 At
9pm on Friday evening the steamraisers arrive to prepare the locomotive.
The ash and char from No.186's last steaming are removed from her ashpan
and taken away. |
 The
cleaning completed, No.186 is hauled out of the shed and into the night
to have her fire lit. |
 Shortly
after midnight, the task of firelighting commences. A burning rag, soaked
in diesel, is dropped onto a firebed of coal and wood. |
 Before
long the wood is burning well and the coal is warming up. |
 At
6am the RPSI Driver and Fireman arrive on duty. Brian and David oil up
the locomotive with two different grades of oil, and test all the systems
on the engine. |
 An
hour later the shunt to assemble the train begins. Then the N I Railways
driver, fireman, inspector and guard join the train, and the "Portrush
Flyer" steams off to Belfast Central Station to pick up its passengers. |
 No.186
is a strong locomotive and despite the rain, she confidently hauls her
train of six carriages and 280 passengers past Mossley West station.
At all times on the mainline, a RPSI Locomotive Representative is present
on the footplate. As custodian of the locomotive, this persons role
is to ensure that the locomotive is correctly lubricated and operated and
to offer assistance where required to the NIR footplate crew. |
 The
RPSI Locomotive Rep is reminded that "time flys by when you're the driver
of a train" as we steam on from a short stop at Antrim. Becoming
a Locomotive Rep is a rewarding process, working through the footplate
ranks and passing competency assessments before being passed to travel
on the mainline. |
 The
weather has cleared and the crowds are out for our arrival at Ballymena.
This is the first stop to replenish the locomotives water tanks on the
route. The RPSI support crew attend to this task, along with pulling
forward coal in the tender and checking the locomotive lubrication. |
 Footplate
work requires teamwork and skill. Noel, the driver (on the left)
relies on Gary, the fireman (on the right) to ensure there is sufficient
steam to provide power to keep the train moving. Brian, the Loco
Rep (in the middle) is essential to both of them, ensuring correct lubrication
of the engine. |
 But
its not all loco work. Back on the train, RPSI Train Manager Henry
enjoys a few moments of sunshine. |
 The
Fireman picks up the single line token from the Signalman at Coleraine
station as we pull out towards Portrush for the final few miles of our
journey. This ensures that we are the only train on the tracks to
Portrush. |
 Once
at Portrush, the locomotive is uncoupled and run-round to the other end
of the train. Whilst the passengers enjoy lunch, a walk on the beach
or an ice-cream, our train takes local people on a short trip called the
"Dalriada". |
 At
Coleraine, the RPSI owns a turntable and our locomotive is turned on this
to ensure that it is pointing smokebox-forward for the return journey to
Belfast. |
 Having
returned to Portrush from turning, the next shift of the RPSI locomotive
crew gets to work to service the loco for the return journey. Here
Mark is cleaning the smokebox. |
 He
then goes round with his oil can (or pump in this case) and ensures all
the axleboxes and oiling points are lubricated. |
 He
then "cleans the fire". The fire in a steam locomotive reaches very
high temperatures and sometimes incombusible impurities in the coal form
a layer of what is known as "clinker". Clinker stops air getting
through the fire grate and stops the fire from burning as well - thus making
it harder to get a hot fire to boil the water. The clinker has to
be broken up with a "pricker" and then shovelled out with a "clinker shovel". |
 Finally,
the ash pan gets cleaned. This unusual view, looking down the front
of the firebox, past the big-end bearings and eccentrics, to the ash pan
spark arrestor, which James is refitting. The RPSI crew can now relax,
have a cup of tea and enjoy the chat with the NIR crew and our passengers. |
 On
our way home, we stop again for water at Ballymena. |
 Then
it is a very pleasant run down the bank into Belfast. Here the train
is coasting through Whiteabbey station. |
 The
mirrored windows of the former Royal Mail sorting office reflect the train
as we pass over the Dargan Bridge before entering Belfast Central station,
where our passengers leave us. |
 However,
all is not yet complete. Our train still has to return to our depot
at Whitehead and the stock shunted away into the sheds. Here 186
and crew are pushing carriages into the carriage sidings. |
 Framed
by Hunslet 102 and under-repair County Donegal tank engine "Drumboe", No.186
finishes the shunt. |
 Whilst
the shunters are locking up the gates and sheds, the footplate crew fill
the boiler, ensure the locomotive is shut down and clean the smokebox,
ashpan and fire again. Here a shovel full of burning coals and clinker
is lifted out of the grate. Its the end of a long day, probably involving
over 10 volunteer crew, but its an incredibly rewarding hobby with the
satisfaction of a job well done and the knowledge that hundreds of passengers
have enjoyed themselves. You could enjoy this unique method of stress
relief and improve your quality of life - come and join us! |
