It came about that on Sunday 18 June 2000 our lowly Avonside 0-6-OST made a sudden escape from the confines of Whitehead into the big wide world.  On this Sunday quite a crowd of enthusiasts had assembled in what had been the goods yard of the former Muckamore station. Here, a large stone-loading depot had been set up by the main contractors, Farrans Ltd, and named Access No.2 in a series of road access points between Antrim and Bleach Green Junction. In due course, a low-loader appeared, bearing an engine which identified itself as RPSI No.3 and turned out to be “R H Smyth” minus its nameplates and maker’s plates.

A rostering system was subsequently arranged whereby one man was rostered to light up the engine at 0530, another, normally the driver, coming on at 0700 and the lighter-up being relieved at about 1200.

The agreement with our employers, Henry Boot Ltd, was that the engine would be available from 0730 for ten hours or so, depending on the nature of the work in hand.

Throughout, the wagons were loaded by a mechanical shovel, this and its driver, Seamus , came from around Cookstown. The stone reputedly came from even further afield. Seamus was a most agreeable and obliging person, particularly when it came to getting coal on to the engine. This was normally done by loading bags from a container into the bucket of his machine which would then convey them to the cab roof where they could be slit open and emptied into the bunker.

The wagons which made up our train were something of a vintage bunch and had started life on BR Southern Region. Having acquired more modern vehicles, NIR made these three mature specimens available to Henry Boot. Dating from more affluent days on NIR, they carried cast brass number plates and could euphemistically be described as specialised - the one nearest the engine would discharge only in the middle, the next could do both middle and sides while the third could only do sides.

The third wagon could also cause problems if the doors were opened too enthusiastically, when the operating mechanism would go “over the top” and refuse to close.

One of the first things to be learned was the speed at which to proceed while discharging ballast. This was not too difficult in the earlier stages - a brisk walking pace with the chutes well open. 

Only in a dire emergency should one stop while discharging, especially with the middle chutes open. 

Stopping, or excessive slowing, with either side or middle open, would result in stone being deposited on the rails and, especially with the middle chute, could result in the train being anchored by a pillar of stone, resulting in much digging by the wagon crews, with requests for the loan of the engine’s ash rake. Stones on the line meant that the journey was somewhat bumpy.

At the beginning, since some Henry Boot personnel lived in houses in the Dunadry area, while we were working in that area the engine was often parked there or a little nearer Muckamore beside a farm crossing.  The two other stabling points used were Access 13 & 14, respectively Kingsmoss West and East level crossings, it being felt that this was as near Greater Belfast as it was prudent to go.

The former also had convenient water, although its pressure was the most feeble of all and, when used for the loco, deprived the nearby house of its supply. However, the good lady there did not complain and one can only hope that she never has a serious fire.

Access 2: Former Muckamore goods yard, level, spacious and convenient to shop;

Access 5: Beside Islandreagh Road, level, small, but had the advantage that, when the engine was uncoupled, the loading shovel could deliver coal directly to the bunker, rather than via the cab roof;

Access 7: About 1/2 mile west of Kilmakee, towards which the line climbed. Since, as at most loading points, there was room to load only one wagon at a time it was usual to place the back wagon first, subsequent movements being taken care of by gravity; 

Access 10: Also on a gradient, between Templepatrick Loop and the M2 bridges, large and used a lot but not popular with Seamus due to steep ramp up to line - still less popular with the original shovel driver as it was on this ramp that his machine finally expired!
Access 12: 1/4 mile east of former Doagh station, convenient for loading; 

Access 15: At former Ballyclare Junction, convenient for nobody except observers on the Larne road from whence a steep ramp led down to a sharp bend; 

Access 17: Between Mossley and Monkstown, beside Ulster Way, with pleasing views of Belfast Lough and Co. Down shore while preparing for the slog up through Mossley. In latter weeks the amount of stone here resembled a young mountain range, to the constant bewilderment of Seamus, 

“Where are they going to use it all?” - but they did, and more.

The engine frequently had to work hard and, when doing so, swallowed coal and water at a rate unheard of in its earlier employment.

For those who may have fired our larger engines on main line work, to fire ‘Harvey” might seem a retrograde step, but I would not agree.  Once it was realised that whilst when shuffling around Whitehead the sight of the shovel was enough to make the engine blow off, the ballast job was a very different story.  In addition to the engine not having the reserve capacity of its larger sisters, the requirements of the operators could be unpredictable. On the other hand, when everything was in order, the engine could be a joy to drive, either steadily plodding or (for the more adventurous) storming up some of the steeper gradients.

At the start of the job it was a big novelty, for some a fun thing, something that neither the RPSI nor any similar body had ever done before. Money was to be made by the Society, the job was to be for 12-14 weeks and there were any amount of people available to crew the engine. Then summer ended; people became scarcer and the days got shorter while the hot weather, earlier complained of, ended and the job was nowhere near finished - extending, as it did, to just over 5 months. Lighting up and preparation at 0530 on a dark and rainy morning was far from being fun but, despite this, the engine never failed to be available for its rostered duty nor did it ever fail to complete that duty.

Despite tentative suggestions that it might return home by rail, “Harvey” returned on 25 November by road, again in steam so that it could be driven off on arrival. This operation covered almost the entire length of the line, beginning with a final dropping of ballast in the Mossley-Kingsbog area in the morning. The wagons were then propelled, in seasonably foul weather, back to Templepatrick Loop where the engine ran round before before hauling them bunk-first to the former stone loading bank at Antrim, this being the only time that the train ran in that configuration. 

Having travelled back to Whitehead, the fire was dropped at about 8 p.m. and the big adventure was over.