Steamy Scenes

Out With The Old...

2011-02-22T22:24:00.000Z

and I'm not talking about ticket inspectors!

February is always a quiet time of year for tourist attractions and the NVR is no exception; however I have had a few turns of duty combined with visits where I’ve turned up ‘on spec’ in uniform ready to help out if required – or just have a full breakfast and a chat with some train rides chucked in if you want to be pedantic about it!

Motive power this month has been provided by the welcome return of the J94 Austerity tank, accompanied during half term by a freshly repainted Thomas. The weather has generally been dismal, with a choice of cold or wet – or cold and wet this last weekend. Although this doesn’t provide the most pleasant of travelling conditions, it does make for some rather atmospheric photography conditions, which I actually prefer to the usual blue sky and sun of the brochures.

On the subject of brochures, I’m pleased to be able to blow my own trumpet here a bit, as my photography features on the front cover of the new Visitor Guide and Timetable for the 2011 season. Although not my favourite photo by a long way, the image had to fit the design of the leaflet, so a considerably cropped version had to be used. Nevertheless, the sight of 44422 steaming out of Wansford is a nice picture and captures the essence of the railway as a whole.

More news from Wansford is that the huge hulk of the Polish 2-10-0 Kreigslok loco is destined to be shipped abroad in March, and this has thankfully seen the loco moved out of its long term home on the main siding and is currently on the turntable awaiting a low loader. Although a magnificent machine, the loco has been abandoned for many years and is rotting away – and as this is most visitors’ first impression of the railway, it doesn’t present the right image by any means. This is the only reason I’m pleased to see it go.

Last chance to view this awesome locomotive

Into the Kreigslok’s place goes the Swedish B class 4-6-0 loco, which has received a cosmetic makeover in the last few months by the hard working team of the International Railway Preservation Society. Adjacent to this has moved the CIWL Italian Restaurant Car 2975, dating from 1927. This vehicle is awaiting restoration; a task that will commence once her neighbouring coach, CIWL Sleeper 3916 is completed. The IRPS are making tremendous progress with this coach, although it is a mammoth task to restore. Although the bodywork is in poor condition as is expected, internally the cabins are remarkably intact with the beautiful wood panelling seemingly unaffected by years of outdoor storage.

Swedish 101

Dining Car 2975

Sleeping berth in 2916

The new line up is being displayed as the Nord Express, and is a vast visual improvement on the former death row of old engines! Visitors are greeted by a presentable loco, and with 3916 under restoration this shows that the railway is working hard on active projects. The whole ensemble is a great introduction to the railway, and a great talking point to speak to visitors about when we show them round.

The season commences properly in April with a Mixed Traffic Event featuring most of the home fleet plus a possible surprise guest star; however I have no idea what that might be, so watch this space and be surprised with me!

February’s photos will shortly appear in my Steamy Scenes gallery.

More about the International Railway Preservation Society, based at Wansford on the NVR, may be seen on their website and current news is reported on their Facebook page.

The Big Bang

2011-01-09T22:26:00.000Z

I must acquaint Laura and Matt on the footplate with my latest findings!

After posting the previous article, I was intrigued by Iain Robinson’s comment about loco 377 King Haakon having had a boiler explosion in the past. Fired up (pun almost intended) with Poirot style detective skills – now I’m glad I watched Orient Express (!) – I did a little digging on the internet to find out more. And I’m pleased to say that Iain’s recollections are correct; on 7th March 1976, whilst hauling a train on the Great Central Railway near Loughborough, 377 experienced an explosion in the firebox resulting in the cab being enveloped in steam, water and burning coal. It must have been a terrifying moment for the crew, as three out of the four men in the cab received serious injuries.

Although information is scarce about the accident, I was fascinated to come across this original typewritten report by The Railway Inspectorate of the London Midland Region. It is well worth a look; as well as a detailed inquiry with drawings and diagrams, the report ends with conclusions and advice on how to prevent a recurrence. The most interesting line is, and I quote, ‘that it should be remembered by all who have dealings with steam locomotives that when steam is raised to a pressure of 170 lbs, its temperature is not that of a boiling kettle’. So much for making a brew on the footplate then!

King Haakon at Yarwell in a timeless scene. on 2 January.

Perhaps the biggest difference between 1976 and now is that the report examined the accident, reported on it, discovered the cause and provided a simple remedy. What would happen if the same accident occurred today? Health & Safety would close the line down for investigation; all steam locos would be placed under house arrest; Quangos and committees and inquiries would be set up and take years to come to the conclusion that a steam loco is hotter than a kettle and needs a bit of TLC; footplate crews would dress like The Stig and attend Fire Safety Courses whilst having to travel in the first coach for health and safety issues. Think I’m joking? Well, a few years ago the company I worked for at the time sent me on an expensive full day course in Birmingham to teach me how to change a lightbulb in a shop. The conclusion after the day long course (with a very nice lunch I must give them credit for) is that it is too dangerous for shop floor staff to change a lightbulb and the maintenance team should be called in.

I think that says it all.

The new H&S aware steam loco uniform makes its debut at the NVR.

Thanks to Iain for raising the issue that provided an interesting insight into the history of our visiting loco. Iain's informative and entertaining blog may be read here.

A Warm Winter?

2011-01-09T16:44:00.001Z

King Haakon arrives at Wansford, 2 January.

It’s been quite some time since I posted anything here, which has been due to an array of difficulties that arose in the traditional manner all at the same time and which are taking some considerable time to sort out. On top of this, December was an extremely hectic month both on and off the railway, so something had to give. And that something was me. But new year, new start and all that – so what’s new?

Well, in the run up to Christmas I worked on the Santa Specials on the NVR. I was sent to First Class in the Wagon-Lits, renowned as the hardest task on the Santa’s. It is an extremely hectic job, as five trains run each day and on each service, passengers are served with food and drink, sweets, presents, a visit from Santa, mince pies, coffee and tea – it’s more like working on the Gatwick – Paris shuttle. When the train returns to Wansford, there is a window of 25 minutes to turn the train round ready for the next load, so it really is something of a production line. So why volunteer? Simple – working in first class means that there is unlimited access to mince pies and coffee. No contest.

The trains finish on Christmas Eve, allowing us all to go and enjoy the traditional falling-outs and skirmishes of the festive season, which this year put Apocalypse Now into the shade, so I was pleased when New Year’s Day came round and I could return to the railway for a bit of sanity as passenger services resumed on the Winter Warmers.

Most of the home fleet is currently out of action with swine flu or whatever illness is in vogue at the moment, so the NVR has hired in the Norwegian 2-6-0 King Haakon from Bressingham to fill the gap. This unusual loco is required as the braking system is compatible with the Wagon-Lits coaches currently in operation on the line for the next couple of weeks. Whilst it is willing, and has cracking steam heat, it struggles to haul anything much over three coaches so for New Year the train was top and tailed with one of our trusty class 14 diesels.

Behind every successful NVR steaming is a ...?

The Christmas break had done King Haakon about as much good as it had done me, and the loco failed before the first service train departed from Wansford. Eventually the class 14 departed alone, with a very chilly Winter Warmer service! By the time I got back to Wansford I was looking very much like Scott of The Antarctic and dived straight into the café for several coffees. Still, the engineering bods had been busy during our Siberian adventure and repaired King Haakon so that the rest of the day was much more to my liking. I even removed one or two jumpers and a scarf at one point. It’s good to be back.

Edited to try and create a photo that looks as
though it could have been taken in 1919 when the loco was first built.

This weekend I was back at the railway to help out on private charter on Saturday. The event was a surprise 70th birthday party with around 60 guests who hired out a whole train for the day. The Wagon-Lits rake was booked, as it offers luxurious accommodation for the at-seat meal service that would be served on board during the two full-length non-stop trips up and down the line.

The day began with shed tours that were very popular if a tad on the cold side before everyone boarded the train. The atmosphere on board was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. At the run-rounds I was able to nip out for photos of the rostered loco, the Polish tank 5485, in glorious winter sunshine – my favourite lighting condition.

Next weekend is Haakon’s last one at the NVR, so all being well I’m hoping to pop down and get some photos.

By the way, if anyone out there saw the Christmas Day showing of Murder on The Orient Express on ITV; well much of the exterior shots were filmed at the NVR and superimposed onto various backgrounds. Personally, I thought that this remake was totally pointless even though it was pleasing to see our Wagon-Lit coaches in action behind the BR Standard 5 loco - how this loco came to be in Istanbul is a bigger mystery than the actual murder!

More playing around to create a moody
Orient Express scene on New Year's Day.

Big Bang at Ferry Meadows

2010-11-08T21:12:00.001Z

Although the Nene Valley Railway has now closed to the public until the Santa Specials start running, the line has a special duty every year to fulfil on Guy Fawkes Night as it provides special trains to take visitors to the Ferry Meadows Fireworks Fiesta.

Starting at Wansford, the first train runs to Ferry Meadows then onwards as ecs to Peterborough for the first group of party-goers – and there were so many of them it was a like a First Capital Connect commuter service! Except that the train had welcoming, friendly staff of course …

The train was formed of the four open-plan DSB saloons, one of which had no lights as the batteries wouldn’t hold the charge. Unfortunately, this was the bar car! Our Polish tank loco provided power at one end, and a class 14 diesel top and tailed at the other. Neither loco had heating facilities, so it was rather chilly on board after a while. The idea was essentially to cram as many people on board as possible for the 10-minute trip to Ferry, then return ecs to Peterborough and repeat the process. Both trains were packed out, but the mood was easygoing and relaxed.

A moody scene at Wansford after the last train had returned.

Once the second batch of passengers detrained, the fun part of the evening began. The train runs down the line to Lynch Bridge, where it parks up. All the train crew tuck into their fish and chips, thoughtfully delivered to Peterborough station in advance. Then it’s time to watch the fireworks.

Naturally this presented me with a golden opportunity to try out a new genre of photography. I was able to get off the train onto Lynch Bridge, and by wedging myself and the tripod between the buffers and footboards, I had an excellent vantage point of the whole area. Yes, it was cold, dirty and extremely uncomfortable, but if it were easy then everyone would do it. The sensible people stayed in the nice cold train, so they weren’t that much better off anyway …

The railway is located sufficiently distant from the park so that it enables a grandstand view of proceedings. Before the main event, nearby Castor puts on a small display, which was very useful as I could use it for practise and get my settings right! Then comes the legendary Ferry Meadows display, with some breathtaking lighting effects in a superbly co-ordinated sequence. They last for a good 15 minutes and build up to an incredible finale of dazzling lights in all manner of artistic patterns and designs.

Following the display the train repeated the commuter role it was provided for, before heading back to Wansford and a break before Santa Claus comes to town in December!

The end of another season at Wansford.

The Witches of Wansford

2010-10-31T19:30:00.001Z

Saturday night was Halloween with Thomas at Wansford, and I went down as general factotum to help out here and there – my task was mainly to get the 150 odd participants on and off the special train at Wansford and Yarwell, then generally hang around; something I excel at.

After a thoughtfully provided fish n’ chip supper, I manned the ticket barrier to greet the arrivals, and I have to say the effort and time put into costumes – both adult and children – was incredible. The station had been decorated by Jayne and her ever hard working team and certainly looked the part.

Thomas took the train through the haunted tunnel, and of course we really laid the ghost-who-lives-in-tunnel on thick and got huge cheers, ooohhh’s and general screaming from the carriages, although this had more to do with Jayne’s broomstick and Eddie’s backside rather than supernatural occurrences.

On arrival at Yarwell we got everyone off the train and those of us on duty were handed a Chinese lantern and told to set it off. And how do we do that? “Take it out of the plastic bag and set it on fire,” was the ever-helpful response.

Upon opening the plastic bag, I discovered that inside it I had a paper bag. No, sorry, I stand corrected. An orange paper bag with some string and cardboard in it, and some crudely applied black paper eyes and a mouth. It was a pumpkin paper lantern. It wasn’t just an ordinary pumpkin paper lantern. It was an incredibly cheap and naff pumpkin paper lantern that even Poundland felt that they were overcharging for. By around 99p.

Eventually I managed to set mine on fire, although as Angie helpfully pointed out, setting fire to the outside wasn’t going to help much. I’m not sure that I agree …

Chinese lanterns that you simply light and send soaring over the

Nene Valley in an artistic and dramatic manner.

Ours were nothing like this.

All ten lanterns eventually got lit and sent on their merry way. One made it as far as the nearest carriage and crashed; four made it over the train and landed in the trees which presented the possibility of a lineside fire nearly in November (a first for any preserved line) whilst the remainder took off in spectacular style and sailed away into oblivion before landing on a Mondeo in Nassington and trashing the paintwork.

Now that we’d established a level, everyone got back on the train and returned to Wansford. All passengers were helped to disembark so that they could go for food, party games and storytelling. That was me done as I don’t do party games or story telling, except to my boss who wanted an explanation about the dent in the back of the artic I used on Friday.

So, I went and got the camera, as I fancied a night shoot around Wansford station. Naturally I tried taking pictures of Thomas, but I needed a 30 second time exposure to capture the lighting, and no one could manage to keep out of the viewfinder for that amount of time. The longest uninterrupted shot was 15 seconds, so that will have to do.

Away from the Halloween shenanigans there were some good opportunities, the best one being as Thomas shunted the coaches out of the station. I managed to create this image of a train speeding through Wansford Station at night, which I particularly like.

As the party wound down I sought out the three resident witches who had been doing the entertainment, food and - pretty much everything really. Mavis, Jayne and Pat had really got into character and were only too happy to pose for photos. Well, they’re certainly different from my usual models I have to say, and they did have a tendency to fondle their brooms that made the photo session look more like an audition for a porn movie rather than a children’s party. Jayne’s face lit up when she found she had a broom to straddle, and getting her to pose motionless for a long exposure shot wasn’t going to happen. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying some questionable antics with a broom between her legs. I shall say no more. Happy Halloween!

Getting the evil eye from Witch Pat

Jayne enjoying her prop way too much.

Sunday was the final running day of the 2010 season; so I went down to do booking office. It was a dull, wet day and rather quiet, although as I had company in the booking office with Geoff, plus Liz and Percy next door in the shop, the time passed quickly and pleasantly enough. I popped out to take a shot of the last train of the season departing Wansford on the final run – we were using Austerity No. 22, which made a fine sight heading down the line for Peterborough.

Well, that’s the season done. Since joining the Nene Valley in February I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of something that manages to be interesting, rewarding, friendly and often wacky as my posts have shown. I enjoy going down most weekends, have made many new friends as a result and come across a lot of very pleasant people both on and off the trains.

The railway takes a break from passenger service until the Santa Specials start on 28th November, although much behind the scenes work by the unsung hard working teams such as loco maintenance, Signal & Telegraph, Permanent Way, Carriage and Wagon etc continues unabated out of the public eye. There is a special train next Saturday in connection with a fireworks display at Ferry Meadows, and I’m planning to be on it – so the story continues…

Fowler Play at Ferry Meadows

2010-10-26T19:20:00.001+01:00

It’s been three weeks since my last visit to the NVR, unless you include the lingerie photoshoot for the calendar project, so it was great to go back after such an unusually long gap on Sunday – in full TTI uniform, not lacy skimpies I hasten to add. The season closes next Sunday, so this was my penultimate turn of duty for the year, other than a couple of one-off special events I’m popping down for. The year seems to have positively flown by since I joined the railway back in February.

Sunday’s timetable was the easy three-train schedule, with Thomas in steam between Wansford and Yarwell as it’s the school holidays, and 4F 44422 back in service working the main service down to Peterborough. Although chilly, the skies were crystal clear, and bright sunshine brought out the crowds – better than some summer running days, I noticed. All three trains loaded well, so there was plenty to keep the star team busy – Eddie and myself on TTI duty, Matt as Guard and Laura adding glamour and some down to earth commonsense in her usual manner as trainee Guard. With Stephen on the bar I was guaranteed a decent cup of coffee – it takes a long time to train people how to make a drinkable cuppa, but the effort pays off in the end.

The atmosphere on board the train was good, and the day was only marred by some idiots who decided to get off a train at Ferry Meadows after it had been waved off and was already in motion – this despite a 5 minute dwell time as we loaded a large group of people and all their accompanying baby buggies, prams, bikes, toys and nappy changing bags and a fridge freezer. Okay, I made that bit up. They didn’t have any nappy changing bags.

Next weekend is the finale of the season, with Thomas's Halloween Party on Saturday night. I’ve been roped into helping out with this event, and although the NVR props department has run out of scary masks, Jayne assured me that I don’t need one. “Just come as you are dear; your face will scare the living daylights out of anyone.”

It’s that sort of kind, warm-hearted appreciation that has kept me going back to the NVR week after week!

Playing Catch Up

2010-10-15T15:12:00.000+01:00

An experimental night shot of D1062 taken during War Weekend in September. I liked the idea enough to go and buy a shutter release cable; so much simpler than holding my breath!

As I have a couple of days off work due to a recent wisdom tooth extraction that ended in a hot balloon taking up residence in my mouth, I’ve been using the time to catch up on things at home. I've even found time for some sleep - until the painkillers wear off, at least.

For the first time in many months I’m not spending a weekend down at the NVR as I have commitments elsewhere. However, I still managed to fit in a trip during the week as part of a photographic assignment for a lingerie shoot that I covered here. During the shoot I was pleased to run into Paul, who writes the informative blog ‘A Personal View of The NVR.’ Paul is based in Carriage & Wagon maintenance and generally works on the railway during the week – consequently we’ve never actually met. He was working on one of vanfit wagons that has kept him occupied for some time, so I strolled over for a chat while Sian was away getting changed between shoots. It’s always pleasant to meet a new volunteer on the railway and put a face to the name, particularly when you’re following their work through blogs and can see the progress with each visit. Without such things, few people would ever get to know what happens in different areas of the railway to the one you work in yourself.

I'm sure you've spotted it already - but just in case you're not paying attention, Paul's Vanfit is second from left, partially hidden by the post. Other interesting features in this picture are the rusty oil drums, lots of chain and the clever juxtaposition of the signal in relation to the shed. Anything else I've missed?

I’ve added galleries to my Steamy Scenes website so that everything should now be up to date. I still haven’t got captions done, and all I’ll say is don’t hold your breath.

Some time ago I uploaded a new video entitled The Blue Train. I was busy and forgot to blog it, but essentially it took the premise of The Orient Express and covered a grand European rail journey. In Cambridgeshire, owing to budgetary requirements. Mostly filmed during the heatwave in June, there are some striking and colourful scenes in the film. I’ve used the music before in an early film, but make no apologies for a second outing as it suits the concept and the actual train very well.

On Saturday I’m back at a model railway show as I’m demonstrating for Ten Commandments. I can’t say that I’m overly excited at the prospect, as I had to turn down a paid photographic shoot for a 16th birthday party because the dates clashed. Beards, bellies, BO and bullshit. Bring it on!

Rainy Days & Diesels

2010-10-05T21:53:00.002+01:00

October already! Where has the year gone? It barely seems a few weeks since I joined the NVR and began life as a working volunteer at the Diesel Gala in March – and now here I am, a seasoned veteran officiating at the autumn diesel gala, which is the final big weekend event in the railway’s calendar.

The gala ran for three days, and I worked Saturday and Sunday on the trains as TTI. Overall the atmosphere was pretty good, although there was the usual lack of manners and politeness that accompanies these events – in marked contrast to steam and family days. This was particularly noticeable after last week’s 1940’s event where everyone was open and friendly. The diesel crowd, by and large, stick their heads into Nikons and timetables and generally ignore everyone else around them unless they are part of their particular clique. They also resent being asked to show tickets on board the trains, but the reason we ask to see them is that the diesel followers are notorious for resenting having to pay to travel on the trains in the first place – hence the need for regular inspections! Also, because they insist on leaving one train at a station and then jumping aboard another train to go back behind a different loco, they come across several roving TTI’s during the day – but as we may not have seen them before, we don’t know that, “I’ve shown you my ticket a dozen times already.” C’est la vie.

That aside, things went rather well. We had a dazzling selection of motive power to hand, from class 08 up to 66 with pretty much everything in between. Highlights of the gala depended upon personal preferences, but for me the class 52 Western D1062 Western Courier in maroon livery topped the bill, with 50135 Ark Royal close behind. The Hoover was adorned in Loadhaul livery, which of course it never carried, so I wasn’t expecting to be impressed. In the event, however, the loco actually suited this scheme far more than some liveries it did carry in BR service.

