“BEYOND DOVER”

[Northroader]

SUGGESTION FOR SMALL FRENCH (NORD) COUNTRY STATION.

 

Just to add some more temptation in anyone’s way, here is a bit more on the Saint Saens line, a nice simple French branch. It was built as an “Interet local” funded by local government and worked by the NORD. It ran North from the Abbeville to Rouen line of the NORD, so pleasant country just inland from the coast. If you click on the pictures in the link, you get some very good modelling prototypes, particularly the small intermediate station of Saint Martin Osmanville.

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_de_Montérolier_-_Buchy_à_Saint-Saëns#/media/Fichier%3ALocalisation_ligne_Montérolier-Buchy_-_Saint-Saëns.

 

addition: thought I’d pick up on this, and expand a bit more on the idea of a branch station. First two of the illustrations for Saint Martin d’Osmanville:

 

You'll see it’s a single main line track, with a crossover entering a goods siding. The siding has a short goods platform and ends alongside a goods warehouse forming part of the station building, which also has passenger facilities and accommodation for the station master. Perhaps he’s the person standing self consciously in the first picture, is that his family with him? A couple with four girls would have a squeeze in the upstairs accommodation at the station. There’s some interesting characters waiting for the train, and also the person in the second picture, the village postman? I’ve trimmed off the road he’s standing on, and also the crossover for the siding, which is entered directly from the left hand fiddle siding, and to screen the exits from the main board I’ve placed a tree in front at the one side, and a view blocker at the other, although there are layouts where the exits are just left plain. With just the main line and the siding it is possible to have a quiet half hour swapping wagons round, with the LH end acting as the main yard. It could form a through station with a full length cassette each end, but it is possible to treat it as a terminal, having a short cassette at the RH side, to shorten the overall length. Incoming trains from the LH end would detach the loco, which would then retire to this cassette, and a second loco would come from the LH end to work the train and form the return. It would form a very simple, basic NORD station, typical of a great deal of French branch lines, with limited stable of locos, coaches, and wagons, all of which had an airing on this thread, with links as necessary.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

NORD PASSENGER TRAIN

 

All part of the service, here’s how to make up a suitable train for the Saint Saens branch:

https://www.leportailduzero.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2742

Edited October 22, 2022 by Northroader

[Mikkel]

An impressive build. This thread keeps reminding me of all the wonderful modelling possibilities out there.

 

BTW, I've always been slightly annoyed by the "Old Timer" term. It's sneaking into Danish modelling vocabulary too. I'll grudgingly accept it if spoken with a Texan drawl under a large brimmed hat, but it never should have crossed the Atlantic.

 

(OK, so I need to lighten up, but yesterday's booster vaccine is having an effect).

Edited December 16, 2021 by Mikkel

[Northroader]

That’s a Frenchman being “with it”, pardner.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Northroader

[Compound2632]

Hilda having an off day?

[TT-Pete]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

BTW, I've always been slightly annoyed by the "Old Timer" term. It's sneaking into Danish modelling vocabulary too.

 

Ach! Ze Germans haff been using it for decades! Even the East Germans back in the 1970's;

 

 

It also applies to classic cars, my uncle's 1950's Mercedes 300 SL was always referred to as being an "old timer" - pronounced olt-tie-muh

 

[Northroader]

Not Christmas yet, but maybe Hilda’s had a booster too.

Now, here’s a real “old timer”, just casting around for a suitable goods engine for the Saint Saens line to go with the Bicyclette, lifted from the “Railway Gazette” of 13/6/1913, (so from ancient defunct magazine)

 

 

One thing I should mention if you try to do a long boiler type, is to check the centres of the wheels you buy laid side to side nearly touching, as with finescale flanges which are slightly deeper, you can find the need to add a bit on to any drawing dimensions for wheelbase.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

SIMPLON-ORIENT  EXPRESS.

 

It seems that any attempt at foreign travel today will bring you a load of grief, although my daughter managed to squeeze into France with 90 minutes to spare last Friday night. (Mind, I think she’ll be faced with a mutiny when granddaughter no.1 returns and finds she can’t see her school friends for a fortnight) So I thought for a Christmas treat we could have an outing across Europe in easier times, recorded by an American photographer in 1950. This thread operates a timeline of 1900 or thereabouts, but as in 1950 the world and their dog travelled across Europe by train, airline travel being in its infancy, there is a lot in common with the earlier period. It wasn’t that long after the end of World War Two, bridges had been replaced, bomb rubble cleared up, but there was still a rundown, shabby feeling, as we leave London Victoria to go off to the Continent:

https://retours.eu/en/01-simplon-orient-express-1950-england/

To fill in the railway train detail a bit more, a Frenchman has been working at recreating the shifting forms during the journey:

https://forum.e-train.fr/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=82796

Enjoy the journey, and I want to thank everyone who has visited the thread for their interest and support this year, have a Happy Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year. Dress suitably when you go beyond Dover.

