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From New Zealand, some WWI and WWII pictures

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Posted by M636C on Friday, May 3, 2019 11:30 PM

daveklepper
 

New South Wales Government Railways troop train leaving South Brisbane in 1940 with soldiers destined for the Middle East. 1940.
 
 
Deutsche Reichsbahn 3-cylinder 06 class 4-8-4 (Krupp, 1938).   Two were built, 06.001 and 06.002, both of which were based at Frankfurt and Hanau until 1952 when they were scrapped.   The heaviest and most powerful steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn, there were issues with their boiler design which were not deemed worth fixing as post-war a locomotive of their size was not required.
Victorian Railways H class 4-8-4 Pocono No.220 (Newport, 1941) with an Up Albury goods at Seymour. 20th January 1955.
 
 

I should have responded to this thread earlier.

I attended the War Memorial in Canberra on the 25th of April for the ANZAC March, wearing both my own (rather minor) service medals and those of my late father  from WWII.

The soldiers in the first photo probably joined the same convoy from Sydney that took my father to Egypt.

That photo is taken from the south end of the single platform at South Brisbane. It was a terrible station for photography, having been built on a tall embankment on a curve but aligned north-south. The passenger car is unpainted but varnished, being  one of a large number of 72'6" cars based on Churchward's "Dreadnought" designs for the British Great Western Railway. These had a centre entrance with compartments on alternate sides either side of the entrance. These were all painted red by the time I saw them.

The other point worth making is that there was at least one other three cylinder 4-8-4, New York Central HS-1 800, a high pressure prototype.

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/USAhp/USAhp.htm

Interestingly, H220 had conjugated valve gear of a German design used during the First World War on the Prussian G12 2-10-0.

Peter

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Posted by SALfan on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 10:45 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH

Ernest K. Gann wrote a lot of aviation fiction and non-fiction.  SALfan may be thinking of "Fate Is The Hunter", which is somewhat autobiographical.  Also recommended is "The High and The Mighty".

 

I believe it was "Fate is the Hunter".  I thought it was more or less autobiographical; if I was wrong, I apologize.  It has been at least 45 years since I read it.

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 2:02 PM

SALfan

A guy named Ernest K. Gann wrote a book about his experiences flying cargo planes during WWII.  He flew the C-87 cargo version of the B-24 for a while, and he had no love for the C-87.  He was used to flying DC-3s that could carry a lot of ice and keep flying.  One statement stuck with me over the decades since I read the book - he said the C-87 couldn't carry enough ice to chill a highball.  If you like books about flying, I recommend his (if you can find it).

The B-24/C-87 had the "Davis wing" which had a higher lift to drag ratio than the wing used on the B-17. This allowed the B-24 to fly faster and have a longer range than the B-17. Being a "highly tuned" design, the Davis wing did not tolerate deviations caused by battle damage or icing as well as the wing section used on the B-17.

Another WW2 wing tidbit. The wing section used for the P-51 was chosen for two reasons, one being the laminar flow meant lower drag useful for making a long range interceptor. The other was that the NAA crew were well aware of the problems Lockheed had with compressibility on the YP-38, so they picked a wing section that had a high critical Mach number. This allowed the P-51 to outrun most opposing fighters in a dive.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 6:59 AM

Ernest K. Gann wrote a lot of aviation fiction and non-fiction.  SALfan may be thinking of "Fate Is The Hunter", which is somewhat autobiographical.  Also recommended is "The High and The Mighty".

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by SALfan on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 10:22 PM

Flintlock76

Great pictures David, thanks for passing them on!  "Lest we forget."

Yes, the Air Force never loved the B-24 / C-87 like they loved the B-17, that's one of the reasons they disappeared so quickly after World War Two.

 

A guy named Ernest K. Gann wrote a book about his experiences flying cargo planes during WWII.  He flew the C-87 cargo version of the B-24 for a while, and he had no love for the C-87.  He was used to flying DC-3s that could carry a lot of ice and keep flying.  One statement stuck with me over the decades since I read the book - he said the C-87 couldn't carry enough ice to chill a highball.  If you like books about flying, I recommend his (if you can find it).

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 2:56 PM

Flintlock76
Well OK, I know why they got rid of those things. But WHY did they get RID of those things!

Worse than you think.  Scranton was apparently offered one free.  With its own building.  And perpetual care by the railroad personnel.  They turned it down.  What a centerpiece it would make now!

At least Harry's been honorably preserved.  And he is treasured!

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 2:51 PM

Wow.  Oh wow.

Overmod, that film's fantastic!  The locomotive sounds like rolling thunder, and even the air horn (air horn!) sounds good.

The stack was kind of smoky, but I suppose they were hamming it up for the camera.

Just amazing!  WHY did they ever get rid of those things?

Well OK, I know why they got rid of those things.  But WHY did they get RID of those things!   Crying

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 2:23 PM

daveklepper and M636C
During the war Newport outshopped H220, a truly remarkable locomotive. One of only three 3-cylinder 4-8-4’s ever built, our engineers did a first class job.

And for those of you who wonder why it is called a 'Pocono' ...

