Northroader

Newton Abbot

PRUSSIAN SIX-WHEELED VAN. Thanks for that, Andy, really useful picture. I hadn’t realised there were such things as German six wheel goods wagons, and so did a quick search. I could find a six wheel van, but not an open.

Ah, now my uncle served on that vessel. She was on the China station, sailing hundreds of miles up the Yangtze. It seems there were still pirates, etc., on the river. Very hot and humid, he contracted T.B. and was shipped home. Prolonged convalescence in a sanatorium set in pinewoods of darkest Shropshire. Streptomycin was still to be introduced, fresh air was the cure, the poor sods had to have the windows wide open all year round, so the drinking water froze in the glasses in the winter. He married one of the nurses, an Evans from Much Wenlock, in 1940, a certain three year olds earliest memory.

Wonder how anyone survived to breed this generation. It’s sad how a schooner leaves Liverpool going to Portmadoc, presumably for a load of slates, and just disappears with the crew, and the number of times this happens, ships set off, then vanish. Least ways with a railway accident all the locals can turn up for a gawp.

Time was when the Wrekin had a flashing red light on top. Folks still flew into it, think there was an Anson on the Little Wenlock side, maybe the Yanks when they were at Atcham.

Just on the matter of sending stuff by sea, I was looking up a suitable vessel to put forward for your docks, and one thing led to another, and I was looking at a list of shipwrecks for one month of one year. To me it’s unbelievable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_January_1878

DANISH MODEL LAYOUT. Just posting a video taken at a Dutch model show of a Danish layout, which ticks all the boxes, careful scenic modelling (well, it’s Dutch, ain’t it?) and very simple, just plain track with a halt platform in the countryside. Perhaps the windmill is a bit of a gimmick, and oversize for the overall composition? An excellent example, I think.

bit plain, innit?

This sort of thing?

Thank you, Paul, it really was a tale worth telling, best wishes for a successful venture. Nice weather out there, too. It’s lovely here, and it’s Carnival weekend. Yeeeaahhh!! and I’m leaving, drat. Rio de Janiero (pah!!) https://wbcarnival.co.uk/video

Paul, it may sound as if I’m being terribly nosey, but why did you do that move? Always allowing it’s not CIA related, of course, but I’ve always been intrigued, as I’m sure other members of the congregation are.

Downpatrick loop platform, BCDR:

It’s no use going round to the Danish embassy in Wootton Bassett and stuffing them in the diplomatic bag then? So far the European section of the library has been spoken for. The bungalow is in Up Hatherley, Don, an estate on the south side of town.

PRUSSIAN G.1, T.0, T.3. Looking at the potential of a micro layout set in Old Prussia, there’s the question of suitable motive power. The state railway was formed by a patchwork of private railway takeovers plus state development, and the loco fleet was a mixed bag in consequence. In 1883 blocks of numbers were allocated, for number of coupled wheels and usage, but the railway system was split into divisions, each of which had their own loco fleet numbered using this method, so you needed to know the division as well as the number to identify a particular engine. Standardised designs were also introduced around this time. In 1903 classes began to be designated as to function, “S” for schnellzug, (expresses), “P” for personenzug, (ordinary passenger), “G” for guterzug, (goods trains), and “T” tenderlok, (tank engines), systemwide numbering came in, and more standardisation of components between classes became the norm. Picking on three attractive classes, can I suggest first a G.1, a 0-4-0 tender design, first built for the Ostbahn in 1878. I gather they were intended for working longer branch lines, and copies were built for other parts of the KPEV. I’ve lifted the illustration from the wiki article, they had a four wheel tender, so looked quite cute. There’s another picture in the Borsig catalogue on page 21 of this thread. The various state railways were also fed by nebenbahn, light railways with limited axle loads and speed limits, which required specialised designs. The Prussian T.0 was one of these, a 2-2-0T. The picture is of one in the Berliner Technik museum. (The drawing shows one kitted out with overhead cables and pulleys for push pull working). Lastly there’s Germanys answer to “Terriers” and “Buckjumpers”, the T3 0-6-0T, capable of light railway working, besides limited duties on the main lines. Copies were built for the Saxon and Württemberg lines, besides being common on the Prussian system, and they are still around in preservation. (I’ve got a grotty old POLA 0 gauge one badly in need of shops attention)

Just to take the story on a bit further. The downsizing move has come to pass, and we’re moving to a small bungalow near my daughters. We’re busy offloading thirty nine years accumulation of stuff, a great deal to the recycling centre or Oxfam. One thing has got me scratching my head, and that’s my book collection, over 400 assorted titles, all shapes and ages, British, European, and North American. I’ve kept a few, but most will have to go. It’s just too much to do on eBay, and I can’t find a second hand bookseller who’s wanting to get any more in right now. My car has already gone, so I can’t deliver them anymore. (From near J16 of the M4) Model club library? Good home? Being realistic, I don’t expect to make much, if anything, on shifting them. Anyone got any good ideas?

