Sunday 5 November
I have been in most of the time working and doing some reading about railways. My head is still quite battered after last night's punch up. My right eye is a bit cut up and my shoulder is bruised.

Monday 6 November
Went to Huntley and Palmers to see their two fireless locomotives.  These were built in 1932 by Bagnall of Stafford (works No. of No. 1 - 2473). They work at 250 lbs pressure but the pressure through the cylinders is 80 lbs. through a reducing valve.  The cab controls are simple - reversing lever, regulator, steam brake, hand brake and sanding levers.  Latent heat is stored in water which is under pressure.  One charging costs 16,000 lbs of steam which lasts for about 1½ hours.  The cylinders are under the cab using Walschaerts valve gear.  Tractive effort 11,500 lbs (0-4-0T).  We were given a ride in No. 2.  They make a peculiar chugging sound and get up quite a speed.  The track isn't too good and it was quite rough.  Total weight is 28 tons which included 2 tons of water.  There are two water gauges in the cab which are inclined at an angle.

Tuesday 7 November
Today I went to two lectures one at 9:00 and one at 4:15. There was a J.C.R. At 1.20 today. One of the points brought up was the problem of digs. It seems that many people do have bad digs but are afraid to complain about them for fear of being put in worse ones.

Wednesday 8 November
I missed two lectures this morning, I was called a bit late and I found that there wasn't time to get to Whiteknights by 9:00. I have done some washing instead and went up to watch the University football team play Shrivenham. It was quite a good game which we won 4 – 3.

Thursday 9 November
Three lectures today, one at 10.00, one at 12.00 in the main site, and one at 2.15. I came back down to the main site at 3:15 and have done an essay for my tutorial tomorrow morning. I went to Kinema this evening. The film was "Jour de Fete” which starred Jacques Tati. It was very amusing indeed - I could follow it easily, even though there were no subtitles. I have seen this sometime ago at the school Film Society.

Friday 10 November
A 10.00 tutorial this morning, it started to rain just as I set out, I dashed back and just managed to get ready in time to catch the B bus to London, I wanted to get to Shoeburyness at a reasonable time. I intended to go down from Fenchurch street but I had just missed the train and it was much quicker to go from Liverpool Street station. I eventually must have arrived at about 4.30. Mrs. Banyard was pleased to see me but I had a feeling that I shouldn't have gone. They have a new lodger staying there - Philip - he works as a photographer on the ranges. Pat was late in and I only saw her for a few seconds.

Saturday 11 November
I went down the depot this morning, they seem to be quite pleased to see me and asked if I would like a trip in one of the new electrics - I'm going tomorrow. I went over to Basildon this afternoon to see Peter Baldwin. I did intend to stay the evening but Mrs Banyard had already fixed up for me to go to a social this evening. I have swapped some very interesting tickets for my collection. The social was at “The Castle”, we all went including Liz and Philip. It wasn't too bad but Patsy was very cold indeed - we were dancing about a foot apart.

Sunday 12 November
I had a trip up to Fenchurch Street and back from Shoeburyness this morning on one of the new electrics.  I went up on the 10.10 and back on the 12.25.  As luck would have it, Harry Price was instructing the motorman so I had quite an interesting trip.  The acceleration is phenomenal - we sailed up Laindon at over 50 mph with the controller shut off for half of the time.  Coming back we reached 62 mph going up to Laindon with 12 cars.  The actual driving is quite simple but the motorman must know a great deal about how it works.  There was single line working from Bromley to Stephney.

Monday 13 November
There was a terrific storm last night which kept me awake, as well as that I kept working out what I was going to say to Pat. I left at about 10.30 having thanked Mrs. Banyard and told her that she may never see me again. I came up on the 11.10 electric, the motorman was Ben Dimond. I caught the 1.45 A bus back to Reading. I feel very sad and disconsolate this evening.

Tuesday 14 November
A 9.00 lecture helped to take my mind off things a bit. I have been doing odd jobs this morning and afternoon and went to a lecture at 4:15. Coming back to the digs my lights failed so I had to be a bit careful to avoid the police. I went into Davids this evening to watch the last episode of a science fiction serial “A for Andromeda” on TV.

Wednesday 15 November
I went to two lectures this morning, law and economic theory. The law is getting quite interesting now- we were dealing with larceny. The economic theory lectures are becoming very complicated and I find them very difficult to follow. I went down the town with Dick in the afternoon and we had a look at the town museum.

