"On Shed" - March 2011 edition

"Preserving the steam locomotive legacy..and more..on film"

FRONT PAGE PHOTOGRAPH

On The Orient Express (John Michael Sparks)

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CONTENTS:

Welcome....and site news.....
Video and Photographic Highlights
Along The Trans Siberian Railway
Belgian Railways- by Marc Bostyn
On This Day
Christian Wolmar- Newsletter
Overcrowding.....
Around The World in 80 Railways. No.10 Warsaw to Moscow
For The Modellers

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Welcome..and Site News

A warm welcome to our 523 members (on 18th February 2011 compared with 486 at 18/01/11) and 1,615 friends on Steamtube's Facebook page, plus 472 followers on Twitter. We can now enjoy 2,244 videos and 9,403 photos on Steamtube, and share in the group pages too. A total of 60,000 page views were noted for January 2011 for Steam Tube, the SMJR site, and ST-News (which itself attracts nearly 4,000 page views per month)For Steam Tube, this translates into 4,386 people visiting the site,
each visitor on average spending 5.28 minutes viewing 5.12 pages. This is, I understand, a long time in internet terms!

The uploaded photos and videos show great enthusiasm for a familiar subject, and Steam Tube would like to thank all for your continued support and contributions.

We have noticed an increase in Belgian Railway material, from Marc Bostyn...so we include a piece on Belgian Railway history (by Marc Bostyn) in this edition of "On Shed"

Roni also uploaded two epics this last month.."3 beautiful days on and around Brocken mountain following the HSB steam metre gauge railway" and "Scenes from the Lößnitzgrund narrow gauge steam railway".

And you will have noticed the 15 minute film on "German Boilers"...over 300 views in 24 hours!

A word about embedding 3rd party material:
When uploading 3rd party film, it would be good..and courteous..and may avoid unnecessary problems..if the originator is credited in the title line.

About our look!!
Just when we thought we had got used to our site, and could navigate our way around it, our IT department comes up with a fresher, cleaner, more professional look!
Watch out for these adjustments and refinements next month.

Meantime, keep uploading, commenting on photos and videos....we are fast building a very useful resource, as our friends on the Hengist project would agree.
And please consider supporting our front page sponsors (for example, the Railway Children) as they continue with their charitable work.

Incidentally, Christian Wolmar supports this charity too, so a visit to his site, and maybe a purchase of one of his fine books on railway history, would be appreciated.

Now, on with this edition of "On Shed"...........

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Video and Photographic Highlights

60s London BR from Morrie Greenberg on Vimeo.







(Leslie Bailey)

(Rich Henley)

(Leslie Bailey)

(Bob Ife)
FOR MORE LIKE THIS VISIT THE STEAM TUBE LIBRARY!!


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Along The Trans Siberian Railway

Alongside Kenon Lake, Chita City
(Courtesy RussiaTrain on YouTube)
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Belgian Railways- by Marc Bostyn
A short history of the Belgian railways from 1914 to 20-12-1966(end of steam)

When World War I broke out a lot of steam engines were evacuated to France.This operation met with a lot of problems because the French railway network was congested but nevertheless 1915 steam locos belonging to the “Etat Belge” and 175 of the company Nord Belge were saved.
More than 1000 engines found shelter at Breteuil,Fouilloy,Mézidon,Caen, St Maur,Brive, Tours and Trouville.The others were at Adinkerke, Calais and Coudekerque.Also the Railway Operating Division (ROD) of the British army made use of the Belgian locos.The different types of engines were 1,2,4,8,15,17,18,23,25,28,29,30,32,32S,35 and 51.The types 36 and 10 were not frequently used because they were too heavy for the French railway network of that period.

Belgian Railways...Type 51

During the German occupation Belgian steam locos were dispersed throughout Europe: they were found in Germany,Poland,Romania and Russia.Because the majority of Belgian railway men refused to work for the Germans,the German occupying forces took over the railway operations in Belgium.

An interesting issue was that of the “mad trains”: they rode without crew at full spead so that they derailed and hampered the traffic.This was a widespread form of sabotage the Germans had to cope with.




Directly after Armistice Day in 1918 the ROD brought steam locos to Belgium : they were painted black,grey or khaki and had in white letters ROD.Some of these engines belonged to the London and North Western(future class 32 of the LMS), others to the Midland Railways (class 480).A lot more British locos belonging to different railway companies crossed the Channel.

