Bermuda Railway

[rue_d_etropal]

There is a photo online of the surviving units. Look like the single engined freight locos, possible one might be a trailer, apparently in sheds.

http://www.royalgazette.com/storyimage/RG/20150714/NEWS/150719826/EP/1/1/EP-150719826.jpg&Logo=/images/rglogo1.gif&LogoXPos=5&LogoYPos=5&maxw=630&maxh=350

full article

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20150714/NEWS/150719826

The double doors are visible on side.

Edited December 29, 2018 by rue_d_etropal

[rue_d_etropal]

Started on units 100/101 as good photos and Phil's card kit. I have made a few alterations including width, which I believe is 9ft. Roof profile based on typical railway cariage of the time.

I am not sure about roof detail,as photos when built show curved protrusions(extra vents?), but anothe photo(colour) shows various other cylinders on roof. It's a start at least.

[PhilJ W]

Started on units 100/101 as good photos and Phil's card kit. I have made a few alterations including width, which I believe is 9ft. Roof profile based on typical railway cariage of the time.

I am not sure about roof detail,as photos when built show curved protrusions(extra vents?), but anothe photo(colour) shows various other cylinders on roof. It's a start at least.

On some of the photographs the sides either side of the sliding doors appear to be inset slightly and the doors when opened sit flush with the sides and the door runners are enclosed. The curved protusions are the exhausts and in some photographs the exhausts seem to be raised slightly above the roof, perhaps to reduce heat transfer, the roofs were also painted white to keep the interior cooler.

[rue_d_etropal]

Exhausts , that makes sense, but they look different on the colour photo of a train crossing a bridge I am tempted to leave them off,as there are no completely clear photos.

I do wonder about the doors, it might be an optical ilusion,as the sides look flat in many photos. The doors might have been very thin. I was wondering whether to do a version with doors open, as they probbly would have been done when it was too hot.

[PhilJ W]

There is a photo of one of these locomotives on a trestle with a works train with the doors open. Why not make the doors as separate items so that they can be modelled open or shut?

[Pacific231G]

What an absolutely fascinating topic. I've seen what I can find from a brief internet search and what does surprise me is why the railway was built to standard gauge. It's scope would have been comparable and of similar length to the metre gauge railways on the Ile d'Oléron and Ile de Ré just off France's Atlantic coast and far shorter than the Isle of Man's three foot gauge railways so was there an idea that anything narrower than SG wasn't a "proper" railway?  A linear island like Bermuda should have been perfect country for a railway to serve its transport needs particualrly if it had maintained its ban on motor vehicles (some chance!) but I suppose the idea of railways being old fashioned and obsolete had taken hold by the mid 1940s. Was the railway perhaps also rather worn out by heavy wartime traffic?  It all looks fairly simple from the photos that I've seen but are there any trackplans for the railway?  

 

Phil. I think the photos of Bermuda taken by a Japanese tourist are these on flickr posted by Okinawa Soba

www.flickr.com/photos/okinawa-soba/albums/72157615645491751/with/3304634536/

They were processed by Tamotsu Enami but the identity of the photographer seems to be unknown. They are also very well hand coloured (as it seerms are all the "colour" images of the railway) but that's not a reliable source for the railway's actual liveries which Enami's colourists probably wouldn't have known. As well as the three actual photos of the railway, its tracks appear in at least one of the others which may give some indication of how it was inset into the road.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Pacific231G

[PhilJ W]

It was similar in many ways to American interurban lines such as the South Shore Line. The high initial cost of electrification though could not be justified, in fact it was built on the cheap with wooden trestles across bays and inlets. This was a factor in the lines demise, the trestles needed replacement and the cost could not be justified.

[ianmianmianm]

The loading gauge does seem very tight in context of the standard gauge chosen and in fact the clearances are quite shocking. Call me a big girls blouse but today I chickened out of trying to take my work van (a Nissan nv 200) through a railway arch. But standard gauge it was. Simon - when you are ready with stuff loaded on shapeways and printable please give me the heads up as I will make an order and also let my contact in th royal gazette know as well. I am thinking of heading for HO as described as you rightly pointed out that most important scenic stuff for the era is available in that scale. I am undecided about location to model but I find the station at Ord Road which appears in a few pictures to be a unite appealing and Ord road is about 10 mins drive from home for me

[PhilJ W]

The loading gauge can be explained by there being two tunnels on the line. One in particular, the Richmond Road Tunnel was entered by a sharp curve which continued into the tunnel, IIRC neither tunnel now survives.

[rue_d_etropal]

There is a photo of one of these locomotives on a trestle with a works train with the doors open. Why not make the doors as separate items so that they can be modelled open or shut?

