I recently stared working at the Museum of Science and
Industry in Manchester as a Trainee Fireman. No, not the big hunky fellas in
the yellow helmets… but rather, the filthy guy in blue overalls shovelling coal
on a steam train. A boyhood dream
realised – to learn to drive a steam train. And you don’t just start with
learning how to drive the thing, oh no: you start at the very bottom literally
– underneath it with an oil can. Learning how it works by cleaning the thing.
Crawling all over it, under it, under it in your overalls, oiling it, cleaning
it, polishing the brass until you can use it as a mirror... and then learning
how to fire the engine. It’s a ... Long process. Glamorous it is not. But it is
so very, very fulfilling.
