Even if I live now in Québec I'm Belgian coming from one of the smallest country in the world.
Belgiun is well know trough the whole world for the quality of his engineering.
We have enginered a lot of big metalic construction in the whole world like bridge, structural structures and we were the first European country with a train line in continental Europe (except England), this was already in 1835 between Brussels and Malines, two towns separated by 30 km.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Belgium
Belgian engineering was extremly prolific and powerful between 1835 and 1985's
For our train, Belgian ingineers have had a impact much bigger you can ever imagine on the evolution of steam power
You all know their names
, Walschaerts and Belpaire.
Both of them have made a real revolution in the concept of steam power, their names are well know in US and have influenced deeply steam locomotives design in USA.
Here are Wikipedia link for Walschaerts and Belpaire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walschaerts_valve_gear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belpaire_firebox
Marc, good for you to be a proud Belgian, but with all due respect, most of the first railway equipment, including all engines, were supplied by Messrs. George Stephenson from England - just like everywhere else in Europe in the baby years of railroads. The first German railroad opened just 6 months later in early December 1835. I think more notable is the fact, that as early as 1835, the first Belgian made steam engine hit the rails! La Belge, following Stephenson´s Patentee 2-2-2 design, was built by John Cockerill of Seraing, an English-born entrepreneur of many a talent.
It is a pity that there are only few decent models available to model the early years!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
There is plenty else to be proud of in Belgian railway engineering, although some of it can be remarkably strange to non-engineers. (It is difficult to get stranger than Golsdorf, but there were Belgians who managed it... )
(And I'm proud of Tinplate Toddler for not having mentioned the 'Heusinger von Waldegg' thing in a pride thread! )
Take the Belgian version of Hiawatha high-speed power, for example, with its inside cylinders (for reduced augment at very high speed) combined with outside valve drive (for easier maintenance). Or those remarkable Pacifics with Decapod-size boilers, which looked for all the world as if more than 10' of the boiler was missing, but that ran with proper weight distribution just fine ... and economically.
Some very fine things with high-speed self-propelled cars, too, as I recall.
It shouldn't be forgotten that Cockerill/Seraing persisted with the Baldwin 60xA engine design long past BLH giving up locomotive construction, and in fact making some very significant improvements on the engine. And then there are things like the AA16s -- "... what music they make!"
Indeed! The Belgian railway engineers came up with a number of sometimes rather quirky, but intersting lookin engines.
Just a few impressions:
This one would certainly look right at home pulling the Hiawatha!
Other quirky contraptons:
Following WWI, Belgium received a number of German steam engines of the Prussian classes P8, G8.1 and T16 as reparations. They saw service well into the post WWII era.
Overmod - although independantly developed from each other, the Heusinger gear is not different from Walschaert´s. For whatever reason (local pride?), the Walschaert gear was called Heusing in Germany, Austria, and, IIRC, Switrzerland.
Marc_Magnus,
Did You ever get My reply PM, back in Feb. I never recieved a reply or acknowledgement.
Thanks,
Frank
Oh, I have no hesitation calling the gear 'Heusinger' ... in a German pride thread. There have been some interesting discussions on 'precedence' ... including some on these forums with Juniatha...
Of course, neither one is particularly easy to spell in English, particularly 'Walschaerts' which, no matter what some nerds at Kalmbach Publications in the '60s might have tried to claim, should never, ever be spelled 'Walschaert' to "simplify" it. (Misspelling or mispronouncing "Boxpok" is bad enough!)
While we're thinking about Belgians, I looked for YouTube clips of the NOHAB units (there used to be several pretty good ones!) but could not find any Belgian ones. I did, however, find this, which should put a smile on your face no matter how dismal things may be...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
zstripe Marc_Magnus, Did You ever get My reply PM, back in Feb. I never recieved a reply or acknowledgement. Thanks, Frank
Frank, when I saw your avatar appear, I thought you were reporting that you too were a Belgian.
Rich
Alton Junction
Isn't Brussels at the head of the EU, whos leaders aren't even democratically elected? My wife is from UK, which finally decided it was time to be out from under that non-democratic leadership.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
richhotrainLOL Frank, when I saw your avatar appear, I thought you were reporting that you too were a Belgian. Rich
Rich,
LOL.....Hold on to Your chair........I'm Russian/Lithuanian....LOL
Take Care!
riogrande5761 Isn't Brussels at the head of the EU, whos leaders aren't even democratically elected? My wife is from UK, which finally decided it was time to be out from under that non-democratic leadership.
That´s certainly not an issue to be discussed here.
Overmod - to my knowledge, all of the Belgian NOHABs were modernized in the late 1970s, in the process of which they lost the typical "face". One has been "revived" by painting a former Luxemburg State Railway NOHAB in SNCB/NMS colors.
