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 2 Sep 2006, 01:19
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I'm currently reading the following book that I just happened to pick up on a recent jaunt. 
 - Hardcover: 379 pages
- Publisher: Columbia University Press (November 1, 2004)
- ISBN: 0231134746
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.0 inches
- Language: English
QUOTE
The Rainhill Trials
The Rainhill trials were initiated by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was just nearing completion. Manchester, the world's first industrial town, was at the entrepreneurial heart of the nation that was leading the world in the pell-mell dash toward industrialization. The city's booming economy was centred upon the cotton industry, the nearby seaport of Liverpool being the major gateway for raw cotton from the Americas. The Railway was the most ambitious engineering project of the age and its directors had to decide upon the best motive power.
Could a locomotive be built capable of hauling goods 35 miles, the distance between the two cities, at 10 mph or better? This might seem a modest requirement considering that locomotives had been in existence for a quarter of a century. But they had not lived up to their high expectations. They were notoriously unreliable, spending much of their time in the engine shed. Sometimes reluctant to start, they often ran so low on steam they had to be coaxed along by their ambulatory crews. They often caused fires from flying sparks, but the most devastating damage was inflicted when their boilers blew up, which happened from time to time. Aside from the £500 prize, the Rainhill victor would win a contract to supply the Company with locomotives. The stakes were high and the competition fierce.
There were five entries, though Cycloped turned out to be powered by a horse and was dismissed by the judges. And Timothy Burstall's Perseverance was damaged in transit, and spent most of its time in repair - just reward for a man who had spied on the Stephensons' workshop. This left Timothy Hackworth's Sans Pareil, as stolid and conservative as the man; Robert Stephenson's Rocket, considered by many to have an unfair advantage (among other things his father was the Railway Company's chief engineer); and Novelty, entered by Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson. Novelty, a racy little engine of a radically new design, was the peoples' favourite, thrilling the crowds with speeds never before witnessed. It was anyone's race, right down to the last day of the competition.
Chris McGowan
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4 Aug 2006, 00:58
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Milestones in
German Railway History
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Epoch I (1835 - 1919) |
This is generally referred to as the Länderbahn era when many of the German States had
numerous public and private railroads of which the major ones were the
eight Länderbahn:
- Königlich Preußische und Großherzoglich Hessische Staatseisenbahn (K.P.u.G.H.St.E.)
which later became the Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung (K.P.E.V.)
Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahn (K.Bay.Sts.B.)
Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen (K.Sächs.Sts.E.B.)
Königlich Württembergische Staatseisenbahn (K.W.St.E.)
Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahn (Baden)
Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn (Meckl. or M.F.F.E)
Großherzoglich Oldenburgische Staatseisenbahn (Oldenburg)
Pfalzbahn der Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahn (PfalzB)
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1835 |
One December 7th the first German train
runs between Nürnberg and Fürth. Powered by the Alder (Eagle) this
locomotive was built by Stephenson and Co. in Newcastle upon Tyne
and followed along the lines of a Patentee 2-2-2. The locomotive
would stay in service until 1857.
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1838 |
In 1828, the King of Saxony founded a
Technical School in Dresden (since 1890: Dresden Technical College).
Johann Andreas Schubert, a universal engineer and professor at the
Technical School designed the first "German" steam locomotive based
upon what he had learned while traveling in England. The locomotive
was built by the
Übigauer Maschinebauanstalt
in Dresden from his plans. |
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1838 |
Joseph
Anton Ritter von Maffei (1790-1870), the son of a businessman from
Verona (Italy) who moved to Munich establishes the first locomotive
factory in Bavaria, Eisenwerk Hirschau |
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1840 |
On October 4th the last
section of the
München Augsburg Eisenbahn Gesellschaft railway was completed as
designed by Paul Camille von Denis who also laid out the Nürnberg
and Fürth line. |
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1849 |
Edmund Heusinger von Waldegg invented what became know as the
Heusinger valve gear which is similar to the Walschaert gear but was
closer to the form generally adopted by most locomotives. |
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1850 |
Principal dimensions of
rolling stock are agreed by the German railway companies allowing
interchange of stock. |
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1853 |
First working rules for
Prussian and North German railways. |
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1854 |
First steam railcar -
Berlin-Hamburg Railway. |
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1857 |
First International
through coach working - Frankfurt am Main - Basel. |
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1866 |
Krauss & Comp. is founded
by Dr.-Ing. e. h. Georg von Krauss (1826-1906) with a factory on the
Marsfeld in Munich. |
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1875 |
Unified signaling for
all of Germany. |
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1878 |
First Prussian
'standards' for locomotives, coaches and wagons. |
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1879 |
Werner von Siemens demonstrated the
first practical electric locomotive at the Berlin Industrial
Exhibition. The miniature locomotive produced 3 HP and carried
passengers over a 300 meter long rail line. Current was drawn
from a third rail between the track allowing the locomotive to haul
a maximum of some thirty passengers at a speed of about four miles
an hour.
90 000 people
would ride Siemens' train in the four months it was on display from
May 31st to August 30th. |
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1880 |
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Four years after Jules Anatole Mallet's
successful demonstration of his compound system, August von Borries
and the Schichau Works introduced their two-cylinder compound system
to Germany. Mallet's two-cylinder compound system involved a single
high-pressure cylinder passing its exhaust steam into a second,
larger, low-pressure cylinder. One of the drawbacks to this system
was that they to be unsteady at high speed, because one cylinder
exerted more thrust than the other. Borries improved upon Mallet's
work by using his own design of starting valve and his conjugated
valve gear. His system kept the cut-off of the low-pressure cylinder
always a little behind that of the high-pressure, thereby
alleviating the unequal thrust problem. |
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1881 |
Siemens' demonstration
led to other exhibitions at Brussels, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt.
Siemens and Halske built a line to Lichterfelde, near Berlin, one
and a half miles long. This line, which was opened for traffic with
one electric car in 1881 and was the first public electric railway
in the world. The motor was carried on a frame below the body of the
car between the axles. Power was transmitted from the armature of
the motor to drums on the driving axles by means of steel cables.
The car carried twenty-six passengers, and could reach a speed of
thirty mph on a current supply of 100 volts. |
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1882 |
First German owned
restaurant coach.
First corridor train between Berlin and Köln. |
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1894 |
Electrical signaling
block system introduced in Prussia. |
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1897 |
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Wilhelm
Schmidt designed the first superheaters, equipment provided in a
locomotive boiler for producing superheated steam. Early
superheaters were fitted in the smokebox and were little more than
steam dryers. Later superheaters used enlarged boiler tubes to dry
the steam and raise the temperature to a higher level. His firetube superheater of 1901, rapidly
fitted to thousands of locomotives throughout the world, raised
thermal efficiency by up to 30% |
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1899 |
The Royal Bavarian Railway Museum—the
first museum dealing with the railways, their technology and history
opened on October 1st, making it Germany's oldest museum of
transport history. |
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1902 |
One February 15th the Berlin underground
opened. It ran between Warschauer Straße and Zoologischer Garten,
and had a short spur to Potsdamer Platz. |
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1908 |
The Bay.StsB. S 3/6 is considered by many as one of the finest steam
locomotives ever built, J.A. Maffei built a total of 141, the first
in 1908 and the last in 1930. S3/6 locomotives pulled the
prestigious Rheingold Express. The last S3/6, the "Grazie" was
decommissioned in 1965. |
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1909 |
Pfalzbahn incorporated
into the Bavarian State Railway.
Formation of the Deutschen Staatsbahnwagen-Verband (German Railway
Wagon Assoc.) by the eight Länderbahnen. |
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1910 |
First Verbandsbauart
wagon (freight car
design standardized by the Deutschen Staatsbahnwagen-Verband)
was built. |
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1911 |
First long distance
electrification in Germany - Bitterfeld-Dessau (15kv, 162/3Hz).
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1912 |
The K.P.E.V. introduces
the first diesel-electric locomotive.
The K.P.E.V. introduces the first all steel through-corridor express
passenger coaches. |
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1916 |
The Mitropa company was
founded during World War I on November 24, 1916, as
Mitteleuropäische Schlafwagen- und Speisewagen Aktiengesellschaft.
Its founders included different railroad companies in Germany and
Austria-Hungary as an alternative to the Compagnie Internationale
des Wagons-Lits (CIWL). After the war, CIWL was able to take over
most routes in Central Europe outside of Germany, while MITROPA
maintained most of its routes within Germany as well as routes to
the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
After World War II and the division of Germany, MITROPA AG became
the catering company for the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the national
railroad of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The
Western part of MITROPA split off and was re-named the Deutsche
Schlafwagen- und Speisewagengesellschaft (DSG) to manage the
sleeping and dining cars of the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the Federal
Republic of Germany (West Germany).
Today MITROPA is part of the Compass Group and its division MITROPA
GmbH operates stationary food services at railroad stations and
highways. |
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Epoch II (1920 - 1945) |
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1920 |
On April 1st the Deutsche Reichsbahn
was formed from 11 provincial railways. Two administrative
regions were set up, Prussia and Bavaria. |
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1924 |
On August 30th an act of parliament
converted the Reichsbahn to a state owned enterprise or
Gesellschaft. One of its first tasks was to introduce a numbering
scheme that allowed to integrate the existing various classes of
locomotives. For steam locomotives a numeric system or Braureihe.
Class numbers of 01 to 19 indicated express train tender
locomotives, numbers 20 to 39 passenger train tender locomotives, 40
to 59 freight train tender locomotives, 60 to 79 passenger train
tank locomotives, 80 to 96 freight train tank locomotives (including
switchers), 97 rack locomotives, 98 Lokalbahn (local railway)
locomotives and 99 for narrow gauge locomotives. For example, class
01 was the first class of unified express train locomotive, and the
first unit of this class received the number 01 001.
Similar numbering schemes were introduced for electric and diesel
locomotives, but with prefix letters E for electrics and V (from
German Verbrennungsmotor for internal combustion engine) for
diesels. Electric and diesel railcars and multiple units were
designated by prefix letters ET and VT, respectively (from German
Elektrischer Triebwagen and Verbrennungsmotortriebwagen) |
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1925 |
The Deutsche Reichspost was formed. |
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1928 |
The first run of the
Rheingold from Hook van Holland to Basel. |
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1931 |
Maffei
and Krauss merge to form Krauss & Comp.-J. A. Maffei AG in Allach,
Germany. Locomotives are still the core product. |
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1933 |
The Flying Hamburger
(high speed diesel railcar) enters service. The "Flying Hamburger“
was the prototype of an entire fleet of two to three-car express
multiple units. Following the successful completion of trials with
this new train type on the Hamburg–Berlin line and on the hilly
Saalfeld–Bamberg line, the Reichsbahn decided in 1933 to operate
these trains on their future national express rail network. Top
speed for these rail cars was 160 km/h. |
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1933 |
In April, Rheinmetall acquires August
Borsig GmbH, a company facing liquidation but still one of the most
important manufacturers of locomotives in the German Reich at the
time. |
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1934 |
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In the early 1900s, Emile Bachelet first
conceived of a magnetic suspension using repulsive forces generated
by alternating currents. Bachelet's ideas for EDS remained dormant
until the 1960s when superconducting magnets became available,
because his concept used too much power for conventional conductors.
In 1922, Hermann Kemper in Germany pioneered attractive-mode (EMS)
Maglev and received a patent for magnetic levitation of trains on
August 14, 1934
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1936 |
On May 11th the steam locomotive 05
002 sets a world record of 200.4 kmh (125.25 mph). |
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1937 |
The DRG becomes plain
DR, and the Hoheits Adler (winged eagle + hakenkreuz (swastika)) is
introduced. |
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1938 |
Germany takes control of
the countries (and railways) of Austria, the Sudetenland, Bohemia
and Moravia. |
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1939 |
Germany takes control of
the countries (and railways) of Czechoslovakia, Danzig and Poland.
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1940 |
The DR takes over
control of the railways of Luxembourg. |
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1945 |
The 3rd Reich
is defeated, and the DR is split into zones operated by the
occupying forces of Britain, France, America and Russia.
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Epoch III (1945 - 1970) |
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1949 |
The German Federal
(west) and Democratic (east) Republics are formed. |
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1952 |
The DB and DR are
formed. |
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Epoch IV (1970 - 1985) |
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1973 |
On September 12th the electric locomotive
103 118 reaches 252.9 kmh (165.6 mph) during tests. |
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1977 |
Last steam locomotive in regular
operation retired. |
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1978 |
The Magnetbahn Transrapid consortium
is formed (MBB as lead company, Thyssen, AEG, BBC, Siemens, Dynidag,
and Krauss Maffei) and definition work begins on the Transrapid Test
Facility (TVE). |
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1984 |
On October 7th
The electric locomotive
120 001 reaches 265 kmh (158 mph) during tests. |
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Epoch V (1985 - Present) |
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1986 |
The first section of the
Neubaustrecke (new high speed lines) from Mannheim to Graben Neudorf
is completed. |
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1988 |
The prototype Intercity
Experimental sets a new German railway speed record of 406.9 kph
(254.3 mph) on the newly completed high speed line between Fulda and
Würzburg. |
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1993 |
Under normal operating conditions, the
Transrapid 07 achieves a new world speed record of 450 km/h (280
mph) at the Transrapid Test Facility. Just a few days earlier, the
Transrapid achieves a non-stop distance of over 1 664 km (1034
miles) during a series of endurance runs. This is equivalent to a
trip from Hamburg to Rome.
Electronically controlled support
magnets located on both sides along the entire length of the vehicle
pull the vehicle up to the ferromagnetic stator packs mounted to the
underside of the guideway. Guidance magnets located on both sides
along the entire length of the vehicle keep the vehicle laterally on
the track. Electronic systems guarantee that the clearance remains
constant (nominally 10 mm). To hover, the Transrapid requires less
power than its air conditioning equipment. The levitation system is
supplied from on-board batteries and thus independent of the
propulsion system. The vehicle is capable of hovering up to one hour
without external energy. While traveling, the on-board batteries are
recharged by linear generators integrated into the support magnets.
The synchronous longstator linear motor of the Transrapid maglev
system is used both for propulsion and braking. A conventional
electric motor consists of a rotor and a stationary section (a
stator). A longstator linear motor has a stator that is cut open and
stretched along under the guideway. Inside the motor windings,
alternating current is generating a magnetic traveling field which
moves the vehicle without contact. The support magnets in the
vehicle function as the excitation portion (rotor). The speed can be
continuously regulated by varying the frequency of the alternating
current. If the direction of the traveling field is reversed, the
motor becomes a generator which brakes the vehicle without any
contact. The braking energy can be re-used and fed back into the
electrical network. |
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1994 |
The DB and DR are merged
to form the DB AG. |
1 Aug 2006, 17:16
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In 1830 a self-styled mountain man by the name of Isaac Graham settled in this area. Legend has it that he and his compatriots would cause such a ruckus that the local Mexican authorities named Graham’s wild settlement “Roaring Camp.” In 1842, Graham established the first saw mill west of the Mississippi but for one reason or another logging never took off here and he was convinced to spare the majestic trees that 25 years later became the first virgin stand of coastal redwoods to be protected from logging.
In order to garner some income the area’s first railroad, the Santa Cruz & Felton, began carrying tourists to the Big Trees as they became known in 1875. In 2003, the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge RR celebrated its Ruby Anniversary (40 years) and the Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific RY has been operating along the 1875 Santa Cruz & Felton route since 1985.
The railroad is only a little over an hour from my home but I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have never visited it. I had a "spare" Saturday away from the wife so I decided to make the trip. Lo and behold this weekend saw the visit of Thomas the Tank Engine and it's many small fans, their parents and assorted mini vans. Luckily there are several tracks at Roaring Camp and our steam train was unaffected by the little monsters. I wonder how many of these will return to model railroading after suffering the indignities of middle age. The route of the steam train takes you up Herman Mountain amongst the old growth redwood trees. Something that we are blessed with here in Northern California.
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To see the rest of the images go here. |
13 Jul 2006, 03:54
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To read more about the 22nd National Garden Railway Convention you
can view the article here.
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Santa Clara was the site of the 2006 edition of the National Garden Railway Convention. The Bay Area Garden Railway Society would serve as its host. Santa Clara is in Silicon Valley which is just south of San Francisco and around 20 minutes from where I live. Though I don't currently have a garden railway and none is planned for the foreseeable future I couldn't let this opportunity pass. Because it was held the week of the 4th of July holiday and I would be returning from Las Vegas that weekend I had to limit my attendance to a single day. I chose Thursday because that would get me into the train show that was to be held at the end of the convention as well as allowing me the opportunity to visit several garden layouts that were holding open houses.
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22 Jun 2006, 22:52
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 | I've been pouring over this book and some of the comments that were made on my layout and have made some adjustments. I've converted my freight yard from double-ended to a mixed double/single-ended which is more realistic based on the limited space I have and will allow me to store more cars, in fact I could even fiddle with them if I wanted to. To compensate I added a run around track that should give me better switching maneuverability and lesson any clogging of my main lines. This means I need to buy a double crossover switch and I saw one listed on eBay that I have a bid out for. We'll see how it all works out once I let it sit awhile so I can look at it with a fresh set of eyes.
A side benefit of this arrangement is that it gives me more space for my reverse loops and should enable me to stage two complete trains without either fouling a crossover, but I'm getting ahead o myself. I've looked at my German magazines and all of them have quite severe elevation changes but then most of them sported smaller train lengths. Let's see what longer trains can do before I commit to anything. Woodland Scenics has a wonderfull little invention that I'll have to purchase.
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14 Jun 2006, 00:05
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From races cars to steam locomotives each will get you where you want to go. Only one allows you to appreciate the scenery though ...
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To see more pictures from a recent visit to the Deutsche Bahn Museum in Nurnburg, Germany go here.
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9 Jun 2006, 02:02
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 | Just picked up this book in which O. Link Winston documents over a 5 year period what was seen as the last railroad to abandon steam, the Norfolk & Western Railway. His most spectacular and famous photographs were made at night.
"I can't move the sun — and it's always in the wrong place — and I can't even move the tracks, so I had to create my own environment through lighting."
After studying the site, Link would spend hours in the darkness strategically placing flashbulbs to illuminate every relevant detail. With such elaborate setups, he usually could make only one shot.
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9 May 2006, 20:11
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 | Just picked up this book at the Railway Museum in Sacramento. Written
by Brian Topping this book is intended to teach you how to prepare, fire and
drive a steam locomotive. It's packed with nearly 300 illustrations,
including more than 70 exploded diagrams. I found it a little less technical
than the Handbook for Railway Steam Locomotive Enginemen but still very
useful, maybe even more so. The manual is a hands-on guide to all aspects of
the various steam locomotives most likely to be found on preserved railways
in England. That being said I'm sure that most of the information is easily
transferable to steam trains in the United States. It covers not only the
anatomy of the locomotive but also lubrication, braking systems, valve gears
efficient firing, footplate controls, basic signaling and quite a bit more.
Just the right thing for me to read at home while dreaming of my next rail
adventure. |
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