Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[Nearholmer]

The Hornsby-Akroyd led to about a dozen locos, while the Deutz led to several thousand, so it might look a mechanic’s nightmare, but was actually very successful indeed. There were multiple reasons why the H-A didn’t prosper, mostly nothing to do with engineering, and the basic design worked fine, even if the engine is less suitable to ever-varying loads than the Otto engine on the Deutz.

[Simond]

if my putting two (Annie's loco pic) and two (Kevin's pic) together is not making an unreasonably large number, I conclude that Annie's picture is showing a true rarity, a loco with a water cooled exhaust.  Or maybe it was just a convenient place to mount the chimney...

 

Merry Christmas to all!

Simon

[Nearholmer]

The “chimney” on the right of the loco is the radiator. It has a flue up the middle, with air inlet at the bottom (see those little slots at the base), and air outlet at the top. Hot water from the cylinder jacket enters via the pipe near the “shoulder”. What I can’t remember, despite having seen the engineering drawings from the Ruston archives, is whether the water pipe coils down inside the drum, or whether there was effectively a water-jacket around the central flue; the design differed slightly between locos, and I suspect this one has a water-jacket round the flue, and that the system operated sealed (I think there’s a pressure-relief valve there). But, as I say, my memory of the detail is a bit foggy, and the cooling design evolved.

 

The stationary engine has an open-tank, boiling-water, radiator, which was usual, because it’s dead simple, and lasts forever with zero maintenance.

 

Memory is letting me down regarding the exhaust, I can’t remember whether it runs out via the radiator flue at the front, or up the chimney that emerges through the cab roof, which I’m pretty sure does provide exhaust for the starter blow-lamp, whereas the stationary engine blow-lamp exhaust just wafts up through the aperture that is covered with a “saucepan lid” in the photo.

 

The Deutz loco exhausts via the silencer under the frame towards the front, and it originally had open hopper, boiling water, radiators fitted outside the frames (you can see the bolt holes). The cross section of this loco with the hoppers fitted, when viewed from the end, was a bit odd, a trapezoid, widest at the bottom. It was like that because the stollen in which it worked was trapezoidal in section, and the loco fitted hand-in-glove.

 

The majority of the later production Deutz, and many of the oodles of copies made in Germany, plus the few made in Britain, mostly had an integrated cylinder jacket and cooling hopper, with a cast-in “chimney” (overall, a complex casting). That hopper was quite low-capacity, and had to be topped-up with water part-way through a shift.

 

Here is a Ruston-Proctor built c1914, being a British copy of a Deutz, where you can see the hopper chimney.

 

 

 

 

 

While the Germans put their steel-framed glasses on, productionised the first loco, and then built thousands of locos with carefully iterated improvements over about 20 years, the British had a wild outbreak of creativity, going from this first simple 0-4-0, via 2-4-0 with opposed-piston engine, to a great big bogie loco with a massive opposed-cylinder engine, within c5 years, then, having rapidly out-run practical manufacturing technology, and their own understanding of thermodynamics, gave-up! An interesting case of tortoise and hare.

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Happy holidays to all from the Florence Avenue Locomotive Works.

 

Official Work in Progress photograph of the first engine built in house, named “Brunel.” Gauge 2. Due to be finished February 2022.

 

 

Douglas

Edited December 22, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

Funny; the 2023 date!

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The majority of the later production Deutz, and many of the oodles of copies made in Germany, plus the few made in Britain, mostly had an integrated cylinder jacket and cooling hopper, with a cast-in “chimney” (overall, a complex casting). That hopper was quite low-capacity, and had to be topped-up with water part-way through a shift.

MOTAT here in Auckland has a 1911 Oberursel-Deutz which endlessly fascinated me whenever I visited.  After a cinderella existence as a static exhibit I last heard it was undergoing restoration possibly to working condition with a completion date in 2020, but I haven't been near MOTAT for over 20 years now and they don't seem to update their website all that often.

 

http://www.gkmo.net/assets/files/1914_Oberurseler Locomotiven_M.pdf

 

 

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

the British had a wild outbreak of creativity, going from this first simple 0-4-0, via 2-4-0 with opposed-piston engine, to a great big bogie loco with a massive opposed-cylinder engine, within c5 years, then, having rapidly out-run practical manufacturing technology, and their own understanding of thermodynamics, gave-up! An interesting case of tortoise and hare.

