Picking up Water

[mr B]

Any way, the first water trough's in the country were installed by the L&NWR at Mochdre & Pabo, between Llandudno and Colwyn Bay in North Wales, opened in autum 1860 to close on Jan 5th 1931, as newer trough's at Aber ( between Bangor and Llanfaiffechan ) took over.

mr B more to come

[Locoman69]

Hi Mr B.
Similar to the reply from 34B I have never heard of such situations arising. It must be noted that engines only picked up a fraction of the water in the trough and they filled up rapidly. They had to do especially during busy periods when expresses followed behind one another in quick succession. It should also be stated that water troughs had a water treatment building situated close by so that the water could be treated with lime to soften for engine use.

A famous incident which occurred in the summer of 1960 was when a new operator at the Langley Troughs misjudged the amount of lime added to the water. This resulted in the very first train to pick up the vastly over limed water was the Tees-Tyne Pullman which was whitewashed from end to end and the boiler so badly contaminated the train had to stop at Hitchin and the engine replaced.

[mr B]

These rules , like should the boiler run dry footplate men and the guard faced dismissal, by stating these rules the incident never happend as the fireman would get flack from the the company , driver and guard, any way heres todays bit ...

[mr B]

mr B

[sirbrian]

This subject was covered in detail several years ago in another Topic titled "A couple of steam technical questions please". I recommend that anyone interested in this subject today have a look at this Topic.

I can confirm that the track at the beginning of the trough ran downhill so that a lowered scoop would run into the water in the trough, while the track towards the end of the trough ran uphill, thus taking the scoop out of the water just before the end of the trough. I can also confirm that it was not possible to remove the scoop from the trough after the scoop had entered the trough. Therefore, if only a "top-up" was needed, the scoop was lowered part-way along the trough. It was undesirable to pick up more water than required because any excess water came out of the overfill pipes at the top of the tender at high speed and it could blow the coal away, in addition to making an awful mess.

The locomotive crews that I rode with so many years ago liked to keep the tender tank as nearly full as possible, taking on water at every opportunity over the troughs. Obviously, it was much easier picking up water this way than at the water cranes. Another factor is that time was always tight in steam days and station stop times were kept to a minimum, especially if running late, so avoiding taking on water at station stops could allow a little time to be recovered. I remember well one occasion on an express from St. Pancras to Derby with a "Jubilee" when we were running a little late at Leicester, but needed enough water to be safe for the run to Derby. The moment we stopped by the water crane I jumped down on the track to control the water valve and push the bag to the fireman who was on the top of the tender by this time. The driver watched the water gauge on the tender and when we had enough water on board he signalled me to shut off the water and to the fireman to push the bag away. I was still climbing the steps to get back on the locomotive as we started to pull out of Leicester. The total time from stop to start was 90 seconds! Those were the days!!

Sir Brian

[Bryan]

Those photos appear to be still shots from the Film I mentioned earlier.

[hq1hitchin]

I remember well one occasion on an express from St. Pancras to Derby with a "Jubilee" when we were running a little late at Leicester, but needed enough water to be safe for the run to Derby. The moment we stopped by the water crane I jumped down on the track to control the water valve and push the bag to the fireman who was on the top of the tender by this time. The driver watched the water gauge on the tender and when we had enough water on board he signalled me to shut off the water and to the fireman to push the bag away. I was still climbing the steps to get back on the locomotive as we started to pull out of Leicester. The total time from stop to start was 90 seconds! Those were the days!!

Sir Brian

Good railway work - well done!

[third-rail]

the series of pictures showing the relaying of tracks and troughes must been done somtime in the 50s as the picture of the a4 is dated 1949 and is running over bullhead track

[mr B]

third rail , Railway Magazine July 1950.

if these shots came from stills from the film Bryan mentions the film must have been shot 1948-50 ?

mr B

[52D]

Mr B thanks for sharing article.

[Bryan]

Late 40s probable as other film clips, but not this one, are dated 46 and 49.
The law of Sod strikes again doesn't it.
All the detail but what you want.

[James Brodie]

It is quite a few years since I was a coolie on the A3s and used the water scoop when travelling in the down ECML direction towards Darlington. The approach to the troughs one would wait with the release catch in one hand and ready to wind the scoop down with the other hand. the driver would tap you on the shoulder when to lower the scoop. Then, another tap on the shoulder when to start raising the scoop. This then was a two handed job as you had to fight the water pressure that was holding the scoop blade down. If a tank lid was closed properly then it wouldn't be possible for it to come fully open as the lid had a loop type catch on it's side which prevented it from opening it fully. When getting water from a column you lifted the tank lid part way then all the way. I would need to go back on an A3 to have another look so as to explain it properly. It is over fifty years since I last watered an A3 or V2 , K3 or B1.
Jim Brodie