Three rakes of coaches were pressed into service, and being the NVR, we did this in our usual quirky fashion. Set 1 was a five-car Mk1 rake – nothing unusual there. Set 2 consisted of the four DSB opens plus the Belgian sliding door coach. This vehicle was, of course, incompatible with the DSB’s so had no through corridor connection. Set 3 was the most eclectic rake of the lot. Normally we’d use the Wagon Lit set, but this is away earning a living on a filming contract. We could have hired in a set of coaches, but we’d sooner do things our way. So we got the non-operational twin-car DMU, coupled it up to two spare TPO coaches and stuck a Mk 1 TSO on the end. Passengers were permitted to travel in one TPO, which is fine if you don’t want any light or even a window to look out of. There was also only one seat, as this was the stowage vehicle! Let’s just say that ticket inspections in this vehicle were quick and easy …

Not quite as it may appear! A very rare chance to

photograph the terminally ill DMU in passenger service - sort of.

Thanks to great teamwork on behalf of the loco crews, yard staff and signalbox, we kept the intensive service running pretty much on time for all three days. Ironically the only real slip up came on Saturday night when we ran a single rake of coaches on two Wansford – Peterborough and return trips as Beer-Ex trains. The Western was at one end, and two 37’s at the other. Although plenty of NVR staff would ride these trains on an off-duty basis, I’d volunteered to stay on duty for these services as I don’t generally drink so wasn’t bothered about signing off and having a pint. What I was really after was some nocturnal photography to try out my new shutter release cable, and planned to ride the trains, photograph them back at Wansford then do a night time shoot around the depot. What could possibly go wrong?

I soon found out. The Western failed at Wansford. Not a total calamity with a dozen replacement locos lying around the place, but the logistics conspired against us. In order to stick a new loco onto the front of the train, the whole consist had to be shunted out of the station. You can’t shunt with passengers on board, so everyone had to be turfed off. And who do you think got handed that enviable task? The only idiot still on duty, that’s who. The compartment coaches weren’t so bad; stick head in, announce the bad news and run away. The TSO was a different matter. Located immediately behind the recalcitrant loco, this coach was full of diehard Western fans who wanted some good nocturnal Maybach thrash accompanied by a pint. Or five. Telling them that the loco was knackered was one thing. Chucking them off the train was another, especially as the weather, which had been very kind all day, had now turned and was chucking it down. People were not happy. People let me know they weren’t happy. I felt about as popular as a ham sandwich in a mosque.

At length Control took control and chucked 50135 on top of the Western so that we could finally get going. And when we got going, we went in fine style. I took an executive decision not to do a ticket inspection for health and safety reasons as I would have been a Christian entering a TSO of well-oiled lions. Some things are best left alone. On arrival back at Wansford it was really pouring down, and I reluctantly cancelled my photoshoot around the depot. I did manage some nice station shots, however, as I could work undercover and experiment with timings to get the best results. In this respect the rain actually helped out, as the wet platforms provided some reflections that illuminated the station and added to the overall scene.

It could almost be Plymouth and The Night Riviera.

The rain continued all day Sunday, varying between heavy downpours and very heavy downpours. Passenger numbers were lower, and working the trains was a lot easier. It also meant that I had the chance to do a spot of photography, including legging it out of Wansford so that I could get a lineside shot of the Western in action, as opposed to station and yard shots. This picture was worth the inevitable soaking that resulted from my mad dash – the things I do for pleasure.

D1062 leaving Newquay for Paddington in '65. I wish!

We received some good feedback about the gala via the various relevant forums that deal in such matters, or so I’ve been told. We were praised for the choice of locos, running the advertised service, providing the locos that we said we would run and keeping it all together. I felt that it was a big improvement over the Spring gala, and overall the mood seemed better and less intense.

And so that pretty much brings the Nene Valley season to a close. We’re still running up until the end of October and round off with Thomas having a spooky Halloween evening. This is followed by a Fireworks Fiesta on 6 November before preparations commence in earnest for the Santa Specials to complete the year.

The rain hammers down at Wansford - not readily visible here, but the full set

of larger images should shortly appear in Steamy Scenes photo galleries.

Autumn Approaches

2010-09-22T22:43:00.000+01:00

Sunday's motive power prepares for the day ahead.

The end of the season is approaching down at the NVR, and for the first time this year it felt like it during my TTI turn on Sunday. There was a definite autumnal chill in the air and the trains were quite quiet. Despite this, it was a good day and quite varied. On the first train out I was tour guide to party of 50 silver riders who were on a coach tour of the area. They were good fun and easy going so we had a relaxed round trip of the line. There was a complete change on the second train as I had another party; this was a group of special needs children with parents and carers on a birthday outing. They were a delightful bunch of kids, and I chatted to all of them on the journey. I let each of them help clip a hole in their special tickets for their scrapbook, and it made it all a very interactive occasion. They were a happy bunch, and nice to see so many smiles from both the children and adults at the end of the trip.

That was my tour guide duty done, and I was now free. We had three more trains to operate, and as the TTI on duty couldn’t stay all day I offered to take the remaining services as its always enjoyable working the trains. I missed one service out, however, and used the time to visit places at Wansford I rarely get to visit and have a coffee and natter with volunteers in the gift shop and bookshop.

Recalling the days of my mis-spent youth - window hanging out of Mk1

coaches with a rasping class 31 up front. Happy days!

We were running a two loco service during the day, with the trusty 4F – now nearing the end of its sojourn on the NVR – and resident ‘Goyle’ 31108 on alternate services. Preparations were also in hand for next week’s big event – the 1940’s Weekend with a spectacular line up of entertainment planned. I’m due to be spending 3 days down at the railway covering this event, but not in my usual NVR capacity as I have something completely different planned!

This is a rather brief post as I'm rather busy this week with so many projects in hand that I don't know where to start!

Mingling on The Orient Express

2010-09-17T21:30:00.000+01:00

I don’t often get the chance to work on the railway during the week as I’m normally out earning a crust in order to pay for all the mistakes made by the Inland Revenue or whatever fancy title they now call themselves. On Wednesday, however, the railway was hosting a meeting of the Peterborough Business Forum on board one of the trains to make a nice change from the usual hotel conference room set up. Therefore, the NVR needed a representative from the railway who could meet and greet delegates on arrival at Peterborough, then accompany them on the journey whilst generally mingling and promoting the railway as a whole. The role required somebody eloquent, calm, knowledgeable and friendly to undertake this task. Unfortunately all the eloquent, calm, knowledgeable and friendly people were off on holiday or otherwise tied up, so I got asked if I’d like to do the gig.

I was delighted to accept another interesting and different facet of the railway’s operation, and duly popped down to Wansford for an interesting day. The party would join the second train of the day at Peterborough, so I decided to travel down on the first service and be ready to meet people as they arrived at Peterborough. This would allow plenty of time to get ready, as well as prepare the coach for the visitors on the way down. The Managing Director of the NVR would travel down on the next train and officiate with a welcome speech before mingling with the group.

Stock for the day consisted of the Polish Slask tank 5485 with four DSB coaches for the public and three Wagon-Lits. It was a busy day, as in addition to my group there was a lunch party taking up the second Wagon-Lit for a Ploughman’s Silver Riders Special, whilst the DSB coaches would host two school parties and the unsuspecting general public.

I travelled down the line with Steven who was preparing the lunch settings, plus Eddie who is also a TTI and had just popped in for the day. At Orton Mere we were dropping off some cleaning cloths and a large roll of tissue paper. The cloths were passed over TPO mail-drop style from the moving train, but the kitchen roll was too bulky to fit through the window. So it got dumped at the end of platform, meaning that Old Arkwright would have to walk up for it.

On arrival at Peterborough I had the chance to have a sit down and proper chat with Peter, Sue and Trudi who run the station on a regular basis. Normally I only see them briefly when on TTI duty, as we pop in for a bit of banter during the 10 minute dwell whilst the loco runs round. I’ve not actually been at Peterborough and watched a train leave before as I’m always on it! The chance was too good to miss, and as I had my trusty Panasonic tucked inside my jacket as usual, I took some pictures and a nice clip of film as the train departed from the station. For filming I always use a tripod, although on this occasion I didn’t have one as it wouldn’t fit into my pocket. Something for Primark to pass on to their Quality Control department. Instead, I found that resting it on a fence post worked adequately, although there was a slight list to starboard. This was cured by folding up a Wansford platform ticket and resting the edge of the camera on it – I always knew it would come in useful one day.

Once the train had gone, we got down to the serious business of having lunch, coffees and a good natter until the first delegates began to arrive. Originally 12 people were expected, but that had risen to 40 by the day itself - a very good turnout for this type of meeting. I have to say that without exception they were friendly and interested in what the railway had to offer. The atmosphere was relaxed and informal, and they were clearly impressed at the idea of travelling in the Orient Express coaches (well, near enough. I mean; they’ve been in the film so that counts). The local paper, Peterborough Evening Telegraph, popped down for a group photo so I’m hoping that somebody has got a copy for my scrapbook. I rarely get into photos as I have a face for behind the lens rather than in front of it, but as I was smart and had done my hair (well, washed it) I took my place in the line-up.

The journey was a good one and the delegates mingled with each other quite happily. When the train departed from Wansford for the Yarwell leg, the atmosphere was good enough to give them the full Thomas treatment normally provided at children’s events. The delegates were given the choice of ‘lights on’ or ‘lights off’ when travelling through the haunted tunnel – and they unanimously voted for ‘off!’ I primed them to look out for the ghost, and actually raised a bigger cheer and ‘oooooh’ than on most Thomas trips! It certainly created a great mood on the train, and I can guarantee that you don’t get that in your business meeting at a Holiday Inn. Unless you get locked in the linen store with a Polish chambermaid, but that’s a different story. And it wasn’t my fault that all hotel doors look the same.....

On the return journey down to Peterborough I gave an informal guided tour of the line and facilities – and not just because I have the biggest mouth on the NVR. That is purely coincidental. I was keen to promote Ferry Meadows and Nene Park as an integral part of a family day out on the railway, because the two go hand in hand so well. The mood was great as the train rolled back into Peterborough, and everyone commented on the day as they left the train to return to their offices, or more likely, the pub. Next year’s Forum hosts will have to work hard to beat our efforts!

The return to Wansford was ‘on the cushions’ in 1st class Wagon-Lit splendour, which made a nice change. I couldn’t hang around when I got back as I was heading off to Kings Cliffe for a photoshoot – but that’s one for my other blog …

Steam & Cream

2010-09-13T20:34:00.001+01:00

44422 leaving Wansford in the 1950's.

It was our autumn steam event down at the NVR over the weekend, and rather enjoyable I thought. Rather than compete with the big Steam Galas currently on offer around the country, the NVR did everything in house with an emphasis on small and personal. Locos in steam included the Fowler 4F; Austerity 22 and the Polish Slask tank loco 5485. Passenger trains ran with the 4F and Austerity operating alternately on the Mk1 rake and 5485 on the DSB’s, resulting in prototypical consists. Highlight was the operation of several freight trains hauled by the Austerity and 4F in between passenger duties. Thomas was also in steam, sans face, operating top n’ tail shuttles between Wansford and Yarwell. Our flagship loco, City of Peterborough, is out of service under repair so was not available for traffic, but was moved to the bay platform to facilitate cab visits. This positioning permitted some great evening shots as the sun gradually descended on Saturday. Finally the Bullied Pacific 92 Squadron was shunted into the café platform (known as the loco crew drive-thru!) for inspection by the public. Members of the Battle of Britain Locomotive Society were on hand to discuss the loco’s restoration with interested visitors.

You need one hell of a tin opener to get inside this spam can.

My role for Saturday was TTI and the atmosphere was good with well-filled trains throughout the day. Towards the end of the afternoon I was preparing the last passenger train for departure when a family group approached, led my Vicky Pollard in her size 39 tracksuit. They’d bought tickets for Ferry Meadows because they wanted to go there for the day. At 4:10 pm. With their disabled mother. I told them that as this was the last train, they’d only get half an hour at Ferry if they left the train on the outward trip and rejoined it on the return leg. They weren’t happy about this, and complained loudly. The only other option was to travel in the freight wagons, and then they complained even more loudly. I suggested they simply upgrade their tickets and have a round trip. No way; they weren’t going to spend anymore money than strictly necessary. Need the rest for fags n’ booze innit?

I thought that was that, but got accosted again on my way down the platform. “This is all a con you know,” Vicky Pollard informed me. “We’ve brought our kid down ‘ere special to see Thomas an’ he ain’t ere.”

Oh for f…

I pointed out that Thomas was not only here; he was in steam at the end of the platform complete with nameplates and Number 1 on the tanks.

“Yeah but he ain’t got ‘is face on.”

“Madam; if his face is anything like yours then we can say thanks to the Lord for making it so.” Okay, okay – I didn’t really say that. I wanted to, but protocol and all that … instead of which I tried to explain about the steam gala; the fact that Thomas was here every other day of the year and that just for this weekend we remove the face and run it as an 0-6-0 shunting locomotive. Just as it states on the website.

“We ain’t got no website,” was Vicky’s reply, although I think what she meant was, ‘I can’t read but I can watch my 54 inch TV what you bought me with your taxes.’

Fortunately, thanks to Vicky’s inability to tell the time I only had to put up with her group on the final train and not for the whole day, which otherwise was a great success.

If it says Thomas on the nameplate but you can't read,

does it still say Thomas? Discuss.

Sunday was a whole new experience for me. I wasn’t on duty as such, but Jayne was doing catering on the trains and was desperately short of staff. Short enough to ask me to help out. The lunchtime train was serving Ploughman’s lunches in the Club Car; when it returned to Wansford it would be turned round for afternoon cream teas on the 14:45 service. This was an excellent idea, and I’d seen how popular they were the previous day.

I turned up at Wansford nice and early in order to get some good pictures of the freight trains, before starting on the lunch service. Only three of us were doing the catering, but we were well prepared and the Ploughman’s went out smoothly and successfully. It was proper food service as well; plates, cutlery and crockery – the works. None of your cardboard and Styrofoam rubbish on Jayne’s Trains at the NVR!

The cream tea service wasn’t pre-booked as the lunches had been, so it was all done to order. With tea, coffee, scones and a choice of three types of cake the service was very ‘bitty’ and I’d have appreciated the services of an octopus as I tried to manhandle the teapots, coffeepot, milk pot, cashbox and take orders – plus take the platter with the different cakes around to show people. Methinks I got the short straw … It didn’t help that tea was the most popular option, and the teapots held around four cups before running out – and this got more problematic the further I walked down the coach because the walk back for refills got longer each time. I also need to teach young Steven how to make tea. He was fine with gnat’s piss, but the train was populated with lots of pensioners who know exactly how tea should be made. Take away their pensions and heating allowance; confiscate tartan rugs and comfy slippers and you may get a glance of disapproval. Dick around with their tea and you’ll never hear the end of it.

To complicate matters further, the adjoining coach had a party of 30 old folk on an outing – and they got a sniff of what we were up to. Well, it would have been churlish to refuse and make them walk to the bar car where they’d get a Styrofoam cup, so we served those who wanted them as well. Mark 1 coaches have never seemed so long! We also began to run short of hot water so I was glad when Peterborough hove into view.

Despite the logistical problems everyone got served on time and only the last table served received cold tea – which we replaced with fresh cups at Peterborough where we had an urn brewing away waiting for our arrival. Everyone was happy, and we even served a few bonus afternoon teas on the return leg of the trip to Wansford as well.

Working the trains makes you appreciate just how hard the catering staff work on a day to day basis, and you come away with renewed respect for what they do – very much the unsung heroes of the operation. There’s talk of doing more of these services next year. I think I’ll stick to eating the leftovers!

The sun sets on another successful event at the NVR.

The full photo set may be seen here as part of my Steamy Scenes Photo Gallery.

Delivering The Mail

2010-09-06T22:05:00.001+01:00

I mentioned last time that I’d been offered the opportunity to work on the Thomas and The Travelling Post Office (TPO) event this weekend, which offered something a bit different to my usual TTI duties. Essentially I gathered that I was required for crowd control purposes as the event has its own Tour Group Leader (Marilyn) who takes care of the talky bits, and the TPO Group themselves handle the operation of the train. So, it would be a nice easy day with only three trains to worry about, and all I had to do was escort the participants to and from the viewing gallery at Yarwell. How hard could it be?

Well, anything that sounds too good to be true invariably is, and I really should have known better. As there wasn’t much information about what would happen, I decided to wing it once the first load of passengers arrived for the 11:00 departure. Passengers ride down to Yarwell inside the TPO coaches as part of the experience, but as they are parcels vans this means they are rather dark and gloomy inside. Especially as the lights didn’t work because of a problem with the alternator! However, everybody boarded and – we sat in Wansford. I was aware that there was a complicated shunt movement going on, and this overran to the extent that we were some 30 minutes late in departing. Not ideal when you’ve got 60 parents and small children confined to a parcels van by any means.

At length we arrived at Yarwell and our passengers alighted from the vans. Fiona (another TTI) and I escorted the party down to the lineside apparatus that handles the dropping off and collecting of mailbags. It took me back to school trip days, as we had to chivvy people along who kept stopping to go to the toilet / pick blackberries and stop to watch Thomas as he propelled the stock back to the tunnel mouth in readiness for the run up.

As I have the loudest mouth at the NVR I gave the group a short talk as to what was about to happen before Thomas did his three run pasts, dropping bags and collecting pouches on the way. The audience was quite enthralled, especially the children who had a rare chance to witness Thomas in action from the lineside. Normally they only see him at the station, so to witness a high-speed run is something of a novelty. After the third run we escorted the group back to Yarwell and returned them to Wansford. People were polite rather than effusive with thanks when they left; however we sorted out all the issues raised on the spot and placated those who were rightfully upset about the initial delay with some responsive action that kept everyone happy in the end. Apart from a party of Americans, who just wanted to complain because – well, because they’re American and that’s what they do best. Presumably if we’d been dishing out burgers on the train they’d have been happy, but basically they simply personified the stereotype American tourist that is often parodied on TV. I don’t take Americans seriously as life is too short, so Marilyn handled that one.

Once the train was empty we had a chance to discuss what had gone wrong, and more importantly, how to build on the experience and improve it. Now that I’d seen the operation I knew where the problems lay and how to sort them out. By working closely with Marilyn we created a good PR team and worked off each other like a double act instead of getting in each other’s way. This proved to be successful as the second and third trains ran very smoothly, and we received many compliments as passengers left us when we returned to Wansford.

When Sunday dawned everything was in position, so we began the day on the right foot with an on time departure and a full (84 passengers) complement. By now we were familiar with each other and our roles, so the operation was slick and professional. The crocodile to the apparatus was the slowest part, but you can’t hurry a toddler who doesn’t want to be hurried! To help out, the TPO crew held the train at Yarwell until the group reached the viewing gallery so that they wouldn’t get distracted as Thomas trundled past and hold up the operation. I also discovered that I could use the opportunity to create a party atmosphere down at the gallery. I began with an explanation of what would happen, then each time Thomas reversed the stock down the line, I asked all the children to shout ‘Hello Thomas!’ as the loco passed. With three runs taking place I urged them to shout louder each time, because if Thomas could hear them, he’d respond in kind on his whistle. This duly took place on the third run thanks to an arrangement with the footplate crew who joined in the fun to make it special for the visitors. During the mail drop runs, I scrambled up the bank to get a few pictures before returning to my temporary role as Butlins Redcoat – clearly I’ve missed my vocation in life. Or I just like the sound of my own voice.

Each of the three trips loaded to capacity on Sunday which created a great atmosphere each time, especially the ‘Hello Thomas’ bit – the TPO crew told me later on that this could be heard all the way back at Yarwell Station! Once the third run was complete and the groups returned to Yarwell, they had an opportunity to watch Thomas run round and get photos with him, and the TPO crew opened up the nets so that people could examine the equipment in detail that they’d just seen in use. The train then left for Wansford, where the children had an opportunity to sort the mail into the original dockets inside the sorting coach; a great chance for more interactive fun that they enjoyed very much.

Overall, once the less than successful first run was over with, the event was very successful and up to the high standards of customer service we pride ourselves on delivering. I was pleased with way that we acknowledged the problems and got together to tackle them head on in a straightforward manner, rather than shrug our shoulders and carry on regardless as some ‘service-led’ operations do all too often. The end result was great teamwork all round, and more significantly, lots of happy and excited faces departing from the TPO coaches at Wansford. That’s what makes being a volunteer on the railway worth doing in the first place.

