RPSI Home - Steam Train Dates - Online Shop - Website Contents - About Us European Architectural Heritage Open Day The RPSI always puts on a bit of a show for this annual event and this year was no different, with two locomotives in steam and nearly 200 visitors enjoying train rides and guided tours of our locomotive and carriage workshops.  You could have been there - you could have been one of the crew! A day like this (without a mainline operation) usually starts at the slightly more friendly hour of 08:30.  The Guinness engine is in "No.1 shed road" and is the train ride loco today and has been receiving a touch of brasso for the occasion. Jeff has lit the fire and pressure is slowly rising.  All locomotive boilers require washing out periodically to remove build ups of dirt and rust from the inside of the boiler.  Special holes (in this case called "mudhole doors" are in the base of the firebox to allow this to happen.  When the loco is next steamed, it is important to check that these doors are sealed and not leaking steam and water.  Jeff was attending to this. Meanwhile, over in "No.4 shed road", 186 is being prepared for a test to her firemans injector.  An injector is a device which uses the power of rushing steam to push cold water from the tender into the boiler against the pressure of the boiler. Jeff, having checked the Guinness engine, is joined by Robert to oil the locomotive - here they are oiling axleboxes. Over in the workshop, Brian is putting the finishing touches to the last of 461's wheels.  The wheelset is in the wheel lathe which turns the wheel slowly whilst... ...a cutting tool takes off a controlled amount of metal from the tyre. With pressure up and the carriages shunted out, train rides commence at 2pm.  186 is the first train ride loco with Jeff and Peter crewing.  At 3.30pm, 186 swapped with Guinness, with Nelson and Irwin at the controls. It took 11 volunteers to operate this open day.  Some of the jobs, like driving, firing and shunting, are skilled and require some learning and time on the job to gather the experience.  Others, like Guard, working in the Dining Car and working in the shop are easier to pick up.  We need help to keep the steam trains running, so please do email us if you would be interested in joining the locomotive roster or other roles. I hope this has given you a fun insight into work behind the scenes at Whitehead. Why don't you come and join us? Click on the RPSI logo (above) to go to the RPSI Homepage