The LNER Encyclopedia

Re North London Heights.

Sorry 'Manna' for attributing these comments to you, should have been 'Flamingo'. Old age I'm afraid.

Not sure where the expression North London Heights comes from, if I recall I believe it was an expression in one of the money railway books of the time, but whatever, hauling an express out of Kings Cross, 13 miles uphill to Potters Bar required supreme effort by both driver and fireman. Fortunately, from my point, as a fireman, all the Pacific's steamed perfectly, were highly maintained at that time, and were on top of the job.

One interesting point. As a fireman at Immingham and used to B1's you always started off with a full head of steam (225psi) and a full boiler of water. However my very first experience of firing an express out of Kings Cross was with 60119 Patrick Stirling. Square fire boxed 'Pacific’s' have quite a deep firebox and require a large fire built up under the fire hole door and higher in the back corners so before backing onto the train I had already built quite a large fire.

Unfortunately for me and anxious to be on top of the job I built up steam too rapidly and well aware of the sin of blowing off in Kings Cross, even though we were outside at the end of Platform 10. Anxiously looking at the pressure gauge I kept injecting a little more water into the boiler to keep 'her' from blowing off and longing to hear the blast of the Station Inspector’s whistle giving us the right away. By now the water in the boiler was in the 'top nut' of the gauge glass as it was known. Finally a whistle and shouts of "right away" and the driver, Fred Fern, not my regular driver as I was normally in a freight link, pulled opened the regulator.

All 'Pacific’s' had 'pull out' regulators, which were very stiff and opened in two movements, before steam was applied to the cylinders. Open too far and the engine would lurch forward with a clattering of wheel spin, beloved by all train spotters. Unfortunately for me the sudden lurch caused the water in the boiler to surge back towards the safety valves and being on the point of blowing off, she did precisely that.

I’m sure that any LNER enthusiast will readily agree that when a ‘Pacific’ blew off, it was ear splitting and quite spectacular, however, unfortunately for me and having the boiler full of water, the outgoing rush of high-pressure steam resulted in boiler water being picked up with the outgoing steam as well. Within about 100 yards on departing from Kings Cross, trains enter the Gas Works Tunnel, and as a consequence and still blowing off we washed the tunnel roof clean from end to end. What is stuck to the tunnel roof? Thick black soot.

All locomotives have small open gaps in the cab roof, normally to allow for reducing condensation, which allowed on this occasion for gallons of thick black boiling hot water to spill directly into the cab. The driver unfortunately had to remain seated to control the engine but with this water cascading all over his drivers cap and shoulders. By the time we emerged out of the tunnel at the opposite end, steam pressure had dropped to around 150psi and practically nearly all the water in the boiler had disappeared too.

Had steam pressure dropped much further the engine would not have been able to maintain vacuum brake pressure and the train brakes would have automatically applied. Fortunately the engine had stopped blowing off and typically, and fortunately for me, the steaming power of the Pacific’s superb boiler, slowly built up pressure. Not an ideal situation for the long drag uphill to Potters Bar.

Our train was not scheduled to stop until Grantham and as you can imagine my relationship with a black soot covered driver was not very conducive for the next 105 minutes. I never worked with that driver again, no doubt much to his relief, and I too learned a very valuable lesson, never to be repeated.

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G'Day Gents

Me, never said a fing, honist

I don't knew whether I was lucky or not, I only worked on Diesels out of the 'Cross' I would have loved to have fired a steam loco, especially a large Pacific or heavy freight engine, but I have no idea if I would have been any good at it but I suppose if I had been brought up on it, who knows. As Micky says shovelling ten ton of coal a day, is a very good days work, being a secondman, did have it's benefits though, good view, draft free (sometimes) and except for the diesel smell and greasy hands a fairly clean job, but as I said at the top of the page was I lucky or not

manna

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Re firing.

To be perfectly honest I don't know of any fireman shovelling 10 tons of coal in a shift. I worked a considerable number of expresses in the 50's on the GN main line between Kings Cross and York with every type of Pacific and Brit and considering these tenders only held around 8 ton of coal when fully loaded it was rare to even use at least 2/3rds of a tender.

Obviously, depending on the quality of the coal (and express engines always had the best, usually 'Yorkshire Main', a good hard steaming coal) and the condition of the engine, you were not firing all the time, depending on the gradients and train load.