So what next? Well, next week a steam event is taking place and I’ll be here, there and everywhere, as it should be a busy and varied day. More later!

A Smashing Bank Holiday at Yarwell

2010-09-01T19:21:00.000+01:00

The Bank Holiday weekend was a busy one at the railway with a great atmosphere on the packed trains, especially the Thomas shuttles. I worked as TTI on both Sunday (44422 and the Mk1’s) and again on Monday in the DSB’s that had class 14 D9516 up front. Although the Mk1’s are the pick of the coaches to travel in, I must say that on a busy train the DSB’s are a lot easier to manage, being open plan.

Time keeping was good both days, and everything seemed to run rather smoothly except for a single instance of vandalism on Sunday; amazingly enough at Yarwell Junction; hardly downdown Orton to say the least. A child picked up a stone and threw it at the DSB coach in the platform. It bounced off the bodywork, so the girl chose another stone and lobbed it straight through a window, shattering it. Had a family been sitting there – it was a Thomas shuttle, remember – they’d have been showered with broken glass. Not an appealing thought by any means. What made the incident worse was that the girl’s father was with her throughout the incident and said absolutely nothing. So that’s another Vicky Pollard in the making it would appear.

Despite this, the weekend was good fun, and the people certainly enjoyed themselves on the trains I was working. On Monday there was time for a spot of informal photography as the diesel hauled DSB’s tend to be quieter than the steam hauled Mk1 trains. I had some lovely chatty family groups on board; a real pleasure to have time for a chat after a week in my lorry speaking only to dodgy car dealers!

Next weekend is promising another new experience for me as I’ve been offered the opportunity to work on the demonstration TPO trains that will be hauled by Thomas between Wansford and Yarwell.

Corrie Trolley Dollies!

2010-08-23T19:53:00.000+01:00

Viewers of Coronation Street will no doubt be aware of the storyline involving Haley’s Wedding. As I don’t watch it I am in no way qualified to comment on the programme. The reason behind this post is to advise that a rather interesting episode is due to be shown on 30 August – the wedding episode itself. The storyline involves a steam train, and the relevant scenes were shot on the East Lancashire Railway. On a more personal note, however, an item of rolling stock from the Nene Valley Railway makes an appearance in the programme – the pump trolley! This vehicle has a starring role with two bridesmaids hand-pumping Haley to her nuptials as part of a very convoluted – but entertaining – set piece of the inevitable wedding-becomes-a-disaster scene that are de-rigeur of soap operas.

This trolley recently featured in my own photoshoot Railway Modelling, so it certainly has the ability to attract lovely young ladies who just can’t wait to jump aboard for a bit of action. I know what I mean, ahem.

Back in the eighties all you needed to get the girls swooning was a set of keys for a BMW or a Porsche. These days it would appear that the line, “Eh up pet, fancy a hand pump?” will no longer get you a smack on the jaw. Now that’s progress.

So does Haley make it to her wedding? Tune in on 30 August* and find out!

*Date given in good faith. If ITV decide to show some pointless football match and rearrange their schedule at the last minute to suit, as they so often do, I am in no way responsible.

Monsoon Season Brings Steam!

2010-08-23T19:26:00.000+01:00

With the monsoon season well and truly underway, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to explain to customers on the trains the necessity for continuing the steam loco ban on the Nene Valley Indian Hill Railway. The risk of lineside fires gets fixed vacant stares as passengers gaze out over flooded fields that can almost be seen through the torrential, driving downpours that afflict the area every time I even glance at my camera bag and think, well maybe …

This weekend the battle was won, and steam returned to the Wansford – Peterborough section of the line, a most welcome development for visitors and volunteers alike. Ironically we were running the mixed traction timetable anyway, with class 40 D306 on Saturday and 31108 on Sunday hauling diesel services. The steam loco on offer was Fowler 4F 44422 making a welcome return after some lengthy repairs kept it out of traffic for a while.

On Saturday I was filming at Ferry Meadows – so called because the only way to cross the meadow is by boat – but popped over to Orton Mere to catch the afternoon steam hauled service as it passed Yacht Club Crossing, looking and sounding in fine form. This train coincided with the three minutes of fine weather that graced Nene Park during the day.

On Sunday I was working as TTI on the trains, and of course it turned out to be a very pleasant day, but I wasn’t in a position to take any pictures as the mixed traction timetable keeps us rather busy with a turnaround of only 9 minutes between services at Wansford.

I keep thinking that one day the pleasant weather will coincide with my photography days, but then I wake up and return to reality. But it still doesn’t stop me from glancing at my camera bag and thinking, well maybe …

Tornado Rushes By

2010-08-17T20:16:00.001+01:00

Whilst in general conversation with fellow volunteers at the NVR on Sunday, I heard that Tornado would be running through Grantham with a railtour on Monday. The down service to York coincided with a visit to the dentist, and with last minute dentist appointments being as rare as hen’s teeth (did you see what I almost did there?) I had no chance of making it out for a photograph. The evening would be better as the return to Kings Cross was booked through town at 19:00, although as the day wore on I got into one of those, ‘do I really want to drag my carcass out of the house’ moods.

Early evening brought with it clear skies and a hint of a warm sunset, so I decided to schlep off for a photograph. My chosen location was near to the village of Marston on a farm track that leads to a pedestrian crossing. A gaggle of photographers had already assembled there when I arrived, but I chose to remain on the lane a good quarter mile further down as it offers a superb panoramic vista of the line in both directions. This would be the ideal opportunity to give my new Canon a workout, and I fancied having a go at panning a fast moving train as I’ve never tried this before.

I practised with East Coast HST’s and 91’s prior to the railtour, and was fortunate enough to capture two trains passing each other. When Tornado arrived – bang on time – she was travelling at full tilt and working incredibly hard; a truly glorious sight to behold from my vantage point. I was pleased with the pictures that came from this shoot, and feel vindicated about spending my hard earned on a new SLR package!

Tornado on The Cathedrals Express may be seen in my Steamy Scenes gallery.

Tunnel Vision

2010-08-16T10:44:00.000+01:00

One of the first duties of the signalman at Wansford every running day is a walk through of the 616 yard Wansford Tunnel, in order to check that there is still a hole at the other end. This intrigued me, and one of regular signalmen, Steve, was kind enough to allow me to accompany him on a walk through on Saturday morning so that I could take some photos. I know that ‘tunnel interior’ doesn’t sound the most exciting of subjects, but I like things a little out of the ordinary.

I already have a PTS certificate, so access was no problem. Duly armed with boots, hi-viz and a torch – don’t forget a torch – we set off on a very gloomy and wet morning. The walk through duty also includes a visual check of the rolling stock parked up in Wansford Cutting; this is to ensure that all the carriage doors are properly shut and therefore wouldn’t swing open when a train was passing.

The tunnel itself is one of the longest in railway preservation, with a very tall arch that creates cathedral-like echoes. It is dead straight all the way through, so the pinhole of light gradually grows as you walk towards it, just like being in a film! Long abandoned rolling stock resides inside the tunnel; a couple of Mk1 coaches, a Mk1 buffet car still in blue and grey livery, a cannibalised class 14 and a couple of other wagons that may never see the light of day again.

Two thirds of the way in, Steve showed me the treadle that operates a light operated ghost painted on the tunnel wall. When working on the trains during family and Thomas days we always get the children to look out for this ghost; it creates an element of excitement and is a great icebreaker at the start of their journey. With school trips we get the entire coach to keep an eye out; then shout and cheer out loud when they see it. This creates a great atmosphere on the train, I have to say.

At the Yarwell end of the tunnel I took various photos as the line curves to the southwest in the steep cutting before we retraced our steps back to the most important part of the day – one of Jayne’s full English breakfasts at the Turntable Café! Following one of these banquets, you’re ready for anything that the day may throw at you. Steve went back to his signalbox for a long shift on our pink timetable, whilst I prepared to get very wet – it is August – on a photoshoot at Yarwell and Ferry Meadows Country Park.

I took the first train down to Yarwell Junction, hauled by 4F 44422 that has been out of service for ages awaiting repairs. I needed to be here as the 4F would return shortly with the demonstration TPO service, and I wanted to be on hand to capture it emerging from the tunnel. Predictably, no sooner had the nice, warm and dry passenger train departed then the first of monsoons descended. Yarwell is a nature reserve and has absolutely no cover of any kind, bar a shelter on the tiny (but closed) station waiting room. I decided to sit there, but once the train’s arrival was imminent and the rain eased off, I made my way down the path to the spot I’d chosen for photography. Now safely out of reach of any kind of shelter, the second monsoon rolled in. Whilst the train most notably didn’t roll in; annoyingly I could hear the loco whistling at Wansford every so often, but this wasn’t accompanied by any noticeable movement whatsoever.

A good 20 minutes late, however, the TPO finally turned up, and I could almost forgive the delay as it coincided with a brief respite in the weather. The train runs to Yarwell so that passengers on the TPO experience may de-train and make their way to the viewing area and watch three run pasts with mailbags dropped and collected each time. Then the train picks everybody up and returns to Wansford, although I elected to stay put in order to get pictures of 44422 on a red and cream MK1 passenger train. I don’t need to tell you that of course the heavens opened again, and when the passenger train turned up, it had class 40 D306 at the head because of operating difficulties at Wansford. I wasn’t too bothered, the 40 in green livery looks great on the Mk1 rake so I was able to come away with some pleasing shots.

That was the end of my railway based shoot, as I was now staying on the train and travelling to Ferry Meadows for a landscape photoshoot to get some practise in with the camera and various lenses. I’ll cover this in my other blog while I go and dry off ….

Many thanks to Steve for arranging the tunnel walk through and explaining all the finer points of the task that is one of the hidden aspects of railway operation that rarely come to light. Fans of the tunnel may see it in action during some extended scenes during the James Bond film Octopussy. The tunnel mouth also appears in the awesome Queen video Breakthrough that was filmed entirely on location at the NVR.

Crash, Bang, Wallop ... What a Photograph!

2010-08-07T22:46:00.000+01:00

31108 arrives under barbeque skies at Wansford.

After the frenetic activity of last weekend at Wansford, this week’s duty on Saturday was an oasis of calm by comparison. Not that the journey down to the Nene Valley was quite as tranquil, however. I was following a flatbed lorry, and around the Stamford area a large chunk of wood fell off the truck and bounced into the path of a car that was travelling in the outside lane. This duly ricocheted across into my lane and hit the nearside front headlamp unit, which promptly disintegrated in a shower of glass. I wasn’t best pleased, although had the wood bounced a foot higher then it would have been through the windscreen and I don’t suppose that would have been a pretty sight. Cheaper, mind you – windscreens are replaced free of charge under my insurance policy but headlights aren’t covered. You can quote me unhappy on that clause. Once at Wansford I promptly undertook emergency action – get a good photo for my Facebook page. I’ll worry about repairs later, but let’s get priorities sorted out for now.

Amazingly, all the lights still work!

My shift today was Booking Office, and things were rather quiet although the second train filled up nicely. The steam ban is still in force, because although there’s been some rain of late it tends to descend in short, sharp bursts but evaporates in the heat rather than have the opportunity to soak into the ground where it would be of some use. Consequently we were running Austerity 22 on the Wansford – Yarwell segment, with trusty 31108 on the main leg down to Peterborough. The loco change caused delays as expected, so that the last train ended up running a good 45 minutes late. People generally seemed happy enough, and the mood was good.

I had a brief chance to try out my latest purchase towards the end of the day – a Canon EOS DSLR camera. My interest in photography has evolved throughout the year and I’m keen to learn more and improve my technique. I used to have a Canon in my old film camera days, so I chose the brand this time round hoping to get a piece of kit that would match the results I last got in the late 90’s.

The camera came from Ebay, as new camera prices range from ridiculous to the truly sublime. It’s an American refurbished model sold by a firm specialising in such things – but seems new in every aspect when opening the box that was delivered the day after ordering. As it’s for the U.S. market the battery pack has the American two-prong plug fitment, but the company thoughtfully provide a UK adaptor free of charge, which is a nice touch. I duly charged the camera up last night and packed it ready for today, so had no time to read the book or try out any settings – charge it, pack it, drive!

By late afternoon when I had the opportunity to nip out for some pictures, the sky was leaden in between short but frequent downpours. I managed a few shots around the yard before a shower drove me back indoors, and also snapped off a few shots as the last train departed from Wansford. Difficult to assess the performance from these hurriedly obtained photos, but I did get some half decent shots, which weren’t bad in the conditions.

No. 22 has been exchanged for 31108

which prepares to depart from Wansford.

This isn’t the end of my trusty Panasonic TZ6 by any means! Although it’s a point-and-shoot it’s an amazing camera and was used throughout for my recent foray into model photography – the results of which may be seen here. Once you explore the various settings and menus, it can cope with a huge range of permutations. It’s also my default video camera, and being pocket sized makes it ideal to take with me on NVR shifts so that I can always record interesting moments. The Canon is for proper photoshoot days; an opportunity to learn more about creative photography skills and to capture scenes that are beyond the capability of point and shoot. The Fuji S1500 is destined for Ebay as I’ve never really got on with it and recent shoots such as the Bus Rally were disappointing. I tried some scenes with Sian the model at Wansford and it just seemed to give up, resulting in the TZ6 carrying out the entire session on its own. Not that my description on the auction site will say that of course – it’s a truly wonderful piece of kit that I’m reluctantly selling so that ‘er indoors can buy a new pair of shoes.

So I have my first set of pictures – and what a picture, but shame it took a crash, bang, wallop to get it!

Looking the other way from Nene Bridge presented this reflective scene.

Wedding Belle & Alarm Bells

2010-08-04T20:28:00.001+01:00

Sunday was the busiest day that I’ve ever worked at the Nene Valley, which in one sense was unfortunate as I wasn’t in my usual peak physical condition to appreciate everything that was going on. I wasn’t rostered in to begin with as I was attending a wedding on Saturday and expected to get a bit – ah, tired – during proceedings. But the railway was desperate for staff with the extra activities, so I agreed to pop down and help out.

The wedding itself was excellent and celebrations continued long into the night, assisted by a glass or two as might be expected. I was staying overnight at the hotel to avoid driving and eventually retired to my room for a good night’s sleep so that I’d be fighting fit and ready for duty.

Naturally, things didn’t go quite to plan. The hotel was, like all British hotels, ridiculously over heated with radiators on even in the middle of our Lincolnshire heatwave. I opened the only window to the regulation 6 inches before it jammed but that didn’t help. Teams of navvies were practising riveting in my head – possibly related to all the free alcohol, but there’s no absolute proof of that. Consequently sleep was impossible until I finally drifted off in the wee small hours. And promptly awoke again, because I’m at that awkward age where waking up in the night is a daily occurrence. Off to the bathroom where I made the catastrophic error of turning the light on. This was connected to an extractor fan, which in turn was connected to a jet turbine in the car park and made enough noise to wake up everybody in the hotel plus several surrounding streets.

Return to bed, where I managed to get to sleep for a good five minutes before the alarm woke me up ready for the new day. Oh goody. Back into the bathroom, but this time sans illumination so that at least the jet turbine didn’t kick in. The shower had two temperature settings, flay the skin or frostbite, so I was in and out as quickly as possible and wishing that I hadn’t left my burns kit bag at home.

Down to breakfast at the appointed hour of 08:00, only to discover that the appointed hour applies to guests, but not the staff who were having a lie in. At 08:15 a waiter turned up and offered coffee and toast, but anything else was out of the question because the chef wasn’t in, and even when she did turn up she’d need to ‘turn everything on’. I was too under the weather to argue, so accepted lukewarm coffee to go with toast that I consumed with those horrible packs of butter that had been left out in the restaurant all night with the radiators turned on during a heatwave, plus those plastic packs of marmalade that can only be opened by an arc welding kit.

I had to leave by 08:30 to get to the railway on time, so that ended my experience at this establishment – I won’t embarrass the Kings Hotel of Grantham by naming and shaming them – oops. Sorry.

At Wansford I was able to get breakfast from Jayne’s ever reliable café and remedy that particular problem, but I still generally felt shattered from the previous day’s events. And the NVR was in for a busy time as it was a major family fun day, with two mainline trains running as well as Thomas on the Yarwell shuttles, a Routemaster bus service, a kids play park had been set up in the fields and it was the peak holiday season. I was working as TTI on the DSB rake of open coaches, and were we busy or what?! All trains loaded very well and the atmosphere was great. I also worked a couple of Thomas shuttles during the layovers at Wansford, as it was helpful to have extra bodies available to load and unload bikes, buggies, prams and toddlers. The day passed very quickly and only on the last train of the day did I have the chance to sit down as the service returned to Wansford.

Unusually I was too busy / knackered to take photos, so those on this page are representative of the services we ran. For the record, Thomas top n’ tailed with the Polish Tank (Piotr?) on two coaches up and down to Yarwell, whilst the Mk1 rake and DSB stock were hauled by our class 14 diesels due to continued ban on using steam locos on the eastern end of the line.

By the time I got home I was ready only for bed – or scrap heap depending on your point of view. However, my initial task was to get the wedding photos uploaded and onto Facebook; such are the rituals of life in the 21st Century!

You Ask For a Shed, & Get a Couple of ED's!

2010-07-26T19:55:00.000+01:00

Sunday proved to be quite an interesting occasion at the NVR, when no less than three visiting locomotives turned up and presented us with the opportunity to hold a mini Diesel Gala. In truth, we were expecting a visiting GBRf class 66, which we got – what wasn’t anticipated was a pair of class 73’s attached to it! It transpired that the class 73’s were ‘in the way’ to use highly technical railway jargon, so rather than move them, they were tacked onto the 66 and sent down to Wansford.

It was all part of a GBRf Gala Day, which offered a carboot sale at Wansford and, er, some other stuff I didn’t really notice. The carboot sale was pitiful; four cars selling tat and a man punting wicker baskets seems a little underwhelming to me, although I’m no expert in this field. Perhaps it was all part of the ‘less is more’ way of thinking. So let me assure you that less is definitely less in this case.

Fortunately the visiting locos provided recompense for the dismal attractions not on offer. They did, however, bring their own particular brand of problems – notably contemporary diesel fans. These people are a totally different breed to your average railway enthusiast, and cause so many behavioural problems that a lot of regular volunteers won’t work at the Diesel Galas. Indeed, I recounted my own experiences at the last gala in March. Different loco classes attract different fans, and whilst some – notably the class 31 followers – are the most laid back, friendly and down to earth group you could hope to meet, the class 66 followers are often bullish, arrogant and downright rude. They carry a couple of grand’s worth of camera kit around, but will jump a fence to avoid paying the £12 fare to ride behind their dream loco.

To even the score up a bit, the NVR relied on its secret weapon – THOMAS! Yes, Thomas was in steam as booked, hauling the Yarwell shuttle. The same coaches then worked the Wansford – Peterborough section behind a diesel with our resident class 14 on the first train; the 73’s on the second, class 66 on the third and back to the 14 for the last train. The coaches were our Danish (DSB) open vehicles that added to the pot pourri nature of the day.

Now I have to say that when a train’s passenger list consists of 50% Thomas kids and parents having a day out, and 50% diehard class 66 groupies waving Nikons around, the atmosphere onboard the trains was interesting to say the least! Some of the 66 group got into the spirit of the day, to be fair, and were quite laid back about Thomas’ haunted tunnel. But later on at Wansford I was trying to herd passengers onto the already late running afternoon service when I was told, “We’re not getting on this train until that bloody kettle thing is removed!” This lot were all in their late 40’s / early 50’s, so I can only assume that with the level of maturity on display, they must work for Elf n’ Safety. Or a Town Council. Or the Highways Agency. And I'm sure some of them must have designed the new junction on Grantham's High Street.

I also got another telling off by one irate idiot, sorry, passenger, who bemoaned the fact that he hadn’t been issued with an authentic Edmondson style card ticket. These tickets were extremely important, he informed me at length, because he logs every detail of the trip and then attaches the ticket to the relevant page. Printed till receipts don’t cut a lot of ice, it would seem. I tried the sensible and rational explanation, which got me nowhere – so I turned the argument on its head. “Sir, you’re travelling in a Danish carriage behind Thomas The Tank Engine through a haunted tunnel in the middle of Cambridgeshire. Just how much authenticity can you take in one day?” He didn’t seem to like that much, although the family in seating bay opposite certainly did!

More daft comments were heard by a colleague, Old Arkwright, who works at Orton Mere Station. You can read his accounts about the day here.

