THE first loco which I ever drove on shed (under supervision)was No. 47973 Derby Evening Telegraph, which for a young trainman just starting out, was a real thrill. It was also quite fitting, as it had been the Derby Evening Telegraph where I had seen Trainman (D) vacancies advertised in late 1989, a vacancy I had applied for and subsequently come to occupy.
Class 47s represented a good proportion of our shed work. They would arrive from all over the country, requiring attention after a hard day’s labour. Although I was brought up with the traditional BR blue livery, I thought the new InterCity colours looked particularly smart. To see the wind tunnel (fuel and inspection point) at night occupied exclusively by InterCity ‘47s’ was an impressive sight. I found them fascinating; where had they come from? What trains had they hauled? What sights had they seen along the way?
I do not think there were many who shared such a romantic view of them, but it was difficult not to like such a faithful class of locomotive and attribute some sort of personality to them. But this was quite easy really, especially when they were taking on water. Once their header tank was full, and without any regard to nearby personnel, they would blow the excess water through an overflow valve in their roof, just like a whale. The fitter would receive a cold shower if he was close, but it was almost as if the loco was trying to say ‘I’ve had a long hard day and I’m tired. Turn that bloody hose off and put me to bed!’ I could see how Reverend W Awdry had got some of his ideas. Human beings built these machines after all, why would they not display some of our characteristics too?
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