However a good experienced driver could make the job much easier and believe me not all drivers were 'good'. Being able to attain the top link working i.e. Express work, was not assigned to a drivers ability but entirely on his seniority (the day he started in the Motive Power Dept).
This is why so many top link drivers were in their late 50's and early 60's and not all drivers of that age wanted to perform express link driving.

Moving up the driving and firing ladder often depended on 'dead men shoes'. i.e waiting for a driver to retire and consequently, every one, drivers and firemen, moved up the ladder one position. Then again it could be that a depot was assigned new workings, requiring more crews. On the other hand you could lose workings and promotion stopped dead.

All train workings (I speak only for the Eastern Region) were assigned into 'Links'. At New England (one of the largest sheds on the ER, due it's exceptional number of freight train workings) was thus, if I remember correctly
No 1 Link Express Link

No 2 Link Passenger and express freight link.

Their was also a Lodge Link which had a 'through' express freight to Newcastle, lodge overnight and work back the following day. This was a voluntary link were certain crews were prepared to lodge.

No 3 Link Main Line Freight link (including Express coal trains to Ferme Park. More on this later)

No 4 Link Mostly coal train working

No 5 Link Coal and general slow freight working

No 6 Link All M&GN working. Peterborough - Kings Lynn

No 7 Link Spare working i.e. Individual crews booked on around every two hours of the day, sometimes two or three crews at certain times. Depending on crew requirements, for example, if you were due to Book on at 6am you would check a daily published work roster for the next day before going home. If a crew was required to work/relieve a various 'additional or special working' either two hours before or two hours after 6am. you would be assigned to that working. Sometimes a 'Caller Up' a man who's specific duty was to cycle round to locomen's houses (Yes true) to call that person out to work within that assigned time. (Engine men working was not for those who enjoyed a social life !!)

No 8 and 9 Links. These were Pilot engine workings (shunting). These crews were were the more elderly drivers who did not want main line working and the firemen were (Passed Firemen i.e. passed to drive). These men were assigned to main line driving when required, on a simialr basis to 'spare link' men, and their duties were then covered by Passed engine cleaners (passed to fire).

No 10 Link. Preparation Link. (Crews assigned, again throughout the day, to prepare various engines for most type of scheduled workings). Again depending on the type of train working achieved within the eight hour working day, some crews would book on and prepare their own engine before leaving the shed at the assigned time. Crews were allowed 15 minutes to sign on, read notices etc then one hour to prepare the engine. Oil, steam up, tool up, tidy up etc.

Depending on the type of working, other crews would book on 'Engine Prepared' commonly known as E.P.(repared by the prep crew). These men would after signing on, walk down to their assigned engine in the shed, have a quick look round to make sure everything was in order then leave the shed, again at the assigned time.

Finally "phew" ......driving. Yes it was a common practice for drivers to have a go on the shovel, because otherwise how would a fireman ever learn to drive. Some drivers would regularly do a 50/50, but some definitely not. It was just your luck really in the type of regular mate you were assigned with. There was no such thing as driving courses, you simply learned as you went along and by your eagerness and curiousity. Footplate driving during steam power days was the longest apprenticeship of any career !! When I moved to New England on promotion to Fireman, my driver Bill Milne, who had just turned 50, had just been promoted driver himself and he had been on the footplate 30, yes 30 years!!

Lovely, fascinating stuff to us ex-spotter types, Locoman. At the time you were up and down the line, I would have been in my usual position on the bridge at the north end of Langley troughs. Can you give us some blow-by-blow descriptions of the fireman's work in dropping the scoop, etc., and then lifting it up again against the force of water? We always got a thrill out of seeing the tank cap fly open with the resulting fountain. You blokes probably got a right rollicking for that, though, I suppose, if some folks got a bit damp in the first carriage with the windows open on a warm day.

I only got to ride on the footplate twice. Once, when us kids cadged a ride backing down from the bufferstops to the end of platform six at KX on 60133 Pommern (Lord knows who the crew were, but you probably would have known them), and once as a five year old with my uncle, fireman Jim Ellis, on a yard movement at top shed on 60800 Green Arrow. That would have been 1949.

Keep the good stories coming.

Old cutting showing Patrick Stirling ready to depart.