The event was not particularly well publicised by the organisers so passenger numbers were relatively low, which as far as being on duty on the trains went was a good thing. We were able to keep control of the coaches and do full ticket inspections – during Diesel Galas you simply can’t get from one end of the train to the other, and two or three TTI’s are required on each train.

Overall it was an interesting, albeit hard day to be on duty. It made a nice change to ride behind different locos and get some novel photos. Although I have to say that I dropped an almighty clanger here, and set up the camera with ridiculous settings that resulted in enough noise on the photos to make them look as if they were from 1926. It took a fair bit of editing to get a set suitable for publication. Normally I’d just delete them and try again, but as this was such a unique event I just had to bite the bullet and sort them out.

A Brief Encounter

2010-07-20T21:17:00.002+01:00

One of the great railway films of all time is Brief Encounter, a classic and timeless story that showed how an unexpected meeting can set off a chain reaction that would never have occurred had just one of those people not been in a certain place at a certain time.

My own brief encounter happened in June, and I recounted the full story here. Briefly, I was on duty at the Nene Valley Railway quite by chance as I was covering for a colleague who was sick. A photographer and model (Siân) came to the NVR for a photoshoot and I mentioned that I met them quite by chance, as they needed a guide to take them into the yard. At the end of the piece I flippantly wrote, ‘I personally wish Siân great success with her future career; perhaps one day she might get to star in a Grumpy Git Production, the pinnacle of any model’s career.’

Well, fact can often be stranger than fiction. After some thought I contacted Siân through one of her website portfolios and asked if she’d be interested in doing a photoshoot with me, bearing in mind that I am a complete amateur and have no experience at working with models whatsoever. As a photographer I have to be honest (as indeed I was in my communications with Siân) and say that I am at the bottom rung of the profession. Well, I’m looking up at the bottom rung, but it gives me something to aim for. My photographic kit is restricted to one good quality point-and-shoot style camera (Panasonic TZ6), a Fuji Finepix S1500 that I don’t much care for, a tripod that accompanies me everywhere and a reflector, which is actually a silver sunshield, scrounged out of a car at work. When I say basic, that’s exactly what I mean. This was brought to home in January at the Great Central Railway Winter Steam Gala when I joined a line of photographers who looked as if they were filming a Hollywood blockbuster. Out came my diminutive Samsung point n’ shoot (at the time) and tripod which I set up in all of 30 seconds. A group not ten feet from me openly scoffed between themselves at turning up with such kit, although when I glared across at them with a lorry driver’s hard stare, they shut up. For these reasons I didn’t I really think that a professional model would be interested in a shoot, but Siân had seemed a very pleasant and outgoing person at the railway, and I felt that if I didn’t ask I could miss out on a great opportunity and regret it later.

Therefore, I was delighted when Siân replied the next day, which impressed me a lot, and agreed to a shoot. Many emails passed between us, and I was struck by her helpful advice and suggestions as things progressed. It was clear from her emails and portfolios that she loves her job and gets a real buzz from it, but what makes her stand out is that she wants the best possible results for the photographer as well. Frequent communication also built up a rapport in readiness for the shoot, which meant things were relaxed from the moment we met on the day.

I have no studio experience at all, and as I mentioned above, I’m somewhat lacking in the equipment department. I enjoy working in the field, shooting variations on landscapes or transport scenes, particularly railways. So a location shoot was required, and I have a reasonable imagination when it comes to composing pictures. Therefore I planned a shoot that would be varied and hopefully interesting for both of us, set on a local farm that sits in a beautiful and undulating valley. Perfect – and everything was set for the shoot. Except, being Britain, the prolonged heatwave and clear skies over Lincolnshire turned dramatically into storms five days before the shoot. It soon became clear (to me, not the weather) that conditions were going to be ‘unsettled’ as the BBC weather Wombles like to say. They meant, ‘It’s going to rain a lot’, and it did. Wednesday was crunch time – the forecasts were poor and an evening thunderstorm rather proved the point. I cancelled the farm as they didn’t have any boats to get up to the meadows, and hurriedly devised Plan (b). This was, of course, the Nene Valley Railway. It was a natural choice – I’m familiar with it, and could work around poor weather with undercover shoots if necessary. I hurriedly blagged some Peterborough deliveries at work on Thursday and popped down via Wansford to sort out a shoot. As always, I got terrific and enthusiastic support from my colleagues at the railway with access to the locos, yards and a bundle of useful props for the specific shoot I had in mind.

Siân wasn’t put out by the sudden change of plan, in a flurry of texts she proved that she was game for anything and looking forward to the shoot regardless. That was a relief; it’s not very professional to change things around at short notice, but needs must in the circumstances.

Friday dawned with bright and sunny skies, ironically enough, and the forecast had changed from unsettled to bright spells with showers – which is the same thing as far as I’m concerned. Siân arrived early, which was great – good timekeeping is a fad of mine – and turned up with a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of clothes and props. This girl comes prepared for anything, and in a suitcase and two large bags had an entire wardrobe available to suit any kind of look at a moment’s notice. She was accompanied by her chaperone and fiancé, Spike – who is also a photographer and occasional model. Some photographers dislike chaperones; personally I found it useful to have people who could add ideas and enrich the shoot with their experience. Spike in particular spotted some brilliant photo opportunities that I’d have missed, and these were fantastic shots that look amazing. He was unstinting with suggestions and ideas that added a great deal to the shoot, and I really appreciated his enthusiasm to help me get some great pictures.

I’d planned a shoot that would be structured and themed, as this is how I create videos. Plan the work and work the plan, always allowing for those unexpected issues that crop up along the way, of course. Many models are photographed on heritage railways as they provide a nice, historical background for a shoot. I was after a totally different theme; by dressing Siân in appropriate uniforms I’d picture her undertaking the various jobs we do around the railway. When I say uniform, I should point out that I wasn’t exactly after historical accuracy here. If the sort of people who go to model railway exhibitions point out that her cap badge doesn’t match the era of the type of tail-lamp seen in some pictures, deal with it. Preferably a long way away from me. Yes, there really are some people out there who notice these things, and are only to happy to wax lyrically about them ad infinitum. I know; in a previous life as a trader at railway exhibitions I’ve met them. My costumes would be a nod to traditional railway dress, but with a twist to make the shoot light hearted, humorous and sexy. Imagine St Trinians on the Orient Express and you’re on the right lines.

The shoot began in the glamour of the yard amongst bits of old scrap components, boilers and machinery. So much nicer for a model than a beach in Barbados! Spike spotted the hand trolley beloved of old movies from the Buster Keaton era. Indeed I discovered only on Saturday that this particular trolley had just returned from a far less exotic photoshoot of its own, as it had just been filmed for a role in Coronation Street as part of Haley’s wedding. I don’t follow Corrie, but if you watch it that will no doubt make sense. Siân jumped straight onto this and struck a fantastic pose without even being asked; she knows a prop when she sees one and instinctively interacts with it to create the look you want. Indeed, as the day wore on and we got to know each other, I’d often start a sentence to suggest the next pose and she’d be in it before I’d got half the sentence out! She’s definitely a natural model and made the shoot easy to direct as a result. Even her throwaway moments between shots were great; so much so that I then asked her to repeat them for the camera.

From the yard we moved to the rolling stock itself. Donning a grey driver’s jacket to go with her rakish cap, heels and short skirt, this was her moment that every girl dreams about - yes, I’m talking about driving and firing real locomotives. First call was for some exterior shots on a class 14 diesel, mimicking the sort of pose struck by models at the Motor Show on brand new Ferraris. The difference here was that Siân was posing on enough horsepower to give Jeremy Clarkson wet dreams for a week. Leaving that pretty picture behind, we moved onto the Polish tank loco for some firing shots. This meant shovelling coal and Siân got stuck right into the task. Having earned her stripes with a shovel, she was rapidly promoted to driver on our flagship loco, Standard 5 City of Peterborough. Siân settled straight into the role and soon got to grips with the intricacies of the regulator and brake, whilst keeping a close eye on the gauges.

A spot of maintenance beckoned, and as we passed the Fowler 4F with the smokebox door wide open, Siân asked if she could pose inside it! It was an inspired moment on her part, and the pictures look fantastic. How many girls can claim to have been inside the smokebox of steam loco? One for the grandchildren, that. Another great set of scenes were filmed around her job as an oiler on 73050, getting stuck into the valve gear with some amazing facial expressions. Siân’s hands-on involvement with the task was now literally showing with coal, grease and general muck all over her legs and hands, so with a couple of dabs to her nose, her initiation as a railway-woman was complete. It seemed like a good idea to break for lunch and general clean up, so we retired to Jayne’s café for sustenance and soap.

Once fortified, it was a change of outfit for one of the most important railway jobs – signalwoman. Our regular signalman doesn’t often sport white high heels, but once he’s seen the set I hope that this might signal a change of direction at the NVR. Together with an appropriate tie and dinky waistcoat Siân set off to learn another new job in Wansford Signalbox. This would be quite a tricky shoot for me, being indoors but backlit with daylight streaming in through the ‘box that is entirely glazed on three out of four sides. It took a while to do this bit of the shoot, as I took many identical photos at different settings to cope with the lighting. Some fantastic pictures came out of the box; I particularly like the reflections in the mirror, the close up headshots and the raunchy pose taken opposite the ‘box as she stood on the window sill giving me a ‘don’t mess with me’ look.

One task remained; one of the most prolific railway jobs available. This was, of course, Guard. I had a rake of coaches available and the traditional task of waving the train off with the green flag suited Siân admirably. She had some interesting moments placing the tail lamp on the bracket, as it was far heavier than either of us expected. She doesn’t give in, however, and created a great look by swinging the lamp in a pendulum movement to get it in place. She also managed to get herself onto the headstocks and pose ballet style next to the gangway – no mean feat, I can tell you.

Siân had never been inside an old ‘proper’ train like the Mk1 coaches and was really keen to take a look inside. She adored the compartments, and instantly presented me with a great photoset that I hadn’t considered. Discarding her hat, waistcoat and kicking off her shoes, I got a great end-of-the-shift look as she languidly stretched out and reclined on the seats. These are lovely, natural photos and really capture the moment of ending your duty after a busy day and relaxing ‘on the cushions’ as the train returns to the depot.

That was the main shoot of the day completed, but Siân was eager to carry on modelling; she has real passion and enjoys her work immensely. I was surprised as modelling is incredibly hard work and thought she’d be ready to drop by now. There is a general assumption that modelling is easy, simply a case of posing whilst having your picture taken. Well, I am happy to dispel that myth. During the day Siân had clambered in, out, under and on steam locos, old boilers, piles of ash and coal, dirty and greasy machinery and balanced one legged on a bufferstock. Throughout this she’d had to hold and change pose time and time again, and have the same photo taken several times at different settings. The idea that models are airheads was also totally turned on it’s head. Siân brought incredible concentration to her roles, and as we walked around the site she was constantly looking for and suggesting ideas or props that could be used. She gives herself totally to the shoot, and throws herself into roles with great enthusiasm. She enjoys new things; well she certainly got that!

The shoot ended with a bit of freestyle modelling in the fields near Wansford Station, where Siân put on her own clothes and posed as if on a picnic in the countryside. We tried some ball games for action shots and ended with some relaxing poses next to the river. To add in a really authentic British picnic feature it began to rain at that point, although in fairness it was the first rain we’d had all day. We carried on shooting in the rain for ten minutes, but then it turned into a deluge so that was that.

Surprisingly, the shoot had gone for eight hours, but where the time went I just don’t know. It was great fun, particularly working with Siân who loves modelling and has incredible energy and dedication. The nerve racking came bit at home when I uploaded the 753 photos I’d taken – would any of them actually be any good? Fortunately the overall result was pleasing, and I ended up with around 350 pictures that I like. I got good and very complimentary feedback from Siân and Spike, particularly about my creativity regarding the locations, theme and style of pose. I have a penchant for full-length shots of a model, sometimes taken from a striking angle. I favour a model to be pictured in a setting so that she becomes part of a scene as a whole and not just standing in front of something. In many of my scenes Siân is interacting with various props to create striking poses that look in keeping with her surroundings. I went for a teasing look to the railway set to suit the idea of a young girl taking on the traditionally male dominated roles of the industry, and with Siân’s impish facial expressions and natural coquettishness this came across beautifully.

Overall I found the entire experience a fantastic challenge, extremely creative and great fun to undertake. It has taken my photography to a new level that I would like to develop further. Both Siân and I have many ideas for great shoots in the future; indeed I was so impressed that I immediately rebooked her for a second shoot the following week. Perhaps our initial brief encounter could become from here to eternity!

These sample photos clearly demonstrate Sian's enthusiasm and versatility as a model. A good selection from her extensive portfolio may be seen here.

Update: The full set of photos from this shoot may now be seen in my Modelling Portfolio.

Please, Mr Postman

2010-07-13T22:01:00.002+01:00

After a few hours sleep – well, time spent in bed trying to sleep in the sort of heat associated with market day in Basra – I was off again to the Nene Valley on Sunday morning. I wasn’t on duty today, as I wanted to attend the Bus Rally that I wrote about here. However, I also had another pet project on the go, which was filming some of the Mail by Rail event on the railway.

The NVR regularly operates working Travelling Post Office (TPO) trains that demonstrate how mail used to be collected, sorted and dropped off from trains in the days of steam. In the sixties it became possible to post a letter in the evening and have it delivered to another part of the country the following morning. Imagine if that were feasible today – well, the possibilities are endless. You could post a birthday card the night before someone’s big day and they’d receive it over breakfast the following morning! Instead of which it either gets crushed in the sorting machines or buried under 18 tons of mail left over from the last strike or can’t be delivered because your front door has three steps that can’t be negotiated for elf n’ safety reasons. But never mind. You can celebrate your birthday with an offer for the new Capital One credit card offering balance transfers for 41% interest or wonder how you’re going to fill the ‘Cash Your Gold’ envelope that always manages to get through any disaster striking Royal Mail.

That aside, you can come and watch how mail used to be collected on the move. Although The Great Central Railway and Didcot Railway Centre offer TPO services, it takes the NVR to do it justice. And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased. The NVR uniquely has two sets of lineside apparatus, one at Sutton Cross and the other at Yarwell. Both sites have a public viewing gallery that offers a grandstand view of proceedings, and at each demonstration the train performs three or four run pasts so that the public don’t miss anything. Access to the sites is on board the TPO itself, so visitors can really savour the whole experience rather than just watch a drop off. All that for £4 can’t be bad, or free if you’ve purchased a day ticket for the railway as a whole.

My plans for shooting the TPO went awry before I’d even arrived. The previous day, as I mentioned here, the railway was affected by a steam loco ban between Wansford and Peterborough due to lineside fires. The decision was taken to continue running the Yarwell services behind 73050 City of Peterborough and cancel the Sutton segments. This worked out well for me, as I really needed a steam loco for the project I was working on.

I travelled to Yarwell on the first passenger train of the day so as to be in position for the TPO emerging from the tunnel later on. I covered the mailbag drop and pick ups, then jumped the return service to Wansford. There was a great photo opportunity here, as one of the visitors to the Vintage Vehicles event had brought an early GPO van and bicycle – and even dressed up for the part! As our resident postie, Paul, was also in uniform from TPO duties, I was able to get some nice shots.

Following this I then headed for the Bus Rally at Sacrewell Farm before returning to film the afternoon TPO runs. Having already captured the action shots earlier in the day I simply needed some shots of the train itself to add into the film. The interior scenes on the coaches had been filmed in June so I was now ready to create the video.

As soon as I thought about filming the TPO I’d decided that there was only one soundtrack to use – W.H. Auden’s Night Mail, of course. The prose echoes the beat of the locomotive and wheels on the rail joints perfectly, and the version I chose to use had a great musical arrangement that fitted in perfectly. The end result is quite pleasing, as I feel it captures the atmosphere of the TPO whilst maintaining continuity and relevance to the narration. So I hope you enjoy Grumpy Git’s visual interpretation of Night Mail.

Frying Tonight

2010-07-13T21:01:00.002+01:00

It was a hectic weekend down at the Nene Valley once again. With the annual Vintage Vehicles Weekend at Wansford Station, a Mail by Rail event, an evening dining train on Saturday and a bus rally at Sacrewell Farm with vintage buses shuttling down to Wansford on Sunday there was something for everybody, not to mention normal train services trying to cope with the stultifying heat.

So where to start? Well, I was ticket inspector on Saturday, and the booked train consisted of the Danish coaches hauled by the PKP tank 5485. Unfortunately the windows in these coaches only open wide enough to pass a credit card through, so conditions inside the train resembled an oven. Indeed, I took some yeast and flour on board the first train, left them in the Guard’s compartment and had a loaf of bread by lunchtime.

It has been consistently hot and humid in Cambridgeshire for weeks now, and the lineside vegetation is tinder dry and brittle. It didn’t take much to ignite it, and after four fires it was reluctantly decided to replace steam with diesel locos until further notice. The trusty class 14 driven by the ever trusty Thunderbird James was called out to rescue services, whilst the A1A Society members on site laboured under extremely uncomfortable conditions to get 31108 ready for the evening dining train that had been booked initially for 73050 City of Peterborough.

5485 & 73050 quietly head for the depot

as Billy Joel performs 'We didn't Start The Fire...'

The dining train was The Wansford Fryer, a service which picks up passengers on an evening run down the line before heading back from Peterborough to Yarwell non-stop, whilst passengers dine on fish n’ chip suppers that have been collected from Peterborough Station. It is a service that requires exacting timekeeping – if the train is late at Peterborough then obviously the fish n’ chips will go cold. And that isn’t good.

I’d stayed on after my turn as TTI to travel on the Fryer and assist with dishing out the meal. A group of us – Team Jayne – set up the Mk1 coaches with tablecloths, cutlery, condiments and sauce baskets. This is posh fish n’ chips; well, we are in the deep south after all. Back home in Sunderland it’s fingers and paper bags, but I’ve adapted to my new environment quite well. The meals would be served in two TSO coaches, whilst the four compartment coaches were available for anyone who just fancied a ride on the train. For some inexplicable reason the TSO’s were marshalled at each end of the train and not coupled together. This would mean someone (guess who?) would need to run the length of the train at Peterborough with the box of 60 fish n’ chip dinners and keep them warm. What’s that old army saying? Oh yes, never volunteer…

31108 at Yarwell after running round. Nice headboard!

The train left Wansford 20 minutes late behind 31108 due to operational reasons that I have conveniently forgotten, so don’t ask. Thanks to some nifty running round at Yarwell and some good thrash from the crew, we actually arrived at Peterborough only 4 minutes adrift. The van was waiting for us, and I grabbed the first big box and legged it down the platform. About halfway down, I suddenly wondered if I had the correct box ….. oh well, too late now to worry about that. Fortunately it contained the suppers, and they were dished out to the diners on board. As we cleared the tables on the return trip, I was pleased to hear so many complimentary remarks about the food – and proof of this was that there were no leftovers from any table. Beat that, Gordon Ramsey!

The end of a busy shift.

After the non-stop run, the train ran the whole service again to drop off passengers who’d joined at intermediate stations. Then a final run back to Wansford where we arrived around 22:15, and saw the end of a hectic but pleasant day – and a chance to try out some nocturnal photography. I headed for home and some shut eye, as tomorrow I'd be back for another go!

The NVR turns in for the night.

Many Happy Returns!

2010-06-28T21:12:00.001+01:00

Things have been that busy lately that I just haven’t had the time to record all of them. The weekend deserves a mention, however, as it was the hugely successful Thomas’ Birthday Weekend at the NVR. Although I was down for Booking Office and TTI, the Thomas crowd needed a hand with various activities – and as this entailed being outside in the stifling plus 30° heat it certainly beat staying indoors in the stifling plus 30° heat. There was an advantage somewhere, I think ….. Anyway, I was off like a shot.

Three trains ran on Saturday, all sell-outs, and were great fun to be part of. Sunday required a bit more work, but thankfully only two trains would run as the 3 pm service was cancelled due to a lack of bookings. Apparently there was some football game on TV, and rather than come out and enjoy themselves, people preferred to stay indoors and watch a ritual national humiliation that was only ever a matter of time.

The Thomas event was kept separate from the main line trains, and comprised of a 3 coach Wagon-Lit train hauled by Thomas to Yarwell where all the families de-trained for the birthday party. Here they gathered for photos around Thomas and the Wansford Controller (formerly the Fat Controller but his local Burger King closed down).