I had thought of this, but my design philosophy is to move away from the 'kit' concept. Also it can be difficult to print some items thin enough and then make sure they fit together. Far easier just to have 2 designs, it actually is a lot less work to design.For bigger scales(O and G1) it might be possible to have separate (operating) doors.

I need to look at the doors again. Looking closely I think they might be slightly inset into body, with the ends smoothed off.It is not much(only about 0.5mm in HO scale), but possiblty was done to keep within gauge. Having said that it is odd that the steps at end of pullman coaches are sticking out(presumably to make balcony floor space bigger). On the tourist coaches the steps don't, . Maybe it is less of a problem near to track(I found that was also done on WCPR with its coaches and railcars).

Ia, I often get to this stage and then review wat I have one. As there are no drawings there is a lot of guesswork. The most difficult part to model will be the driving bogies, but it might be possible to use somethin r2r(possibly the Hornby Sentinel shunter or the Bachmann GE45).

As to why it was standard gauge, I do wonder why 3ft gauge was not built, as that that the norm for British operations overseas if space was limited. Maybe Drewry had the equipment for standard gauge, as some of it was in effect new design ideas) .

For locations to model, there is so much choice. In fact it would make an interesting big layout. The tunnels are interesting, and a good scenic break. Aquarium station is on a curve and would make a nice small station scene. Any of the bridges would be a nice model.

Edited December 31, 2018 by rue_d_etropal

[PhilJ W]

The stock was quite wide at 9 foot, so perhaps that is why standard gauge was chosen. It might also be because the power units were mounted on the bogies. As for motorising, Tenshodo produce motor bogies with the correct wheelbase for both 00 and HO (28mm and 24.5 mm). The main difficulty would be getting suitable connecting rods and getting them to work. Having said that I visited a toy fair yesterday and one of the traders had on display an HO Swiss 0-4-0 electric shunter with side connecting rods that looked about the right size, only problem was it was £85.

Edited December 31, 2018 by PhilJ W

[ianmianmianm]

More fool us just looking for stills..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KECZgEtyw

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTQy6R3CMaA   

 

Plenty more if you just search Bermuda and rattle and shake - including some side views of the motor cars

Edited January 1, 2019 by ianmianmianm

[PhilJ W]

More fool us just looking for stills..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KECZgEtyw

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTQy6R3CMaA   

 

Plenty more if you just search Bermuda and rattle and shake - including some side views of the motor cars

Great find! In the first film starting at 1:50 you can see a train entering the Richmond Road tunnel filmed from above the tunnel, this gives some idea of the sharp curve into the tunnel. Also there is a shot in the second film of one of the two USN engineers Brill diesel-electric locomotives used in WW2. These were converted from interurban electric baggage cars by installing diesel engines and generators.

[rue_d_etropal]

Intersesting films, I did not spot the Brill conversion in the second film though.

Simon Horn has sent me some  drawings, some are proposals but one has good detail for motor vans 100/101, and I have had to design my model.I estimate they were longer than the other single engine ones, at over 38ft long.I am always wary of drawings published by industry magazines at the time but this one looks OK, and fits with some of the published dimensions. 

[PhilJ W]

My mistake, the pic of the Brill conversion is on the first film, just after the shot of the train entering the tunnel.

[rue_d_etropal]

If you mean the classic colour photo of train crossing bridge, I had assumed that was either 100 or 101, but on closer looking, I can see it must be the Brill. It looks like it has outside connecting rods, which I did not think the Brill had. I have found lots of photos of type 55s online, but none of them full baggage ones.

[rue_d_etropal]

Modified version of 100/101. Slighty longer, not so tall, and I have repositioned roof mounts, based on drawing I now have thanks to Simon Horn.

I also now have an idea of how the motor coaches were originaally conceived, similar roof to the motor vans. I am hoping I can do some scale drawings based on this as well as some model designs9would make an interesting alternative). Also looks like the single engined moror vans might have also had a slightly different original design, ,but ended up more like the double engined version but shorter.

I would like to find drawings for the Brill rail motors. Even then it is a bit of a guess to determine whichof the wo lengths was used.

I think I can work out the Planet9Hibberd) shunting loco, as there is a good sde photo, and plenty of photos of other ones(including some preserved), and the dimensions are very similar to the standard gauge Simplex loco, which I have alreay done.

Not sure about the wagons. Modellers might be able to get away with standard bogie wagons,

[PhilJ W]

If you mean the classic colour photo of train crossing bridge, I had assumed that was either 100 or 101, but on closer looking, I can see it must be the Brill. It looks like it has outside connecting rods, which I did not think the Brill had. I have found lots of photos of type 55s online, but none of them full baggage ones.

