Revuved Old Iron Horse

[Grandad]

Happily there are many old steam locos that have been lovingly restored by various societies using mostly volunteers on projects that can run on for many years. One such project involved The Braunton, a 0-6-4 Light Pacific Locomotive, British Rail number 34046.
She was built in Bristol in 1946 and was in service until the end of steam on British Railways in 1965. She then lay as a rusting and scavenged hulk in a scrapyard until 1996 when she was bought to be restored by an individual and eventually brought back into service in 2008 on The West Somerset Railway.
Today she completed an extended round trip of Kent hauling a train of ten coaches. As she was scheduled to make a lunchtime and coal and water stop at Canterbury, I took the opportunity to get a few snaps.

This is how she looked in 1996 before her restoration started.


And here she is approaching the city just after 1pm.


Her train was unhitched and she moved to a small siding to 're-fuel'. This was alongside the original Canterbury to Whitstable (The Crab and Winkle Line) loco shed which is now a really good farmers and local produce market. I was able to get quite close but high railings made good angles difficult.

These three show the loco and coal being grabbed into the tender which also holds 5250 gallons of water. The reflections in the side of the tender are the windows of the old loco shed.


I couldn't get a good picture of 'The Works' so I took four pics through the railings and stitched them to form this unusual pano.


I have mentioned the FB group that I am on. Some members had posted their pictures of the loco but they were SO poor that I resisted the temptation to add any of mine, particularly the last one that I know would have drawn cries of disapproval.

I prefer to post them among friends who are not blinkered when it comes to taking photos.

[Kiya]

Fantastic pictures Grandad how great it is to see this old machine in use again I bet you really enjoyed seeing her on the move & taking pictures of her.

I love the pano one & to be able to see the works close up

[Jayway]

Very nice, Grandad, what a huge heap of a wreck to restore, it must have been a lottery winner who arranged all that - 12 years . . so many bits and pieces just on the wheels - -

[Grandad]

Glad you like the pics ladies

I find the age of steam quite romantic, the smell and the sounds, and of course 'Brief Encounter'.

Edit: I wrongly described her as a 0-6-4 but she is in fact a 4-6-2 for any techie types

[Horus]

I'm as bad as you Grandad and nearly missed this post I put it down to skipping in and out of the garden all day (having a spring tidy up) and dipping into the forum and if you don't reply straight away it does not show up as a new post on the next visit, anyway I digress.

Smashing photos as usual and that stitched shot is very impressive, by the way, us old un's refer the the 'works' as 'the driving gear' in the old Crewe Works parlance. So glad that you spotted your wheel arrangement error always count them from front
I had the good fortune to work on many of these old timers when they were being sold off and restored in the late 60's and early 70's and even now my heart sings when I see one in steam.

I noticed the one concession to the modern day with that mechanical grab loading coal into the tender rather than a bunker with the fireman having to spread it around. Pity you could not get a better vantage point as I am sure we would have been treated to many more excellent pictures.

As an aside, those tenders had to be repaired and it was always the smallest apprentices who were shoved inside, known as 'tank diving' although the worst aspect of the job was that horse manure was often put in them to stop leaks!

[Grandad]

Glad you like the pics H I could have spoilt the re-coaling image even more because beyond the tender there was a large coal laden truck with the grab bucket attached.

There is something special about a steam loco. I was stationed for a while at Hitchin when in the RAF working as a toolmaker there in one of only two RAF toolrooms.
Sitting late on a dark Friday evening, waiting for the London train to move out, I watched a huge 4-8-2 on the northbound track just about to pull away with a goods train that must have been half a mile long. The big eight wheels spun as she tried to get traction, sand was released and, with sparks flying, she slowly got the train moving. A majestic sight that I have always remembered.....as I said....I am a bit of a romantic when it comes to steam power....you can almost feel it.