Bob

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

ITALIAN & ROMANIAN MIXED TRAFFIC 0-6-0 — (and subsequent posts)

 

If, like me, you were glued to your TV at teatime this evening, watching “Around the world in eighty days”, you will have had an enjoyable time. As entertainment, the plot, the over the top adventure, the characterisations, were all first class, but then there’s the star of episode two, so here’s a more leisurely look round.

Its located at Valei de Munte, Prahova, in Romania. I must dig further into the loco’s background, I fancy the train is made up of old Romanian rolling stock, all very modellable for a Balkans branch line.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Northroader

[bgman]

Thank you for the above, just as it started and I began to get excited my grandson called to see me ( 4 1/2 yrs old ) and wanted to play with my little project.....well I couldn't refuse now could I ? 

He used the Roco handheld and ran a loco up and down the small length of track and before he left told me how he thought it was cool and wants to play again next time he comes around. It's these festive memories that will always stay with me.

 

At least I can hopefully catch the second episode on iPlayer quietly later this evening, and very much looking forward to the remainder of the series.

 

ATB and AHNW Bob

 

G

[Mikkel]

A train as a child would draw it. And yet it's real. Wonderful stuff!

[Northroader]

ITALIAN RAILWAYS. “STANDARD” (CLASS 215) 0-6-0 GOODS ENGINES.

 

Well, I started off from the Italian end for my digging. The train is supposedly from somewhere around Milan down to Brindisi non stop, which is somewhat ambitious for 19th century steam. That aside, there never was an S.F.I., Strade Ferrata Italia, the nearest is S.F.A.I, Strade Ferrata d’Alta Italia (Upper Italy) which existed from 1865- 1885, one of the first attempts to form a system, from the melting pot of smaller states railways before unification with Garibaldi, so contemporaneous with the story plot. Later it was split up as one of the component parts of the Mediterranean and Adriatic systems. The number, 3039, is problematical, the only one I can find is a later, larger 0-6-0. However the engine itself is very typical of various varieties of numerous Bourbonnais type 0-6-0s built for Italian systems before and after unification, for all of the nineteenth century. Here’s one of F.S.class 215, the most numerous of these, and you’ll see the resemblance:

 

 

 

(R.A. stands for Rete Adriatica, the Adriatic system, there was also an R.M., Rete Mediterraneo. The Italian railways were organised from 1885, following bankruptcy, into two systems running the length of Italy divided by the Appenine mountain chain, until nationalisation and the FS came in 1905.

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotiva_FS_215

 

Looking at it from the Romanian end May take longer, all those reference books are behind the Christmas tree.

Nice to know your grandson is being brought up properly, Grahame.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Northroader

[Flying Fox 34F]

On 26/12/2021 at 22:02, Northroader said:

If, like me, you were glued to your TV at teatime this evening, watching “Around the world in eighty days”, you will have had an enjoyable time. As entertainment, the plot, the over the top adventure, the characterisations, were all first class, but then there’s the star of episode two, so here’s a more leisurely look round.

Its located at Valei de Munte, Prahova, in Romania. I must dig further into the loco’s background, I fancy the train is made up of old Romanian rolling stock, all very modellable for a Balkans branch line.

Northroader,

 

A very interesting find. I suspect the Locomotive may be Romanian Bourbonnais.

The first carriage also appears to be Romanian.

I’m more intrigued as to the story of why it is in Valeni de Munte?

As we now live near Brasov, Romania and have friends in Valeni, I foresee a visit to the Gare to ask the Station staff for the back story.

 

Ani Noul Fericit

 

Paul

[Northroader]

Please feel welcome to post any story or pictures on here, Paul. There seems to be a place close to Bucharest which has some preserved steam, and was masquerading as “Brindisi” in the TV episode, with some steamship funnels added to the backscene. Also lurking in the background was a very British looking 2-4-0. Are you anything to do with the SARUK enterprise?

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Northroader

[Flying Fox 34F]

The main railway museum is at Gare de Nord in Bucharest.  The earliest locomotives were British built.  There is a display of Steam Locomotives at the Depot at Sibiu. I had the pleasure of a visiting 12 years ago and intend to visit again, now I live here, (moved over back in September).  There are also several other displayed Steam Locomotives up and down the country.

I will have to look up SARUK. I’ll admit I have been a little out of touch, as my previous full time railway career in the UK, swallowed up most of my time.

