Taking on water at Rolvenden

A 7 train timetable, 5 standard passenger services and 2 of the Sunday lunch Pullman dining train meant a busy day from 9.00 to 6.00pm.

The day started eventfully as we could not get a starting signal off for love nor money. In the end we did manage to get a subsidiary signal off to allow the light engine to leave for Tenterden.

With a bit of help from a large boot the offending points were persuaded to cooperate and the signal came off for the next light engine. The Signalling Manager came down later and gently applied some oil to the mechanism and all was well.

After that, apart from one or two operator errors, quickly rectified by the operator, services ran smoothly and we finished on time.

Susan was with me in the box most of the day, her first visit to Rolvenden. She has a break by visiting Sissinghurst in the afternoon.