I started work in the Locomotive Branch as a 16-year-old locomotive trainee at Westport in November 1953. My first job was stacking slabs (off-cuts of timber) from sawmills, used for lighting up the locomotives. When a steam locomotive had the fire dropped, usually for repairs or a boiler washout, or to stand dead for a weekend, the boiler had to be brought up to steam again by using a large amount of wood. Coal could be used once enough steam pressure was available to use the blower on the boiler to create a draught in the firebox. Once the blower was used steam could be raised rapidly. From lighting up to moving the locomotive took approximately four hours. This time was a lot quicker in larger depots where they could attach a blower to the locomotive from the shed boiler.
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