Interesting piece about "trench railways" in World War One. One interesting quote dealt with using gasoline engines rather than steam:
The wartime light-rail experiment was in some ways the first nail in the coffin for the steam locomotive, foreshadowing its replacement with the diesel and electric engines we see today.
This was going on almost exactly 100 years ago and it's interesting to look at the innovation involved.
Interesting article. According to the book "Narrow Gauge To No-mans Land" one advantage the American gas mechanicals had over the American steam engines was simply they stayed on the hastily laid track a lot better than the steam engines did. Where there was time to build a good roadbed the steamers were fine, but on poor roadbed they derailed and turned over quite frequently.
Of course, the gas mechanicals were a lot easier to train crews to run.
As far as the smoke and steam giving away train movements to the enemy I'm not so sure about that one, as least as far as the American usage was concerned. The trains didn't get THAT close to the front.
However, I can certainly see how the successful application of internal combustion engines to rail use must have gotten the wheels turning about how it could be applied to major railroad use. The men who made that happen were of the World War One generation, after all.
Loved the attached videos! The Apedale Light Railway looks like a fun place, they've got some really cool stuff! Thanks for posting!
This looks like as good a thread as any to post this YouTube clip of WWI historical film showing the actual building and operation of said French narrow gauge railroads. One striking feature is the absence of forklifts and other such mechanical material-handling devices (there are a few cranes at the transload operations); instead (literally) platoons of men are doing the heavy lifting. The ballasting & quarrying operations also use a lot of glucose-fueled motive power.Note the proto-open-air tourist railway wagons
Thanks for posting that, Chutton01! Slight correction, no offense, but that's an American narrow gauge line in France, not a French one.
Great shots of the narrow-gauge steamers and the gas-mechanicals, whoever shot that footage was a master of his craft, lighting, angles, subject matter, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Nice touch, "glucose-fueled motive power." Reminds me of a quote from a US Army engineer officer from the Civil War who said "It's no mystery to me now how the pyramids were built. Put enough men on a rope and you can move anything!"
Makes me a little sad, those World War One vets who were in abundance when I was growing up are all gone now. All we've got left of them now are moving shadows on film.
chutton01 This looks like as good a thread as any to post this YouTube clip of WWI historical film showing the actual building and operation of said French narrow gauge railroads. One striking feature is the absence of forklifts and other such mechanical material-handling devices (there are a few cranes at the transload operations); instead (literally) platoons of men are doing the heavy lifting. The ballasting & quarrying operations also use a lot of glucose-fueled motive power.Note the proto-open-air tourist railway wagons
As Chutton01 stated YouTube.com is an excellent place to see film of the various WWI Trench RR operations. Here is one place that has a Simplex Trench Engine ( gasoline powered) used in a recreated and restored setting .) @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQh1cvHHVqg
Within the You Tube site are virtually hours of videos showing all sorts of actual Trench Rilroads, and some that have been recreated for Tourist operations.
I have a DVD I bought in Britain about the trench railways. There are scenes of soldiers assembling NG Baldwin locomotives assisted and advised by Baldwin reps. Just thinking about the difference in thier pay. There's scenes of of laying panel track and repairing bomb damage. The solid-tire trucks of the day obviously didn't work in that mud!
Anyway, at the Amberley Museum in the U.K, there are several examples of British trench railway locos and rolling stock, worth seeing if you're ever over there. They have a Simplex type as shown in the linked article and many others.
1/32 scale WW1 trench railway (60cm gauge) locos and cars:
http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Narrow_Gauge__60cm__Railway.html
Links to 1/32 scale WW1 models ans accessories:
http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/World_War_One_1_32_scale___Grande_Guerre.html
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I could be wrong on this but I THINK there's a Baldwin steam trench lcomotive on static display at Fort Benning, GA.
Some of the narrow gauge equipment came home at the end of the war and was put to use at various US Army installations. Fort Benning's ran out to the various ranges and training areas and lasted up to World War Two.
I read a great article about it years ago complete with photos of World War Two "retread" officers heading out to the training areas for refresher courses. The "retreads" called the narrow gauge line "The Toonerville Trolley," and there was something about it that lead these mature men to play goofy outlandish pranks on each other while riding it, such as setting each others newspapers on fire and slipping whoopee cushions on the seats.
For those of you who don't know what a "retread" was, these were men who'd served in World War One as commissioned officers, had gone back to civilian life, and then re-entered the service for World War Two. An example is Colonel Charles Codman, an aviator in WW1 and aide to General Patton in WW2.
Firelock76I could be wrong on this but I THINK there's a Baldwin steam trench lcomotive on static display at Fort Benning, GA.
This one? The web page is here. Another interesing link is at this site.
Yep, that's the one! And thanks for those links!
You might be interested in the links below - an ALCO and a Baldwin, respectively (also see the link to the French line in the second link):
http://www.ffestiniograilway.org.uk/galleries.php?g=mountaineer
http://www.buzzrail.co.uk/static/steam.html
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