Then they all sang a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday whilst Thomas responded with blasts on the whistle. The children were given the opportunity to present the birthday cards that they’d brought with them; all of these went onto some large pin boards to be displayed throughout the weekend. Finally everyone trooped into the marquee where an excellent entertainer, Mark, performed some juggling and tricks. He had a great line of patter with the kids, and pitched it well – with just enough one liners that the adults appreciated to keep everyone amused.

And you thought that the original

Rubik's Cube was difficult!

One of several reasons why I'm

barred from the Kings Arms.

I admire any man who can do this with his balls.

At Wansford I generally did the meet-and-greet bit, before travelling down on the train to take pictures. Down at Yarwell I manned the birthday card boards, and there were some hugely creative cards coming in. This was an excellent idea and really got the kids involved.

Some of the many cards received from children at Yarwell.

Yarwell only has rail access, so the following morning three of us took the first service train out of Wansford to set up the marquee. As we rolled up the doors, a tidal wave of trapped heat swept out and engulfed us in seconds. My shirt was soaked through already, and the clammy heat outside did nothing to help much, either. The other removable walls were taken down, and everything set up in record time, which was just as well as the first Thomas was only 20 minutes behind us. There was just time neck a bottle of water (thanks Hannah) before the train arrived. I took photos and managed the birthday card boards again as I enjoyed the interaction of this activity.

Back to Wansford on the return Thomas, followed by a light lunch and several cans of Fanta. It said Fanta on the tin, but in the heat I knew I’d been tango’d. The 1pm Thomas was out next, so some platform duties to get people on board, then jumped on myself for the next part of the day – the really hot and sticky part. After the party, everything bar the marquee itself had to be dismantled, packed and stacked and returned to Wansford in the brake compartment of the service train. This was really not a day to be lugging plastic stacker chairs down gravelled platforms, but we managed it – with yet another Fanta as a reward once everything reached the platform. At Wansford everything had to be taken off again, and then returned to its rightful place. Finally, a group of us stripped the decorations and balloons from the coaches used during the party, and we were done! None of us were in any state to have done the 3pm service and all of this clearing up afterwards, so for once in my life I was grateful for the lads having a kickaround in South Africa. I bet it was warmer in Wansford, though!

Thomas was the only one of us who ended

the weekend as fresh as he'd started.

The weekend was a huge success, and as people got off at Wansford the railway received many favourable comments. Having seen what goes into these events first hand, I can say that Hannah, Bill and Paul put on a fantastic event that the public really appreciated. If the NVR organised the Ingerland Team – well, who knows!

Branch Line to Poznan

2010-06-20T20:22:00.000+01:00

Having made various films about railways in Britain, I decided to turn my hand to the scene abroad for a change. Unfortunately time and mostly budget are working against me, not to mention the hazards of attempting to get to foreign climes with strikes, volcanic ash and the need to cross my legs for four hours to avoid having to spend a quid in order to spend a penny on the plane. For those reasons, I decided not to travel abroad, but let abroad come to me.

The subject of the film was the Polish Slask loco 5485 on the Nene Valley that I’ve mentioned before, operating with a rake of Danish coaches in the Cambridgeshire countryside. Quite a cosmopolitan mix, I’m sure you’ll agree. Most of the footage was taken around the end of May during the monsoon season, and I wasn’t overly pleased with some of the results – particularly rain landing on the lens at Wansford. On the other hand, there is a great moment at Ferry Meadows as the train lurches and gyrates into the scene amongst the lush green vegetation, and I quite like the tunnel shots as well.

The unusual loco and coach combination looks quite at home in many segments, and if you don’t look too closely and suspend belief for five minutes, then it could almost be an Eastern European branch line. Of course, there are several unmistakable British items that I couldn’t change – the NVR weren’t overly keen about my suggestion to cut down the signals and the station scene needed considerable editing to remove as much of the TPO set as possible. But even the professionals get it wrong some times – the recent filming for ITV when remaking Murder on the Orient Express saw them use a BR Standard 5 on Belgian Wagon-Lits ostensibly at Istanbul!

The musical background needed to have an element of Eastern Europe about it to create some atmosphere and help set the scene. After much searching and experimentation – none of which worked – I eventually settled on two pieces by Yann Tiersen, an artist who has composed several soundtracks – indeed I’ve used some of them previously in Grumpy Git Productions.

The film is called Branch Line to Poznan, which is Poland’s fifth largest city. I chose the place simply because it sounds Slavic and therefore the viewer expects to see an Eastern European branch line. And if you think that that will disappoint, just be glad I didn’t use the working title of Pole Dancer. Since editing began on this film, I’ve been out and about chasing 5485 again – and if you think the premise for this video is unlikely, just wait for the sequel …..

I’ve ended up with a quaint film featuring this interesting and quirky locomotive, and the best part is that the budget for the film came in at the same price as a having a number two on Ryanair. Beat that!

A Family Affair

2010-06-14T20:44:00.000+01:00

Saturday was family day down at the Nene Valley Railway, an annual event consisting of a beer festival as well as entertainers and activities for the children at Wansford Station. It looked like a case of odd bedfellows to me, as the idea of a family day doesn’t seem ideally suited to a beer festival! Perhaps it could be called ‘Compromise Day’ – as Dad gets steadily hammered on pints of Bishops Finger or Wags to Witches in the beer tent, Mum is letting the musicians and entertainers keep the kids happy over on the platform.

Well, the event was successful enough, if a little on the quiet side – possibly due to the start of the World Cup shenanigans. Most beer festivals were probably taking place in people’s living rooms, fuelled with cheap supermarket booze rather than carefully brewed Fursty Ferret.

So what was on offer, then? A free Routemaster bus service connected various participating pubs in Peterborough with the railway itself, and once at Wansford the wandering minstrels Pennyless, who are seen here with Thomas who was shunting the yard for the children’s benefit, serenaded visitors. Pennyless also performed live on one of the trains; quite an achievement to keep their footing and play note-perfect in a lurching Mk1 coach!

A pair of entertaining and talented stilt walkers called Phillipe-Phillope (flip-flop – geddit? It took me three days so don’t worry) kept the audience impressed with their repertoire of juggling and cycling antics, and rather surprised the passengers of one bus load by knocking on the windows of the top deck when the Routemaster arrived! They clearly thought that the Nun’s Ruin was more potent than anticipated …

In addition to all this, the railway was also running travelling post office demonstrations throughout the weekend. These utilised 31108 with an authentic rake of postal vans, and recreated the days of collecting and sorting mail by rail. Lineside apparatus is installed at Yarwell, and on each trip passengers detrain at the station and walk down the line to view three operations as the train runs up and down on several passes. It is an interesting spectacle to witness, and as it was a quiet day I joined the afternoon train to film events. I chose to remain on the train and film the mail collection from onboard – I’ll do exterior shots another time.

The timing of the operation is critical, and the mailbags fly into the train with some force. This was at 25mph – back in the sixties, trains would have been travelling around 80 mph in all weathers. The job for the postal workers was backbreaking as levers control everything manually – not a push button in sight. The sorting coach, where letters and packets were sorted by hand into their destination dockets, was dimly lit and quite claustrophobic. Working on the trains can’t have been much fun, and it was always against the clock to get the mail delivered on time. How times have changed; the only mail that arrives on time now is junk mail from car insurance companies and special offers to sell my gold. The TPO immediately brings to mind the classic poem Night Mail by W.H. Auden. The prose is superb as it is written in perfect time to the motion of a train. If you listen to an audio recording of the poem you can almost hear the wheels on the rails and the hiss of steam as the locomotive arrives at the destination.

This mail has been waiting to be sorted since 1968. I found a Christmas card from

my Auntie Lucy in this lot. So she wasn't the mean spirited old bat I had her down for. Sorry.

I rounded off family day with a complete trip up and down the line, acting as tour guide to a party of pensioners on a coach trip. They were great fun and we got quite a party atmosphere going on the trip. With all of this, plus my foray into modelling during the morning, I can’t remember when I last packed so much into a single day. There’s always something different going on at The Nene Valley.

Exchange of Goods

2010-06-14T19:27:00.000+01:00

Here’s the sequel to Times of Austerity; a new J94 film entitled Exchange of Goods. As the first film was very much about a contemporary restored loco in passenger service, I took a different approach to recreate the 1960’s and relive No. 22’s past glories.

Many Austerities spent the vast part of their working lives engaged in privately owned industries, where they would shunt wagons and make up freight trains that would travel down to exchange sidings for onward transit by a British Railways loco. That is essentially the story depicted here, with the J94 collecting wagons and taking them down to Midford for collection by a BR class 14 and a Fowler 4F. Some double heading is seen, as well as a couple of fast runs by the Austerity in fine form as it runs alongside the River Nene. To provide a direct contrast with the previous film, I chose to work in black and white that was recorded onto a melodic and understated Beethoven soundtrack.

This was all filmed during the NVR’s Somerset & Dorset event in April; hence the appearance of Midford Station which is a nice touch.

Railway Modelling

2010-06-13T09:52:00.001+01:00

It’s quite some time since I took any active role in railway modelling as my interest diverted to the real thing ever since I took up filming and then joined the NVR as a volunteer. However, my interest in modelling was rekindled on Saturday during my shift at Wansford Station, although not in the way that might immediately spring to mind.

Although I wasn’t booked on duty, I’d volunteered at short notice to cover someone who couldn’t make it in. I was on the relief turn, which is essentially a spare body ready for action wherever required. It was the Family Day on the station and a beer festival was taking place in the marquee as well as various pubs in town, all linked by a free Routemaster bus service. (More on this later). In addition, we were running TPO mail train demonstrations along with the normal steam hauled passenger service. Diverse events like this often need a spare body who can pitch in wherever there is a need, and as my body is more spare than most, I took on the role for the day.

As it happened, it was a lot quieter than expected – perhaps everyone in Peterborough had dashed round Asda in the morning, filling up trolleys with cheap beer ready for an afternoon slumped in the front of the World Cup. Still, as it wasn’t particularly busy I had time to look around and chat to people. I’d spotted a photographer taking pictures of a girl on the platform, this seemed to be a professional shoot rather than some snaps for the album. We had a chat, and it transpired that they were doing just that. Photographer Harry C was photographing model Siân for her portfolio, and wanted a location that would provide some interesting and different backdrops. With many models jetting off to Barbados and Mauritius for photoshoots, Wansford certainly was different.

Harry asked if it would be possible to use the yard for some pictures – yes, of course, but only if you’ve got an authorised guide with you wearing a hi-viz jacket for insurance / health and safety purposes. As luck would have it, I just happened to have my hi-viz jacket to hand, and I was in a position to escort the group round the yard after popping into the booking office to let Eddie know that he was on his own for a bit and good luck – see ya!

Various photoshoots were set up, with Harry requesting Bullied Pacific 92 Squadron and the brake van as scene setters – a good choice. Harry was interested in the trains themselves and was clearly an established photographer who knew his subject well. Siân came across as a very genuine, chatty girl who is enthusiastic about her work, professional and very personable. They were accompanied by Siân’s chaperone, in this case her fiancé who was also interested in her work and very supportive. It made for a friendly and pleasurable experience, the likes of which I have never been involved in before. Siân took the unusual setting of an uneven, dirty and oily railway yard cheerfully in her stride – no Naomi Campbell tantrums here! I asked if it would be acceptable to take photos for publication and she was quite happy to let me snap away – it is good publicity for both her career and the railway itself, so everyone came away happy.

I’ve always wanted to do a photoshoot with a model, and as we chatted during the filming I suggested some poses that would look good in the context of the railway background. I also thought that the bulky dark green Polish tank 5485 would provide a good backdrop, as it was surrounded by spare wheelsets and bits of machinery that provided an interesting contrast to Siân’s petite figure and purple dress. Looking at the photos, I can say that I was right. I’m wasted driving a truck. One suggestion that didn’t work came on the brakevan when I said, “How about a Brief Encounter pose.” Siân replied, “What’s that?” Ah, before your time pet. I feel so old.

Siân herself wanted a picture with Thomas; by a stoke of luck he was shunting Wansford Yard at the time. Oh, the gods were smiling that day. Ironically enough, to illustrate a point in my blog post A Bird in the Hand, I’d mocked up a photo of a model giving Thomas a titillating glance to counteract his cheeky smile. A couple of days later, a real live model was creating the perfect look right in front of me! What are the chances of that happening? And to think I’d only come down to Wansford to cover another volunteer who was ill. It must be karma. Or a reward for delivering to all those dodgy Leicester car dealers during the week.

Of course I thoroughly enjoyed the modelling experience, and Harry and Siân were fantastic people to have on the railway. It just goes to show that there’s always something different happening on the NVR. I personally wish Siân great success with her future career; perhaps one day she might get to star in a Grumpy Git Production, the pinnacle of any model’s career. Indeed, I’ve already turned down requests from Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss – they just haven’t got what it takes.

