Berkshire To Kent On British Rail

August 28, 2009

Peter remembers learning to drive a locomotive and riding the last steam powered service from Berkshire to Kent in the UK:

The Mid-Hants Railway, is a preserved steam railway, running from Alton to Alresford, in North Hampshire, England.

After spending a birthday dinner on a Saturday evening, I was presented with an ‘Activity Day’ coupon that gave me the opportunity to learn to drive a steam locomotive.

It was a great experience. After learning the safety rules and line protocols, rights of way etc., we went onto the footplate.

I was assigned the role of Fireman for the first part of the trip, being shown how to keep the fire, red hot, to maintain sufficient steam power to drive the loco. It did not come easy at first, both the shovelling and the positioning of the coal was quite difficult, but I was able to keep up a reasonable heat.

The second part of the experience was to learn how to drive the locomotive. Adjusting the steam, power and speed regulators was hard work, but was as exciting as I thought it might be. I did quite well, but for one thing, I overshot the ‘Halt’ signal and entered the single-track section illegally, and dangerously. Thankfully there were no other engines on the line and I was able to return to the station at Ropley, home to all the engines and workshops.

It was a really great morning and satisfied a dream of many years, from my time as a teenager, riding on the last steam service, running from Reading (Berkshire) to Tunbridge Wells (Kent) on the old Southern Region of British Rail.