850 Lord Nelson

Don't we have four on the footplate most weekends.
Driver
fireman
trainee
Footplate rider

I think a footplate rider pays £85.00 for a round trip. Good value if your on a Bulleid

 

So whats a set crew? Do you always work with same person on footplate?

 

Set crews for the weekends ,,,i think theres about 29 crews . each crew has a driver , fireman and 3rd man ...

Weekday footplate is normaly done by paid staff apart from odd occasions where its basicly first come first serve for a driver , fireman and cleaners spot .

a footplate rider is just on there as that , a rider but does take up the 4th place ont he footplate and i think ( and ive only heard this around the yard) when LN comes and the traction inspector is on the plate , that would make the 4 but its up to both the traction inspector if his happy with a 5 person but the driver has last say .

So it looks like the cleaners could lose out here big time if footplate rides pick up in the warmer weather.

 

So are you always with the same driver / fireman / trainee (dependant upon your status) ?

 

MHR rostered crews are set in advance for weekends only, several months ahead: Driver & Fireman + 3rd Man. Weekday crews are a more ad-hoc arrangement. It used to be that you had to go to Ropley Manor and fill your name in on any blank places for the month ahead. I suspect the electronic ether has modernised that arrangement somewhat!

 

=D> Aren't most of this bunch of 'experts' just cleaners?

 

No, still the same.

 

Who will ensure the Inspector knows how to fire/drive 850?

The pool of experience is a few DBS and WCRC crews, G&WR and GCR.
Did the two preserved railways get any guidance. apart from a few informal visits by ERPS members to G&WR?

Regards, Neil

 

Really don't understand this post - yes it has foibles, yes it has to be treated right, but it's a still a steam loco.
Rocket science it's not. We've managed not to blow anything up so far, despite what people in armchairs would have you believe.

 

I see you're thoughts exactly Chessie!!! As a fireman or a 3rd man you have to get the amount right of swing and technique? I bet yourself as an ex-fireman would get her right with no problems at all??!?! (And by that I mean "Experience")

 

Hi all the date for 850 to arrive at the MHR has now been changed.
From: Colin Chambers
Sent: 4th February 2009 11:48
Subject: #850
Haulier advises that Lord Nelson will be here Thursday 12th Feb 2009.
Colin Chambers
Managing Director
Mid Hants Railway Ltd 'Watercress Line'

 

Why is there all this paranoia about 850? It's only a conventional steam loco apart from its 8 beats to the bar and I'm sure that any competent steam crew would be quite at home with it and, if your crew's not competent, why are they on the footplate? Its not exactly huge, either. I don't know where this mythical 12' long firebox has come from, unless it's including the combustion chamber. I've not got an internal grate dimesion but externally it is only 10'-6"; not hugely longer than a Scot @ 10'-3" or a Jubilee @ 10'-0" You wouldn't notice the difference unless you had a tape measure.

Edited to remove comment about longest firebox following KC's posting below!

 

A bit shorter than the 11' 6" of a King then - I think they're 10' 8" inside, or maybe a fraction under.

 

When 850 spent a short spell at Hereford 'many years ago', to settle a local debate the guys at Hereford measured the firebox inside dimensions of both 850 and 6000. The result - 6000's was 3inches longer than 850's.

 

10' 7 7/8"
:smt002

 

Ah right, my measuring hammers don't go down that far!

 

I think people are sensible to be cautious about firing Lord Nelson. There is plenty of evidence in books such as "Arthurs, Nelsons and Schools At Work" (Ian Allen, 2nd edition, 1983) by S. C. Townroe, describing the sorts of problems that professional firemen, who were unused to the class, faced:

As has been mentioned before, 850's grate has two changes of slope and a relatively low brick arch, so posing quite a severe test of a fireman's skill: nothing that can't be overcome with diligence and practice, I'm sure, but if full-time railwayman in the age of steam had trouble then today's tradition bearers might be wise to expect difficulties too.

Comparisons with similar classes from other companies, particularly Castles and Royal Scots, are very interesting. There are probably a few people now who have fired both Lord Nelson and a Castle, and possibly some WCRC crew who have experience of 850 and 46115. It would be fascinating to know what the differences are for the man wielding the shovel.

 

According to the drawing I have in front of me, which admittedly isn't a detail drawing but is comparing LN boiler dimensions with that of a parallel boiler Scot, it doesn't have two changes of slope. The back of the grate is level and the front slopes from just before the half-way point. That is a pretty common arrangement. I'd suggest that Townroe's quoted remarks could be applied to a lot of locos. It is certainly a regular occurrence when firing the K1 with its 100A boiler and you soon know that you've done it as the pressure falls away quite quickly. The fireman gets the angle of the shovel blade wrong, the coal goes too high, it hits the end of the arch, drops down and forms a wall at the start of the slope. Dead easy to do, I know, 'cos I've done it too many times. You learn not to do it.

 

Question then , with such a low brick arch ( ive not actully seen it , jsut reading on here) would the best way be to fire it like an A4 though the flap ? IE: keep the shoulder that is holding the top of the handle, up high to keep the shovel flat instead of slighlty curved upwards?

 

Is there any other way?