How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks all for your kindly words
Seems some know more than me about the Belgian engenering about train; its a learning curves from all of you.
Thank you very much
SeeYou190How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host?
Excellent idea! But let´s include The Netherlands and Luxemburg - Belgium is a tiny country....
Tinplate Toddler SeeYou190 How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host?
SeeYou190 How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host?
"I'm not a Frenchie, I'm a Belgie" -Hercule Poirot
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
We do need to keep a sense of proportion here, though: Belgians are responsible for inventing reality TV, and the idea of poker as a televised sporting event. These are serious and awful things to have to account for at the Day of Judgment.
(And then there is Jean-Claude Van Damme ... but I like Jean-Claude Van Damme.)
My father was born in Antwerp, came here when he was seven. Today he is burried in a veteran's cemetary just outside the gates of Camp Lajune.
On mom's side we can trace back to the Emperor Barbarosa who granted Remmert Jansen van der Beek his crest and shield.
ROARING
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
SeeYou190 How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host? -Kevin
Good idea. The last dining car I was in was on a trip from Zurich to Venice with a beautiful lady I had met in New Zealand. The scenery was magnificent both in and out of the car and having the diner rolling around Belgium sounds perfect.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Overmod Tinplate Toddler SeeYou190 How about we put the diner in Belgium for April, and Marc can host?
Good beer, too.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Well Marc, you now have some homework to do about what has been invented in Quebec and Canada, your new homeland as to speak. As a Quebecer, two things come to my mind: the ski-doo and the poutine. I find it very representative of how much we enjoy life here in the eastern part of Canada. Of course there are other things too...
Simon
snjroyAs a Quebecer, two things come to my mind: the ski-doo and the poutine.
If we are going to poo-poo the invention of reality TV and televised poker, what can you say about Poutine? I love it, but someone should be ashamed of themselves.
OvermodI might even go to the Diner while it's in Belgium -- one other thing they have is the best chocolate in the world.
Don´t let the Swiss know that
The Belgian also have a reputation of making the finest creme pralines! My father used to bring a box of them for us kids each time he went to Brussels on business. They didn´t get old! Heavenly sins, coated in fine chocolate!
Btw, the Swedish make a very nice chocolate, which is my personal favourite!
rrinkerGood beer, too.
And the best place to drink it, is the "Elfde Gebod" (The 11th Commandment) in Antwerp.
Go there for a "bollekje De Koninck" or, if you dare, a "Duivel", one of the strongest beers of the world. My memory of this place is one of the biggest headaches I can remember having!
How could anyone forget Chimay?
Belgium may have good beer, but Germany has even better beer.
Long live Becks!
If you are Belgian and proud of it, You Should Be! More power to you.
"Life is who you are! Be proud of it"! as my Grand-Dad used to say.
I'm Scottish just like my Grandfather who was a proud man. With that, I'm going to hit the rack.
Always be Proud of Who You Are
P.S. Remember The Little Engine That Could! He got over that hill and kept on going, didn't he? ... Yaaah!
TF
richhotrainBelgium may have good beer, but Germany has even better beer.
But they have nothing quite like Huyghes' best -- which I first learned to appreciate in Quebec City.
(I also have to admit that in my opinion Warsteiner beats Becks all hollow...)
snjroy Well Marc, you now have some homework to do about what has been invented in Quebec and Canada, your new homeland as to speak. As a Quebecer, two things come to my mind: the ski-doo and the poutine. I find it very representative of how much we enjoy life here in the eastern part of Canada. Of course there are other things too... Simon
Really, I'm proud of nothing, this thread is just to remember how high the impact of these two ingeneers was high for steam locomotives
This all for me
Belgium were I'm born is a very complicated country with real big problems but this is not the the sense and the purpose of this topic
About Québec and Canada, beleive me, I have after six months, real difficulties to say which country is the best, I say with humility I like so much Québec , the people and the way of live of this country; even the so hard winter; I like it!
And yes Poutine is a delicious meat, it's similar of what we name "Carbonades" in Belgium.
And for unknow reasons it's really probable I never go back to Belgium, even for a few days, really no needs about it.
Thank you for your kind remark
Marc
Marc, each society has its own set of problems and challenges, so it is quite difficult to tell, which country is the "best" to live in. Quebec (and for that matter, all of Canada) has something to offer, which is a rare commodity in Belgium - space! A lot of space for people can make society issues relatively small. That´s one of the reasons we have plans to relocate from overpopulated Germany to rural Denmark (and to please the Viking blood in my veins). I think Quebec must have been a natural choice for you, as it offers that important dose of French savoire vivre.