Semaphore Sam wrote:Notice the remaining platform edge yellow line, beyond the photo of the bride; much of station still there! SamAt Snow Hill there is hardly any sign of the former GW station. I think that photo is of somewhere else. Probably the Wolverhampton GW station.
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Reminds me a bit of weddings at the Rovos Rail station in Pretoria. They have a five-star luxury waiting room cum lounge, a classical string quartet playing on the platform while champagne and snackies are served, and a highly-polished locomotive standing in steam at the platform. A carpet is laid on the footplate and of course everything is spotlessly clean. The bride gets a chance to come up onto the footplate via a set of carpeted steps. The footplate crew are on their best behaviour, although if one were to track their eye movements one might find them looking disproportionately often at the bridesmaids...
When I first saw that beautiful bridehoto, I thought it was water in the foreground, and a beautiful hill beyond. When I enlarged it, the hill turned out to be a brick wall. Enchanting! When I look at it now I do a mental trick and don't notice the bricks.
Last edited by philipmartin on Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
John - your description of the Rovos Rail wedding is so incongruous. Classic music and a footplate. Sounds like a nightmare to me.
Last edited by philipmartin on Fri Dec 09, 2016 4:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Maybe you've never seen how beautiful (and romantic) the footplate of a loco in steam can be when it is properly cleaned and all the brass polished?!
I had my own wedding reception on a steam train (not Rovos, I hasten to add, but my own club, Friends of the Rail). The lads had the loco beautifully turned out for us, adorned with balloons and streamers. My wife was persuaded to get on the footplate for some photos, but she wouldn't let me don a boiler suit and shovel coal! The reception was held in three coaches - a normal sitter coach, a lounge car, and a former regional manager's saloon.
I had my own wedding reception on a steam train (not Rovos, I hasten to add, but my own club, Friends of the Rail). The lads had the loco beautifully turned out for us, adorned with balloons and streamers. My wife was persuaded to get on the footplate for some photos, but she wouldn't let me don a boiler suit and shovel coal! The reception was held in three coaches - a normal sitter coach, a lounge car, and a former regional manager's saloon.
Well, that does sound nice, but you have to be a certified Railfan to go for it. I guess the steam safety didn't pop off. I was acquainted with a fireman on the Illinois Central sixty years ago. They still moved freight with steam as well as diesel at that time. One day they invited some girls up on the footplate, and when the safety popped off, the young ladies wet themselves. (I hope David doesn't read this- I'll be in the dog house again.)
Philip wrote:One day they invited some girls up on the footplate, and when the safety popped off, the young ladies wet themselvesYes, when a fireman is taking care of a loco which is booked to stand in a station or is on display for a wedding, or whatever, he has to keep the fire well under control to avoid blowing off. It is relatively easy to do so under those controlled circumstances.
It's different when you're working a train. The rule book says you should only blow off twice to test the safety valves - once before you go off shed, and once early in the journey. However it is almost impossible to avoid blowing off occasionally in real life. You've just built the fire up for a steep gradient and you suddenly get a red signal. You've just been told by the central train control that you are about to depart from a station, so you build up the fire, and then five minutes later they call you back and tell you they're delaying you for another thirty minutes. You can delay blowing off by putting on the injectors and filling the boiler, but once the boiler is full you can't do that any more as an overfilled boiler can lead to priming. You could also open the blowdown cock, but that is discouraged, and anyway it is completely forbidden in stations.
I've had a few very surprised punters when the safety blew, but I can't say I've ever made a young lady wet herself!
I don't know what priming is, but it doesn't sound like something I would like.
Correct. Priming is no fun. Basically it's when water from the boiler gets into the cylinders. At worst it can blow the front off the cylinder (because water is not compressible like steam), at best it seriously affects the performance of the loco and both driver and fireman have to struggle to get back to normal.
One of the main reasons for priming is an overfull boiler. Steam is collected at the top of the boiler (usually in the dome of the loco, although there are domeless locos where steam is collected within the main boiler area - Friends of the Rail in South Africa has one, 19D number 2650). If the boiler is too full, water gets into the steam collection pipes.
One of the main reasons for priming is an overfull boiler. Steam is collected at the top of the boiler (usually in the dome of the loco, although there are domeless locos where steam is collected within the main boiler area - Friends of the Rail in South Africa has one, 19D number 2650). If the boiler is too full, water gets into the steam collection pipes.
Yes. I read somewhere that you blow steam out of the cylinders to blow water out before starting the journey.
Yes, there are cylinder drain cocks which you open at the start of the day or if the loco has been standing for a while, to let any water which has condensed in the cylinders drain out. Priming, on the other hand, occurs while you're on the move, usually very unexpectedly, and it's not just a bit of condensed water but quite a lot of water sucked in through the steam pipes.