 

That is an absolute monster of a locomotive that looks like some kind of fantasy dieselpunk creation only it's real.

Though perhaps we have drifted a bit far from tinplate toy trains and it's time to put aside such incredible curiosities.

[sidmouth]

Tracks to the Trenches 2016 by Martin Creese, on Flickr I think there is a Deutz at Apedale 

[Nearholmer]

Yes, it is IIRC a single cylinder horizontal, so of the old school, but a diesel, and with an enclosed, as opposed to open, gear box. It does do what all 'liegende', locos with one or two horizontal cylinders, do, which is to move along the track like a rocking-horse. There are some next-generation Deutz locos in the UK too, including I think an OME, so a single-cylinder vertical two-stroke diesel, with co-acting scavenge piston in a separate cylinder, at Amerton. I went to look at it while they had the engine in bits. There is a restored and working Ruston-Proctor as part of the VoR collection, and an unrestored one at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, which is well worth going to look at, because it is very accessible and allows you to really get your head around the way it is configured.

 

Not that I'm at all interested in these older i.c. locos, you understand.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

 I must say thank you to Annie for that link to the Oberurseler material: Thank you!

 

I have seen some of it befure, because there is a copy of an early catalogue in the NGRS collection, but not all of it. It includes their first loco, although it doesn't say so, for which I have a "flyer" that they issued giving performance figures from tests and early usage, and it shows The Kaiser inspecting one of the two, or possibly more, that he had on the railway serving a majolicaware* works at his summer estate at Kadinen. One other loco there was super bulled-up, painted in a livery very similar to SECR full fig, with imperial eagle insignia on it**.

 

Excellent stuff!

 

So far as I know, no early tinplate maker made any models of these little "tractors", although they did make early electric locos, but I will delve a bit and see if I can find any to get us back to topic.

 

*If you google "cadinen majolica" you will see how posh and collectible the output was. It was later replaced by a brickworks, which was a bit more prosaic.

 

** Picture of it here 

http://www.lokhersteller.de/lokbau/oberursel.htm#:~:text=Einen Bahnanschluß erhielt das Werk 1899. Bereits im,Cadinen bestimmte Lok eine Prämierung des Kaisers erhielt. But, I think the author here has the story a bit confused, because the first loco the Kaiser had was the one in the catalogue picture, which looked a bit like a tram, and had a vertical engine I think. The fancy one that got a medal was built in 1912, either to replace it or to supplement it. It may be the one shown in the other two pictures in the catalogue.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

A few days ago, I trailed the likelihood of a special excursion hauled by a modern locomotive. Well, Father Christmas tenders profuse apologies, because said locomotive, along with all its brethren, seems to have been temporarily impounded by Revenue Gnomes, or something. He’s trying to work through a foot-thick pile of forms in order to get it released.

 

The Special ran nevertheless, but in more old-fashioned guise.

 

Because the Pullmans are from Bing, I thought I’d include this really cheerful catalogue cover.

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

A few days ago, I trailed the likelihood of a special excursion hauled by a modern locomotive. Well, Father Christmas tenders profuse apologies, because said locomotive, along with all its brethren, seems to have been temporarily impounded by Revenue Gnomes, or something. He’s trying to work through a foot-thick pile of forms in order to get it released.

 

The Special ran nevertheless, but in more old-fashioned guise.

 

Because the Pullmans are from Bing, I thought I’d include this really cheerful catalogue cover.

 

IIRC, the idea of a Christmas / New Year “state of the  nation  layout” update either originated with or was developed by your good self?  When the forms are done, might there be an update this year?  Reason for asking (other than curiousity, of course), is I’m working on one for the family here this year, as 2021 saw quite significant changes - and some actual progress .  Just wondered, Keith.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Nearholmer]

Ah, well, I provided a single word update last week: static.

 

By the time the home-schooling-during-lockdown-stress-fest was over, the weather was just about good enough (although it never got very good this year) to allow decent length bike rides, which I always prioritise over layout building. I have got a cunning plan up my sleeve, hopefully to start not far into the new year, but I’ve spent next to no time at all on the layout this year.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

21 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Ah, well, I provided a single word update last week: static.