ROD 5322 at Toddington , GWSR 4th June 2010.(P.Lewis)

The period between the two world wars (1918-1939)

As a result of the Armistice Convention Belgium received more than 2000 steam engines from Germany.The result of this transaction was that the Belgian railways had at that moment an enormous variety of locos,also many of German origin.Some of the locomotives were in such a bad condition that very soon a lot of them were sent to the scrapyard.Especially some Prussian series were kept ( class G8.1,the later Belgian type 81 and the famous P8, the later type 64).The latter is well known today because one engine is preserved by TSP and is still in use at the Chemin de fer du Bocq ).

The Belgian railways started making great efforts to repair their network and replace locos which had suffered too much during the war activities.More than 200 engines were bought from the ROD and an order was placed for the Ten Wheel type 8 bis and the Consolidation type 33.The price of the latter was too elevated and the company opted for a much simpler version with two cylinders and simple expansion.This type 37 (later 31) was ordered in Britain.So most orders were placed abroad but the Belgian locomotive industry also built some engines.(types 33,8bis and 36 Decapod).
From 1926 the NMBS (Belgian Railway company) rationalized the number of engines drastically.They got rid of small series and adapted the braking system and the heating of the Prussian locos.
Among the best known locos were the famous type 1 which entered service in 1935 and the Atlantic type 12 in 1939.Type 12 broke a speed world record (more than 160 km/h).
Salzinnes and Mechelen (Malines) were the most important servicing places after the rationalization.As a result most locos covered between 100.000km and 200.000 km between two services.
The water quality improved steadily so that locos suffered less from impurities and became more effective.
In 1930 the NMBS took over the Belgian part of the private company “Gent-Terneuzen”.Autorails (diesel) were introduced on branch line because of the lower cost and less intense maintenance.There was also a project with steam autorails but this didn’t turn out sucessful.

In 1935 the first railway line in Belgium (Brussels-Antwerp) was electrified,although steam traction persisted on that line.
In 1936 speed was augmented from 90km/h to 120 on most main lines.Between Gent and Bruges (line50A) fast trains already reached 140km/h.

Some important types of locos from that era were: type 38,8bis(later 7),33,37(later 31 and 30).For the difficult line to Luxemburg Mikado type 5 was built for passenger trains and type 35 for freights.Especially type 5 was a monstrous and gigantic loco, one of the most powerful of that period.It weighed 130,5 tons and developed 2950 HP.


World War Two (1940-45) and shortly afterwards

When war broke out only 381 locos managed to escape to France but soon they were taken by the Germans..A few months later the Germans took over the exploitation of the Belgian railways.The abbreviation of the names of the depots was painted in large white letters on the doors of the smokebox and on the tenders of the locos.Later these names were placed in small letters preceded by “Bw” (Betriebswerk) on the engines e.g. Lö for Leuven.

The German invaders were only interested in their own transports,so they remained only responsible for the depots of Ostend and Bruges.
Traffic was seriously reduced because the Deutsche Reichsbahn claimed many engines for their own purposes.Several French locos replaced Belgian ones to answer the need of more engines.

In 1940 the NMBS(Belgian railways company) owned 3414 locos but after the Liberation only 1008 could still be used because war actions and sabotage had destroyed large numbers of them.
The severe winter of 1944-45 caused a substantial shortage of coal so that a lot of passenger trains were no longer able to circulate.The poor quality of the coal provoked technical problems for the locos.

After the Liberation locomotives commanded by the British and American authorities could be seen circulating on the Belgian network.Three loco types “Austerity” of British origin were chosen to enlarge the effective after repair..These simple locos with two cylinders were built at a low cost and were suitable for all purposes.They were painted khaki or army green and had white or yellow inscriptions.The symbol of the War Department: the point of an arrow,symbol of honour, with the letter W and D on both sides was painted in white on the tenders. Some locos also had the badge of the 21st Army Group :a blue cross on a red scutcheon.The American locos were painted black with the inscriptions: U.S.A. or U.S.Army or Transportation Corps U.S.A. always in white letters.
In 1945, when the war was over, many locos were “unemployed” and a great number returned to Britain.

