Sunday 11 November 2018

CVR's 'Gronk'

John Stein's superb picture of the Churnet Valley Railway's 'Gronk' at Leekbrook.

The loco looks excellent after its re-paint at Cheddleton from faded EWS livery, but it could do with a bit of mechanical TLC.
When I was Consall signalman some months ago the loco was rostered on a service train. The practice, for 'down' trains coming to Consall from Froghall, is to hold the Consall home signal 'on' until the train activates the outer track circuit. The signalman then knows that the driver has that 'on' signal in sight, and that it can then be cleared to 'off'' and the driver will see this. This is 'approach control' and informs the driver, in the absence of 'distant' signals, that although this signal has been pulled 'off'', the next one (the Consall station starter) WILL be 'on'.
That day, the 08-hauled 'up' train arrived at Consall. As I performed the token exchange the driver said "don't bother with approach control when we return from Froghall" (as the 'down' train but UP the valley, so uphill). "If I have to stop at the signal we'll never get going again. I'm supposed to have 360 horses under the bonnet but 275 of them have escaped".



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Sunday 4 November 2018

Me, Malc and Lindow visit Daresbury track

Bit of a change of scene for our train driving this week. I decided to take 'Lindow' to Warrington & District Model Engineering Society's track near Daresbury.

Me with 'Lindow' in the station at Daresbury

It's a delightfully rural wooded track, at half a mile about the same length as our home track at Urmston, but very different in character as the videos below show

A very nice 2-6-4 MT tank departs the station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbuZK6wHYxQ

Malc driving round the track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wrRUB1h8wM

Malc whizzing past with 'Lindow'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q3wLB1sRIc



'Lindow' struts her stuff 

Weaving through Daresbury's trees


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