Great Britain had a large number of slate quarrying operations, for which a number of odd looking steam locos were produced.
One of the, IMHO" oddest designs is a 0-4-0 vertical boiler DeWinton steamer, featured in the following video:
watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=PSuAxTSrtI0
The cab was probably fitted at a later date.
Watch how the driver has to hang outside the cab to operate the diminutive loco!
Thanks Ulrich for showing us the DeWinton. Actually from a US perspective the vertical boiler is not all that odd. In this country locomotives with vertical boilers were used for many years by the Baltimore and Ohio. The B&O also used a sail on a wind driven rail car.
John
What a sweet-running little engine that DeWinton is, and fast too! "Peter Pan's" no slouch either.
You've done it again, Ulrich! How do you come up with these videos?
Wayne
Firelock76 What a sweet-running little engine that DeWinton is, and fast too! "Peter Pan's" no slouch either. You've done it again, Ulrich! How do you come up with these videos? Wayne
Wayne - rather than wasting my time watching the "idiot box" I search youtube for interesting train videos. There is a wealth of really fascinating videos there, some of them professionally made. The trick is to know what to search for. I am quite familiar with European railroads, which is a big help
Here is another video of those vertical boiler beasties, filmed on the Ffestiniog Railway in 1986.
Wrightlines of UK offers an O scale kit - it would make a nice addition to the roster of my "Schietwedderooger Kleinbahn" O scale layout (Schietwedderooge means "Foul Weather Island" in our local German dialect).
watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=eqfP6O9A pY
SIR MADOG: I, too am a youtube train video junkie. There are tons of fascinating ones available. It's helped me expand my meager European rail knowledge considerably. Of course, I must endure the off hand wife/family barbs like "oh you watchin' stupid train videos again?" One thing I've noticed through direct observation as well as video, is the more relaxed method of railroading across the pond, i.e. fouling switches before coupling, stepping on the railhead, not going through the exaggerated genuflecting examining switch points or walking great distances beyond the end of equipment as my current employer requires. Very refreshing! Reminds me of the good ol' days. Oh, but they are certainly serious about leaving on time over there!
rfpjohn - I am blessed with a wife who has a good understanding for my hobby. In our better days, she has joined me on many a railfan trip throughout Europe. Of course, I did not overdo it. I always saw to it, that there are number of interesting things for her mixed and matched into such a trip.
When I now watch those "stupid videos", we both enjoy fond memories of places we had been to.
Unfortunately, our budget does not allow for anymore traveling -
SIR MADOG: Actually my wife is also very understanding of my quirks and has accompanied me to countless rail related activities. She still ribs me, however, but that's kind of how our relationship works. There is one friend of hers who gets a postcard from my wife every time we go near anything with rails! My sons have grown up in this environment, but it seems the railroad bug didn't bite them very hard. Sorry to hear of your budget constraints. I hope better times are coming.
You Tube! i might have guessed! Lotsa good stuff on the You Tube, especially railroad related.
A question: just HOW do you post a You Tube video to this Forum? I tried several times, even followed what I thought were the directions, but no luck.
Don't ask me. I just stopped using white out on the screen for my spelling mistakes!
Sir MadogHere is another video of those vertical boiler beasties, filmed on the Ffestiniog Railway in 1986.
Ulrich,
This video has a much better shot of the pistons going up and down. I also liked the guy who was feeding coal to the fire with his hands.
Sir Madoghietwedderooger Kleinbahn
You guys can say in a word what would take us a sentence or even a whole paragraph.
Here is another oddity - A Baldwin 1930 built 4-6-2 2ft. (!) gauge steamer, which spent her service life in South Africa, hauling limestone to Port Elizabeth. A lot of north American flavor on a Welsh 2ft. gauge railway!
watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=bQ6CQTSCOIg
Enjoy!
Edit: The gauge is not 2ft., but 1ft. 11.75 inches or 600mm! That´s why the BMR also runs a German Heeresfeldbahn loco.
The engine looks very simular to the last two 2-6-2s built by Baldwin for the Sandy River & Rangely Lakes 2ft system in Maine. The larger of the two, #23 weighed in at about 32 tons. Huge by Maine 2ft standards, small compared to the engine in the video. Their website says they are in the process of restoring a Baldwin 2-6-2 which they list as having a weight of 41 tons. I guess the roads they were built for were a little more substantial than our stateside 2 footers! You might want to check out the videos for the Wiscasset,Waterville & Farmington Railway for a look at a typical Maine 2 foot operation. Those folks have done a remarkable job restoring nearly 3 miles of the original right of way, abandoned in 1933. They have an impressive shop and very capable group running the outfit. Their 0-4-4T #10 weighs in at a whopping 14 tons, and it was slimmed down from 30 inches to fit the gauge! ( For Edaville back in the 60's)
Firelock76A question: just HOW do you post a You Tube video to this Forum? I tried several times, even followed what I thought were the directions, but no luck
Try this:
In the YouTube video you want to paste in, copy the URL from the browser. (If you're embedded, you have to click the little 'view this video in YouTube' icon at bottom right (it helpfully shows the words "YouTube" if you have balloons turned off) and then copy that URL. Code will look something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Zr6aRj-Nw
Open up the reply you're making for the Forum post.. When you get to where you want the video to appear, click on the silly little 'movie' mystery-meat icon in the bottom row of the blue options bar -- looks like two frames of film with a ping-pong ball sitting in front. This will give you a box where you paste the URL you've copied. Then click the helpful button and... well, it worked for me when I tested it in Firefox on a Mac, so it ought to work on lesser systems too ;-}
RME
Thanx Overmod, I shall give it a try!
