Booton, 8 July 2021 - Brody's train is delayed.

Still a disturbed night, and also a very late one after a conversation with our hosts as they returned from watching England beat Denmark - they had clearly had a good time.  So we started earlier than yesterday, but still a little late and had our second cooked breakfast of the week.  All the eggs are now gone, but there is still plenty of honey left.

We decided to go to the Wells and Walshingham Light Railway (WWLR) - they have a special timetable for COVID restrictions, running trains on the hour every hour from 10am to 4pm.  Its not too far, the traffics was light, so we arrived in plenty of time for the noon train.  We watched it come into the station, we watched the previous passengers leave and the train go round the loop ready for it's return to the other end of the line - almost.

Enrtance view WWLR

Brody in the train

Jo in the train

The engine

The hastily constructed loop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to leave, the train moved backwards a few feet, and then seemed to struggle to go forward.  The guard walked from his position at the rear to speak to the driver.  Eventually we got moving, starting by moving backward a few feet.  We moved slowly forward but not for long.  The train stopped again. The guard walked from his position at the rear to speak to the driver. Eventually the train got moving again.  By now we had passed the steepest upward part of the track outbound (1 in 74).  The brakes were sticking and an engineer was called.  It was quite a long wait, but once he arrived he fixed the problem quite quickly.  I had asked him as he passed "Have you fixed it?"

"Yep" he smiled in the way that only an engineer fixing a simple problem can. "After 27 years I should know how".

Water had been distributed during the wait, the three of us shared a bottle.

Then we were underway again - you know how that goes now.  We got to the turnaround point - a newly constructed loop a little outside the normal terminus constructed so the train can operate in COVID conditions.  The engine went 'round' the loop and was hooked back up to the train.  "Then there was trouble" (a quote from Thomas the Tank Engine).  The brakes were stuck agian.  The driver and guard called the engineer again.  There was a much longer wait this time, eventually he arrived, fixed the problem and gave the driver as short lesson in how to get the train started.  "Have him shot when you get back" he said to me as our carriage passed him.  Now operating at an appropriate speed the engine was generating enough pressure to keep the brakes off.

This is a classic case of engineer (tech support in my world) vs driver (user in my world).  The engineer has a different understanding of what the engine can do and is not constrained by the drivers understanding of his operating processes and procedures.

Now we got back in one go, and travelled a little faster than we did on the way out.  The 1 in 69 incline posed no problem for the engine. 

Like a lot of the other passengers, we then drove to Wells, and out along the 1 mile road to the beach cafe.  Wells was absolutely heaving - people everywhere.  The beach cafe car park was almost full, all the ouside tables were in use.  We ordered some food, and waited for the gluten free roll they made specially.  We found a stone to sit on.  As we were settling down, someone who was leaving offered us their table.  I noticed others giving up their table for a young family too.  People here are very friendly.

Then we put the pushchair to good use and walked on the Norfolk Coastal Path for about 3/4 hour.  On the drive home it rained for a while, and was still raining when we arrived.

After a short break and a few minutes frustration ('no signal') we went to the Kings Arms in Reepham, foretunately they had a table left, so we were in.  The service was good, and the main courses especially, were very nice.  The sweet was good too, but not as good as the mains.  Everyone was very impressed with our well behaved dog.  Not at the end though, as we were leaving he had one of his 'little accidents'.  It's not his fault, he has a medical condition which limits his ability to control himself. We cleaned up and left in a hurry, because more was to come - but outside is OK.

We had made the best of the day.