We celebrated and remembered the life of John Farrow, a true gentleman, on this trip. For more about John, see here.
We left London Victoria on time, and picked up more passengers at Clapham Junction, Staines and Woking.
We were more or less on time all the way to our first water stop at Salisbury. We had about an hour here, so, after taking on four thousand gallons of water from a waiting road tanker, and pulling a little coal forward, we were able to invite members of the public onto the footplate, so that they could see what a live steam engine is really like.
We left Salisbury on time, and stopped at Sherborne to let the passengers off, before moving on to Yeovil Steam Centre.
It is always a pleasure to service at Yeovil Steam Centre. We are always made very welcome, and today was no exception. We made use of their new conveyor belt to load four tons of coal which had been delivered during the week, and that made things easier for us. Their water crane was used to refill the tender with water. We also made use of their turntable to turn both the engine, and the support coach.
We left Yeovil, and Sherborne, on time, and arrived at Salisbury fifteen minutes early. Here, we took on another couple thousand gallons of water, and pulled more coal forward. We, again, had plenty of time, so we were able to allow more people to visit the footplate.
Our arrival back at London Victoria was a few minutes early.
The day was not over for the support crew, though. Getting back to Stewarts Lane, turning the loco, and disposing it, took another three hours, so it was not until half past twelve on Thursday that we could go home, or, for those that were staying, go to bed.