Thursday 16 November
A busy day today with two lectures and a seminar. The seminars in economic history are quite interesting. I went into Davids this evening to write an essay for tomorrow's tutorial, about Keynes and the multiplier. I watched a bit of boxing on TV and came back at about 10:00. Mr Whitehead locked up, knowing full well that Dave was still out. We made sure that he got in. I don't know why Mr. Whitehead has been against us so much, the atmosphere has changed - I think I should move if I can.

Friday 17 November
The tutorial went quite well, he was quite pleased with it. Afterwards I went downtown to take back a library book and to get some money from the bank. I had a trip on Tony's new motorbike this afternoon. I've never been on the motorbike before and I was quite surprised at the acceleration, in fact the first time I was nearly jerked off. After the lecture we called it at Tony's digs, Foxhill. It seems quite a good place, he has a very good room, just right for studying.

Saturday 18 November
I went on a scooter race today.  We caught the coach to Brighton where the race started at Preston Park.  It was great fun although not taken very seriously.  We seemed to take our scooter in the coach most of the time - we were disqualified towards the end of the race, at Earlswood, we had to fight our way through .  The coach went on to Picadilly and I caught the train home.  Mum and Dad were not expecting me and Dad thought I was a burglar.

Sunday 19 November
I have been working most of the morning. Dad is rebuilding the greenhouse and is reglazing. I have also been dismantling the remains of an old refrigerator. I watched football on TV this afternoon - Austria versus Yugoslavia. It wasn't a particularly good game. Yugoslavia won 2-1

Monday 20 November
My works plate from BR came this morning.  It is cast bronze from C class 0-6-0 No. 31695.  It was built by Neilson Reid in 1900, makers No. 5701.


I left Orpington at 14.30 but didn't get to Paddington until 16.15.  I could have caught the 16.30 (Mayflower) fast train but I decided to catch the slower, steam hauled, 16.35.  I had a talk with the driver and fireman at Reading and they said they would have let me have a ride on the foorplate.  I shall go to Maidenhead tomorrow to have a trip on a Hall.

Tuesday 21 November
I went to a 9.00 lecture this morning, it was given by the County Archivist who spoke upon the enclosure movement, with particular reference to Berkshire. I came back to Connaught road to leave my bike and went into Davids on the back of Tommy's scooter. After J.C.R. (nothing much happened), I went down to the station and caught the bus to Maidenhead. I went to the station and caught the 5.09 to Reading. The same driver was on and I traveled on the footplate. The engine was 5938 Stanley Hall (4-6-0) it was clean and I enjoyed it very much. They are much more difficult to fire. The fireman kept the five doors open but used the shoveling plate all the time, they closed the plate after every shovelful. They didn't bother to use the exhaust steam injector at all while I was on. It seems that these are sometimes a bit temperamental, in any case they have to change from exhaust to live steam when the regulator is closed. The engine was driven with half open regulator all the time. Unfortunately it was dark - but if it hadn't been I probably wouldn't have been able to ride.

Wednesday 22 November
I had a letter from Pat this morning, she also wrote yesterday but didn't say anything about my letter, it seems that she didn't receive my letter until after she had posted her first one - she still wants to be friends, but only friends, even after my last letter. I had two lectures this morning from both for quite boring, particularly Dr. Budden's. I watched the soccer international this afternoon between England and Ireland. The result was a draw with one goal each. It was a very poor game.

Thursday 23 November
The weather was fine today.  It was frosty but clear.  I cycled back this evening past the Reading diesel depot There were two engines, both 0-6-0 pnnier tanks standing by the bridge.  One was quiet while the other was sizzling gently, the valves were just lifting.  It made such a peaceful and quiet scene that I really didn't want to leave.

Friday 24 November
I had a tutorial this morning, it didn't do too badly. I went down to the library afterwards. After a lecture this afternoon I saw Huckleberry Hound and went to Kinema this evening. It was all surrealist films. I quite enjoyed them - there was one piece of a track photography which showed a woman's eye being slit open by a cutthroat razor. I came back again by the diesel depot. This time there was a tank engine and a Hall 4-6-0 no. 4998 "Eyton Hall”, the tender engine wasn't sizzling or showing any signs of life. I wonder if it was dead. I saw a freight train take the West Curve from Oxford - the light from the fire reflecting upon the smoke made a fine sight. The sound was quite impressive - quite a loud noise until the driver notched her up.