If railway modelling has evolved into activities like this, I might just take it up again.

~~~

HarryC Photography covers portraits, boudoir, weddings, model portfolio and special occasions.

Siân models Print Magazine, Swimwear, Gothic, Lingerie, Fashion, Parts Modeling, Catwalk and Hair and has portfolios at TFP Models and Net Models. The gallery of pictures that I took may be seen here.

Times of Austerity

2010-06-11T20:27:00.002+01:00

I’m pleased to announce completion of the film centred around the Austerity J94 that I wrote about below. Back in April I captured some great footage of this loco on freight duties, but decided to wait until I had some decent passenger workings to throw into the mix. As it happened, I was so pleased with the footage taken around Yarwell and Wansford last weekend that I ended up devoting the whole film to last weekend’s activities and the freight doesn’t get a look in. Not that the footage is going to waste; I have a cunning plan in mind and it doesn’t involve a cabbage.

I was lucky to get a windless day during filming of these scenes, thus providing some excellent sound effects provided by No. 22. These are particularly prominent during the climb from Yarwell to Wansford Tunnel. This meant choosing a muted, gentle background score that simply links the scenes together rather than dominate the soundtrack. Bach’s Air on the G-string seemed the perfect accompaniment to the peaceful countryside and branchline scenes. So I present Times of Austerity, starring No. 22.

Austere Times - A Leap of Faith?

2010-06-06T17:39:00.000+01:00

Our current lords and masters who reside in grace and favour accommodation with chauffeured cars to ferry them around inform us that we are now living in austere times and a new period of austerity lies ahead. For us, not them, presumably. Well, I’m ahead of the game, as this weekend was all about austerity, and it was by personal choice.

One of my favourite locos currently down at the NVR is Austerity J94 number 22. This loco only arrived in April, and made her debut working some demonstration freight trains at the Pines Express event. 22 looked and sounded in fine form during the day, and the finish on the loco is superb – one of the best paint jobs I’ve ever seen anywhere. The Austerity was then booked onto passenger duties in early May, but unfortunately failed with big-end problems on the first run. Repairs were commissioned immediately, and at the weekend 22 made a triumphant return to traffic on passenger duties, hauling the six-car Mk1 rake with ease and producing some great audio and smoke effects into the bargain.

Naturally I hastened down to Wansford on the extremely hot Saturday morning for a photoshoot. Because the weather conditions were favourable, I decided to try my hand at filming at Yarwell, the NVR’s westerly terminus. The station is located at the site of Yarwell Junction, where the Northampton and Rugby lines diverged. No station existed here, and for many years NVR trains used the line purely as a run round loop. In 2007 the station opened, giving passengers the chance to alight and watch the locos couple up. The former quarry adjacent to the station was converted into fishing lakes, and a number of attractive countryside trails start from here.

The station and short line in the area present interesting opportunities for the photographer – most notably because a path now exists from the station down to the TPO equipment and onto a viewing platform that provides excellent shots of the tunnel mouth. I’d not used Yarwell as a location before, except briefly last weekend in torrential rain, but had seen the possibilities and fancied giving it a go.

5485 with the Polish Plumber's Special last weekend.

There’s only one way to reach Yarwell – by train! By taking the first service out of Wansford I had an opportunity to film the runround and departure through the tunnel. It would be two hours before the train returned, so I set off to climb the pathway that leads onto the top of the tunnel for a great view of the line. Because the area around the Nene is so flat, this is the only place that offers a panoramic vista of the line. How I spent the two-hour wait is covered in my other blog here, before the train reappeared and filming began.

22 runs round, viewed from above the tunnel - a cracking location.

Once the train had departed, I now had another 2-hour wait – or a walk to Wansford, which I reckoned would take around an hour. Well, it was far too hot for that sort of thing, so I decided to wait at Yarwell and read a bit. However, I met up with some walkers at the station and we got chatting, which passed the time pleasantly enough. I’d intended to simply return to Wansford and go home – there weren’t really any more photo opportunities available down the line with half the services now run. But once on the train I started chatting with the crew, of course, and decided I might as well go to Ferry Meadows for an ice cream, and then catch the train on its way back up the line.

As we approached Lynch Bridge, it was clear that the sunny weather had brought out the teenagers in large numbers. A footpath runs on the bridge alongside the railway track, and on hot days it’s a popular hangout for the Peterborough teen scene. Usually they’re pretty laid back, but there have been occasions in the past of lunatic behaviour, as well as vandalism and obstruction of the railway track itself. A story told with some relish to all newcomers on the NVR is that several years ago, two clever idiots placed their bikes across the tracks at this spot. The crew alighted from the loco, took one bike each and put them on the tender. The bikes were then held at Wansford until the angry kids with even angrier parents turned up to demand their return. They got them back, but only after paying a donation to the Railway! There are many other tales about incidents down at Lynch Bridge. The bridge itself has a speed restriction of 5 mph, which gives these youngsters plenty of time to devise up various forms of entertainment. Between trains they amuse themselves by the sport known as ‘Tombstoming’. This entails jumping off the bridge into the River Nene below. It’s a sport confined to teenagers, which is a pity – I wish bankers, politicians and traffic wardens would take it up. I have breezeblocks going spare …

The lads wished they'd checked first, as the M6 hurtled up to meet them ...

The most common activity is the age-old custom of ‘mooning.’ If I’m working as TTI on a sunny day I usually advise passengers that they can expect to be honoured by a 21 Bum Salute as the train crosses the bridge. Reactions range from taking a sudden and deep interest in the Ferry Meadows brochure right up to, “I’ll get my camera.” Forewarned, and all that … Personally, I think that as long as they don’t interfere with the running of the train or get abusive, then they can do what they like. A bit of friendly banter out of the train is customary, and of course they just love getting attention. It’s always nice to see pretty girls in bikinis in summer, and far more preferable than the sight of middle aged men in mandals. I rest my case.

Down at Ferry Meadows I got my ice cream, which I ate in my customarily messy fashion. I don’t know how I do it, but I cannot for the life of me negotiate my way round a Magnum in summer without wearing half of it and end up looking like a toddler who’s just put his face in his dinner. I’ve learnt from this experience and always carry baby wipes with me in my camera bag. They’re more important than a spare battery these days.

Ferry Meadows station lies opposite the golf course, which provided something to look at after I’d cleaned myself up with babywipes, now new and improved with ‘ello-vera and carbon monosodiumglutimates and enhanced with enricher VT7, for a longer lasting enrichness. Yes, I watch all those ads on TV; they’re not wasted on me at all. The course was doing good business, and it was interesting to see a lot of young blood enjoying the sport – and pretty good at it too. It was in complete contrast to the tombstoners, and proves that there is always a balance, despite what the Daily Mail would like you to believe. Golf is not my sport – setting up the DVD recorder to tape A Touch of Frost is my idea of activity – but I have dabbled in the past. I could never get the ball through that damn windmill on hole 18, though.

I took the train back to Wansford, past the tombstoners who pushed a girl off the bridge as we trundled past – and I missed the shot! (She was willing; I mean they didn’t just pick up a passer-by and chuck her off). I decided to film departure of the train and call it a day, but I was invited into the signalbox and that was far too good an opportunity to miss. Consequently, I stayed until the last train returned, and the railway closed down for the night. It was an interesting and entertaining excursion, and as austere days go, not half bad.

Polish Plumbing Saves The Day

2010-06-01T20:43:00.000+01:00

What do you do when your fifty-year-old boiler breaks down just before a bank holiday weekend? There’s only one answer – call in a Polish plumber! And that essentially was the problem down at the Nene Valley this weekend, with a three-train passenger service scheduled to run, but with the two principal steam locos (44422 and 73050) both sidelined with maintenance issues. The Austerity J94 is out of action with big end problems thus compounding the shortage even more. Whilst the ever dependable Thomas could be relied on for his Yarwell shuttles, the main line needed urgent assistance to provide the advertised service. Unlike Notwork Rail, we don’t believe in simply giving up and going home at weekends with the vague promise of a bus to take you home.

Enter the ubiquitous class 14 diesels to work the Mk1 rake, and call in the Poles to provide us with a new boiler – in this case the recently overhauled PKP 0-8-0 Slask locomotive number 5485. This would haul the Danish (DSB) set of coaches. During the course of last week the loco has been named The Meg, but no one seems to know why. Or indeed, who Meg is. This was great news for me as I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to film and travel behind this unusual machine ever since it emerged from the works in April after a lengthy rebuild. 5485 doesn’t generally work weekends, but instead works our midweek ‘Schools Specials’ with the four-car DSB rake. These coaches are open saloons; for some reason the teachers of the schools groups prefer these to the compartments of the Mk1 stock! I mean, what mischief could fifty schoolchildren possibly get up to in compartment coaches? (Here’s a clue …)

A period poster advertising The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery from 1966. A lengthy and highly entertaining chase involving a number of trains was filmed on the former Longmoor Military Railway - well worth watching, with a top-notch cast. Perhaps because of these scenes, present day teachers prefer to keep their pupils where they can see just what the little darlings are up to!

As 5485 works these services it usually has weekends off when the other locos take over. So it made a pleasant change to be able to ‘go Continental’ over the Bank Holiday period. Meg is an interesting loco, and has a highly individualistic character of her own. Built specifically to move long and heavy coal trains back home in native Poland, finesse is not one of her strong points. Control of the loco is all-or-nothing according to the crews who work her on a regular basis. Open the regulator a little to move away and nothing happens. Open a tad more – still nothing. A smidgen more, and Meg suddenly leaps into a life like an unsuspecting MP who’s just picked up The Daily Telegraph on expenses day. Once on the move, 5485 truly has a life of her own. The long body overhang extends fore and aft over the eight close-coupled small-diameter driving wheels, which means that the loco bounces, twists and sways along all at the same time. Regular crews take seasickness pills along for the ride. Every rail joint and piece of pointwork is transmitted and magnified up through the bodywork and onto the footplate. Standing still is an achievement in itself – grab hold of a handrail as the cab twists and lurches, then gyrate in time to the unpredictable motion in an attempt to stay more on less upright. The whole crew resemble a party night down at The Bigg Market on Saturday night – and of course all of this explains the origination of the term ‘Pole Dancer.’ See, you’ve learnt something.

I spent all three days down at the NVR, with Saturday nominated as a filming day (rained dawn till dusk, naturally), Sunday as TTI on the Mk1 rake and relief booking office on Monday. These turns allowed some breaks to get the odd bit of filming done, in addition to the very soggy photography session on Saturday. Indeed on Monday I finished early enough to lurch down the line as far as Ferry Meadows on Meg’s last turn, in order to film the return trip back to Wansford. It was a varied and enjoyable weekend, and I plan to produce a Polish film in due course. In the meantime my washing machine has developed a fault, so as soon as the lads have finished coaling up Meg ready for next week, I’m off to have a word.

Setting off a Train of Thought

2010-05-25T19:50:00.001+01:00

Anyone for spam?

In my last post I briefly mentioned that The Nene Valley has a new visitor – or to be more accurate, a returning resident after an extended holiday. The locomotive is 34081 92 Squadron, a Battle of Britain class Bullied Pacific. A potted CV of the loco reveals that she was purchased from Barry Scrapyard by The Battle of Britain Locomotive Society in 1976 and despatched to the NVR where rebuilding commenced. The lengthy project took until 1998 to complete, when 34081 entered service as a mainstay of the locomotive fleet. In 2003 the loco departed for visits to other heritage lines, latterly the North Norfolk Railway. Recently 34081 failed a boiler examination with 13 broken stays and although the owners were hopeful of an extension if the stays were replaced, this did not prove to be possible and a full overhaul is required. With many of the society volunteers living locally to the Nene Valley, it made practical sense to bring 92 Squadron back to Wansford. So much for the technical side – but when I saw 34081 stabled in the yard on Saturday morning, tightly squeezed in between 31108 on one side and the DMU on the other, it immediately brought back faded memories of an early trip to the NVR in 1998. When I returned home I went through my photo archives, and found that my memory had not deceived me after 12 years – which is amazing, as it always lets me down after 12 hours and I have no idea what I did yesterday. Or today, come to that.

The relatively smart exterior hides a huge engineering task to be tackled.

I was aware of the NVR at the time, having previously paid a fleeting visit to see Flying Scotsman in 1995. However, my interest at the time was in the contemporary scene and heritage railways were merely an occasional diversion. On this occasion, Susana and I were having a day out together, and I’d suggested Ferry Meadows as neither of us had ever been there and the brochures looked appealing. I’d noticed that the railway ran right through the park, but at the time it was of passing interest rather than the destination itself. It presented an opportunity to gently break Susana into the world of railways; in fact it would be her first sight of a real live steam train as she hails from Madeira. Ironically enough, in the same month that 34081 returned to the NVR, Susana also made her first visit after 12 years – coincidence, or am I missing something?

Perhaps this early visit to the NVR sowed a small seed in my mind; after all I usually take some time to catch onto things and taking 12 years to reach a decision really isn’t unusual. But back to the day in question – unfortunately my notes have long gone so I only have some skimpy scribbles on the back of the pictures (no digital camera in those days!) plus my rusty memory to rely on for information. Fortunately I numbered all my pictures, so at least I can work out the order they were taken in and work back from there. Who needs Inspector Morse when you’ve got a system and a mind like mine?

We must have parked up at Ferry Meadows, then walked to Mill Lane - in the intervening 12 years since I took this photo the vegetation has taken hold and this scene is much more closed in.

Then we followed the Nene Way through the park and caught the next working approaching Orton Mere – the fireman is holding out the single line tablet for the signalman as the train approaches, and the riverside boathouse in the background confirms the location.

We’d then followed the train down to Peterborough – quite how I persuaded Susana to do all this walking is lost in the mists of time; these days she’d take a taxi round Asda if they’d let her. I got a couple of grotty pictures at departure time before walking back up towards Ferry Meadows later in the day for this shot at Yacht Club Crossing, still a perennial favourite photographic location that has featured in many Grumpy Git Productions videos.

Now, although my fuzzy brain had vague recollections about 34081 in service, it wasn’t until I began trawling through the photos that I discovered these two pictures that I’d completely forgotten about, taken on the same day. They feature Austerity tank 75006 in service on the Danish rake of coaches and the pictures were taken at Lynch Bridge. Susana is the girl in blue watching the train. Yes, of course I’ll edit you out … This is not the same loco that has recently entered service on the NVR in lined maroon; 75006 has been out of use for some time and is currently stored in the loco depot at Wansford.

75006 as she appears today; stored unserviceable in Wansford shed. Shame.

I’m delighted to make a re-acquaintance with 92 Squadron once again, and it was interesting that seeing the loco after all this time rekindled fond memories of the past in an area that has become of great relevance today.

For more information about 34081 and The Battle of Britain Locomotive Society I can recommend a visit to their website. The overhaul is going to be a long one – years, rather than months are being talked about, after which the loco is expected to remain on the line in passenger service.

A Steamy Hot Weekend

2010-05-24T19:23:00.001+01:00

It was certainly a hot and steamy weekend, and that was even before I left the house to travel to the Nene Valley for my Booking Office turns on Saturday and Sunday. Generally speaking, if the temperature in Peterborough rises above 70ºC then the good citizens all pile into their cars and spend several hours baking away in traffic jams that eventually deposits them at the overcrowded seaside town of Hunstanton. Quite why they put themselves through this when they have the delights of Ferry Meadows on their doorstep is a mystery.

It’s not that difficult a choice … is it?

Saturday was a normal operating day, whilst Sunday saw the annual and very popular event that is Thomas’s Big Adventure. This entails Thomas working a six-car rake over the whole length of the line more or less non-stop. Given the age of the participants, plenty of events take place on the train to avoid any tears, tantrums or boredom setting in – and there are also activities designed to amuse the children. They think of everything. At Peterborough the loco runs round, but is also refilled with water – and a neat twist here is that the children take part in this activity themselves by filling the tanks by hand with buckets! It’s a great way of keeping their interest and up and can wear them out sufficiently for the return trip to be thankfully mellow …

From an operational point of view the train was an interesting one as it consisted of two Danish open seconds, two Wagon-Lit saloons, a Belgian sliding door saloon and the unique Norwegian timber bodied coach with open vestibules. I would love to ride the whole line on one of these open platforms sometime. The Norwegian saloon is only used on special occasions and for film work – the vehicle’s X-Factor moment came in 1982 when it had a prominent role (along with the NVR as a whole) during some set-piece scenes in the James Bond film Octopussy. With gun battles, knife fights, fisticuffs and a chase over the roof of the coaches before a car was crashed into the path of the oncoming train, the film convincingly portrayed a typical Saturday night in Peterborough.

Meanwhile Class 40 D306 (carrying the Irish Mail headboard), and Standard 5 73050, now cleaned up and reunited with its City of Peterborough nameplates after various special events, operated the normal service throughout the weekend. With the exception of the Thomas event, which was all pre-booked, the line was not especially busy – it was a hot day, so people decided to go and sit in even hotter cars in traffic jams on the road to Hunstanton as I mentioned earlier. This meant that I could pop out and take some photos, which made a nice break. To accommodate the Thomas timetable, a different working pattern was established at Wansford, the upshot of which meant that in between trains the spare loco was stabled at the signalbox on platform 3 road – the perfect location for pictures. It also meant that a great shot could be obtained as the incoming train passed the stabled loco, with the green 40 nicely complementing 73050 and the crimson and cream coach rake.

Later on I took a walk to see the latest visitor to arrive at the Nene Valley; however this is worth a post of its own in the near future. When Thomas returned to Wansford, I have to say how pleasant it was to be greeted by the 350 passengers with big smiles, and we received very many thank-you’s from happy parents and excited children. It’s always nice when people leave the line with happy memories, and the organisers of the Thomas event really do put an enormous amount of work in to ensure that it all goes off smoothly. I’m glad that I wasn’t the one who had to handball all the catering supplies off the train, across two platforms and into the café afterwards, all in humid temperatures of 80ºC. On top of all the actual work, I should point out that very few of the Continental coaches have opening windows, and the temperatures soared during the day. It must have been almost as hot on the train as it would have been stuck in a Fiat Punto on the way to Hunstanton ….. Oh well, there’s always next weekend.

The Pines Express - Film

2010-05-10T18:57:00.000+01:00

Following the Pines Express event and the running of a recent charter train on the NVR, Grumpy Git Productions have released a film to celebrate the recreation of the Somerset & Dorset summer Saturday in the fifties.

It’s a straightforward enough premise; we see Fowler 4F 44422 being prepared for service followed by the arrival at Midford Station. Boarding the train, we take a journey down the line – seen through both the eyes of a passenger and a lineside spotter. The train arrives at Orton Mere in heavy rain – well, we’re recreating the British summer after all! 44422 is turned by hand on the turntable, and we see the train depart from the station tender first before it runs alongside the river where a couple of dogs are enjoying a splash about – a nice addition the film.

We then change trains and watch as 73050 leaves the loco shed. Boarding the train we take another journey down the line with some energetic running by the Standard 5. Finally both locos are paired up for The Pines Express itself, with the final scene following the doubleheader all the way along the Nene flood plain towards Castor with regulators off and whistling for all they’re worth as they approach the historic non-stop dash through Wansford.

Although filmed over two days, the weather was consistently grotty enough not to cause any noticeable changes between scenes.

The Austerity J94 was also running on the day hauling demonstration freight trains. However, it didn’t really fit into the context of the film and would have meant chopping up some nice footage to squeeze it in – and that would spoil things. Fortunately I got some cracking scenes that feature this loco, and have enough material to give no. 22 a film of it’s own – so Austerity fans, do not despair!

You Spin Me Round

2010-05-06T10:04:00.000+01:00

In my recent post ‘Go East’ I photographed the Nene Valley Railway’s collection of locos all positioned heading east. This came about because of The Pines Express event that featured turntable demonstrations. The locos had to be turned round once again ready for the coming weekend’s normal service, and Wednesday was chosen for that purpose. No passenger trains were running, but the line had been hired for a private charter with both 44422 and 73050 in service that day, so the opportunity was taken to turn both locos during the lunch break. Fortunately I happened to have a day off work on Wednesday, and equally fortuitously, I happened to need to visit Wansford to drop some stuff off.

It’s a pity I didn’t get there earlier as I missed both locos double-heading out to Peterborough. But the garden needed doing, and it was the only day my gardener was available at short notice (you don’t think I do it myself, do you? If there’s one activity I find more tedious than filling in tax returns, it’s gardening). However, after dropping the stuff off and having a coffee and a chat in the cafe, I managed to film the arrival back at Wansford, albeit tender first. Then both locos were turned on the manual turntable; 44422 first followed by the heavier 73050. All went well with the 4F, but the Standard 5 proved more troublesome as the turntable came to a halt around 10 feet from the end of the turn. Cue lots of manhandling; expended energy (not mine); lots of bad words my mother wouldn’t approve of (again, not mine. For once) until the good old fashioned answer turned up – a man with a big stick. Respect – that’s how I fix things. After some poking around in the depths and a good whack or two the blockage was freed, and 73050 joined 44422 for the afternoon runs.

I filmed departure over Wansford Bridge, then nipped round in the car to Orton Mere where I was lucky enough, despite having to negotiate the school run, to capture the passing of the train. Then in readiness for the final return run boiler first to Wansford, I walked to Yacht Club crossing as there is a good run up on a bend here. As the train was operating private hire with photo run pasts, there was no schedule – it was a case of waiting it out until the participants ran out of film, battery life or interest. This turned out to be a long two hours that I hadn’t expected. Annoyingly, I could hear the whistles every so often and knew where the train was – but as many a photographer knows only too well, if you pack up and walk down to meet the train, it will leave and you’ll miss it. Fortunately I had Custard Creams and a drink on standby, as well as a book to read in the unusually dry weather so it wasn’t too much of a hardship. If I can spend hours standing in fields of snow for the Santa Specials, I can cope with a warm and dry level crossing.

When the train finally returned the end results were worth the wait, especially as it was such an unusual event to capture some double-heading. All locos are now back in their rightful places, and 73050 will shortly be reunited with its nameplates – normal service will resume!

More Diesel, Gromit?

2010-05-04T14:51:00.001+01:00

Sunday and Monday were days I had booked out for a trip to see family and friends in Sunderland, with a chance to do some catching up after the wedding. On the return trip down the A1, I passed by the Wensleydale Railway, and as the main entrance is at Leeming Bar, literally a minute from the A1 (plus 10 minutes trying to negotiate the junction at the end of the slip road) I thought, ‘Why just pass by? Why not call in?’

So that’s just what I did. The weather was typical May Bank Holiday stuff – squally heavy showers and leaden grey skies, so linesiding was out of the question. I decided to take a ride and explore the line instead. Unfortunately it transpired that owing to a recent derailment on the line the service was somewhat truncated and a rail replacement bus service transferred passengers from Leeming Bar to the next station down the line – Bedale.