48 MANN, ODER 6 PFERDE The Prussian hierarchy quickly realised the usefulness of railways in moving a fully equipped army across the country to the borders, and the Prussian Eastern Railway was done at their instigation with this in mind, to be able to face Russia. It would seem that following the various wars conducted in the 1860-70 period, ideas for improvements were done, and one obvious one was the branding of goods vans (gedeckte guterwagen) with their capacity for fully equipped soldiers or horses. Here is one of the standard G10 ‘Berlin’ vans, and you’ll see top L.H corner “M.T.48 M. 6 Pf” (Militar transport, 48 mann, 6 pferde) This was applied to all the all state railways stock, with variations as to the van size. Vans which couldn’t be used, mainly unventilated beer vans, were branded “spezialwagen”. A vehicle was also designed for use in hospital trains, the “fakultativwagen”. Construction was very similar to the Maunsell SECR utility vans, angle iron outside framing supporting t.& g. board panels. The layout was similar to four wheel coaching stock, with end platform entrances, and limited side windows, but in addition having side doors to facilitate stretcher loading. They couldn’t have seen much use for their intended purpose, and the various landerbahn used them for third and fourth class passenger coaches, parcels, luggage and brake vans, and several have lasted long enough for preservation. http://www.mkb-berlin.de/fz_mkb12.htm These steps were done in the 1880-90 era, and eventually the French authorities copied the idea, and French goods vans gained similar branding, I think from around the mid 1900 period. These vans did see widespread use in WW1, and gained notoriety with American forces when they entered the war. Something of a culture shock when coming down a gangplank at La Rochelle or wherever, to be faced with these for onward transport, having been transported round the States in elderly Pullman cars. Veterans leagues in America after the war could refer to themselves as “40 and 8 associations”, and individual American states were gifted with a van, decorated with shields of the French departments. ETS trains do these, in 0 scale tinplate, but they’re really only any use as a collectors item, you couldn’t put them on a layout. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merci_Train

Annie, just looking at your latest venture, in actual tactile modelling, have you picked up on this thread, which gives ideas on very similar practices:

Does the “upper Thames” go as far as Ely? Just asking.

So, next question, this layout is the one that’s going to the MK show? (Wish I could get to that, that operating session was real joy the last outing)

No, no gates on towpaths. Some fodder for the horse could be stowed on the barge, otherwise there were pubs scattered along the canal which had stables and could provide feed.

At the other end of the tunnel...

And maybe some signals? https://www.real-modell.de/zubehoer-h0/am-gleis-signale/bausatz-hauptsignal-typ-henning-2-fluegelig.html

There was a loop if you were heading north at Pandy. “Up” and “down” on the North to West could lead to trouble, as the lines changed their designation over at Hereford Barr’s Court. It sticks in my mind because of a derailment there, a northbound train of engineers flats went into the loop and kept going, the 47 going through the stop blocks and the flats piling up behind like a pack of playing cards. It seems that they had been assumed to be vac brake fitted, the end through pipes being very discoloured. Anyhow, several weekend occupations followed on clearing up. The main road runs parallel with the track here, just a fields width away, with a sort of ribbon development for the village running along it, and two pubs mixed in. I popped into one of the pubs for refreshment, as you do, and when I got back on site, the old perway ganger, a wizened old local, was very interested which pub I’d been in. I told him, and he seemed very happy with my choice, why? Well, the other place had a bit of a reputation as a Sodom and Gomorrah, according to him. Needless, to say, I marked it down for a visit, but never did manage it. I fancy that derailment caused the loop to be taken out of service, the goods sidings over the other side on the signalling plan had been taken out several years earlier.

Some went south, others headed north.... (later known as Banks’s)