Locomotive disposal at a Running Shed

[OldSutt]

Sorry if it has been discussed before, but I am in the process of wiring my GW/SR (yes they share in my prototype) Locomotive engine shed and coaling point. I suddenly realized that I did not know the sequence of operations when a steam loco comes on shed.

Vague recollections bring to mind the loco arriving at the coaling line and on some days at Laira there was a very long queue. The tender was replenished with coal and the loco ended up (at Laira) either in the roundhouse or the long shed or in the yard eventually.

What I would like to know, is if the fire was dropped how would the loco move? Would there be enough steam pressure to move or would a shed pilot engine be used to move dead locos around. 'Chicken and egg' ?

[eldavo]

From previous discussions on here and from some of the old film clips on YouTube the common sequence seems to be:

 

Ash pit (shovel ash from the smokebox, clear ash from the grate area and optionally drop the fire)

Coaling

Water

Turn

Shed

 

Different shed set-ups would determine variations in the order. With no fire the loco would normally have enough steam to move itself through the rest of the moves.

 

Cheers

Dave (no expert)

[The Stationmaster]

As Dave says although water was often first on the Western from what I understand because at bigger sheds there was usually a queue for the ashpits and coal stage although the way some depots were laid out might mean limited access to a water column - look at pics of depot layouts to get the idea. Engines might not always be turned of course - ir depended on location and what was in mind for the next working and of course they wouldn't always be stabled in the shed building.

[OldSutt]

Thanks for your replies, it seems clearer now.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

What I would like to know, is how much shuffling took place to retrieve the loco from the back of the dead end shed - how did they decide what went where? I can understand how the LMS 'cafeteria' system worked, as it was based on forward moves only and no need to go 'indoors' unless an exam was scheduled. But some of the old, dead end sheds.... no clue at all.

[OldSutt]

What I would like to know, is how much shuffling took place to retrieve the loco from the back of the dead end shed - how did they decide what went where? I can understand how the LMS 'cafeteria' system worked, as it was based on forward moves only and no need to go 'indoors' unless an exam was scheduled. But some of the old, dead end sheds.... no clue at all.

 

That was also passing through my mind DGF, the movements over many parallel lines (such as Laira) in or out of shed would take some sorting especially with 'dead' locos. Someone must have had a cunning plan.

[The Stationmaster]

That was also passing through my mind DGF, the movements over many parallel lines (such as Laira) in or out of shed would take some sorting especially with 'dead' locos. Someone must have had a cunning plan.

 

That was what Running Foremen were paid to do!

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

That was what Running Foremen were paid to do!

 

Ah, so lots of Sunday afternoon chess with 120 ton pieces... a properly operated shed layout would be quite fascinating...

[The Stationmaster]

Ah, so lots of Sunday afternoon chess with 120 ton pieces... a properly operated shed layout would be quite fascinating...

 

Not really - hopefully, although at times it had to happen to 'dig out' locos that had become blocked in. What the Foreman (and his outside Foreman at a large depot) would do is plan where incoming locos would go in relation to what it was planned or expected they would do next. Thus an engine for, say, washout would be worked into the shed, hopefully not blocking in any coming off maintenance, washout etc while a loco for a turn starting fairly soon would be left standing as open (to the live end of the road it was on) as possible. On a straights shed with dead end roads or indeed dead end outdoor roads some degree of shunting was probably unavoidable but the aim was to keep that to a minimum.

 

And if a shed had a lot of freight and trip work the locos that were not under or awaiting repair/washout etc would be left in best possible order to come off when work recommenced on Sunday/early Monday or crews would be told to take the engine standing open as they arrived for their turn (if it was the right sort of engine of course). All a lot simpler with a roundhouse or through shed.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Simpler with a roundhouse until the turntable is a failure!

 

There are a good many accounts of the trials of the shed staff that resulted when the careful planning all went awry from the many possible defects that can arise to trackwork , locomotives and the various servicing plant elements. Then it could indeed become a matter of 'chess moves' to work around the problem.

 

The 'cunning plan' of the running foreman on a dead end shed to have the locos positioned correctly for sequential departure on their next turn, could involve a significant number of moves, especially if the shed carried a wide range of power classes or both passenger and freight types. Freight turns that gave way to passenger trains, and features like permissive working resulted in return to shed times that were not completely predictable, so there was some thinking on the feet often required too.