the weighing and balancing, although one of the buildings was eventually condemned. We used the one at the Research department after that,

The loco would arrive at Derby with its support coach. This was usually a Mark 1 BSK (brake second compartment) painted in Midland maroon. After work in the weighbridge it would be deposited on number 3 or 4 sidings which still had pits. This gave them somewhere to rake out the ashes and crap from both the smoke box and fire box. Then a beautiful fire was built up ready for the test run - often the next day. During the morning the loco would be fussed over and cleaned, an adjustment here and there. The mark one coaches for the test run would be either on platform six or in the station yard. It was a privilege to ride down to the station on the loco and couple it onto its train. Many of the old hand drivers at 4-shed were still licenced to drive steam locos and they would turn up wearing their old pale blue bib and brace and jacket also a grease top cap. Sadly the effect was ruined by the ubiquitous but mandatory bright orange HV vest.

Around lunch time the train would depart with the driver and fireman in the cab who would swap duties half way, often the locos owner and always a footplate inspector.

The chosen route was always mainline to Trent Junctions and then up the Erewash Valley to Sheffield, deviating via Beighton to come into Sheffield from the north. Then after watering from a fire engine or whatever, it would return to Derby where it would normally be signed off fit for the main line.

I was lucky to be able to photograph from all angles, and if I finished at 2PM I would nip up to Shipley Gate on the way home to see it pass.

Locos I remember were - Sir Lamiel, various 8Fs and Black fives, The great Marquis and the Duke of Gloucester.

The last ones I saw were ruined by the inclusion of a class 25 behind the tender to heat the train electrically. It was called 'Ethel' and painted in the red and white Inter City colours. YUUK!!!

Happy Days.