 

By the time the home-schooling-during-lockdown-stress-fest was over, the weather was just about good enough (although it never got very good this year) to allow decent length bike rides, which I always prioritise over layout building. I have got a cunning plan up my sleeve, hopefully to start not far into the new year, but I’ve spent next to no time at all on the layout this year.

My apologies.  I’ve found it:  20th Dec post, which I had seen and ‘liked’ (I was impressed with the signal box photos). Good to know there’s a ‘cunning plan’, and I can’t argue with prioritising fresh air exercise.  All the best for the new year, Keith.

[F-UnitMad]

On 27/12/2021 at 13:05, Keith Addenbrooke said:

IIRC, the idea of a Christmas / New Year “state of the  nation  layout” update either originated with or was developed by your good self?

Blimey is it that time of year again??!!    

[Nearholmer]

I was just musing on the subject of revival, as in tinplate toy trains revival, and googling surfaced this irrelevant, but intriguing image.

 

 

Its one of Sankey and Moody’s revivalist meetings in the 1870s, but the bit I don’t get is why many in the audience have come equipped for a game of billiards.

 

Can anyone explain? I’m no biblical scholar, but I’m sure billiards wasn’t mentioned in any bible reading or RE lesson at school.

 

 

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Nearholmer said:

Can anyone explain?

 

These are men who have recently been converted and saved from a life of indolence and dissipation* in the billiard halls. They are about to break in two the emblems of their past sinful life, on the preacher's cue...

 

*Not sure about that. Surely serious dissipation takes some effort?

[Northroader]

[Donw]

36 minutes ago, Northroader said:

 

Drawn by you?

[Northroader]

Not me, Don, I just did a search and lifted it.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

3 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I was just musing on the subject of revival, as in tinplate toy trains revival, and googling surfaced this irrelevant, but intriguing image.

 

 

Its one of Sankey and Moody’s revivalist meetings in the 1870s, but the bit I don’t get is why many in the audience have come equipped for a game of billiards.

 

Can anyone explain? I’m no biblical scholar, but I’m sure billiards wasn’t mentioned in any bible reading or RE lesson at school.

 

 

 

Ooh, I think I know this one: the cartoons are by a gentleman called Dave Walker and one appears in the Church Times each week: (quite how he manages to find a topic to unpack in this style on such a regular basis is rather impressive).

 

As for the staffs or staves in the main picture, Moody (the preacher) and Sankey (the organist) were not Anglican and I don’t think this picture is of a Church, but I’d agree that Churchwarden’s staffs would be an adequate description of what they are - looking at the picture, the men carrying them look dressed as Stewards, and the staffs they carried are designed for keeping order (or waking people up) during Services - they have a good reach into a pew.  These days they are basically ceremonial.

 

Of course, internet searches have a habit of turning up all sorts of things - it also works the other way: I won’t share here some of the things that I have come up when I’ve googled heaven or paradise seeking inspiration for a Sermon, although my favourite was a rather unexpected image of a delicious pizza that topped the search results one time.  That’s marketing .

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Nearholmer]

37 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

don’t think this picture is of a Church

Its the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, so no, not a church. It’s a wonderful building, a bit like a railway terminus without track, but has fallen from grace and become a ‘business design centre’, which when I was last there was hosting an electrical engineering trade exhibition.

[F-UnitMad]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

 

 

 

Stewards at the very first Warley MRC Exhibition prepare to control the Great Unwashed as opening time approaches and the stampede to Ye Olde Bachmann Railways is anticipated.

[Donw]

I thought they were to drive the unvaccinated out without having to touch them.  

 

Don

 

 

[Simond]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Its the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, so no, not a church. It’s a wonderful building, a bit like a railway terminus without track, but has fallen from grace and become a ‘business design centre’, which when I was last there was hosting an electrical engineering trade exhibition.

maybe Simon would like to set up Heaton Lodge there…

[St Enodoc]

15 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

I was just musing on the subject of revival, as in tinplate toy trains revival, and googling surfaced this irrelevant, but intriguing image.

 

 

Its one of Sankey and Moody’s revivalist meetings in the 1870s, but the bit I don’t get is why many in the audience have come equipped for a game of billiards.

 

Can anyone explain? I’m no biblical scholar, but I’m sure billiards wasn’t mentioned in any bible reading or RE lesson at school.

 

 

Sorry, no. That one's got me snookered.