A steamy blip

A turn at Rolvenden signal box. I hope it’s not my last ever turn on the railway! Swiftsure 75008 takes on water before setting off light engine to haul three round trips between Tenterden and Bodiam

I was a little rusty early on, forgetting to pull off signals in the correct order but got into the grove as the day wore on and ended with several unusual shunting moves which worked well.

I had a couple of visitors to the box who spent an enthralled couple of hours watching me working the box and asking endless questions.

The day was marred right at the end when I returned to the car to find the driver side rear door window smashed. Must have been a large stone thrown up by traffic, it’s hard to think it could be deliberate as there were many other cars similarly parked.

That presented us with a problem as we’re back up to Cumbria tomorrow on the train and the car would have been left on the drive. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze it into Doreen’s garage where it will be safe until we’ve worked out how to get it repaired.

A delay at the end of service and dealing with the car made us late of dinner with friends Erika and Jonathan. They were most understanding and we enjoyed a lovely evening sitting outside chatting and eating until almost 11.00pm