A Warm Winter?

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.

There's Going To Be a Murder ...

Grumpy Git Productions are pleased to announce the release of their latest film, so without further ado, please sit back and enjoy Murder on The Ferry Meadows Express. I recommend full screen with the sound turned up!

I have to say that this film is 8 minutes of pure self-indulgence on my part. I wished to create a railway film that told a story along the way, but when I first set out to the Nene Valley Railway two weeks ago, I had no idea what could be achieved. In a way, the Thomas weekend a fortnight ago did me a favour, as I concentrated on shooting footage from the train and small detail segments. My visit on Saturday concentrated on the exterior shots, and gave me plenty of clips to play with and edit. I also wanted to pay homage to the most evocative piece of railway filming I’ve ever seen – the famous departure scene in Murder on The Orient Express. The truly inspired music score by Richard Bennett captures the atmosphere of a train journey in a way that no other piece of music has done, so using parts of it were essential in my home-grown version. I loved the atmospheric build up with the introduction that leads into that rousing station departure scene. The pace of the music follows the train on its journey to the intermediate stop, followed by the tranquil calm of the middle section before the triumphant crescendo of the final station arrival.

The name of the film and this article is not directly linked to the Orient Express. The soundtrack on the level crossing scenes was ruined by a small child aged around 5 or so, who was having the great-great grandmother of all tantrums at Wansford. His face was as beetroot red as his shirt, and the howls and screams that he was emitting not only drowned out the steam loco, they gave Def Leppard playing live at Wembley a pretty good run for their money as well. His mother was doing her best to ignore him with those ‘it’s just his little way’ shrugs that I found as annoying as the brat himself. The murder in question, therefore, was my suggestion to chuck him into the adjacent River Nene and stand on his head. Needless to say, my well intentioned and genuine offer was met with a hard stare and some presumably sarcastic comments – obviously I couldn’t hear them due to the racket. I know how my mother would have dealt with such a situation; I still have the bruises, a pronounced limp and deafness in one side to prove it.

Only joking – the bruises cleared up long ago.

Out of interest, here is the original Orient Express scene: