0:00:21 > 0:00:24Fred Dibnah is now eight weeks into his grand tour
0:00:24 > 0:00:26of industrial Britain.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31It's a celebration of the fact that after 27 years,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34he's just completed his rebuild of the engine,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36and also of the remarkable achievements
0:00:36 > 0:00:39of the engineers and industrial workers
0:00:39 > 0:00:41whose endeavours made it possible
0:00:41 > 0:00:43to build an engine like this in the first place.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47He wants to see the sort of place
0:00:47 > 0:00:50where an engine like this would have been built.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Today, the only places where you can get any idea of what was involved
0:00:54 > 0:00:57in building big steam engines on a large scale
0:00:57 > 0:01:00is at the works of some of the preserved railways.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05So, Fred is on his way from Ashbourne in Derbyshire
0:01:05 > 0:01:06to Bridgnorth in Shropshire,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10where he's going to have a look at some of the engine building
0:01:10 > 0:01:14that is going on in the workshops of the Severn Valley Railway.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24It's a long journey - about 80 miles in total -
0:01:25 > 0:01:30and Fred's engine isn't the fastest vehicle on the road.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34So, Fred and his team are going to break their journey
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and have an overnight stop here at the headquarters
0:01:37 > 0:01:40of the North Staffs and Cheshire Traction Engine Club.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43- I hope these lads have a pint ready for us.- Yeah.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Members keep their engines here and generally come at the weekends
0:01:47 > 0:01:49to work on them or to take them off to rallies.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I thought we were never gonna get here!
0:01:52 > 0:01:55So far, we've seen the traction engine as a mode of transport
0:01:55 > 0:01:58for getting Fred and his team around the country.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01But these engines were real workhorses,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and in their time, they were put to a whole variety of uses.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07'A traction engine's a strange machine
0:02:07 > 0:02:10'that were developed really from a lot of other engines.
0:02:10 > 0:02:16'It all starts off in the 1840s in the country of all places,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21'where all the effort were put in by either animals or the human frame.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26'The men in the country, the blacksmiths and and village mechanics, as you might say,
0:02:26 > 0:02:31'decided that they would make a small locomotive boiler
0:02:31 > 0:02:35'and then stick on top of it a crank shaft and a cylinder
0:02:35 > 0:02:39'with a flywheel, and place it on four wooden wheels
0:02:39 > 0:02:42'so it could be used to drive threshing machines
0:02:42 > 0:02:45'and big saws and all that sort of stuff.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49'It could be used in quarries to crush stone,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52'it could be used to work portable water pumps.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58'It were like a general doer of all things on working sites.'
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Here at the traction engine club,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04we get the chance to see the engines at work.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05- Eh-up, Fred!- Hiya.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Phil Jeffs is the chairman of the club.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12- Yeah, yeah, it's a few year now since I last came.- It is, it is.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Things are looking just as nice - it's a lovely place, this.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18- It is.- Yeah, you could live in here, you know. I could.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21How many living vans have you got here altogether?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Ooh, I've never counted. There's probably 15 or 20.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Yeah, I bet there is, aye.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29- What you doing today, anyway? - You've just arrived in time.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33We're gonna pull that dead poplar out, there.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36We want to use the wood for some brake blocks for the engine.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Aye, it's good - it doesn't set on fire.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40- It's supposed to be the best. - Yeah.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43And we're gonna use the traction engine...
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- Yeah?- ..to winch it out. - To pull it down, yeah, yeah.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50We've got Lady Hamilton to anchor it just in case.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Let's hope it comes down as clean as one of your chimneys!
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Yeah, aye, yeah. Well, it should do.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- Yeah.- We should be safe enough here, shouldn't we?- I hope so.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00The boss is winding the wiring.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05- He's got some tension on the rope anyway.- Yeah.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Rope broke!
0:04:10 > 0:04:15I reckon if we went about 15 or 20 foot up the tree, it'd have it easy.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17But it's got a lot of power that,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20when it'll bloody pull summat like that apart.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24I mean look at that there, what it's done to that. Yeah.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28I'll tell you what, if we go up 15 foot and it fails again,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31a double purchase, you know?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Yeah, with a snatch block and hooked to the back of the engine.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Somebody's coming with a stacker tray.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Didn't the steeple-jacking used to be Fred's job?
0:04:53 > 0:04:56- The easy way to go up in the world, that is.- Aye.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00I reckon it'll do it now with that. Get it up there, like.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I heard it creak but I think there was a lot more left.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05There's a lot more creaks!
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Yeah, we just done a big tree in our yard, you know, with bloody tuppers and all sorts.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21And the engine... that thing weren't done, you know?
0:05:21 > 0:05:22You've got a nice winch on it.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27With the rope fixed higher up the tree,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30are they going to have any more success getting it down?
0:05:30 > 0:05:33It's a bit like waiting to see one of Fred's chimneys come down.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Right, they're going for a pull.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Yes, it's coming.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56- Think it snapped nice and clean, didn't it?- Yeah.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58You want to get the stump out now.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Resort to dynamite, you know?
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Now it's time to get the tree sawed up for those brake blocks.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And at a place like this, of course,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11the whole operation is going to be done by steam power.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18'It's amazing how many different makers there were of these things.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22'Ransom Sims and Jeffries, Savage's, King's Lynn.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25'Fowler's in Leeds, Aveling and Porter,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28'Green's in Leeds, McLaren's in Leeds...'
0:06:28 > 0:06:30ENGINE WHISTLES
0:06:30 > 0:06:33'There's literally dozens of these companies.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38'Some only in a small way, like a village agricultural engineer
0:06:38 > 0:06:43'that bought the castings somewhere else and assembled his own thing.'
0:06:43 > 0:06:46And what's Fred trying to get?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49These are made of mahogany, you see?
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Three inches thick...
0:06:54 > 0:06:55Seven inches deep...
0:06:55 > 0:06:59and 15 inches long, really.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Can we remember all that? Bloody hell, wait a minute -
0:07:02 > 0:07:05we've no paper, have we?
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Here you are.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Yeah...
0:07:10 > 0:07:11three inches...
0:07:13 > 0:07:17- ..three inches by seven inches.- Yep.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Now then, Colin, we've got our cutting list here.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32We couldn't find any paper.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35So, our brake blocks are made of mahogany,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- and that's the real McCoy this innit, this stuff?- Yeah, yeah.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41So, if you could be so kind...
0:07:41 > 0:07:44and then we could leave them for the season,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and then we can throw them away and make nice brand new ones.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50- You won't to have to varnish them.- I'll buy you a pint.
0:07:50 > 0:07:51- You won't have to varnish these?- No.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53All right, we'll do that then.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It's time for an old traction engine rally tradition.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02We'll put the steps and the stick on and then we'll declare the bar open.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08That's it. Ooh, very good. Yes, excellent.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11I think really bringing this barrel of bitter here
0:08:11 > 0:08:15has all the potential for a good booze up, a steam booze up!
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- A farmer's half.- A farmer's half.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21In the olden days we used to arrive at the steam rally
0:08:21 > 0:08:24with a full barrel of bitter and a load of glasses.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26And and a lot of other people did as well,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30so it'd save you spending your hard earned cash at the beer tent,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32which were always inflated prices.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35It always led to unbelievable drunkenness.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Any more for any more?
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Not done it for a bit, I'm quite looking forward to this afternoon.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I'm going to have a talk with my mates over here.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- Hello, chaps. How are you doing? - Eh-up, Fred.
0:08:46 > 0:08:47- Eh-up, Fred.- All right?
0:08:47 > 0:08:51- Sit down.- It reminds me of my early misspent youth, this!
0:08:51 > 0:08:54How's your machine going, Colin? All right?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- Well, we can't wear it out.- Eh? - We can't wear it out.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58Can't wear it out!
0:08:58 > 0:09:01We're showing more times than we're standing doing nothing
0:09:01 > 0:09:02at events this year.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Trouble is, if you don't do it, the only thing the younger generation
0:09:06 > 0:09:12know in relation to a steam engine is Thomas the Tank Engine, isn't it?
0:09:12 > 0:09:14- Yeah.- And how many people walk up to you and say,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16"What were they used for, mister"?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- Hello, Fred.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20- Ooh, look who's here.- He's trouble.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24He's a steam man, aren't you? An up and coming steam man, yeah.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29- They tell me you used to have summat to do with railways, as well. - Yes, Severn Valley Railway.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Oh, aye, yeah. Well that's a big outfit that, innit?
0:09:32 > 0:09:35It's very good. You'll have to come along sometime.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38- I think we're going there in a bit. - Are you? Come find us then.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40- We'll call and have a look.- Yeah.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42What exactly do you do there?
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I'm a fitter machinist there.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46- The lathes and all that like?- Yeah.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49- Then we go and put them on the engines.- Yeah.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Richard Jess has grown up with steam and engineering in his blood.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59He's part of a new generation keeping the world of steam alive.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01- Eh-up, Fred! - How we doing, all right?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03We were talking about the Steam Apprentice Club.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05That's a good idea, that.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09You know, it's amazing how many kids there are, you know...
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Somebody mentioned it earlier,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12bloody Thomas the Tank Engine
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and, "How does it work?" and all that jazz.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17We got nigh on 700 kids in the Apprentice Club.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Yeah, yeah. That's good for our movement, isn't it, really?
0:10:20 > 0:10:22I was saying, I was just talking to John,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I joined when I was 12 years old and I'm 25 now.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27A grown man now, yeah!
0:10:27 > 0:10:30It's amazing, I don't realise how old I am.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35You get blokes come, big as him, and they say, "When I were little,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37"you let me have a ride on your steamroller", you know?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41That's what starts them off. Then they come along and nowadays,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44because everything's got to be controlled and regulated,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48we've got a log book scheme so the youngsters work through a scheme
0:10:48 > 0:10:51which takes them through the basics of working an engine.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53That's the problem these days
0:10:53 > 0:10:56is that kids are more interested in Playstations,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59and steam engines just seem to take a background.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02I'm glad that the Apprentice Club is bringing it forward,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07introducing the younger generation to the steam engine, because eventually I'm going to get old.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10- Yeah, yeah.- And I want people younger than me following on.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15Jack, he took to it like a duck to water really.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Some people you could train for ten years and they'd still never know.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Yeah, I know what you mean.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Jack's sort of introduction to steam engines were unavoidable really.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30I mean, he'd arrived into an household full of steam engines.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35He's always shown a great and dedicated interest
0:11:35 > 0:11:38in the world of steam engines.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41He's pretty smart and he's started his first job
0:11:41 > 0:11:43on the Isle of Man Railway Company.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46So, you know, he's not half-heartedly going about it.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48I'm quite proud of him, really.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51I mean, you've heard how dedicated Roger is to it.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53"I want a go, Dad. I want a go, I want a go, I want a go."
0:11:53 > 0:11:57But for Fred, too many of these skills have been lost.
0:11:57 > 0:12:03Somewhere along the line from the Victorian age we started to lose it.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I think a lot of it has got to do with education.
0:12:06 > 0:12:07I remember a period
0:12:07 > 0:12:11when they threw all the lathes out of technical colleges
0:12:11 > 0:12:15and all the woodwork benches and everything with theory
0:12:15 > 0:12:19and a man can learn how to lay bricks now in six months.
0:12:19 > 0:12:20That's impossible.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Can you imagine lads doing catering, cooking?
0:12:23 > 0:12:26I know everybody wants to be a... Freud, is it?
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It's all a bit sad in a way.
0:12:29 > 0:12:37I can't see that teaching a little lad at school how to bake a cake
0:12:37 > 0:12:41is any way to run an industrial empire.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44And one of the things that's given Fred great satisfaction
0:12:44 > 0:12:47as he's travelled around making his programmes
0:12:47 > 0:12:50is the number of young people he's seen
0:12:50 > 0:12:54learning the skills that are needed to keep steam alive.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I'm in charge of the water!
0:12:59 > 0:13:00Are we ready?
0:13:00 > 0:13:02And it's not just been the lads.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And here at the traction engine club,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14they need as many young enthusiasts as they can get
0:13:14 > 0:13:16because there's plenty of work to be done.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19We've got a low spot in the... in the ground here.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It's all made up ground.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And it tends to puddle in the winter and everything.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28So, what they're doing is using the club engine, Lady Hamilton.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30That's got a scarifier on.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32And they're digging the ground up
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and we're going to try and level it out and roll it back down.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36- Put a bit more on?- Yeah.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40It's handy when you've got all your own road making gear.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Well, it's been restored.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Let's use it for the purpose that it was designed, really.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49If we can't make a road here, then nobody can.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Just putting a few roofing tiles in to make up the ground.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Yeah I can see! Yeah, they're good them, aren't they?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57- Are they Redland?- Yes!
0:13:58 > 0:14:03In my drive where me tarmac bit joins onto the cinders,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05it keeps bloody disappearing there.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08I could do with doing a bit of that myself.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10- The proof will be next time it rains.- Yeah.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13- It should be all right. - I should think so, yes.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16And now some more old friends to meet.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Hello, Leonard. I'm not drunk, it's me leg, it's a bit wacky!
0:14:20 > 0:14:24- You all right, mate? - Yeah, not so bad mate, not so bad.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- Yeah.- I see you still like the Guinness.- Oh, yes, yes.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28I've just been to the pub for this.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31- You're very fortunate having this club here.- Good planning.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35With a pub at that side of the gate and one at this side
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and a motley collection of steam engine owners.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41- Bloody brilliant, yeah. - How long has it been going now?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44We come 30 years ago.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49- I don't know. It was 30 or 40 years, wasn't it?- Yeah, I was gonna say.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Hey, it's nice that, innit?
0:14:50 > 0:14:55I heard a rumour that you've got a bit of a problem with the old firebox?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- Yeah on the Fowler.- Aye.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Well, it's the old story. I've had it about 35 years now.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05And the old boiler, of course, has to be inspected every ten years for hydraulic pressure.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08I got it all stripped ready at home for the inspection.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11He looked at the boiler tubes and he said,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13"Oh, the boiler tubes want changing."
0:15:13 > 0:15:15But I've been without an engine now for two months.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18- Yeah. - And I'm getting a bit sort of...
0:15:18 > 0:15:22I know what you mean. It's like going to a steam rally without your engine.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24You feel out of place! Yeah.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28So doing the riveting, you know, it's...you know the noise it makes?
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- Yeah.- Well, I've had to go next door neighbours,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34two or three that way, two or three that way, and say,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37"Between two o'clock and three o'clock, I'm riveting again."
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So, they all arrange to go out!
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Wait a minute. Right...
0:15:46 > 0:15:50And this is where Len does all that riveting.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53The Bratch pumping station is near Wolverhampton.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56And as well as working on his traction engines here,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Len's devoted years of his life
0:15:58 > 0:16:01to restoring the great triple expansion engines in here
0:16:01 > 0:16:03that were used for pumping the water.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08When Fred left the traction engine club the next day,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12he called in to see how his old mate was getting on with the job.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17- The last time we come you showed me the engine and it were in bits, weren't it?- In bits.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- We'd taken it to pieces.- And now you've worked hard, how many years?