All I can offer here is a copy and paste link but here it is: http://www.railtasmania.com/ttms/exhibit.php?id=vb
The link is to an 1890 vertical boiler locomotive in the Tasmanian Transport Museum.
Kinda sorta half-fixed that for ya:
exhibit.php?id=vb
(This is via the 'insert image' control next to the embed-video one. Since this is a page, rather than an image, it won't render inline. You should be able to put a 'jpg or .bmp or whatever in via this procedure so it will display inline.
One note: If pasting, do not include the "http://" as this particular utility 'helpfully' inserts if for you and then delivers a cryptic parse error (of the 'it's your fault you're holding it wrong' kind) when you go to embed itl.
Thanks Bob.
Slightly off-topic in a trains forum, but have you ever heard of a steam bus?
Well, here it is:
watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=KMECB5vJ6PQ
An excellent adaptation of steam technology, Ulrich. My local transit authority should immediately convert to steam operation on all of their bus routes. I must fire off a letter to them immediately with the good news.
I just found out, that this bus started its life as a Sentinel DG6 steam lorry, (err, sorry, truck) and was converted into a bus in 2002, requiring a change in the British Road Traffic Act to be able to carry passengers. Such a change would be unthinkable in my country.
I hope you don't believe the word "lorry" is unthinkable here in the US of A. Or are you just pulling our leg?
Sir MadogI just found out, that this bus started its life as a Sentinel DG6 steam lorry, (err, sorry, truck)
No, it's in Britain, so it's officially a 'lorry'. We can always discuss it in principle as being a truck, but it did not 'start its life' in Britain as one. So semantically, no.
I tried establishing the same sort of convention for "Baltic" vs. "Hudson" (the former having two pin-guided trucks) and for the controversy between 'truck' and 'bogie'. As it turns out, however, the latter is more complicated than it looks. One of the great scholarly articles from Britain at its height in the late 1890s defines 'bogie' as 'a truck that is arranged to pivot' (or something like that; I can check the direct reference if required) -- so the British know perfectly well that multiaxle frames that support something relatively long and tubular are trucks just as equally under a railroad car as under a gun...
John WR Ulrich, I hope you don't believe the word "lorry" is unthinkable here in the US of A. Or are you just pulling our leg? John
John - just a little bit
iI thiink that that Welsh-South African - Baldwin is the nicest looking 2-footer I have ever seen. And it sounds great also! It is a good lookling and sounding Pcific of any size. Beautiful countryside too, but that is typical of lots of the British tourist lllnes, especially the Welsh narrow guage liines. Thanks.
Dave - couldn´t agree more! Both the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway are my personal favorites. The Ffestiniog Railway is famous for its Double-Fairlie locos, twin-boilered "contraptions" servicing the line since 1869, and its quarry engine rebuilts "Linda" and Blanche" who have a distinct "British" look to them (i.e. so ugly that they are now beautiful). The Welsh Highland Railway is a fascinosum of its own, being built along a line closed down in the 1930´s. The Beyer-Garratts operating this line are an unusual sight in northern Europe.
Here is a video with some spectacular footage of both lines:
watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=FuMysCToIyM
Gee, I had hoped to spend my retirement somewhere along this line ...
When I visited and rode the Ffestiniog in 1962, only one of the double-end Fairlies had been restored, and we rode behind it. The line was about half its length and we gave a hand to the track gang. We thought the Welsh Highland grade was to be another Ffestiniog extension and not a separate railroad. I am assuming they do connect.
I saw Beyer Garrets from Rhodesia at Capitol Park, Praetoria, S.. A., and that was my only contact with BG's. About 1982, before the new government. Got to run a 4-8-0. But could not ride the trolleybuses, reserved for blacks.
and I must congratulate you on the marvelous video you have privileged us to view. magnificent.
Hi. Lovely shots. I was amazed to see myself on screen (fireman & switchman on "Peter Pan" - not too taxing with about 1 square foot of grate). "Chaloner" was built (1877), with cab. Until recently, the oldest known surviving photo of it was taken around 1927 but a De Winton works photo turned up a year or so ago, showing the newly built locomotive, complete with cab, & owner David Fisher fitted a replica last year. The original cab was believed removed around 1888, when the original quarry that the loco was bult for closed & the engine sold.
Incidentally, we have a Baldwin at Leighton Buzzard, a 4-6-0T, built in 1917, one of 500 built for the British War Department, for service in France in World War I. It will be operating over Easter.
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