They are the bogie frames, they look like commonwealth bogies. I'm not that well up on Brill interurban baggage cars but I understand that they were of two different types. As for the freight stock, there were four open wagons, two vans and a tank wagon, all on bogies. The open wagons were of two lengths, the shorter ones were low sided, in 00 scale they could be adapted from the Ratio bolster wagon kit which looks to be about the right size. I haven't seen a photograph or drawing of the larger wagons. The two vans were unpowered versions of the motor baggage cars and the tank wagon looked very like the American tank cars of the day.

[rue_d_etropal]

The bogies look like the American style ones fitted to some British stock.

For HO, the low cost Mehano/Lima/Jouef bogie wagons are probably close enough.

Personally I would recommend Ho as opposed to OO,unless you either want to model stockas running on trial in Preston, or alongside milirtary vehicles/figures(1/72) for the WW2 period, although vehicles would still be rare, assuming there were any at all. .

[PhilJ W]

Motor vehicles were banned until WW2, only horse drawn vehicles were allowed. Even when they were allowed the majority would be military types even after the war and the demise of the railway. There were a few British servicemen based there but it appears that the majority were American. The American army engineers used the railway to transport equipment to build an airfield at the eastern end of the island hence the two Brill locomotives. My prefered scale is 00 but HO military models are available from firms such as Roco Minitanks and American military figures are available in HO.

[rue_d_etropal]

I think I have got a reasonable design for the motor coach. Hopefully I can modify it into the other coaches

[Pacific231G]

Great find! In the first film starting at 1:50 you can see a train entering the Richmond Road tunnel filmed from above the tunnel, this gives some idea of the sharp curve into the tunnel. Also there is a shot in the second film of one of the two USN engineers Brill diesel-electric locomotives used in WW2. These were converted from interurban electric baggage cars by installing diesel engines and generators.

I've just edited the railway shots from all the films I've found and, according to their titles, they were all shot in the 1930s. Whcih is the shot in the second film you've identified as a Brill DE conversion? There's no sign of any motor vehicles in any of the shots in those fllms so wouldn't that place them before the Brill motor cars appeared?

 

The colourised (I don't think it's true colour) photo of a train crossing one of the viaducts is identified as 1940s and the motor unit does look to me like a Brill car. The dress of the people watching it from the beach does also look decidedly post war 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Pacific231G

[rue_d_etropal]

I've just edited the railway shots from all the films I've found and, according to their titles, they were all shot in the 1930s. Whcih is the shot in the second film you've identified as a Brill DE conversion. There's no sign of any motor vehicles in any of the shots so wouldn't that place them before the Brill motor cars appeared?

Phil mentioned it , it is in the first film, the colour photo of a train crossing bridge with people standing in foreground. It must be 1940 as the Brills did not arrive till mid WW2.

 

There is a nice piece of film showing the tourist stock, with central side entrances. Not many photos of that stock. Difficult to work out what doors(if any) on sides. Might just be sliding doors into each compartment. End doors seem to be open(hot!).

The film showing the motor van and trailer is interesting. Given that the trailer appears to have windows in one end, presumably to make reversal easier, I wonder why the motor van is pushing van , requiring people to be hanging to side keeping a watch for obstructions. Obviously no time to run the motor van round the trailer and pulling it.

 

Found another film, not much railway though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ahUsffzwdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA3MegTwnI4

All add to the atmosphere of the period

Edited January 3, 2019 by rue_d_etropal

[PhilJ W]

IIRC the trailer vans initially had a driving cab at one end so that they could be operated in 'push-pull' mode. These were removed early in the life of the railway due to there being little used. The single ended motor vans also had driving controls at both ends. The 'tourist' stock AFAIK had no doors, just a screen between the vestible and the passenger compartments, this is visible in one of the photos in Pomeroy's book. The 'Pullman' cars had a veranda similar to the passenger motor cars at one end only. I do not known if they were ever turned or 'handed'. The ends of the passenger cars were fitted with a central door for the conductor/guard to move through the train. The Pullman cars had unglazed windows and no fixed seating but were provided with a number of wicker chairs.

[rue_d_etropal]

Obviously safety was not a concern  with the tourist coaches. I suppose the central hand rail/pole in the entrance area was thought to be enough. Apart from being a wider entrance it is similar to the 2nd class entrance on the motor coaches, but they have doors. I am only adding detail I am certain of,so I was planning to leave the tourist coaches without side doors.

 

On looking closely at one photo, it does look like here is the edge of a door in entrance. Showed up clearer when I Gimped the photo. Also the photo taken at Preston makes it look like there is a door , possibly sliding one into compartment. Some of the publicity material is a bit odd, I think refers to original specification, not that supplied to Bermuda Railway.

Edited January 3, 2019 by rue_d_etropal