Saturday 25 November
Today has been a bit day. This morning I did some work, went into Davids to help Johnny and then went down to General station. This evening I have been helping with props for Carouse and later on I gave a hand with the stage. Of course the real highlight of today, if not the month, was my trip on the foot plate of Castle Class engine No.5087 from Maidenhead to Didcot. I am preparing a full account of this and the trip last Tuesday so I will not say much except that I did do identifiering and that I saw, how the scoop is used to replenish the tanks. See diary 29.7.62.
Tuesday 21 November Maidenhead to Reading on Hall class 4-6-0 No. 5938 "Stanley Hall"
Saturday 25 November Maidenhead to Didcot on Castle 4-6-0 No. 5087 "Tintern Abbey".
Train 16.35 ex-Paddington

Miles	Station	Time
0	Maidenhead	17.09
6¾	Twyford	17.20
11¾	Reading General	17.28
	Reading General	17.31
19	Didcot	17.53

The weather was very cold (even on the footplate) but visibility was good on both days although there was a little mist on Tuesday. It was dark and I had difficulty in spotting the signals because most are of the semaphore type. 

This was the first time I had ridden on a tender engine and there wasn't so much room as I thought there would have been (more than on the tanks though).  There is not nearly so much protection from the elements as on the tank engines.  The fact that there was a gap vetween the engine and tender, covered by a violently moving  fall plate makes firing more difficult (as I found out).  The main difference between the LMSR and GWR engines is that the driver is on the right hand side on the GWR.  As a complete contrast to the LMS tanks the GW engines were spotlessly clean, the external paintwork shone and the cab fittings were very clean, the red painted regulator handle and reversing wheel added to this effect.

There is very little difference between the cab controls of the Hall and the Castle engines.  The Hall is fitted with a sight feed lubricator where the steam is drawn from the regulator header through a spiral arrangement of tubes, under the cab roof sheet, where the steam condenses and draws oil through a glass tube.  There are several glasses, about three, arranged in a bank to the left of the reversing wheel.  The Castles are fitted with a different type of lubricator.  This has a dial and a needle which indicates when oil is being applied.  Some Castles have, I think, the sight feed lubricator.

Both Castle and Hall are fitted with a live steam and an exhaust steam injector.  The live steam is on the driver's side while the exhaust steam injector is fitted to the fireman's side.  There are two controls for the live steam injector, the steam valve is on the boiler backplate and the water control is on the tender.  On the Hall class the water control was direct while on the Castle adjustment was by means of a series of cranks to the spindle which is some way from the side of the tender.  Castles fitted with an earlier type of tender have the normal type of water control.  I tried the live steam injector and found it very smooth to handle.  The exhaust steam injector has four controls, two steam and two water.  The two steam valves are necessary in order to keep the injector functioning when the regulator is closed, one supplies live steam while the other provides exhaust steam. The two valves are to be found on the boiler back plate.  The two water controls are to turn water on and off, on the tender, just inside the handbrake, and to control the flow.  This latter is low down, close to the firebox between dampers and the fireman's seat.

Dampers are of the pull out type in the floor just to the fireman's side of the firehole door.  There were four of these. On the driver's side and projecting  from the firebox backplate are the brake valve which is off when facing the driver, two ejectors (the large ejector has a bigger handle) both of which have a pull out movement and blower valve which is below and to the right of the brake cylinder drain cocks.  Back and front sanding levers are on the driver's side.

On the fireman's side there are the steam pressure gauge and steam heating gauge while on the driver's side is the vacuum gauge which gives the amount of vacuum in the train pipe and the brake reservoir.  The speedometer is between the reversing screw and the firebox.

The tender of the Castle had a metal back plate through which the coal falls on to a level with the footplate via a small aperture - difficulty of being blocked by large lumps of coal,  The tender of the Hall was not enclosed, the coal being much more exposed.  This increased the tendency for the dust to fly.  Both tenders are fitted with a water scoop.  This is operated by turning a screw similar to the hand brake being in a similar position on the fireman's side.  Fire irons are kept in a recess in the tender on the fireman's side. 

When considering how an engine is being worked there are four factors to be taken into account, two of which concern the driver and two concern the fireman.  The driver used a half open regulator and 17% cut off.  I could not see the actual cut off, this figure was given to me by the driver.  He told me that it was possible to drive these engines with  full open regulator and shorter cut off but with a heavy train this makes much more work for the fireman.  The fireman has to watch his steam and water gauges.  On both trips, with a different fireman, there was a tendency to sacrifice the water level in order to maintain a full head of steam.  The steam prssure was kept just below 225 lbs. per squre inch but the water level fluctuated.  On the Hall the water level was kept to within an inch of the top of the glass. On the Castle, however, an inexperienced fireman had not prepared the fire properly and at Twyford we only had half a glass of water.  However, the chisle bar was run through the fire and she came round so as to be blowing off at Reading even with the live steam injector on.

