Chapter Twenty-Two

On the Footplate

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30 May 2015. Climbing to Medstead on 850.

“There is something magic about being on the footplate of a steam engine working hard at speed on the main line”

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Drivers side of 850 Lord Nelson on 30 May 2015.

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A good fire on 850, 30 May 2015.

There is something magic about being on the footplate of a steam engine working hard at speed on the main line and this chapter looks at some of the many unofficial rides I had in the days of steam, plus a recent one on the Mid-Hants Railway, given to me as a birthday present by my wife. Inevitably my trips were all on the Southern (except for one brief episode on a DR Class 86 tank) and as it happens all on Bulleid pacifics. The first came during the course of a Southern Rail Rover in April 1964. I had settled into a routine of going down to Salisbury on the 11 am from Waterloo, the Atlantic Coast Express (ACE), returning on the 2.09 pm up ACE, going down to Southampton on the 4.35 pm Royal Wessex and then back up on the 7.16 pm fast, though I did ring the changes to get some variety. At that time a Weymouth crew brought the 7.16 pm up as far as Southampton, where Eastleigh enginemen took over. Whilst waiting on the platform that Monday evening I got chatting to the driver, who told me his name was Roy Sloper and so began a firm friendship which lasted until the end of steam and beyond with occasional meetings; at the time of writing he is still around, now in his nineties. Our engine that day was No 35029 Ellerman Lines and with the usual load of ten coaches and a van totalling around 385 tons we left three and a half minutes late and with a clear run ran into Waterloo two minutes early. Speed was maintained at 60-61 all the way up Roundwood bank and then in the 70s afterwards but topping 81mph as Roy took full advantage of the clear road through Woking. The time of 78 minutes 28 seconds was nicely inside even time. Roy told me it took very little effort from a free steaming engine and if I was around the next day would I like to see how it was done?

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Full cab view of 34028 at Harman’s Cross 28 October 2009.

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Well of course I would, and so to make quite sure on the Tuesday, 21 April 1964 I changed my routine, returning from Salisbury on the 12.32 pm semi-fast behind No 34020 Seaton so I could go right through to Bournemouth on the 3.30 pm from Waterloo (No 35008 Orient Line) and pick up the 7.16 pm from Bournemouth at 6.40 pm with the Weymouth crew as far as Southampton. The engine was No 35001 Channel Packet and the load ten coaches and a van, total about 390 tons. At Southampton I ventured up front wondering if my new friend had remembered his promise. He had, and so soon I was safely ensconced in the fireman’s seat for my first ever footplate ride. I can still remember that day very clearly and the overriding impressions of noise, dirt and vibration as we got up to speed. In fact the engine was rough riding for a Bulleid and wasn’t steaming very well as the train running log shows. We made a good start and were doing 60mph by Eastleigh nicely inside schedule. Here the driver and fireman both waved at a street near the lineside which was where they lived; they made good use of the whistle. Full regulator was now used until the top of the 1 in 252 climb at Litchfield tunnel and cut off set at 15 per cent. The previous day this had kept speed at a mile a minute but today with pressure dropping speed was about 4 or 5mph lower until Roy increased the cut off to 20 per cent and that together with the slight easing of gradient through Winchester lifted the speed to 63mph before Roy looked at the pressure gauge and decided to ease back to 15 per cent which saw us over the top at 56mph. Bearing in mind that we were only using 160-170 lbs of steam this was an excellent effort and enough to see us past Worting Junction in just over 33 minutes from the start, a gain of four minutes on schedule. From there it was very easy and only needed 15-18 per cent cut off and 110-140 lbs of steam to keep the schedule exactly on to Woking and Clapham Junction with no higher speed than 79mph. It was just as well that the boiler pressure had recovered as the engine wasn’t fired after Fleet, not by choice but as a result of the fireman pulling the shovel over the side when he retrieved the pricker from the tender to clean the fire. So with no spare carried the fireman spent the rest of the trip looking for signals and cleaning the footplate. Arrival at Waterloo was nearly four minutes early and I was allowed to alight from the footplate once Roy had ensured the coast was clear of any Inspectors. It was a wonderful experience for this teenager and one that will remain with me always. I had got home to Shirley near Croydon before my hearing returned though!

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On the footplate of 850 on 30 May 2015.

On the Wednesday I returned to my usual routine and waiting on the platform at Southampton Roy told me to make sure my stop watch was working properly as that night we were going to attempt something special and I had better be in the train. The train arrived late from Bournemouth and I saw some chat between the Weymouth crew and ours which turned out to be about who would sort out the lost time ticket. Roy said not to worry as we would be on time at Waterloo and so it proved. We had No 35024 East Asiatic Company on the usual load, we left 9 minutes late and ran up in under 75 minutes. Speed up the bank was held at 63-65mph and then 76-83mph all the way from Basingstoke to New Malden, averaging 78.9mph between them.