Belgium as well as other European countries also used the famous German “Kriegslok” type 52 which had been built by the Germans during the war in enormous numbers (6303!!)also by Belgian firms.This loco was deprived of all unnecessary elements so that it could be built in a very short time.It became the Belgian type 25 and 26.after some modifications.

In 1945 nobody could have foreseen that so many Belgian steam locos would return to their home country.Therefore 300 new locomotives were ordered in Canada and the United States although the high number of the order was not strictly necessary..These engines would become type 29.The order was divided between Montreal Locomotive Works at Montreal,Canadian Locomotive Company at Kingston and American Locomotive Company at Schenectady.The American locos were shipped completely assembled.The most typical characteristic of this type 29 was the nice sound the steam whistle produced.Soon these locos were nicknamed “Jeep” because they could be used for all purposes.So they were soon found everywhere in the country.
Some characteristics : weight 92,95 tons,2000 HP,max speed 96,5 km/h (60 mph) but in reality these trains could reach 105 km/h and pull trains of 1200 tons.These engines were not modified during their service period.They were simple,strong and covered enormous distances without substantial repair.
As we know 29013 has been preserved and is still alive and kicking and frequently used for touristic excursions.
The Belgian Railway Company was the only company that used this type of locomotive.
In 1951 the first diesels were introduced, meaning the start of the end of the reign of steam in Belgium.The whole process took still some years but on December 16 1966 the very last steam train Ath-Denderleeuw was hauled by the 29013 .At that occasion an emotional ceremony took place.
In 1967 some freight trains were still hauled by steam locos type 81.


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ON THIS DAY


21/03/1963
1963: Train drives itself
The first automatic train on the London underground could be hurtling into stations in three weeks, the government has revealed.
The trains, which operate without a driver, are currently undergoing a series of trials commissioned by the Ministry of Transport before passengers are allowed on board.
But the public has the chance to glimpse the trains today, which have cost £60,000 to test, as they are demonstrated in South Ealing, west London, by the London Transport Board.


27/03/1963 The Beeching Report!
The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 1: Report
The Reshaping of British Railways - Part 2: Maps

On This Day, In This Year
28th January 2011
Wrexham and Shropshire Cease Operations
After just a brief time as an "open access" operator, W & S (owned by Deutsche Bahn)abruptly ceased operations...on the same day it achieved the highest customer satisfaction rating of all operators.
This clip is a YouTube tribute to this sadly missed service..no longer will its elegantly liveried stock be seen on the line between Wrexham and London Marylebone..


The Last Day of Wrexham & Shropshire - MwTrainProductionsHD on YouTube

April 1955
Bulleid's Pioneer Diesels (Courtesy: SouthernRailwayFilms on YouTube)


A 'blink and you'll miss it' clip of two of the three 1Co-Co1 diesel locomotives built by BR to Oliver Bulleid's pre-nationalisation design for the Southern Railway - two (10201 and 10202) emerging from Ashford in 1950, the third (the uprated 10203) from Brighton in 1954. The headboard gives away the fact that the pair are recorded after transfer from the Southern to the London Midland region in April 1955.

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Christian Wolmar- Newsletter



With the weather calming down and Egypt dominating the headlines, transport has been less to the fore recently, but nevertheless there has been no shortage of developments.

The high fares rises on the railways attracted considerable attention and so did the record number of passengers, and I did TV and radio interviews on both. There was, too, the release of the franchise review consultation paper, which I have written about in the latest Rail column which will not been on the site until later this month.

I have been working on a pamphlet on how co-operative structures could be used in the rail industry which will be published in the next few weeks by Co-operatives UK, which hopefully will influence government thinking on the idea. It fits in very well with Big Society ideas, but there seems very little substance to these when push comes to shove.

There are all the usual new items on the website, plus a couple of others. I wrote a piece for the Evening Standard on driverless trains which was a bit of Boris bluster and, away from the issue of transport, a review of a book about Germany before the war, Sown with Corn, which is an absolute must read.

Of the usuals, my two Rail columns are on the McNulty review which I argue does not go deep enough into the dysfunctional structure of the industry and the HS2 debate which is also covered in depth in the comments on the article in The Times which has broken records on the site by attracting more than 100 comments.

