1638 on shed for disposal at the end of the day

1638 has made many appearances on my blip over the last 20 months, but this is likley to be one of the last as her boiler certificate expires at the end of the month and the engine will be withdrawn from service for her 10 year overhaul. I'm not certain how long this will take but it is likely to be measured in years rather than months I'd think.

After all the passengers have gone home and even after all the signalmen have also gone home the engine crew still have an hour or so's work to dispose of the locomotive before they can go home too. I'm not too sure what this involves but what they're doing here is clearing out all the ash and cinders from the smoke box. The tanks have already been filled with water and I expect that as the engine will be in use again tomorrow a small fire will be kept in so that it will not go cold overnight. This makes it easier and quicker to raise steam in the morning and reduces stress on the locomotive brought about by repeated cycles of heating and cooling. (or so I'm led to believe)

As you can tell, I've been on the KESR again today, this time in the signal box at Wittersham Road. Lo and behold passengers may join a train there tomorrow as a couple turned up at the end of the day asking for departure times from Wittersham Road station. That would be a first in my experience. Might even be worth going down to watch people board the train!