0:16:20 > 0:16:23- Six years.- Aye, yeah. - In '91 we first came here to start.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25And you had no boiler, did you?
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Nothing at all, nothing at all.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- Yeah, yeah.- I bought the boiler second hand from a lemonade factory.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35They found that it wasn't big enough for the capacity of the steam,
0:16:35 > 0:16:36and they had to buy a bigger one.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38And I bought that second hand, yeah.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42The engines inside, them are a credit to you, them man, they're beautiful.
0:16:42 > 0:16:48- Yeah. - You could use them in any sort of big liner pictures like the Titanic job.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50When I was 12, in the field next door,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54we built a 3½ and 5" gauge miniature railway.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57And I used to cycle to there from West Bromwich.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- From home?- Yeah, and we built the railway there on a Sunday evening.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04When we shut down, I used to walk along the canal to here,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07knock the door and the chief engineer, Mr Hunt,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10- used to let us in and watch the engines going.- That's nice.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Never thinking when I was coming up for 70 I'd have the keys.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14I've done things like that.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17You know, when you're little and you look and...
0:17:17 > 0:17:19With your mouth open at it all...
0:17:19 > 0:17:24And then, bloody hell, later on in your life you're actually in charge!
0:17:24 > 0:17:28I've done engines like my traction engines and models before.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31But never done one that big. I don't think I shall do any bigger now.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34You're getting a bit long in the tooth for owt bigger!
0:17:36 > 0:17:39- We'll go down into the pumping department.- Yes.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Come in here, Fred.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48- This is where it all goes on. - Very impressive down here.- Yeah.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Of course, if you imagine if it were pumping water,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56there'd be a hell of a throb in here now.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59In fact, this is what they used to hear over the road
0:17:59 > 0:18:01in the houses I mentioned before.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05I say the flywheels as well, you see?
0:18:05 > 0:18:07A hell of a thing, aren't they?
0:18:07 > 0:18:13The crank shaft, of course, that was made in Liverpool,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17and stamped on it is the year it was forged.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20- Manufactured, yeah. - Yeah, manufactured. Which was 18...
0:18:20 > 0:18:24What was it now? 1892, I think it was, or 1893.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Yeah, just think, on the bottom of the sea there'll be a lot of things like that.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Lovely engines, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Full of barnacles. Not shiny like this.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Now it's time for the Severn Valley Railway...
0:18:42 > 0:18:45..and Fred's still finding it a bit of a novelty
0:18:45 > 0:18:46to be driving his own engine.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48'It's quite strange, really,
0:18:48 > 0:18:52'because never having owned a traction engine of my own,
0:18:52 > 0:18:56'even though I've driven quite a few dozen of different makes,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58'you go to steam do's and they're all,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00"Would you like a go on my engine?" and all that like.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04'And it's quite nice when you get the chance to drive your own.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10'After 20 odd years of struggling and restoration,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13'to get it into the state that I wanted it -
0:19:13 > 0:19:15'like a new one, as you might say.'
0:19:40 > 0:19:41Right, we're here.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43- Oh, at last!- Yeah.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Fred and his team have now reached Bridgnorth in Shropshire.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48The Severn Valley Railway
0:19:48 > 0:19:52runs trains between here and Kidderminster in Worcestershire.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55The line was built in the mid 1850s.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Here there's an engine repair shed which gives us an idea
0:19:59 > 0:20:02of what a loco works would have been like
0:20:02 > 0:20:04back in the age of steam railways.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Fred met John Robinson,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10the production manager, to have a look round.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Bit outsized for this line, which is...
0:20:14 > 0:20:17I've been before as a spectator, like.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Aye, it reminds me of when I were a kid down here.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23- Yeah.- Plenty of smoke and the smell of sulphur...
0:20:23 > 0:20:25- This is a nice one, innit?- Yeah.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31- That's right. He's on test for the vehicle acceptance body there.- Yeah.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33This engine over here, that's an 8F.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36There was 840 of them on BR.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41This one was out in the Second World War. It was out in Persia and Egypt.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Let's have a look on board then.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Aye. Now then...
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Howdy, you all right?
0:20:50 > 0:20:52This is Roy. He's just been getting it ready.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Have you been warming it up?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Warming it up, yeah.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Big lumps them, aren't they?
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Aye, it's nice stuff.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04When it's good, I call it radioactive coal.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06You get some and it's a waste of space, innit?
0:21:06 > 0:21:10As soon as you start taking any steam off it just disappears.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13The pipe work is nice and simple on here, in't it?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16There's not too much of it like, the injectors and brake job.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- You can pick it straight up. - Yeah, yeah.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21It's funny, if you go from a steam engine from the LMS,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23you go on a Western one,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25you can still pick up what's what on it,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27even though they're from different companies,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29you can actually pick it out.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33When the wars came, the government...
0:21:33 > 0:21:35And I were quite surprised
0:21:35 > 0:21:37at the ability of the workshops, of the railways -
0:21:37 > 0:21:39of what they could actually do.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And of course they started to turn them
0:21:41 > 0:21:43into working for the war effort.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47They were tremendous, the railway factories, they really were.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49I don't think we can make a bean can now.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Yeah, well you're getting near to the point there.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55You can pick a book up about boiler making,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and it's written by an academic
0:21:57 > 0:21:59who's never mended a boiler, never mind made one.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03- That's right.- And it says, "And the rivets are closed."- Yes.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05It doesn't tell you how to close them,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08and there's no way you're going to learn that by reading the book.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12- Would you like to go and look at the workshops?- Aye, yeah, yeah.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14- I'll follow you, John. - OK, right, magic.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Take care as you come down.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19From being a goods shed, we gutted it.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. You got all the machines from elsewhere.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24Yeah, and put them in.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I've done a stack of them in my time, but there you go.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Aye, I think you know this fella, er...
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Oh, aye. He's a traction engine man, yeah.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34How do you do? How are you doing, mate?
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Ah, what you doing now?
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I'm just removing the old studs.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Oh aye, yeah. That's brass that, innit?
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- Oh yeah.- These little holes, I mean, look at them.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46- I thought, "Is it a blow hole?" - No, it's a drain hole.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49It's a drain hole from the inside of this receiver, like.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52- Yeah.- When it's all coming out condensing and it runs out.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54- Yeah.- It's a good idea that, innit?
0:22:54 > 0:22:56I think I'll do that to my tractor,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58because it's always full of bloody water
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- that splashes about all over the place.- Yeah.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08George was the guy who taught Graham, who is our boiler foreman,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11all about the boilers from British Railways
0:23:11 > 0:23:14because he was the chief London Midland region inspector.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Hiya, Graham. You all right, mate?
0:23:17 > 0:23:20- We've come having a look round your shed...- Yeah.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24- ..and see what you do. - I'll leave you with Graham, Fred, and I'll see you later.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- Yeah, all right, John. See you, mate. - This is...
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Yeah, I can see you're putting bits in on the flange bit, aren't you?
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Aye, aye. You can see the one that came out.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38It's a bit worn, so we put some inserts in.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40How have you got that out of there, with a cutter?
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Yes, a plasma cutter.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46- Aye, this is a copper tube plate we've just finished, Fred.- Yeah.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Two new pieces on the flanges there.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52That's right. And they go in the tube holes.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- It's ready for going in like a brand new bit.- Yeah.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58And this bit here's had the same treatment, hasn't it?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Yes, same treatment. Copper door plate.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Yeah. Really, for anybody who doesn't know anything
0:24:04 > 0:24:06about locomotive boilers,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08this is a wonderful example
0:24:08 > 0:24:11of explaining it nice and simple, you know?
