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 [Editor: We have just received, amazingly, an article from Ferrymead's steam locomotive W192! Don't know who W192 is? You can read all about him here. Thanks to Nigel Hogg of the Canterbury Railway Society for getting him to write it. Here it is...]
First of all I must say thank you to everybody who has come to visit me at my home at Ferrymead Heritage Park in the Heathcote Valley. I enjoy your company so much because you always seem so happy to see me. You must forgive me for not writing earlier, but I am getting very forgetful now I am so old. I was made in 1889, which makes me 119 years old!
I always know when we are going to have visitors because my friends come and tell me all about it the day before. I think they believe I'll forget to get up! They don't say this to me of course, they just give me a polish, clean out my ash, light a fire for a few hours to make sure I'm warm and tell me they'll be back at seven o'clock the next morning.
I must confess I can't get out of bed on my own these days. In fact, it's always taken a crew of three people to get me ready. There's a driver, a fireman and a cleaner. I like my fireman the best. That's because he always makes me a big breakfast. 0.5 tonnes of coal and 4000 litres of water, my favourite. I don't eat it all at once of course, I save some of it for later. I like my water really hot, if it's not hot I just can't seem to get moving in the morning. That's why you have probably seen steam everywhere.
 I'm not so sure about my cleaner though. I think I look very smart with my copper dome on top and a coat of bright red paint. That's why you take so many photos of me isn't it? But my cleaner keeps telling me that people only like me because he spends so much time polishing me up the night before. Anyway, whenever I see him in the morning I say "I think you missed a bit". It always makes him put down his cup of tea and gets him polishing!
I must say though, my next best friend is my driver. That's because he spends a whole hour oiling me up. You see, all my parts need to be oiled before I can get moving in the morning. I don't think it's because I'm old, as I had to have a good oiling even when I was young. I'll have to ask my driver if he needs an oiling in the morning, as he's quite old too!
By ten o'clock I'm finally ready. I love to drive up and down all day and have my photo taken by everybody. We like it best when it's a clear, warm winter's day. When it's summer time, in can get too hot for my crew. They say it's because of the fire I need to take with me, and I say "I can't carry you around all day if my water isn't hot, you know that". In winter time, they say it's too cold. I think it's because my cab doesn't have any doors on it and a cold southeasterly wind is just the right direction to cut straight through where they are standing.
Do you remember how much water I had for breakfast? It was 4000 litres. If my side tanks were bigger, I would drink even more. I need 6000 litres for a day's work, so I stop in the early afternoon for another big drink. Later on, by 4.30 we're starting to get a bit tired. That's because my crew have had to stand up all day. I have had enough coal to eat by this time, so my fireman stops feeding me. When I get back home to my shed, the fire has just about gone out by the time I push the carriages back inside.
If you like, do come along and see me. You know I like my water hot, and after a big day like this, I can keep it hot for another three or four days. That's plenty for a cup of tea, I'm sure my crew will be happy to make it for you!
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