 

Kind regards

 

Paul

[Flying Fox 34F]

Just looked up SARUK. I didn’t appreciate it is the Sibiu - Agnita group!  I’m aware of the project and the UK involvement. Perhaps now I’m here, I can visit more regularly, it’s only a couple of hours away.  The line and the volunteers were featured on TV a couple of months ago.

 

Kind regards

 

Paul

[Northroader]

Here’s a Facebook link if anyone is wondering, (Romanian narrow gauge preservation)

https://m.facebook.com/SARUK-1073053896042860/

[Northroader]

Finishing off the tale of the star of “Round the world in eighty days”,episode two, now that the Christmas tree is put away and I can reach my books, it turns out it is actually a locomotive built for Romanian State Railways by Henschel in 1894. Preserved at Sibiu and brought up to steaming condition, no. 1493 was one of a class of 58 locos. There was a preceding class of goods locos with smaller wheels, but these had larger wheels and regarded as mixed traffic. They do have a very strong resemblance to Hungarian Railways class 325, previously IIIq, and after the carve up following WW1, when Romania practically doubled in size, the CFR gained quite a lot of these as well.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

Back at Christmas, I did links into a feature on the Simplon Orient Express, and have since found a real plum, a French documentary made in 1956, full of atmosphere:

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

One thing which has been reported recently is the death of Grahame Hitchen (BGman), who was a regular caller on this thread, after a short illness. It’s a loss which is felt by all of us who enjoyed his posts, matching quality of workmanship with a great sense of fun. His last project started only a few months ago was a HO Italian layout, which showed great promise. R.I.P. mate.

[Mikkel]

The Italian structures were superb. He had Bavarian interests at one point too.

 

 

 

 

[Northroader]

AUSTRIA — KAISER FERDINANDS -NORDBAHN.

 

Next job out of the workshop is a wagon for the Austrian goods train, and it’s another ETS coarse scale conversion, a long wheelbase lowside open. I decided to just replace the body, a lithographed tinplate pressing, and keep the chassis and end brake platform.  First remove the couplers and put a packing washer in the wheelsets to improve the back to back. The body was made in .060 plastikard, with two layers under the floor acting as packing around the the screws securing the axleguards to the chassis. The layers were fixed down with two countersunk screws onto the chassis, then covered over by a third layer of Evergreen vee groove plastic sheet forming the planked floor. The three layers formed a good width to cement the sides and ends to, these being a single thickness with grooves scribed on to represent the planking. I used Humbrol plastic cement, in the pious hope that the sides won’t go banana shaped, which usually happens when I use the liquid Mekpak. Add side stanchions, then primer and paint, using some Olive green out of an ancient Humbrol tin (this was not the current Humbrol shade, being more of a blue green shade)  I was working off a picture in the ETS catalogue for a suitable wagon - most reprehensible, I know. How good is the model? Well, it’s around the right size and shape, but doing this way the detail work for things like side stanchions could be wrong. There’s also a load of coffee stirrers coming from the sawmill added, and a brakeman roughing it out.

 

KFNB - who they? The Kaiser Ferdinand Nord Bahn was the first main line in Austria, initial opening in 1837. It extended roughly North East from Vienna, passing through Principalities and Archdukedoms you won’t find on a map now, and ending up at Lviv with an ongoing connection for Warsaw. The system, which was quite extensive, merged into the kkStB in 1908, so it fits into my time frame. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles did it no favours, the bulk of the lines ending in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic, and the flow of passengers and commerce to Austria dried up, leaving a local line of around fifty miles in Austria. The Nordbahnhof in Vienna was a place with a fairly simple track plan and magnificent architecture, and survived on scraps,  including traffic from the NordWest Bahn. Their station, NordWestBahnhof, another imposing city terminus, was just left derelict in the lean 1920s and 30s, and a WW2 air-raid did for the  NordBahnhof. Sic Transit Gloria, indeed.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Northroader

[Northroader]

IDEA FOR SMALL SHUNTING YARD IN CITY TERMINUS — (+subsequent posts)

 

Just for the say so whilst on the subject, here are a couple of interesting period pictures of Nordbahnhof in Vienna. You’ll see a simple double track approach, under the control of pointsmen, and one arrival platform, and one departure platform, with carriage sidings in the middle. I can’t say why there’s so many goods wagons lying around, there was an extensive goods yard on the approach. A Viennese Minories, anyone?

 

 

I should add that there was a rebuild about 1865, which is why the facade differs between the two views, the later version is at the bottom.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Northroader

[Compound2632]

"Bahnhof gothic".

 

That interior view is reminiscent of early views of the St Pancras train shed, though on a smaller scale.

[Northroader]

It’s interesting that there is quite a handy little marshalling yard between the platform roads, where you can shuffle coaches to your hearts content, which isn’t so obvious at the early St. Pancras.