The first impression is how high up the footplate is above the platform.  The second thing that struck me very forcibly was the absence of doors.  This doesn't matter until the engine gets up speed.  There seems to be more room than on the tank engines, probably because there are no tanks extending into the cab.  It is possible for a third man to stand by the spectacle plate in front of the fireman's seat.  The crew said that this would be the best place for me as I would be out of the way of the weather.  However, I preferred to stand behind the driver to that I could see how the engine was being driven.  There is more room to manoeuvre fire irons than in the LMS tanks because the cab isn't enclosed.  The metal plate in between engine and tender certainly makes things more difficult for the fireman. I was allowed to put some coal on and had great difficulty in keeping my balance beacuse my righ foot was on this plate.  The fireman said that he soon became used to it.   The ride was not too smooth, the Castle seemed rougher than the Hall but perhaps this was because we were going faster - 70 mph when there was a restriction to 50 mph. (we were on the Down Slow line)  I didn't know the line very well and could only pick out a few landmarks.  I didn't realise when we were going through Sonning Cutting while I was completely lost after Pangbourne.  I don't know how the driver knew we were approaching Goring troughs, we seemed to be going through the same blackness but he knew when to let down the scoop.  This is done by turning the handle in an anti-clockwise direction. We didn't take much water.  I looked down to see if I could see the spray from under the tender but I couldn't see anything. 

Firing was done in rounds but I didn't study it much.  As on all Western engines the fire was made up well above the firehole ring. They had some difficulty on the Saturday having had to start with a black fire due to bad preparation.  The coal was good, smallish lumps and briquettes on the first trip - just abuot right for firing.  On the Castle, however, the coal wasn't too good - there was a great deal of slack and some large lumps which necessitated frequent use of the coal pick. On Saturday the dust was put to the back of the fire where it tended to cake into a black mass.  Eventually the fireman broke up the back part with a chisle bar which livened up the fire considerably and greatly improved steaming.  The GW coal shovels are much larger than the LMS ones.  The well built up fire means that it is difficult to get coal to the front, this is done by bouncing the coal off the ring or the hump of blackish coal at the back.  Injectors were used when the pressure was rising in order to stop the safety valves from lifting and they were used mainly after a round of firing.  The shovelling plate is larger than on the LMS engines and is attached by a chain to the door handle.  It was thus easily opened and closed.  The fireman of "Stanley Hall" used this religiously, closing it after every shovelful, in fact he hardly closed the doors at all.  This has the advantage in that one can see the condition of the fire without having to open the doors. I tried doing this with every shovelful and found it quite easy to do.  The flap is closed with the left hand while the right hand filled the shovel with coal ready for the next firing.  The larger shovelling plate makes it impossible to fire with it across the door as on the LMS.  I found firing more difficult because we were doing about 70mph at the time.

The GWR ATC (Automatic Train Control) does not jar as much upon the nerves as does the LTS type.  A bell sounds when the road is clear and a hooter for a caution.  As on the LTS the driver placed full confidence on this apparatus as when he turned his back to take water and came over to the other side to talk to me. 

I didn't time either of the runs but we were on time out of Reading and into Didcot.  I think we were a minute or so late into General.  Afterwards I rode in a diesel multiple unit and the difference was most noticeable.  Coming out from Didcot the coach was too warm and I nearly fell asleep - I would still prefer to travel on the footplate!

Sunday 26 November.Very foggy this morning. I have been typing and I did some notes this morning. This afternoon Dick asked Jen and Sandra around to listen to records. I tried to write some letters but didn't get very far because we were talking. I went to a Carouse rehearsal this evening. I found out that I'm not now wanted so I have nothing to do in the evening - I will have to find something to do. Quite a few of the sketches with very bad indeed.

Monday 27 November
No lectures today but I have been very busy. I've managed to get another part in Carouse - this time as a body ! It is in the second half so I wasn't needed tonight. I have been working this evening.

Tuesday 28 November
Only two lectures today, but they are spread out. I have been selling a few tickets for Carouse - this is great fun - I sold one bloke some 5/- tickets when he originally wanted 3/6 ones. Went to Carouse rehearsal this evening - all I have to do is to lie on a chair. Wednesday 29 November

Wednesday 29 November
Very tired this evening so just a short entry. I went to two lectures and had dinner at Connaught road because we were rehearsing all afternoon and evening. The rehearsal wasn't much really. It seems to be falling into shape although we won't know until the day.

Thursday 30 November
A complimentary copy of the Railway Magazine came this morning.  My article is published on Page 836.  I feel quite pleased with myself.
See Experiences of a Temporary Fireman
Two lectures today and also an economic history seminar. I had an early dinner because of Carouse. I went to be made up at about 5.15 but I wasn't on stage until nearly 10.30. I think it went down quite well although the audience wasn't very good.