Chris Wilson
Chris Wilson - Fireman, Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway
Chris Wilson - Fireman, Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway
What’s the fireman’s job?
My responsibility is to light the fire and keep it going during the day as the train runs back and forth to Kingswear.
How is the fire lit?
With wood, paraffin and an oily rag! We then top it up with coal and will use nearly 1.5 tonnes per day. It’s hard, physical work. We start at 6.30am to start the fire, warming it up very slowly in time for the first trip at 10.30am. This avoids us ‘stressing’ the boiler.
The engine is still hot from the day before – it takes 5 days to cool down completely as there are 1,000 gallons of water to cool. Normally, when we start the fire it is running at a temperature of 500ºC and we stoke it up to a working temperature of 1,300º-1,400ºC. If starting from cold, we’d light the fire a day before the engine is needed. The trick is to burn the fuel efficiently so there’s little coal and waste to rake out of the fire at the end of the day. There’s a lot of skill involved in managing the fire down as the day progresses.
What’s a typical day?
During the season when the railway is operating, one crew will come in early to light the engines, do the daily maintenance checks and clean/polish before handing over to the day crew, after which they will move on to the many maintenance jobs we have going all the time. When we are the day crew operating the engine, it’s a long day, especially at weekends. We currently have three full-time firemen and one other undergoing training.
It can take a year to learn the basic skills but you are still learning well after that. These engines seem to have their own individual and often unpredictable personalities and can be very ‘moody’ depending on the weather conditions, the state of the fuel we use or if they have any mechanical problems. An experienced fireman and driver soon seem to fuse a relationship with their engines. We have to be in unison.
During the close season (November to March), we’re busy on all the main maintenance jobs – I’m particularly responsible for looking after the 20 coaches. These engines are very well looked after and undergo a major refit every 10 years. Our oldest is more than 90 years old and none are less than 50 years.
Some of our engines could already have 1 million miles on the ‘clock’ and I’d be disappointed if they weren’t running in 200-300 years so long as there’s someone to look after them, engineer the replacement parts etc. There’s a thriving cottage industry that supports the steam trains still running in this country.
Are you passionate about this job?
Very much so. Railways have always interested me, I can trace back some connection with the railways in my family for at least 5 generations. It’s very rewarding albeit physically very demanding. You have to be young or fit to do this job full-time. I have huge admiration for firemen of old, especially those working the freight trains during the nights. It must have been very tough.
What’s so rewarding is to see the sheer delight on the faces of young children seeing the engines for the first time (especially Thomas the Tank engine) or the older generation who can still remember the steam trains of old. Also, we get the best view of this area as we travel back and forth, watching the seasons and colours change and spotting the abundant wildlife. It’s magical.
First published May 2009 By the Dart
