My first official cleaning turn at the GWSR!

My first cleaning turn was finally here. I left home at 4:30am having hardly slept through excitement and worrying my alarm wouldn't go off!!! I arrived at the GWSR for 5:50am and the engine for the day was GWR 2-8-0-tank 4270.

As a cleaner you don't get much time so you have to be quick to help the fireman, today Chris, prep the loco. Whilst he started to clean out the firebox from the previous days fire I went to collect wood from the store and some oily rags. Once Chris was happy and had everything he needed I started to clean the loco. Starting with the wheels using kerosene to remove the heavy oil and then moving onto the wash wax for the bodywork. In the picture below you can see the results. 

Considering this was my first cleaning turn I was lucky enough to be asked out on the footplate for all three trips. Rather than just be a passenger Chris allowed me to couple and uncouple the loco, carry out some token exchanges and helped me with some route learning. Here is a picture of 4270 after just arriving at Winchcombe on the last trip of the day. 

Once we had shunted the coaching stock back into the head shunt the loco is positioned over the pit for Chris to clean out the fire and the driver to check over the bearings. Once Chris was finished cleaning the fire I then cleaned out the ash pan so the loco can be put back onto the shed roads for the next day.   

My last job of the day is to shovel the ash out of the pit and wheel barrow it onto the ash pile. The day is very long and very physical and at the end of the day was nakered BUT...I had an amazing day!