Of gate staff and gronks

1st June 2025

Another excuse for alliteration.

I hold Jeff entirely responsible. Fancy saying we could pick up a loco in Cardiff immediately after dropping one off in Great Yarmouth. Only he had the big lorry to get from one side of the country to the other, I only had my van, and coming back home to go out again would have meant doing two sides of a triangle, so it was I suppose as good a call as any.

Thus first thing on Wednesday I was on the road to Bicester and that big MoD site that is now a shadow of what it once was, like the rest of the British Army. The old entrance I was familiar with is now a housing development, but I was due to go to the other end, which previously I had only visited by rail. I found it by road OK, and was a few minutes behind Jeff, so the low loader was in the lorry park. This was when the fun began. The Guard Service had no knowledge of our visit, and although I could assure them that an email confirming the date was pinned up on the wall of an office at the loco shed, that was 3 miles away and left them singularly unimpressed. Who was my MoD contact here? they kept asking (no bright lights or thumbscrews, fortunately). It didn't help that I had no contact on their MoD staff, as my job was to uplift a loco belonging to RMS Locotec which had been on hire. (Astute readers will be wondering why, when the MoD have their own locos at Bicester, they were hiring in one but that is too long a story for this blog.)

Worse still, my customer contact was, I knew, on the Isle of Man watching the TT races - I knew because he'd phoned me from the Isle to check that everything was set up from my end!. After a quarter of an hour during which I wondered how much cancellation charge I could wangle a phone call confirmed that just about everyone else knew - there was even an internal road closure in place - but advising the staff charged with keeping out interlopers, spies and other undesirables had been overlooked. We received our passes and headed onto site.

Although it looks like yet another gronk, it is fact a Dutch gronk that is almost the same but has one or two characteristics of earlier versions of what became the '08'. One is that it has 4ft wheels rather than 4ft6 which might mean that some of the low-mounted gear is actually nearer the ground than on an 08. I didn't consider this as we drew it on, partly with the winch but the winch wasn't having a good day and I had the loco running and in first notch just to take a bit of its own weight.

Normally I can pull the loco up so that the front steps are over the rising rear part of the trailer but this time I drew it up until air receivers were just about touching the top of the 'rise'. Both Jeff and I looked at the other end and thought we'd just get away with it, so dismantled the ramp, chained the loco down and brought the neck of the trailer up to the deck - not a chance. The buffers of the loco pressed against the top of the neck but the bits at the bottom were several inches away from engaging. It was hot and the sweat periodically fell from my forehead onto my glasses, drying to leave a trail of grey across my vision. Unchain the loco, re-attach the donkey engine to the winch, pull the 10ft rails out and block them up, roll loco back down trailer, lift the deck rails a couple of inches at the rear and re-pack firmly, draw loco back on again so that the receivers now pass over the back of the trailer decking and go through the rigmerole again. Clean glasses.

We set off, now early afternoon, and I ate my sandwiches as I followed him back to the M40. It is a long way around the M25, the M11 and then the A11 which gets you to Norwich, along the by pass and then into road works as they turn adjacent farmlands into dual carriageway. I had anticipated staying not in Yarmouth but Acle (pronounced as in acre I assume, before anyone gets their 'ackles up) as it was much cheaper.

First thing Thursday morning I took my brekkie-in-a-box and set off the last few miles to Great Yarmouth, arriving about eight-fifteen with Jeff due about nine. I had had great trouble with the gate lock on an earlier visit but had this week's code number and knew where to set it, so let myself in, finished my breakfast and waited. First to arrive was the RMS fitter who had been at Bicester yesterday, and who had travelled back to Doncaster and come out again first thing. He had passed Jeff in a layby the other side of the roadworks because, it transpired, the road had been closed by the time Jeff got there and he had to turn back along his proscribed route and find somewhere to rough it. The loco was wanted a particular way round and the loading track was curved, so I took the time to measure out where I wanted the front of the deck to be so that our ramp met up with the rails in as straight a connection as possible. Jeff arrived and lined up, we dropped the deck to the ground and I started pulling out the various connections. I had unclipped one electrical plug when I was distracted by something and didn't notice that it was still engaged as Jeff moved tractor and neck away. Jeff found the self-dismantled (what was it Space-X call it? Unscheduled disassembly?) plug but although a couple of wires had pulled out and part of the plug was still in the neck socket it hadn't actually taken much harm (I once accidentally lowered the trailer onto it and when we pulled it out it was oval but was encouraged to revert to round!) and after a stressful few minutes it was in one piece and amazingly all the wires had got back in their correct order!