I have been quickly looking in but there have been a few culinary posts at the top of the pile and as I have often said, the kitchen is out of bounds to me. All I do in that department is make the afternoon and evening tea and biscuits

[Horus]

Those 4-8-2 were big, but I remember the 2-10-0's that were always known to us as WD's for 'War Department' and seen up close they were big beasts, even when stripped down and the combined boiler and firebox were sat on huge baulks of timber to keep them upright ready for re-tubing, you could easily see the difference in size against other loco's. It is always amazing how much weight those steamers could pull and the skill required to get that load moving.

[Grandad]

Don't want to bore the girls with all this boys stuff Horus But here is one of a closer view of some of the works. The fence got in the way but this shows what a great job is done on these restorations.


But all those rods serve the same purpose as those on my little engine that I made way back in apprentice days.

[Kiya]

Grandad your not boring us at all well at least not me , it's great to see these steamers back in motion.

I think I remember your bottom photo, didn't you show that before when you & Horus was discussing another topic some time ago

[LovelyLadyLux]

Love the photos Grandad and I quite love photos of trains too. You photos of the wheels really convey the power of these machines and I quite like them.

The before and after is pretty dramatic. Not sure personally I'd ever be able to tackle such a comprehensive project myself. Just finding or re-making all the fiddly diddly little pieces really attests to the love the person and people restoring this train have for it. They've done an absolutely fantastic job. The deep black contrasting the wheels is superb.

Great photos and great narrative explaining it all This one is a five thumbs UP!

[Horus]

And would you believe me LLL if I told you that back in my day those parallel red lines you can see were painted free hand!

[Grandad]

LLL, you are really delving back in the archive after your Trini trip
You are always very complimentary about everybodies pictures and thanks very much for that. You are not a bad snapper yourself you know and always post good pictures. Another 5*

[LovelyLadyLux]

"The parallel red lines were painted free hand?"

You're kidding me..........really? How?

Am not disbelieving you but that definitely would take a super steady hand that IMO even years of practice couldn't ensure would be as accurate as that all the time.

Now am more Impressed!

[Jayway]

Spent a day with a sign writer years ago, he used the normal paint brush and a long stick to rest it on for the lines . . .. was good to watch the design appearing -

[Horus]

Yes LLL, I used to watch them do it Those painter guys could draw & paint absolutely anything, they would use a thin brush with the longest bristles you have ever seen and they were very soft. They would put a small amount of the red enamel paint into an old cleaned out bean can or similar and then 'spiral' the long brush down into the paint. They then drew it back out over the top edge of the can to remove the excess paint and left it hanging downwards. They then positioned themselves by using a special stick with a bulbous rounded end to steady their arm, when they were ready they would 'flick' the brush so that it landed perfectly vertical and then slowly drew the long tail of the brush downwards creating a perfectly straight line. These guys were highly skilled at doing this sort of thing and would even draw the lines around the cylindrical boiler cladding plates.

Edit: Jay just posted before me, but confirms the use of the stick

[Grandad]

Jay, I spent my apprenticeship with an engineering company that also had a large transport fleet. All the vehicles were hand sign written and decorated. The sign writer used what is called a 'maul or mahl' stick to rest and steady his brush hand. When painting lines he used a very long, and I mean long, perhaps 10cm brush. All very skilled.

Today vehicle decoration is done with laser or machine cut adhesive decals.

Edit: And Horus was posting as I was typing.....slowly

[LovelyLadyLux]

Wow! You guys were all lucky to have seen this. I've never, in person, 'seen' this type of painting. Guess this type of art would be called or referred to as "graphic design"? It IS a form or artwork but not too sure what it would be called other than darn skillful.

Wonder if we still have tradesmen who are doing this today? Especially in the restoration arena.........

[Horus]

More of a 'Sign Writing' skill than Graphic Design LLL and no there are not many around today with the requisite skills, many skills were lost as the Uk turned it's back on engineering to create wealth, something we had always been good at and instead went down the road of invisible earnings such as city trading ,banking and service industries. All froth and worthless paper in my opinion and a major cause of this countries steady decline.