This was my second fastest run ever with steam from Southampton to Waterloo. On Thursday, 23 April we did nearly as well with an ex works 35016 Elders Fyffes arriving at Waterloo three minutes early after 63-65mph again up the bank and 85mph near Winchfield after which the engine was eased, but we were running so early that we got a severe signal check at Woking and were checked again at Weybridge and Surbiton. So although our actual time was over 82 minutes the net time was around 74. On the Friday Roy gave me another footplate ride, this time on No 35014 Nederland Line and this proved to be the worst run of the week. The engine was very rough riding and steaming badly so needed full regulator and 20 per cent cut off to maintain 53-54mph up the bank. But we were still doing OK to pass Worting Junction a minute early after a two minute late start and, with speed up to 79mph at Fleet, looked set for another early arrival but it was not to be. We got a signal check at Sturt Lane and again at Weybridge but even then Roy tried to get us in on time by running up to a very daring and exhilarating 75mph past Wimbledon where I had to hang on tight as we rounded the curve at the London end. We then sat down outside Waterloo, finally arriving seven minutes late, a poor and untypical end to a fantastic week with a great engineman.

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Cab of 70000 Britannia working the Royal Duchy on 5 August 2012.

My next offering was also one with Roy Sloper, this time on a heavily loaded up semi-fast train. No 34034 Honiton had a load of 13 bogies, just short of 450 tons full and when I climbed up onto the footplate after a warm greeting from Roy it was obvious that all was not well. The boiler pressure was down to 160 lb but had recovered to 210 lb by the time we left, 12 minutes late on the slow line. Roy said that if he tried to use full regulator the pressure would fall rapidly, so he would have to let the engine find its own speed using half regulator. After the slack for track work at Hook, Roy tried full regulator for a while but as predicted this quickly pulled the pressure back to 160 lbs and the boiler needed to be filled, so discretion was the best option and we trundled along with speed in the sixties until the signal checks outside Woking. There I got back into the train and we stood for five minutes while the fireman got the fire into shape and the pressure up to the red line. Things then improved and we reached a nice 75mph at Hersham regaining three minutes to Waterloo. I suspect that the engine was due for a boiler washout and, as I found with other Bulleid Pacifics, when this happens it’s no good opening the regulator fully and hoping that will do the trick as it would on an engine in good condition.

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Firing 850 Lord Nelson on 30 May 2015.

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23 August 2006. Driver Tony Leaver at the controls of 75027 entering Horsted Keynes.

The winter and spring of early 1966 was when I had most of my footplate rides. These included some on the 5.30 pm Waterloo to Weymouth with Nine Elms No 4 link driver Dave Parsons, though this train was a No 3 link turn at that time. Even though it was dark, Dave was nervous about letting me ride from Waterloo, so I joined him and fireman Harrington on the footplate at Basingstoke for a ride as far as Winchester. Thursday, 13 January was very cold and snowy but our engine, Rebuilt Pacific No 34012 Launceston, rode smoothly and was steaming well, so only had to be fired lightly. Dave though said it felt sluggish and the 81mph down Roundwood bank after the very long slack for track works from after Wootton to Waltham was poor in comparison with a speed in the nineties obtained with No 34026 the following night with only 150 lbs of steam. My notes say that 34012 was inclined to shake the fire about and towards the front.

Also in the early part of 1966 I had a number of footplate rides with Gordon Porter, another likeable and friendly Nine Elms man who in my opinion was in the top few drivers for producing epic performances from the Bulleid Pacifics in those last few years.

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30 May 2015. Braking for the stop at Ropley on 850 Lord Nelson.

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28 October 2009. Drivers side cab view of 34028 Eddystone.

This subject is dealt with fully in my forthcoming book Southern Steam Twilight: The Untold Story so I will only dwell briefly here on a snippet from my favourite driver. I had ridden all the way from Waterloo on No 34037 Clovelley working the 10.35 pm down mails and the table shows the final section from Winchester to Eastleigh. Even on this section our fireman, Tom Moult had to work hard but still failed to maintain pressure. The steam chest gauge wasn’t working on this engine and no doubt it would have been failed by lesser drivers and of course in the current environment would have failed its fitness-to-run exam on a number of counts. Finally on the main line is a cameo from another of the Nine Elms ‘fast men’, Les Cummings, whose fireman was Dave Davis, the same man who in the 1990s produced some phenomenal performances with No 35028 Clan Line. This was with unrebuilt No 34006 Bude on the 5.41 pm Waterloo to Salisbury semi-fast train, which Nine Elms men took as far as Basingstoke. That evening some of the fraternity took it in turns riding from station to station on the Woking to Basingstoke section and it was my turn from Fleet to Winchfield. It was nothing special but the engine was completely on top of the job with its 380 ton load. Les was the driver who gave me one of my highest speeds with a Bulleid light Pacific, 97 mph down Roundwood bank and details of this too will be in my next book.

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28 October 2009. 34028 Eddystone at Harman’s Cross.

Riding on the footplate on a preserved line with its nominal 25mph speed limit cannot ever be the same as on the main line at high speed, but the run I had in May 2015 with 850 Lord Nelson was still a great experience. I was surprised at how relatively hard the engine had to work even taking into account the 1 in 60 climb out of Alton and of just how rough riding it was. This was in part due to my main line experiences all being on Pacifics whereas of course No 850 is a 4-6-0 with no trailing truck to smooth the ride. Maybe I will once again manage a footplate ride with a Bulleid Pacific on the main line but if not the memories of those I had will never fade.

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28 October 2009. The hazards of being a footplateman.