Lowering on to a curved track and on a 'pad' that is not entirely firm, is a worrying exercise and despite my calcs, one wheel flange mounted the rail head. I got the jack out and tried jacking it over without success, so just on the off-chance we hauled it back up on to the ramp and again let it down and second time it thought about it and dropped in to the flangeway. By the time it was out the way and everything packed up Jeff was off about 11.20 and I stayed on discussing things with the RMS fitter before hitting the road at 11.40.

Retracing my steps - Acle, Norwich, A11, M11, M25 and then M4, by Reading I was low on fuel so stopped there for some (v.expensive) diesel. I hadn't seen anything of Jeff but had I done a tour of the lorry park I might have found him taking his obligatory break. I pushed on westward, convinced I must be catching him up. The motorway came to a grinding halt above Bristol, crawled forward almost to the Severn Bridge, began to get quicker then reverted to a crawl on the other side all the way to Cardiff.

We'd arranged that we'd meet outside Celsa at 18.00 but Jeff wasn't there. At this point I rang him and found he was in the Bristol melee so wandered round to a nearby Tesco for a snack. The gate staff at Celsa not only expected us but insisted we were 2 days late! It was now 7pm and on we went. The two 08s were sat together on the loading track, and as we arrived a Zephir came by - haven't seen one working before so grabbed a pick, 'scuse the quality.

Last time we had had to clean out the flangeways and they were filled again, but Jeff pulled further forward so our ramp spanned the worst. This had the side effect that we fouled neither the crossing barriers nor the crossing so no need for my traffic cones and no arguments with foreign lorry drivers. Again the winch baulked at pulling the loco up on a single strand, we snatch-blocked it and it stopped again at a steep point on the trailer. This time I got a spanner out the van and turned the relief valve another quarter turn or so and all was well. Last time it was opening at 100bar, must find what I've put it to now...

We returned to the road at about half eight, Jeff forecasting an arrival at 1pm Friday because of the M42 embargo on abnormal loads during the morning rush hour. I got home just after midnight with a total mileage for the two days at just under 800.

I had been catching up on paperwork the following morning when I rang Jeff to check he was on schedule - no, he was early, having found nowhere to park he had travelled as far as Tamworth the previous night. I dashed to the van and set off. I had signed in when he arrived and we began taking the loco off- no dramas, it was started up and driven away to allow us to get finished.

Saturday - during the week Andrew had found time to reassemble the water pump on the Barclay but hadn't put any water in, so my first job was to top it up and see if it leaked. Thank goodness it didn't so I tried starting it but without success. I put the batteries back on charge and transferred my attentions to the 03, pulling through fresh wires to the engine coolant and torque converter temperature switches as part of the wiring upgrade. Some of the flexible conduits are quite full now so this is not a five minute job, and I'm making mental notes that next time the conduits should start in 25mm and step down as wires depart and reduce the numbers. Later on I had another go at the Barclay- no change.

Sunday - again an afternoon session starting with a check over the Barclay for any leaks - none from coolant but a couple of leaks around the torque converter indicated I had cranked enough to part fill the converter at least. One connection nipped up and should be ok, but the other might require something more drastic. Again no luck in starting and I conclude that this is a 2 person job so that checks can be carried out while the other turns the key. Back out on the 03, I terminate the wires from yesterday at each end and then connect one in the cab area. I want to incorporate all I am learning from the Barclay installation into the 03, so no dramatic steps that might disable the loco until I'm ready.

Up very early tomorrow morning, not for railway matters though. So I've begun and finished this early and am not going to indulge in predictions for the next week - you'll just have to come back and find out. See ya then.