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Like this big gap round here is full of water,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and the stays for these bolts that hold the plates together,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23if they weren't there and you lit the fire, it would no doubt blow up.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26And of course the fire is in this, this chamber.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Really, we're looking where all the pipes would be
0:24:30 > 0:24:34and all the tubes that are necessary for its running.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37You can see there's been a lot of work done
0:24:37 > 0:24:39in this thing in years gone by, can't you?
0:24:39 > 0:24:45- Because even the fire hole plate's been screwed in, hasn't it?- Yeah.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Originally it would be riveted.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- Originally riveted.- Yeah.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52As it's been repaired at various railway works,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56they've taken the rivets out and put proper screws in.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00When it was originally built, it was all model stays.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03As they failed they've put ordinary copper ones in?
0:25:03 > 0:25:04Yes, so they've gone up a size.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Yeah, blooming heck!
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Aye, we all know what sort of a struggle that'd be!
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Fred spent so long in the boiler shop
0:25:19 > 0:25:22that by the time he'd left the last train had departed.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24So there was no time for any foot plate rides here.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It was time to move on.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46From Bridgnorth, he had to get to the Black Country Museum in Dudley,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50to find out how the chains used for steering his engine were made.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Chains made in the Black Country
0:25:56 > 0:25:59were renowned for their quality all over the world.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01At the end of the 19th century,
0:26:01 > 0:26:0490% of all the chain workshops in England and Wales
0:26:04 > 0:26:07were here in the Black Country.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Most of them were very small -
0:26:09 > 0:26:11in the backyards of workers' houses.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Stop now, stop now, stop.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15They've managed to find their way here,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19even though you won't find the Black Country marked on any map.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22- Let's go and have a look at this pit.- Yeah, all right, yeah.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26It's an industrial area to the west of Birmingham
0:26:26 > 0:26:29that was originally based on coal mining and iron working.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33It got its name in the 19th century
0:26:33 > 0:26:37when thousands of chimneys filled the air with smoke
0:26:37 > 0:26:39and mining turned the ground inside out,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43creating huge expanses of industrial dereliction.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49It's not as nice looking as your head gears.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- No it isn't, is it?- They've not put any shaped sections on.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56This cage is new since we last came.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Hey, look at this - a draining trough for minding water.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06Up comes the thingymebob - budush! - and down the trough into the river.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Hey, it's all interesting stuff, innit?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Look at all these wheels.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16CREAK!
0:27:16 > 0:27:18I don't think there's anything connected.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24And there's always going to be an engine to have a look at.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- Yeah. - That's only a little 'un, innit?
0:27:26 > 0:27:28- Yeah. Nice though, innit?- Mmm.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Yeah, it's got the drum outside hasn't it? In another shed.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Did you say that at George's Lane pit was a similar size to this?
0:27:35 > 0:27:38There were one exactly the same as this, yeah. Nice engine.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40What would that spring be for?
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Now there's a point. Big spring...
0:27:44 > 0:27:46I know, for... Start it...
0:27:46 > 0:27:47- This lever, here...- Yeah.
0:27:47 > 0:27:54- This, that one, when you lift it up it lifts the... - Lifts it off that thing.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Yeah, and the eccentric rod came along
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and worked a Weir shaft across here.
0:28:00 > 0:28:041860s-odd, this engine.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06You can tell.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Yeah.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10CREAK-CREAK
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Ooh, musical, innit?
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Look at that - an electric storm lamp.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Ooh, there's the indicator board there.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25- We'll have to make one of them, won't we?- Mmm.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29They're going to park the engine up and stay around here tonight,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32ready for their visit to the chainmaker tomorrow.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39As well as the chainmaking,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Fred is going to one of the places
0:28:41 > 0:28:44where all the copper for an engine like this was mined.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47And he's going to find out how the copper was spun,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50and made into parts for the engine.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Subtitles by BBC Broadcast 2005
0:28:52 > 0:28:54E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk