Northroader

STENVALLS PUBLISHERS. Funny thing, here’s a book published in 1978, I got from Motor Books, never noticed the publisher until now. This one is in, er... Danish?

Thanks for the link to the CO, Eric, most useful, and one I had missed. I used to whizz out of Leicester Square underground and round the corner into St. Martins Court, and the railway bookshop up the alley there, (Motor Books), which I think has now gone. It was the place to go for overseas railway books, as well as British, and in the time I went, there was a noticeable reduction in the amount of titles available. Was it stock levels, or competition from online sources? Should you be looking at printing on paper, or going digital? I’m sure you have a desire to make knowledge widely available, rather than making the best seller chart. How best to do this, it’s a concern that I have touched on in some of the really good sites I link into. Storage, software up grades, permanency,sponsorship? All future problems.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_State_Railways_locomotives_142-150 The line you mention, Stephen, almost certainly is the Ruse to Varna Railway, opened in 1866, as part of the extensive international manoeuvring highlighted in Eric’s link. Britain and France were concerned to try to limit Russian expansion. The Ottoman Empire had extended up to the Southern boundaries of Austria, but through the nineteenth century, right up to WW1,Turkish influence was waning, and languages, cultures, religions and ethnicity led to new states being created. Russia and Austria aiding this militarily, Britain and France getting involved through such actions as the Crimean War, all in all a very tangled tale. When it opened, the aim was to link traffic and trade on the lower Danube at Ruse, to the Black Sea Port of Varna, a route of around 105 miles, as navigation through the channels of the delta at the mouth of the Danube was difficult. It was the first railway in what became Bulgaria, passing through dirt poor feudal areas, with Russian army presence. Another French sponsored railway, the Chemin de Fer Orientaux, the CO, was subsequently created heading north west from Constantinople, which eventually reached Serbia, and this absorbed the Ruse Varna line in 1873, before becoming in part Bulgarian State railways in 1888. All of this had the intention of linking Western Europe with Turkey, but through a deeply unsettled area. The Orient Express started operation in 1883, passing from Budapest through what had become Rumania, to a port at Giurgiu, opposite side of the Danube to Ruse, then ferry across and another train to Varna. Here the journey continued down the Black Sea on an Austrian Lloyd steamer to reach Constantinople. Later on the journey was routed through the Rumanian port of Constanza, before the CO route opened throughout. Michael Portillo visited Bulgaria on one of his TV trips, and I was left with the impression of a really pleasant country, wonder if they had a sort of Ashburton/ Oxenhope line somewhere where you could run a British 0-6-0?

Thinking about things like who I should have supported at Qatar, what’s the national flag of Altonia look like? I haven’t spotted it flying from any of the public buildings.

There’s a useful site where they’re restoring a Billard, (which just happens to have been made for the CFD Charente section, and ordered the month I was born!), leading dimensions, a few body drawings, and a load of good photos: http://www.passion-metrique.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12016 The wheels look a very piddly size, (550mm), I fancy it would be best to use the available Slaters jobs, hide em behind the frames etc, paint the whole lot black, tuck away under the car, and not a lot of folks will spot the difference.

You mount the pickups on the bogie frame, which I envisage as a solid, unsprung truck. Then there’s 2/3 of the tender wheels picking up.

Couldn’t you do it by mounting the two rear axles of the tender on a bogie arrangement, mounted on a fixed pivot point, then having the leading tender axle floating, with enough springing to keep the wheels on the rails? This would allow you to transfer as much weight as you want from the leading end of the tender body on to the drawbar.

Good! Now, matey, digging around this morning, I’ve struck gold, an active thread running on the CFD Charente. It’s on a highly useful forum designed to help waverers jump into metre gauge, beware! http://www.passion-metrique.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9328&start=435 And by the way, also lifted out of the Forum: (The Model lever is obviously placed too close to the track for the weight to swing round, or clear the train, for that matter)

There’s a range of 3D printed items for French metre gauge here: (depending on how keen you are on 3D) http://www.rue-d-etropal.com/3D-printing/3d_printed-french-metre-gauge.htm

I have a vague recollection that fuel distribution depots did fill up “foreign” branded tankers, besides their own. Sort of “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” basis.

BULGARIAN RAILWAYS. Wonder if this was the one? Built in the Ottoman Empire by an English sounding firm, with the active support of Bulgarian revolutionaries who could see it as the thin end of the wedge. Looking at the train, it would be a doddle to model, yes, indeedy.... https://bnr.bg/en/post/100707589/the-revolutionaries-that-built-bulgaria-s-railways

There’s a thread running on the CFD system in the adjacent departement which might be helpful: https://forum.e-train.fr/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=81408 And here’s a very nice film: https://memoire.ciclic.fr/4664-mort-du-c-f-d-la

Perhaps modern versions of contemporary models?

Maybe if you got a Plymouth diesel, painted it black, put a DCC speaker inside, then had it going round making those full blooded hooter and bell sounds? Sort of “honorary steam engine” as they say.

Gordon Gravett published a book “Reseau Breton”, which was full of drawings for their metre gauge stock. Could you work off this?

The source you quote is interesting, Jonathan. In the late sixties I joined the Cardiff divisional office on the loco maintenance side, and Eric Mountford was on the outdoor machinery side of things. He was a Swindonite who had moved down to Caerphilly works, and after that was closed he come into the divisional office. Very deeply into South Wales railway history, producing several books. I enjoyed his hospitality, and made him a static model of a TVR railcar. In his house there was an amazing collection of documentation he’d saved from Caerphilly, which would have gone into the bonfire otherwise. One book was the register which I did a longhand copy of, pre photocopier days, and I fancy Harold Morgan must have had access to it as well. After his untimely death from a heart attack, Frankie his wife had a swarm of collectors descend, and his collection went off all over the place. one thing that tickles me is that the GWR didn’t think much of its newly acquired fleet, if you look at the cond. dates.

If it’s any help, here’s a longhand copy of the register of N&B wagons handed over to the GWR at grouping:

That totals up to quite a good years work in my book. Great achievement.

Talking of mobile bonfires, I once had the vertical boiler version, slightly older than yours, and no flywheel. It was heated up by a methylated spirit lamp, a circular tank with a wick in a short tube centrally placed on top, and a breather hole. Being keen, (and young and foolish) I filled the tank to the brim, wick in, light up, and under the boiler. About the time the water started to boil, the meths had also warmed up, and expanded through the breather hole, and spilled out over everywhere. Then of course it caught fire, and I had to pick the whole flaming lot up, and hoy it out through the back door pronto. The crankshaft was always slightly bent after that.

The trees could be an “add on” by the film folks to make Arizona look more like Oklahoma, they’re not around in the other film. Thanks for asking, Kevin, I’m alright, but I’m afraid most of the action has moved over to Beyond Dover for now (hint, hint) I wish I’d got the energy to push the other threads along at the same rate.

Back home after Christmas at my daughters, just lazing about stodged up, overcome by inertia. So, what’s on the telly? Picked up two films, an hour or so apart, and in the way of these things, just saw the second half of both. ”Oklahoma” the 1955 musical, and “3:10 to Yuma” a 1957 cowboy. There’s a train in both, with an interesting looking station, so do an enquiry. Funny thing is they both used the same place for the shoot, although it’s several hundred miles from Hollywood, quite a coincidence. The place is called Elgin, Arizona, on a SP branch line down near the Mexican border, so quite a Western situation. A few years after the films were done, the line closed and was lifted, but if you want a small western station with a few simple buildings, a main line and a siding or two, it does look really nice, so here’s a shot from each of the films, a nice, colourful depot, and a very run down train: its just getting a balance between the two. Here’s links to where the information is: http://www.wawyckoff.com/Lizzie/RailFan03.html https://obscuretrainmovies.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/310-to-yuma-1957/ Just to add, I’ve missed my Christmas wishes, but the very best to any hopeful persons still following this, for a Happy New Year, and some successful modelling. Bob.

I think the third class wouldn’t be so well endowed with oil lamps. Otherwise, very,very, tasty.

The artist is S.R.Badmin, he did any number of useful scenes. Happy Christmas.

That time of year to thank all contributors and followers of this thread, and wish them a happy time with their folks over Christmas, and a really good new year. Next year have a look at a real or virtual trip, off beyond Dover.