 

The other two were made by Krupp for the Deutsche Reichsbahn just before the war. They had some problems which were never rectified.

Bears discussing, aside from the fact that, somewhat akin to the P-class 2-8-2s in Britain, they were 'too large for requirements'.

These suffered from Wagner's misunderstanding of the contribution of the radiant section to steam generation on a modern locomotive, and as a result the fireboxes were chronically too small, and the frame and other construction unable to be revised to fix the issue -- a bit like the situation with the PRR T1's 92-foot grate, only much more so.

Still an evocative design, though!

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 10:22 AM

You got to love Highlanders!  Bad guys all over the world would hear those bagpipes coming at them and just know they were in deep "do-do!"

"The Ladies From Hell!"

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 9:48 AM

Excellent photos! Of the 48th Highlanders, I wonder what the guy third from the right in front is saying to the guy fourth from the right? "Want to go to the Wheat Sheaf for a pint?" No doubt! The Wheat Sheaf is the closest bar to the CNE grounds, on King St at Bathurst. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 8:36 AM

Great pictures David, thanks for passing them on!  "Lest we forget."

Yes, the Air Force never loved the B-24 / C-87 like they loved the B-17, that's one of the reasons they disappeared so quickly after World War Two.

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From New Zealand, some WWI and WWII pictures
Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 4:36 AM
From: Mike <vr27553@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 12:03 AM
Subject: War and Railways
To: 


G’day all.
 
Yesterday was ANZAC Day so it’s an appropriate time to devote a Friday Dozen to railways in the two World Wars.   Restoring some of these involved close up work on men’s faces, which got me thinking.   I will let them speak.
 
During the war Newport outshopped H220, a truly remarkable locomotive.  One of only three 3-cylinder 4-8-4’s ever built, our engineers did a first class job.   The other two were made by Krupp for the Deutsche Reichsbahn just before the war.   They had some problems which were never rectified.
 
Proper airliners were scarce during the war and some bombers were converted for transport roles.   I have featured the Lancastrian before, but the Americans created the Liberator Express, an aircraft often used by Eleanor Roosevelt.   She made some very long flights in them, sometimes with virtually no proper seating or heating.   She was a remarkable woman;  FDR’s legs.   She visited New Zealand on 27th August 1943, flying on to Sydney on 3rd September; giving us a real morale boost.
 
 
Less we forget
Michael
 
 
Captions:-

New South Wales Government Railways troop train leaving South Brisbane in 1940 with soldiers destined for the Middle East. 1940.

Canadian Soldiers in a Pullman sleeper. circa 1940.

Returning soldiers of the 15th Battalion, 48th Highlanders detraining at Toronto Exhibition Grounds in1918.

Railway Operating Division Robinson Class 8K 2-8-0 No.1881 at the ROD Outreau (Boulogne) depot with Royal Engineers men & Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) ladies. circa 1918.

Great Western Railway 4300 class 2-6-0 Mogul No.5322 in the livery of the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers, formed in 1915 to operated railways on the Western Front. Displayed at Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire. November 2008.
 
French 5e Régiment du Génie (5th Engineers Regiment) 600mm gauge Péchot-Bourdon 0-4-4-0T at Ressons-sur-Matz with train used for transporting shells to artillery at the front over temporary tracks. 12 Mar 1917.  These French adaptions of the Double Fairlie design had a single steam dome inside the cab, with the safety valve and whistle poking through the roof.   The firebox was a miniscule five square feet, with coal briquettes carried on top of the water tanks.   During the Great War 280 were built for the French Government by Baldwin and North British.

Baldwin built 15-ton 4-6-0T No.973 being used on railway construction by the Salonika Expeditionary Force. Baldwin built 495 of these little engines.   973 has coupling rod to the rear driving.

United States Army Transportation Corps S160 class 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotives of the 756th Railway Operations Battalion being prepared for service at  Crow Nest Junction, Cornwall. 1944.   Over 2,000 of these engines were built by Alco, Baldwin and Lima, and 800 were landed in Britain.

Deutsche Reichsbahn 3-cylinder 06 class 4-8-4 (Krupp, 1938).   Two were built, 06.001 and 06.002, both of which were based at Frankfurt and Hanau until 1952 when they were scrapped.   The heaviest and most powerful steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn, there were issues with their boiler design which were not deemed worth fixing as post-war a locomotive of their size was not required.
Victorian Railways H class 4-8-4 Pocono No.220 (Newport, 1941) with an Up Albury goods at Seymour. 20th January 1955.
Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express 'My Ever loving Dove II', the personal aircraft of Lt. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, commander of America's Army air corps in the South West Pacific, at Whenuapai  airport, Auckland. 10th April 1944.   (Gen. Harmon's wife had "dove" as a nickname).   Returning to America on 25th February 1945, the aircraft disappeared over the Pacific, all ten men including Harmon killed.   One of these aircraft was fitted out for President Roosevelt, but the Secret Service reviewed the Liberator’s safety record and refused to allow him to use it.
Royal Air Force Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express cabin. circa 1944.
 

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