In Transport Times I have written about the shared space experiment in Exhibition Road which is taking shape and looks to be a very exciting project. Finally, the TSSA column is on the coalition’s rail policy – or lack of it. I have also been putting things on the TSSA blog – do visit that at http://www.tssa.org.uk/

I have garnered 1,000 followers on Twitter, since I started tweeting regularly back in November. I have, after initial doubts, found it a very useful medium. It’s a way of introducing people to longer pieces, of communicating quickly about developments and of sharing information and ideas. So I was wrong to be hesitant about it. It can, though, be misused and some people tweet far too much – they know who they are – or still tell you what they have for breakfast or that they are standing in the playground waiting for their 8 year old to come out of school.

I confine myself to tweets about transport issues, with the odd digression about QPR or other experiences, such as customer standards in hotels and restaurants, and even possibly the odd general political remark. But definitely I will stick to transport in the main. You can follow me by adding @christianwolmar to your list. I do urge non-users to start using Twitter, even if you do not plan to send any tweets, as you can simply follow people.

Tweeting has delivered a big increase in visitors to the website, and the high speed rail debate, is really raging furiously, and several other posts have attracted lots of comments. Note that sometimes my posts seem a bit out of date because I only place the articles from magazines on the site when they are no longer on sale, so usually a few weeks after publication.

For new subscribers, I stiil have a stock of my Fire and Steam hardbacks under my bed for a fiver plus £2 75 postage – just pay by paypal or email me for postal address.

I am now using google mail for this service, and am keen to hear of any problems, though of course I realise you won’t be reading this if you don’t get the newsletter!

That’s all for now,

Christian
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Overcrowding...??
There has been talk in recent time of the overcrowding on certain trains reaching London....
Well, this must be serious overcrowding........
Heavy rush of passenger at Bijnor station



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Around The World in 80 Railways. No.10 Warsaw to Moscow

We can travel from Warsaw to Moscow on the 'Polonez' sleeper train, leaving Warsaw Centralna mid afternoon and arriving Moscow Byelorruski station at about 20 hours later.

The train has modern air-conditioned Polish or Russian sleeping-cars with 1st class 2-bed and 2nd class 3-bed compartments with carpet and washbasin. A Polish buffet car is attached between Warsaw and Terespol (on the Polish/Russian frontier) and a Russian restaurant car is attached for breakfast between Brest (on the other side of the frontier) and Moscow. Next morning, as the train passes through the small station of Borodino, look out for the plaques on the station building marked '1812' and '1942'... (Source: www.seat61.com)
Moscow is served by an extensive transit network which includes four international airports, nine railroad terminals, and the Moscow Metro, second only to Tokyo in terms of ridership and recognized as one of the city's landmarks due to the rich and varied architecture of its 182 stations.

Courtesy: Russia Today on YouTube

Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal ... It has the highest passenger throughput of all the nine Moscow rail terminals, serving eastern destinations, ...

Courtesy:moskvaminsk on YouTube
Warsaw: the 9th largest city in the European Union by population is also known as the "phoenix city", as it recovered from extensive damage during World War II (during which 80% of its buildings were destroyed), being rebuilt with the effort of Polish citizens. Warsaw has given its name to the Warsaw Confederation, Warsaw Pact, the Duchy of Warsaw, Warsaw Convention, Treaty of Warsaw and the Warsaw Uprising.

After a look at the key cities on this leg, we shall leave Moscow, and head east.....
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FOR THE MODELLERS
The British Railway Series: Episode 17X, "The Ghosts of Engines Past"


"The Ghosts of Engines Past"
Featuring the BRWS Competition 2009 winners - Wensley (Thomas Foster), Harry (Jamie Goddard) and Alf (Chris Eden-Green).
The day after Allen's fright, a tank engine comes to the yard, to tell the tale of the first preserved engine, on British Railways...meanwhile, Stephen lays his own ghosts to rest; coming to terms with being the last of his kind...
Music composed by Kevin Macloed.
The contents of these videos, including all text and photos (except where credited otherwise) are ©Simon Martin 2010

Another fine example from Simon Martin.
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For up to date railway news, both preserved, mainline and high speed rail news


Till next month.............

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Reefsteamers Open day. Class 25NC, GMAM Garrett, 15F and 12AR, all in steam. A rare occurence to have 4 locos in steam at one time in South Africa((c)Derek)