HULL TO SOUTH HOWDEN PUSH AND PULL

[micknich2003]

I was given these two negatives by the late Willie Yeadon, and both almost certainly at Botanic. Mick.

[Solario]

Mick, I hope you don't mind me posting this photo - somewhat off-topic.

I wondered if you or Bricam knew the crew of the V3, sorry but it is not so clear. I was probably still in short trousers when I took the picture at Paragon station.

It looks like the fireman was considerably older than the driver.

[bricam5]

Yes, a bit of thread drift. The photo of 7638 is very unclear. I would say that the driver is the one hanging over the cab door and it seems ( to me ) to bear a resemblance to a driver George Ebbs ( Ex Geordie from Hexam) but I could be mistaken.

As to Micks photo of 2727, this was the worst steaming loco that ever was. It was kept as a spare for when a D49 needed a washout, very frequent in the hard water Hull area.
I have heard of drivers begging the foreman to give them anything else, an A5 or A8 even.
I last fired it on the 8 a.m. from Bridlington to Hull, stopping Driffield and Beverley. I tried with a back end, flat fire, alternate sides all with the flap down. I was hoping to be able to brag about making it steam in the enginemans lobby but alas I went the way of all the others. Only by the driver shutting off well before Driffield, jet hard on, both injectors full blast, did we make it. Same story for Beverley. Happy days.

[caliwag]

When I worked in Hull in the early 80s, I worked alongside Danny (?) who left the Merchant Navy as a stoker in the late 40s...joining Botanic as a fireman.

We got talking as he heard me talking about how busy the 4 track main line must have been in the 40s and 50s. Overhearing me he regaled me with tales of coal trains and freights often queueing back to Gilberdyke awaiting access to Fortune Street goods...sometimes large parts of shifts. The driver and fireman would take turns to pop into the nearby Neptune Street pub while the train awaited access...with a friendly toot alerting the pub-goer on passing the end of Neptune Street.

He told me many other tails, but best not for the open forum. One however I remember involved an A8 (would that be right?) on a Howden, which lost one or both of it's irons (for raking out) which were left on the water tank, only to be blown into the window of a passing train! (is any of this possible?)

[bricam5]

If the loco was an A8, it would have been working bunker first from Howden to Hull.
A8's were a right hand drive and the fire irons were on the tank top at the firemans side.
It was perfectly possible to lose fire irons in transit, especcially with the bent dart getting tangled up with the clinker shovel and straight dart.

Just before approaching Drewton at the top of the incline, most fireman would have used the bent dart to push the back end down to have a thin fire for the wait at Paragon while the train was being drawn. Using the irons on the move could be a tricky business.

[Bryan]

Whilst doing a track survey near Carnaby Bridlington in 1990.
I found lying in the cess a fire iron about 6ft long,not much steam has been down this line since 1967 other than the odd steam special. It is now resident in my garage.
So yes it would be possible for an iron to fall off an engine.