As this was an impromptu visit I wasn’t concerned, and whiled away the next hour in the station buffet cum shop, plus a look round the yard whenever the rain stopped for long enough to grab some pictures. At 13:25 I boarded the decidedly non-vintage Volvo coach for the short but very comfortable trip to nearby Bedale. Here a two car Met-Cam DMU burbled away in the platform as it awaited departure time. No time for photos; get on and let’s get gone.

The exterior of the DMU has been finished in an attractive blue and cream livery, but the interior was literally back to the 1980’s – I kept expecting to see Gene Hunt scream into the car park in a red Audi Quattro. I felt at home, and so I should – car 51210 was a Heaton Depot vehicle during the 1980’s and I travelled on it many, many times in my misspent youth between Sunderland and Newcastle on trainspotting trips to Gateshead. In 1985 when I (allegedly) grew up and got my first job, 51210 was one of many such units that bounced and lurched me on my daily commute, in between breakdowns, strikes and point failures at least.

I was pleased to see that nothing – and I mean nothing – has changed since then. The unit is exactly as it was in 1985, in what BR at the time called ‘refurbishment’ which basically saw some faded old green panelling replaced with some cream panelling and fluorescent lighting to replace the tungsten bulbs. The ride was as noisy and bouncy as ever; you still need to be a trapeze artist to stay seated on jointed track. The window frames are either so loose that they rattle your teeth out or are seized solidly together and nothing short of an arc welder will open them. The heater didn’t do anything, but they never did in winter anyway. In summer they’d fry you in 100º heat, especially while you sat on the High Level Bridge while a long stream of passing trains crossed the station throat ahead of you. The great view out of the cab was a high point – unlike many miserable buggers working out of Heaton depot, the WR drivers keep the blinds open!

I took the DMU out to Leyburn, where I left to change trains for some loco haulage. The National Railway Museum at York had sent up 47798 Prince William for the weekend, and coupled it to the WR’s rake of cream and red Mk2 coaches. Because of the operational problems caused by the derailment, this train was confined to running between Leyburn and Redmire. There is no loop at Leyburn, and the train had to run empty several miles to run round in the passing loop. This caused big gaps between services, but nevertheless, full credit to the WR for keeping a service going in difficult circumstances and coming up with a solution. Notwork Rail would have just shut down the entire line in similar circumstances. I managed a nice shot of the DMU as it left Leyburn, but by the time the 47 arrived it was raining. Again.

The trip out to Redmire is spectacular – well, it is when you can see the view of the Yorkshire dales. Driving rain doesn’t exactly improve the situation, but every so often there would be a break in the clouds and the magnificent scenery would be visible for a moment. This meant that I could concentrate on my surroundings – once again, I was transported back to my youth in the Mk2 coach that still retained all it’s BR features – remember those wingback seats and a sea of grey formica panelling?

At Redmire I jumped out for some less than spectacular photos during a break in the rain as the loco ran round. On the return to Leyburn the sun came out allowing some pleasing views from the train; in fact it got very bright at one point and I stupidly thought that the bad weather had packed up and gone home until next weekend.

For this reason I decided to stick around at Leyburn, and took a walk to find some good vantage points ready for the departure of the next DMU, as well as a passing shot of the 47 taking the Mk2 stock back to the loop. I found a couple of nice spots, but inevitably minutes after the 47 had passed by the rain found me. Yet again. Therefore I opted to return to the station and take the DMU up to Redmire, then all the way back to Bedale as it formed the last train of the day. Redmire is a pleasant enough station and a good starting point for walks in the area, but today the word ‘bleak’ sprang to mind.

Predictably, on the return journey as the DMU got nearer and nearer to the Bedale the clouds majestically parted and bathed the Dales in glorious warm and photo-friendly sunlight. On the drive home back to Grantham, I had to wear sunglasses all the way. Oh, thank you, God. I shall refrain from further observations on this matter and leave you with the lovely parting shot as I left Bedale to pick up the bus for Leeming.

Still, the visit was an enjoyable enough break on my journey home, and pleasant to see another line that I haven’t visited before. There is great potential for lineside photography, whilst the 12 mile trip to Redmire is highly recommended. Almost all services are diesel hauled or provided by the DMU, with a peak summer steam service operating with a Standard 2 Tank. The staff were friendly, and the stations well maintained and tidy. The stock in service was clean, but decidedly tatty internally as I mentioned. Personally I quite liked this, as it brought back so many memories of my teenage years following these trains, but it’s a subjective matter on a tourist line.

Overall, despite the weather and unfortunate derailment, my visit was a pleasurable one, and I’d certainly like to make a return visit in more favourable conditions.

Go East

2010-05-04T14:32:00.000+01:00

I now have a set procedure when turning up for duty on the Nene Valley Railway.

1. Get a coffee

2. Set up the Booking Office

3. Get a Full English Breakfast

4. Check out the motive power on shed

5. Get coffee

6. Open Booking Office.

This puts me in the right frame of mind ready for the day ahead. On Saturday I followed my established routine, and when it came to checking out the motive power on shed, I was surprised to see this line up:

Unusually, all locos are facing east following last weekend’s Pines Express event, and normally such a photo is not possible. The NVR always runs the locos boiler first heading westbound, as the majority of runs take place when the sun (hang on ... sun? What sun?) is to the southwest and offers the best photographic opportunities. I therefore made the most of this rare opportunity to capture the moment as no less than three locos prepared for the day ahead, especially recently arrived Austerity 22 looking immaculate as steam is raised for the day ahead.

Meanwhile 73050 has been reunited with its City of Peterborough nameplates, but looks pleasingly worked stained in this view at Wansford during the afternoon. The locos will be turned back to their usual positions shortly, so it was a good opportunity to get some pictures from a different perspective.

The Pines Express

2010-04-27T19:58:00.002+01:00

A typical summer holiday afternoon at Midford, S&D.

The spirit of Evercreech Junction was recreated in Cambridgeshire when the Nene Valley Railway held a 1950’s Somerset & Dorset event on Sunday 25th April. I’d been looking forward to this mini gala for some time as it would offer a number of interesting photographic opportunities that don’t occur during regular running days. For that reason I decided not to undertake any railway duties on Sunday as it would enable a day of linesiding with the camera instead. I therefore planned out an intensive schedule so as to maximise locations and not miss too much of the action.

44422 and 73050 simmer in Saturday afternoon sunshine.

The line up was an interesting one – Fowler 4F 44422 and Standard Five 73050 would haul the passenger trains, consisting of a six-car blood and custard Mk1 rake, including a specially created Club Car for dining services. For authenticity, 73050 had its City of Peterborough nameplates removed, and both locos were weathered to give a work stained appearance. Recently arrived J94 Austerity Tank 22 Lord Salisbury would be making her debut in service on the Nene Valley, and I was particularly looking forward to the sight of this loco working the freights. Although not an S&D loco as such, No. 22 is similar to the many industrial locos that used to work at a colliery on the line. Finally, BR class 14 D9516 would be undertaking some stock movements and shunting duties to add variety.

22 and D9516 look at home on a rake of coal wagons.

TTI Carl looks equally at home on a platform seat, taking a well earned break!

Interest wasn’t just confined to the trains themselves, as much thought had gone into creating the S&D atmosphere. Wansford station became Midford, with all platform nameboards and even the signalbox altered for the day. Vintage timetables were displayed and specially printed Edmonson tickets were issued to all passengers. The continental coaches and TPO vehicles were banished to Orton Mere so that they would not spoil photographs – a nice touch. The station must have looked convincing, because when I was working in the booking office the previous day a lady looked around with much curiosity, and turning to her friend said, “You know, I’m sure it said on the website that this station was called Wansford!”

All passenger services would be hauled by 44422 or 73050, with locos being turned at Wansford on the turntable to permit some rare boiler first running eastbound to Peterborough. The turntable operation was publicised, as it would be of interest to the expected crowds being such a rare spectacle on any preserved line. The highlight of the day would be The Pines Express itself – 44422 and 73050 double-heading a one-off non-stop express from Peterborough to Yarwell Junction, including the high speed dash through Wansford – a first for the line. So you can see why I wanted to be out and about, camera in hand!

A grubby and nameless 73050 looked the part as she steamed onto the turntable at Midford.

Despite a gloomy start followed by an hour long torrential downpour that required a rethink about the early part of my schedule, the day gradually improved and by lunchtime was quite pleasant with good lighting. The filming would start at Peterborough, but I popped into Wansford first thing as Jayne had asked if I’d call in and take some pictures of her Club Car – a MK1 saloon laid out for dining services complete with table linen, fine china and even fresh flowers.

Pines Express Club Car ready for lunch service as 73050 gets up steam in the background.

It was essential to get this done before the hordes descended, and a stop at Wansford meant that I’d get some coffee down my neck at the café, and take the edge of the 06:15 start time. Then scoot off and park up at Orton Mere before walking the length of the line with regular photostops, filming each passing train at my planned locations. In the event, the substantial downpour meant substituting the dry shelter of Orton Mere for the open air of Peterborough for early scenes, but after 11:00 things steadily improved. I ended up at Wansford for more photos before catching the last train back to Peterborough behind the 4F, then back again one stop to Orton Mere for the car. This was a fortuitous move indeed, because the J94 had worked down with the freight and was added to the train at Peterborough for the return trip instead of going back with the class 14. Thus I managed to travel on the first passenger train hauled by 22 which rounded off an excellent day on a high note.

All three stars of the show in preparation for duty the previous day.

The Nene Valley Railway certainly deserves credit for hosting such a great event. It just goes to show that you don't need a vast line up of prestigious locos to make an interesting gala - a well planned themed event with plenty of attention to detail works equally well. Therefore I hope the planned video of the day does it all justice!

Easter Eggspress

2010-04-07T23:03:00.000+01:00

Spring has arrived at Peterborough

For the tourism industry, Easter generally signifies the start of the new season and now is the time to put into practise all the new plans and ideas that have been evolving over the quiet winter period. The Nene Valley Railway is no exception, and after my adventures as a 1940’s spiv on Sunday, I was moving up a decade into the 1950’s to do a busy shift in the Booking Office on Monday.

The Easter break had already seen huge numbers of visitors coming through the doors, and Monday was no exception – in fact it proved to be a record breaker, which was fantastic news. To attract families, Thomas The Tank Engine was in steam, and was certainly a great attraction judging by the visitors that I spoke to. The NVR has a generally sensible policy regarding Thomas, by using him to haul trains only to Yarwell Junction and back – a round trip of about 25 minutes. Many parents were delighted by this – it offered the Thomas experience in a time frame that ensured that boredom wouldn’t set in, and all the problems that entails! Indeed I think it works remarkably well – visitors ride Thomas through the haunted tunnel to Yarwell and can watch the loco run round before returning back to Wansford. Thus a natural break is provided in the journey, and the kids actually get to see the engine up close and personal – hopefully planting subliminal images in their minds for future reference!

The rest of the service between Wansford and Peterborough was provided by Fowler 4F 44422 on the Mk1 rake, and class 14 D9514 on the DSB set. Neither loco wore a ‘Thomas’ face, so I’m assuming that my earlier blog post on this subject has been read and absorbed. Sadly the Polish Slask loco, number 5845, that I mentioned previously wasn’t ready in time for service over the weekend, but is undergoing a steam test and runabout this week – so here’s hoping it will soon be in service.

The massive bulk of the Slask loco on shed at Wansford.

The Booking Office was extremely busy as you’d imagine, and two of us manned it. I was delighted to get the ‘cash only’ till as this meant cashiering as I used to do it in the good old days – adding up in your head; charging the customer the total, taking cash then giving them the change. None of this pressing umpteen buttons then receiving error messages and crashes in return. Just straightforward giveusyercash. Progress has a lot to answer for.

The atmosphere amongst the visitors was good natured, and as the customer’s first point of contact with the railway, we wanted to get their day off to a good start. The welcome that people receive at attractions like this often has a bearing on their whole day, and it’s a point I’m always mindful of, whether I’m visiting or working. I’d visited Crich Tramway Museum the previous day, and received a genuine, warm welcome from the very pleasant girl on the till (called Nikki, in the highly unlikely event she reads this, but thanks anyway) and it really does make a difference.

By 3pm we’d got the vast bulk of visitors through the doors, and that meant that my till could close. Cash up (and balance first time, whey hey) and then I had the option of going home or riding a train. The 4F was in steam – what would you do? Naturally I jumped the 15:10 and used the outward journey to do a bit of on-train PR amongst the Thomas groups. The trip down to Peterborough and back was lightly loaded, so I just chatted with the various crew on board. I remained on the train as it worked the last Wansford – Yarwell – Wansford shuttle service, before helping to close up the stock and knock off for the day.

44422 recouples after running round at Peterborough.

Then time for a quick trip into the loco shed, to get my first glimpse of our recently arrived J94 locomotive number 22 from Scunthorpe. I haven’t been able to find out much background about this loco – I’m assuming that it must have been up at the Steelworks. I have to say that even in the gloom of the shed, the loco looks magnificent in lined maroon livery.

No. 22 is booked to make her debut in service on Sunday 25th April at The Pines Express gala day. Even better – she’ll be hauling freight trains, the raison d’etre of these locos. More about the gala in due course – but it should be a cracker!

Daytripper

2010-04-03T16:01:00.004+01:00

Hi there, pop-pickers! - let me take you on a trip down memory lane. It’s a spring weekend during the swinging sixties, and you’ve taken a walk with some friends to indulge in an afternoon of trainspotting in the Midlands. Along with the sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper that your Mum made this morning is your most prized possession – a transistor radio, so that you can all tune into Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman playing Pick of The Pops on the BBC Light Programme – without being shouted at to ‘turn that damn racket down!’ Appropriate tunes blast out at full volume – The Loco-motion by Little Eva from across the pond, with John, Paul, Ringo and George giving us Ticket to Ride and Daytripper – it’s as if they knew! We stand at the lineside fence and wave at the train crews; the fireman often takes a break here on the up trains as the track is downhill all the way to Barchester. A game of cricket is taking place across the tracks in the nearby school playing fields. We wave at a fellow spotter, who suddenly takes a dive into the undergrowth. Oh no! He’s been bowled out – looks like the teacher’s on his way over to sort him out …

Photo: N.H. James

Down at the lineside a variety of trains pass by – ever familiar Black Fives, Standard 2’s and Jinty tanks that are steadily being usurped by the new green diesels of types 1 and 2 – not to mention the futuristic diesel multiple units that offer a driver’s eye view of the track ahead; how cool! There’s even an interloper from the LNER on a holiday express; now there’s a new one to be underlined in the much handled Ian Allan pocket book. Pick up freights trundle along, squeezed in between the fast mainline expresses. If we get lucky, there might even be a Jubilee on the up Master Cutler…

Home for tea and changing into your best suit before begging your Dad to give you a lift in the Humber so that you can attend the youth disco in town. Sitting with your mates on one side of the room, you gaze across the chasm of the dance floor to the girls sitting on the other side – waiting for the DJ to put on Nights in White Satin so that you can ask Julia McCloughlin for a dance. And all the time praying that the lights will be lowered so that the darkness will hide the latest outcrop of spots; not much chance of a snog in the corner if she cops an eyeful of that lot!

If any of this has reawakened a memory or two after forty odd years, then this new film from Grumpy Git Productions is for you. If not, then watch Heartbeat (currently weekdays on ITV3 and well worth watching). More recommended early trainspotting memories may be read at Iain Robinson’s Losing Track blog, in particular this piece which inspired the storyline behind Twist & Shunt.

Ticket to Ride

2010-03-29T22:05:00.009+01:00

Having done a couple of stints on the Nene Valley Railway as Travelling Ticket Inspector and Platform Bouncer, I was now ready to start learning the next step of Booking Office Sales. This entails selling tickets in the booking office; obvious I know, but in this day and age it’s refreshing to find a job title that does what it says on the tin. I imagine that on the ‘real’ railway these days they call themselves Executive Mobility Solutions Co-ordinators or suchlike.

So it came to pass that on Sunday I turned up at Wansford ready to get to grips with the job. The till system is all computerised, and like any such task it’s easy enough once you do what the computer wants you to do, and not what you want to do. Or what you think the computer wants to do now but doesn’t because it wants to do that later and will freeze up if you ask it to do anything complicated. Like issuing a ticket two minutes before the train departs. Slow but steady is the key here – just like driving an Actros with a tiptronic gearbox, really. Without all the swearing.

I enjoyed my time in the booking office a lot more than I thought I would – there was plenty of interaction with the public, who were generally very friendly and tolerant about the rather slow process of getting their tickets. The age-old adage of first impressions really does matter, though (speaking as a grumpy old git who actually thinks customer service should be a given, and not a script dreamed up by some marketing guru). For many visitors the booking office is the first point of contact with the railway, and making everyone feel welcome is a key part of their overall enjoyment. One of the reasons I joined the NVR in the first place was precisely because of the pleasant atmosphere I’ve encountered during previous visits.

To be fair, here – digressing a bit as usual – one of the things Britain generally gets right are its tourist attractions that are run by volunteers or people interested in the environment that they’re working in. All my trips last year to places such as Beamish, The National Coal Mining Museum, Crich Tramway and various preserved railways last year were enhanced by people being genuinely welcoming and creating a pleasant atmosphere in the process. It’s when you step outside into the real world of McDonalds, Starbucks, Carphone Warehouse and B&Q that you wonder if you’re actually in a parallel orbit that has been taken over by 12 year old grunting monosyllabic texting zombies that have a mobile phone welded to their palm and i-pods glued into their ears. This would explain why they are unaware of your presence even when you’re stood 2 feet in front of them over the counter – and when it does finally dawn on them that you are there, ready to part with money in order to get a product that they alone can provide at that moment in time, gaze blankly over your shoulder at a fixed point in the distance and welcome you warmly to their world with something along the lines of, “ ‘elp yer?” Or if you’re really lucky, a straightforward, “Yeah?”

I really do think that it’s time for an overhaul of the gun laws in this country.

Wanna go large yeah wotever. Do I look bovvered? Do I?

But back to the point, and the booking office. The railway wasn’t overly busy, although we had passengers for all three train services that ran during the day. I switched with another trainee at lunchtime and took a ride as relief TTI on the 12:30 train up and down the line, which provided an opportunity to inspect the tickets I’d just sold!

I enjoyed this aspect of the day as it was a great opportunity to build up a good rapport with the visitors and it was a chance to show the human side of the railway operation. Once the train returned to Wansford I finished off in the Booking Office and that was that.

During the day I was able to catch up on the news, and found out that we have two locos coming into traffic shortly. The first is that Austerity J94 number 22 is arriving shortly for a long-term stay on the line (I know who’ll be interested in that snippet!) Secondly, the massive Polish 0-8-0 Slask tank 5485 is almost ready for service after a lengthy overhaul, and hopefully will be in steam over Easter. This loco was employed in its native Poland at the coal mines until they closed down – then, like so many of its countrymen, came to Peterborough to start a new life. Fortunately all the Polish plumbers came too, so the boiler has finally been repaired …

During overhaul, 5485 received a new coat of green paint that matches the DSB coaches. It will be pleasing to see a foreign loco hauling the European stock up and down the line – much more of an authentic appearance. I look forward to experiencing the sights and sounds of this interesting beast in due course. More information about this loco can be read here.

Twist & Shunt

2010-03-28T21:55:00.004+01:00

It was back to the swinging sixties at the Great Central Railway this weekend, with an impressive line up of motive power and workings to keep visitors entertained. Steam and diesel locos were rostered together with a two-car Met-Cam DMU, and along with passenger services the GCR ran some freight and parcels diagrams.

There was plenty of action during the day with five steam locos, two diesels and the DMU in operation. Notable amongst the line up was class 25 D5185 that I last saw, ironically enough, in the Nene Valley sixties gala back in September. Standard 2-6-4T 80072, recently returned to steam was looking great, along with my personal favourite 5690 Leander and, top of the bill, 60163 Tornado which is an enjoying a short holiday on the line before taking up mainline duties after Easter. Not having seen Tornado before (am I the only one left?), this was a must-see. And I have to say that I’m very impressed by this awesome locomotive.

My day began at Kinchley Lane in very dull and threatening weather, but the rain stayed away even if the wind didn’t. When things improved I ventured down to Woodthorpe before rounding off the day at Quorn station. I was pleased to see that all trains were well patronised, but surprised at the rather low number of photographers who turned out. Mind you, this was a good thing for me personally as it meant that many good vantage points were available and I didn’t end up photographing elbows, backpacks and beer bellies that so often occurs at such events.

My plan was almost entirely based around videoing the trains, so still photos had to take a back seat. The end results of the shoot are extremely good on the Quicktime player, but inevitably suffer from loss of quality after conversion to a format suitable for editing. Not an easy problem to get round while Microsoft and Apple refuse to allow cross-compatibility between their products. As I started with a Beatles song, I’ll end on one – Help!

Dieselly Led - Photos

2010-03-17T19:36:00.002Z

The photos from the Nene Valley Railway Diesel Gala may now be viewed here. As I was ostensibly working during the gala, there's not much variety in terms of locations or composition. In truth, I was grabbing quick snaps whenever there was a quiet moment on Wansford Station during my mornings on the ticket barrier. Afternoons saw me working on the trains, so I popped out for some shots as locos ran round at Peterborough and Yarwell.

This was the debut of my new camera, and I just put it into auto mode and took pictures. I'm pleased that the camera coped very well with some difficult conditions, including shooting directly into the sun, low light and sunset. Since then I've even read the manual - well, a few pages at least - and with some practise at various techniques, the camera seems to offer great potential.

Dieselly Led

2010-03-09T21:44:00.011Z

Last weekend I started as a working volunteer on the Nene Valley Railway, so this weekend I plunged headfirst into one of the busiest events of the year – The Spring Diesel Gala. My chosen role, covered in the previous post, is Travelling Ticket Inspector – and that role is being expanded to Booking Office and all things ticketing related in the future. The gala was already staffed by the time I joined, but extra hands are always welcome on such occasions as it provides more flexibility – and for me, an excellent opportunity to learn the job and meet other members.

The duty began at 07:30, but worth arriving early in order to fill up on one of Jayne’s breakfasts – and on a gala day, fill up when you can. Consequently I made sure on Sunday that I was at Wansford early doors! Once things kick off, there’s no going back. My roster for the morning meant that I would man the ticket gate at the platform entrance. Well, I am the new boy! However, I discovered it was the prime place to be given my position as new starter, as everybody had to come past at some point. Thus I got to meet many people who I’d work with later on, and it was an opportunity to match names with faces of the volunteers. I also met a number of familiar faces from the model railway exhibition circuit – but when you see such people out of their natural environment, you think, ‘I know you from somewhere …’ During quiet moments I also had the chance to play with my new camera, and early results are pleasing.

A quiet moment at Wansford, reminiscent of the Sixties.

My role on the ticket gate was to ensure that everybody had a valid ticket to travel on the trains, or a platform ticket if they just wanted to see the locos parked up on shed and run through the station. Passengers were no problem – they had all purchased tickets at the booking office, and were quite happy to produce them for inspection. The platform tickets were another matter! Several photographers resented having to contribute to the (significant) expense of putting on the event, and expected to wander around for free. This sort of behaviour was annoying on several counts –

- The Railway is a charity, not a business that makes a profit for shareholders.

- Galas are very expensive to organise, due to the costs of the visiting locos.

- The line is 7 miles long, and 5 miles of it runs adjacent to a public footpath – so there is ample opportunity to take excellent photographs for free. Of course, this means that some walking is involved, and these days getting from the car to the counter in McDonalds manages to tax a sizeable (in every sense) portion of the population, so a bit of linesiding is certainly out of the question.

Don't want to buy a platform ticket? This shot was taken less than

one minute's walk from the station. Amazing what you can find if you actually look!

Generally speaking, most people happily paid up and indeed they became regulars passing in and out of the barrier from the platform to the café and toilets etc, which meant that it was possible to build up a good rapport – the overall atmosphere was pleasurable and friendly. Two incidents stood out, however. The first man approached early on Saturday morning and I asked for his ticket.

“I don’t need one, I’m a founder member.”

“Unless you’re a working member, with a pass, you have to pay.”

“I’ve never paid before!”

“Welcome to my world sir. No ticket, no entry.”

With that he stomped off to the booking office to complain. And returned five minutes later with – a valid platform ticket!

I made a point of scrutinising his ticket while he moaned about the travesty of having to pay money to visit the line, which, by all accounts, he had built single-handed. My reply was simple, “Surely sir, as a founder member of the line, you will wish to actively contribute to the running of galas like this, and will therefore endorse the raising of revenue to ensure that such events may be held in the future?”

That stopped him in his tracks, and off he went, muttering away under his breath. But I’d made my (very valid) point.

The second occurrence was on Sunday, and even more bizarre. A man pushed past me on the barrier, so I stopped him and asked for a ticket.

“I don’t need one,” was the flat reply.

“I’ll make that decision,” I replied. He sighed, and said, “I’m here for the class 66. I have to go and see it to see if I want to travel behind it.”

“Then you’ll need a platform ticket to go and see it, won’t you sir?”

He sighed again, and with exaggerated slow speech as if to a young child said, “You don’t understand. I’ve come a considerable distance to travel behind the 66. But I need to see which 66 it is before I make up my mind if I’m going to travel behind it.”

Unperturbed, and with equally exaggerated slow speech I told him, “No sir, it is you who doesn’t understand. To view the loco that you have travelled a considerable distance to travel behind, but don’t know if you want to travel behind it now that you’re here, you will either need to purchase a travel ticket to ride on it, or a platform ticket to look at it.”

“And how can I decide to travel behind it if I don’t know what it is?” he asked, playing right into my hands.

“By purchasing a platform ticket and going to look at it.” How hard can it be, I wondered. By now he understood that he was getting nowhere and tried a different tack. “I don’t suppose you know which loco it is?” he sneered.

“I don’t suppose I do,” I agreed. Of course, had he been polite and pleasant I could have found out in less than 30 seconds, but he hadn’t so I didn’t.

“I suggest you ask at the booking office – they have a list in there. You can buy a ticket while you’re there,” I added helpfully. Scowling, off he went. Shortly afterwards he was back, waving a travel ticket in my face.

“You were quite, quite wrong,” he smirked. “They don’t know which loco it is either. You lot don’t seem to know anything much about anything, do you?”

“Well sir, I know an arse from an elbow and I know what I’m looking at right now and it's not an elbow. Next class 66 hauled train leaves at 15:00; have a pleasant trip, sir.”

He wasn’t expecting that – actually, neither was I, it just slipped out. Must be my day job coming to the fore. Still, it shut him up once and for all because he stalked off down the platform and I didn’t have the pleasure of his company again.

Of course the booking office had got the loco roster, but faced with his attitude, temporary amnesia had set in. But to my mind, if you’re travelling a ‘considerable distance’ to travel behind a loco, wouldn’t you check first and find out what it is? I found out later from members interested in such things that news about this loco – 66720 as it happens – was all over the relevant forums and websites as it would be the first time it had hauled a passenger train, and was thus a huge crowd puller.

So that's what all the fuss was about. Happy punters enjoy the inaugural

passenger run behind 66720 as it departs from Wansford with the Wagon Lits.

Some other unknown person also disagreed about the charge for platform tickets, because mid morning on Saturday we found that the lock on the bolted gate that provides access to platform 3 had been smashed to give free access via that particular route. Hope his mother’s proud of him. But those three incidents aside, the vast majority of visitors were very friendly and pleasant and working the gate was good fun, if a touch cold.

On the Saturday, I didn’t know all that many of the volunteers, and whilst those in appropriate uniforms of drivers and traincrew were easy to spot, some came through in civvies and promptly got stopped at the gate for a ticket – including the event organiser, who was quite bemused to find out that he needed a ticket for his own gala! Nevertheless, this was a good means of finding out who was who, and if nothing else it proved that I was doing my job. Just wait till I get my peaked cap!

In the afternoons I swapped roles and went aboard some of the trains as Travelling Ticket Inspector (TTI). Three rakes of coaches were in operation on an intensive timetable, so there was plenty of activity. The 5-car BR MK1 set was popular, but harder to work as it consisted mainly of compartments that take much longer to check. The four car Danish set was a doddle – open coaches with wide gangways that were quick and easy to walk through made the job simplicity itself.

The DSB rake before departure.

The Wagon-Lits rake was only three cars long as the fourth coach is in for overhaul, but was jam packed for much of the gala as the class 66 was working it (being the only air-braked set that it could haul). I didn’t set foot on this set until the very last train on the Sunday, and by then my roster had ended. However, by that stage all the other TTI’s had knocked off and there was no one left to man the train, so I volunteered – partly because of my inbuilt sense of duty to see the job done properly, and partly because the last train was double-headed by a pair of class 31’s with the crew determined for some good old fashioned thrash. Okay, okay - it was entirely the chance to ride the class 31’s and Wagon-Lits, as I find these coaches fascinating and relish any opportunity to travel on them – they’re worth a blog post of their own at some stage. There's something to look forward to.

The atmosphere on board the trains was great, and because almost everybody had seen me on the ticket gate there was plenty of banter and greetings that made the trips very entertaining. Everyone on the trains was well behaved and there didn’t seem to be any of the loutish behaviour I’ve seen elsewhere at Diesel Galas. Even the handful of members of the general public who turned up not knowing what was going on enjoyed their visits and the general atmosphere, which was gratifying.

Class 40 on the Mk1 rake prepares to depart from Yarwell.

Overall it was a great experience to view such an event from an entirely new perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed the two days. I certainly felt (and can still feel!) the after effects of two 11 hour shifts spent standing and walking for the whole time, but it was satisfying to be part of something. I found the volunteers to be friendly and welcoming, and thoughtful touches such as regular coffees being brought out to me on the ticket gate were very welcome indeed – especially on Sunday morning, when the temperature began at –5°. The Peak wouldn’t start from cold, and I knew how it felt - it took three coffees and a bacon butty before I could even contemplate getting out onto the barrier.

Sunday evening at 18:30, and the last train has arrived back

at Wansford after an exhilarating weekend. Time to go home!

My next rostered turn is 28th March in the Booking Office, so I’m looking forward to trying out another new role.

All photos taken on my new Panasonic TZ6 camera, using only Intelligent Auto mode as I haven't had time to read the book yet. As usual. But so far so good.

All Tickets, Please!

2010-02-28T20:35:00.010Z

Ever since I discovered the Nene Valley Railway last summer, I’ve kept on being drawn back there like a moth to flame, or a disaster to Gordon Brown. I particularly enjoyed working on board the Christmas Santa Specials with some of the volunteers who run the line, and earlier this year I bit the dust and joined up as a working member myself. Thus it was that I found myself reporting for my first duty today, in a new role as Travelling Ticket Inspector (TTI). Why TTI? Well, my employment as an automotive logistics facilitator (car-transporter driver to the uninitiated) means that I come into contact with few people during the working week, and those I do talk to either sell cars, buy cars, repair cars, race cars, rally cars, scrap cars, tweak cars and generally talk cars until I either fall asleep or hit myself over the head with a spare half-shaft (don’t try this at home: it hurts).

Consequently, I favoured doing something totally different and the role of TTI seems perfect. The NVR caters primarily for tourists and visitors to Ferry Meadows Country Park, so the role involves ticket sales and checks along with answering questions and acting as an informal tourist guide to the line and facilities. As an enthusiastic regular user of Ferry Meadows I’m well qualified in this respect, and being able to offer advice and answer queries makes the trips up and down the line more interesting.

I began the day by meeting David who runs the ticket sales side of things, and after an introduction to the job we joined the first of the three trains that run during the off-peak timetable period. Loco was 73050 City of Peterborough on the 5 car MK1 rake, off at 10:30 for the first trip to Yarwell. The train was lightly loaded because of the appalling weather and time of year, so there was plenty of time to get to grips with the job and have a chat to the mainly family groups who were taking the trip.

A cold and damp Wansford at the end of my first trip as TTI.

After the first return trip was complete David let me get on with it as the trains were very quiet, and I had a fair idea of what to do. We met up at intervals during the day to compare notes; otherwise I walked up and down the train generally chatting with the passengers on board. It was an enjoyable experience, and all that walking helps offset all the sitting I do in a lorry cab for the rest of the week!

As I enjoyed the day, I’ve planned to join the staff roster for more duties in the coming months, starting with next weekend’s Diesel Gala when every train will packed – nothing like a baptism of fire. The Diesel Galas bring in a lot of revenue to the railway, but a great many problems come with them - I've witnessed the antics of these so-called enthusiasts at many places over the years, so can understand the need to have as many staff available as possible to keep an eye on things. Previous military experience is preferred, and a couple of tours of Belfast or Basra are extremely useful. Apparently the class 66 brings out the worst in this crowd as they'll do anything to get a bit of haulage or photograph of one in unfamiliar surroundings ... watch this space!

One or two people turned up when a GBRF 66 was rostered for the diesel gala last year.

I’ll also be getting inducted to the Booking Office at the end of March; this will then enable me to switch roles and cover any position if required, as well as provide more variety to the role.

City of Peterborough runs round at her namesake city.

During some quiet spells throughout the day I was able to try out a spontaneous gift to myself that I purchased yesterday – a new Panasonic TZ6 camera. I got it primarily to replace the Samsung that I use for video shooting, as it offers good quality widescreen WVGA filming capabilities with an impressive smooth and quiet 12x zoom and 25mm wide angle lens – all in a pocket sized compact. I’d been looking for a video camera for some time, and got bogged down in reviews and specs and prices and ever more conflicting information until my overtaxed brain hurt. I spotted the TZ6 quite by chance in e-mailshot that Argos sent out, and after seeing some cracking film on YouTube made with the model I went out and bought it. The photos here were taken on it - well, 2 of the 3 were. Can you guess which is the odd one out? - and my initial handheld test video shots were also impressive; I may load one up as a demo later on. As it fits comfortably into a pocket, it is an ideal camera to take around to most places – so could be very useful in my new weekend job.

You've Been (Window) Framed

2010-02-20T11:21:00.011Z

Last weekend was the Doncaster Model Railway Exhibition, or the Festival of Model Railways as the organisers grandly entitle it. For the previous couple of years the show was held at Harrogate while the venue at Doncaster Racecourse, modelled on 1940’s style POW camps, was refurbished. And boy, did it need refurbishing. It was dark, gloomy, freezing cold and access was a nightmare. Conditions were far worse than prison, made worse by the fact that whereas prisoners are allowed out whenever Gordon Brown needs to reduce inmate statistics, at the show you were obliged to stay put for your entire sentence.

Thankfully, during the last two years, Doncaster Racecourse has been rebuilt from the foundations up, and the end result is a spacious, well-lit and welcoming environment (obviously I’m only regarding the venue as welcoming; Doncaster itself is as welcoming as a dose of the clap).

Once again I was demonstrating on the Ten Commandments stand, and building on the success of our debut at Peterborough. I had prepared many new interesting models and techniques to work on, plus tools and products from other manufacturers that could easily be demonstrated to visitors. This time round I introduced an interactive element, so that the public could really get hands-on and involved. This might sound elementary, but I consider that demonstrating at a show should be demonstrating, and not an opportunity to blag your way into a show for free, then sit round chatting to your mates all weekend. Given that the public pay around a tenner to get in, I believe that they should get something in return. If I want to watch people sitting around doing nothing but chat to each other, I’d watch Big Brother. And then I’d disembowel myself with a Stanley knife and some clothes pegs.

Mainstay of the demonstration was the extensive, and growing, range of Ten Commandments factory buildings and various modular extensions. The window glazing sessions attracted big crowds (covered in my previous post here) and to make the job of glazing even easier, I was pleased to find that Dave had got his hands on some fantastic gel pens that allow the modeller to simply ‘draw’ the frames in. Here’s an example:

The outhouse building to the left had all the window frames drawn in by customers at the show – it really is as easy as picking up a pen and writing with it (rules out the under 16’s, then. Somebody will have to invent a mobile phone application to paint window frames innit).

I soon found several other useful applications for the pen that will be extremely useful for anyone modelling almost any era. The pen will write on any surface – wood, plastic, metal, clothes (that was an accident) and on gloss or matt finishes. An obvious use for rolling stock is shown below:

As well as ‘condemned’ – a common sight in the BR blue era – the pen also proved suitable for chalked notices and destinations on parcels vans – remember those? Then of course, we come to:

Graffiti. Up until now, the simple white slogan style graffiti has been next to impossible to reproduce. With this pen, you can vandalise as many walls, items of rolling stock and public toilets as you wish. For an inner city layout set in the 70’s to present day, this is an essential, if unwelcome, scenic finishing touch.

Other uses include pub blackboards and temporary signs often seen while travelling – Pick Your Own Strawberries; Overflow Carpark; Model Railway Exhibition Here Today; Truculent Teenager Daughter For Sale and numerous others. If you model the present day, then you could model some of the apostrophe catastrophe signs that are the visible proof of the Government's successful (?) Education, Education, Education mantra. Let your imagination run wild!

Don't it just!

As well as being available in white, the pen also comes in gold, which is actually a shade of yellow that is ideal for road markings. Other colours are available, but are opaque in finish and don’t work too well on dark surfaces. The white one, however, is unbeatable. Everybody who used one at the show immediately handed over the £2.50 to take one home, and we hope to have some new stock shortly. It will be available as a Show Special, and is also presumably retailed through good office supply stationers.

I was also demonstrating the Modelmates weathering dyes that I mentioned here. They use a spray on / wipe off technique that takes a bit of practise, but I got some quite pleasing results when weathering this JCB:

Overall the demonstrations were received very well by both the public and exhibition organisers – the latter commented that they had received favourable comments from the public about the stand and being able to get involved. For my part, demonstrating something that people are actually interested in made the time pass more pleasantly and quickly, so the only downside was that I didn’t get to see the show!

Round The Quorn

2010-02-04T20:33:00.001Z

Following on from my previous post, here is the completed film from the Great Central Railway’s Steam Gala last weekend. Essentially, it’s a procession of varied steam workings shot at Kinchley Lane and Woodthorpe, and tries to recapture the feel of the intensive timetable and the fascinating variety of trains that operated over the weekend. It has the advantage of enabling the viewer to watch all the trains without freezing their nadgers off, but if you’d really like to recreate the complete atmosphere of the day then turn off the heating, open all the windows and get 50 photographers into the living room while you play the video.

I’ve managed to edit out almost all of the annoying and intrusive hi-viz orange jackets that some people insist on wearing – I already know what kind of person you are, so you don’t need to advertise the fact! Hopefully what is left is reminiscent of linesiding in the Midland Region in the early 1960’s.

The score for this film is by Gilbert & Sullivan, so viewers will either love it or hate it - I can see the complaints rolling in already. But then again, I feel that the soundtrack is as much a part of a video as the visuals, and to my mind the various clips compliment the resonant brass while adding atmosphere to the end product.

All Steamed Up With Stan & Ollie

2010-02-01T20:50:00.006Z

Faced with another dull weekend of ‘sitting’, I was idly flicking through various websites on Friday night when I happened upon the Great Central Railway’s pages, and discovered that they were holding a Steam Gala over the weekend. My interest heightened when I read that no fewer than eight locos would be in traffic on a mixture of trains operating to an intensive timetable. This was more like it! The motive power line up was impressive, but the clincher was LMS 5690 Leander – a loco that I’ve not seen before. The theme was LMS / BR Midland orientated, so all the trains would be pretty much running in period, and over an appropriate length of line between Loughborough and Leicester. Although the railway is only about 40 miles away I’d not visited it since 1995 – my interest in railways has been pretty dormant until last summer when I discovered that steam locos make excellent filming subjects, and so now was a good time to get reacquainted.

First job after packing the Grumpy Git camera-and-butty bag was to walk 5 miles to Marston in order to retrieve my car from a layby. Why? Well, good old Gordon Brown is in full ‘save the planet’ mode with the election coming, and has been ordering all of us to drive 5 miles less every week, which, by default, means that you have to abandon your car on the Friday evening homeward bound commute long before you actually finish your journey. Hmmm. This apparently saves a polar bear’s life, but adds an hour and a half to the journey. I really don’t think Gordy thought this through – now there’s a surprise.

Once I was reunited with my vehicle, I braved the early morning frost and set off for the Great Central Railway. I’d Google-Earthed the area online the night before and studied various photo albums to seek out some good vantage points. There appears to be only two good photographic locations, Woodthorpe which lies just outside of Loughborough, and Kinchley Lane near to Swithland Reservoir. Trees and vegetation hem in the vast majority of the line, although driving my car another five miles a week will presumably sort this out.

I set off initially for Kinchley Lane, and soon discovered that it was a favourite spot due to the amount of other photographers already on location, despite the early hour. It felt quite strange being in such vast crowds – when I film on the Nene Valley Railway I have the run of the entire line and only ever meet dog walkers and bird watchers!

Now I should say that I don’t generally follow the herd instinct, and after a few trains had passed by I started walking around to find some alternative photo spots. This was partly because being stood in one spot was boring, and would make the film I was shooting rather bland – plus I was freezing my nadgers off. I soon found several different vantage points within the general area, and was able to shoot from some more interesting perspectives. There was also much more freedom of movement than being in the large crowd up the embankment.

The day’s menu was exciting; starting with local branch line trains with a main course of express passenger services. This was followed by a dessert of freight trains and garnished with a TPO set. In between various courses, there was a medley of light loco movements – no shortage of interest or variety.

After several hours at Kinchley lane, I headed down to Woodthorpe. Another large congregation of photographers proved that I had the right spot. The field at this location offers some good panning shots, and it is also possible to get trackside for some close ups. There are two overbridges in the area offering more potential, and for the suicidal there is also the bridge that carries the A6006 across the line. Most photographers crowd round the signal and get in each other’s faces …..

….. or they do the same thing on the overbridge. That’s not my idea of fun. By moving around the area between shots, it was possible to create some variety in the film clips, so I was quite pleased with the end results. However, I’d like to return on a quieter day and really explore the line, as there must be other locations off the beaten track just waiting to be discovered. I also fancy taking a trip along the railway as well; a fair chunk of it is double-tracked and has the atmosphere of a real mainline.

I enjoyed Saturday so much that I returned on Sunday for some more shots – in particular the overbridges at Woodthorpe that I hadn’t tried the previous day. The weather wasn’t as good as Saturday, but otherwise it was pleasant enough, apart from the cold. I called it a day around lunchtime after exhausting all three sets of batteries in one morning – I’d accidentally purchased alkaline instead of my usual lithium, and they kept giving up. I lost three excellent clips this way – not impressive, given the price of batteries. The lithiums can usually give me a couple of days of intensive filming; the alkalines lasted about as long as a thought in a Cheeky Girl’s head.

The film is now in production at The Grumpy Git Productions Studio (my back bedroom) and I’ll upload the photos in due course. Given the number of photographers who were present at the event, the ‘net and YouTube should be packed full of photos and film from the weekend! There really were hundreds of enthusiasts present, and we all drove out there … so here’s a thought for five-miles-less Gordon: if you politicians hadn’t closed down these railways, then we wouldn’t all be driving hundreds of miles every weekend to photograph them in preservation! Think about it.

Stan and Ollie? Oh yes. Well, Stan is Stanier, and Ollie is Oliver Cromwell (70013 BR Pacific). But you knew that already…

Anyone interested in the Great Central Railway should visit this exceptional photographic website by Paul Biggs

Winter Warmer

2010-01-20T20:26:00.003Z

I'm pleased to release the first Grumpy Git Productions film of 2010, featuring Fowler 4F 44422 hauling the ‘Winter Warmer’ trains early in January. With beautifully clear winter skies and bright, low sunlight the loco and four Mk1 coaches are filmed to advantage along various parts of the Nene Valley Railway. Three return trips along the line were edited together to create a single journey; outward with loco leading and ending with some tender-first running. The small loco has to work much harder than the usual loco on this line, Standard 5 73050, so the smoke effects are much more impressive.

Choosing a soundtrack was quite difficult for this film, but I eventually settled on some Yorkshire brass, as I'm rather partial to traditional brass band music anyway - by ‘eck, lad! The Black Dyke Mills Band hail from Queensbury near Bradford, an area that I’m reasonably sure will have been familiar to the Fowler locos. The band is much older than the train, as it was formed in 1816 by John Foster, owner of the Black Dyke Mill – like so many Yorkshire mills of the day, it dealt with textiles. After a faltering start, the band was fully established in 1855 and all members were outfitted in uniforms made from the mill’s own cloth. The band has remained active ever since, and still rehearses in the original rooms. However, they probably get their uniforms from Primark these days.

The selected piece of music is Cornet Carillon, a piece that brought back many memories as soon as I heard the opening bars. When I was at school (in those days it wasn’t a nice weather option, you just went regardless) we had a fantastic music department that would put on theatrical performances and concerts during the year. The Senior Brass Band would always play this piece, with a battle to be the soloist on the cornet. Nowadays the rest of the pupils would just text in to vote for whoever sold them drugs at playtime, but back then it was all down to ability, and the lucky person would be handpicked by Miss Northorpe, a diminutive teacher of around 5’2, but she could command the respect and obedience of the meanest thug with her withering gaze. Nobody every answered her back twice. Miss Northorpe ran our music department with discipline and determination that wouldn’t be out of place in the SAS, and produced extravagant concerts that were the envy of the other schools in the borough.

Although I personally prefer music in films, it can be highly subjective as to whether it enhances or detracts from the end result. So in this film I decided to have a go at pleasing both sides. The YouTube version has been made with a soundtrack, but I made a slightly different version without any score at all and that can be viewed here. Because the weather conditions were so good, I was able to video the train with barely any intrusive wind noise – the Samsung’s mike isn’t up to much – so unusually, I have an entire film with just the sound of the Fowler working fairly hard. Viewers have a choice of film, depending on personal preference. Perhaps I should run a competition to vote for your favourite version; tune in to see which locos are in the steam-off!