NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2019 In this issue: Layout visits planned Recent layout visit Club Library – The Great Steam Trek Large Public layouts – Smilestones Scales Eras Locomotive Wheel Arrangements Snippets Obituary – Graham Crocker Committee
0
PEMRC NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2019 # 6/2019 Layout Visits Planned:
12 October 2019 9
Charl du Plessis
November 2019 Graham Chapman
26 Richardson Street Summerstrand
14:30
082 450 7052
118 Adam Road, Charlo 14:30
072 103 4625
December no layout visit 18 January 2020
Annual Meeting
General 18 Mowbray Newton Park
Street,
10:00
041 365 3456
Layout visit on 28 September 2019 – Juan-Pierre Kruger, HO scale, American
Thank you JP for a tremendous visit to you layout and we are glad that you managed to find the source of your gremlins which led to the fortnight postponement. Your attention to detail is astounding and they are too numerous to mention including the typical long trains common in the USA. One wonders how many scale kilometres of track you achieve with your multilevel design. It is an exceptional layout which offers eyelevel view to adults and children.
1
2
We also had another opportunity to marvel at the detail of his magnificent scrap-built grain silo which he had entered in this year’s diorama contest. JP is a master at weathering and more... Thank you Adri and Antonie for the images
3
CLUB LIBRARY
The Great Steam Trek by C P Lewis and AA Jorgensen PEMRC Ref B2 Coffee table book of 284 pages with 319 photographs; a glossary of local jargon; index to steam locomotives in SA and map of railway lines in South Africa. Highly recommended. From the assembly lines of Great Britain, Germany, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Italy and South Africa came the fascinating variety of locomotives which today attract thousands to one of the last strongholds of steam traction. (Alas no more but was true at time of publication- Ed). Enthusiasts from many countries visit South Africa to see a sight rare in other parts of the world: steam engines still in operation. Once rulers of the tracks, they have now been almost entirely replaced by electric units or diesels, even in South Africa and within a few years the only place to see them will be in museums. They are all in these pages, from some of the largest and most powerful machines ever to run on narrow-gauge rails to the tiny four-coupled tank engines in the cane fields of Natal – the Garratts, Mallets, Meyers, 6 foot-drivered Pacifics and condensing 4-8-4s. The Great Steam Trek is more than a mere catalogue of engine types. While the enthusiast will appreciate the accuracy of the text and the technical accomplishment of the 319 photographs, illustrating no less than 85 different classes of locomotive, the layman will be entranced by the beauty of many of the shots and the anecdotes which pepper the text will give him an insight into an all but vanished era. For anyone who has ever travelled behind steam, this very personal view of the history of steam power in South Africa will awaken a sharp nostalgia for the ‘cinders-in-your-eye’ days.
4
A classic suburban engine leaves Port Elizabeth for Uitenhage with a classic suburban train in January 1960. The 10BR no.760 carried a brass plaque under her headlight reading “Uitenhage, the Garden Town”.
The Port Elizabeth – Uitenhage train service began in 1875. It was in this service that classes 10A and 10B established themselves in the 1930’s. All but two were rebuilt with the Watson standard boiler into class 10BR, but all retained the long-lap, long-travel valves with which they were built in 1910. It was the latter feature which enabled them to perform with such zest on the 11-coach Uitenhage sets. With over 300 tons behind the tender they ran the 21 miles in under 50 minutes with 8 intermediate stops, accelerating up to 60 mph between stations. A Class 15AR No.2011 panned at over 50 mph between Redhouse and Swartkops.
5
A Class 24 crosses Swart vlei near Sedgefield.
Old stone bridges are on the endangered list in SA since relocations and the erection of heavy duty concrete bridges have eliminated many of them. This lovely three-arch, dressed stone structure stands below Sizanenjana in Natal. A GCA (2-6-2+2-6-2) is shown crossing on its way to Donnybrook
6
In the winter of ’76 a steamy wedge of a 15AR runs towards Swartkops as fast as her Hendrie front-end will allow.
A 10BR spins along near Swartkops in 1971. Even after they were displaced from the suburban trains, the 10BRs continued to do useful work on local freights in the Algoa Bay area.
7
Sydenham scenes in the mid-sixties. As late as 1968 one could find over 100 engines in 18 classes and 9 wheel arrangements stabled here on a quiet Sunday night.
From the left are 12AR (4-8-2), GD (2-6-2+2-6-2), 7 (4-8-0), S2 (0-8-0), 8 (4-8-0), 19D (4-82), 12AR, 6 (4-6-0), 10BR (4-6-2), 19B (4-8-2), 11(2-8-2) and 10 (4-6-2). 8
LARGE PUBLIC LAYOUTS Switzerland (New) https://www.smilestones.ch Small, unique and breathtakingly beautiful, that is Switzerland. But these attributes also apply to Smilestones. In the immediate vicinity of the largest waterfall in Europe, the Rhine Falls, the largest indoor miniature world in the country is being built on an area of seven tennis courts. After the sensational opening of the first section in November 2018, Smilestones continues its journey, devoting itself fully to something that Switzerland has to offer: the mountains. The first section stretches over an area of 130 m2 from Säntis to the Rhine Falls. Fast facts: SCALE 1:87 / H0 350 Houses and bridges 80 Trains 400 Cars 1’000 Metres of railway tracks 15’000 Figures 5’000 Lamps 10’000 Metres of cables By autumn 2019, the second section which will take us from the lowland to alpine regions, will open. Over the Bernese Alps in the summer season, the contemplative journey continues into the beautiful ski resort of the Grisons Alps. Experience the unique alpine panorama of the mountains Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau comfortably from different perspectives and pleasant temperatures. The ascent of the Matterhorn, as well as countless other exciting and humorous scenes are waiting to be discovered. The reservoirs of the Grimsel region and of course the Gelmerbahn, the Jungfrau Railway and the Zentralbahn can not be missed on a unique tour into the Swiss mountains. And what would Switzerland be without Interlaken with its magnificent altitude trail and the unique Unspunnen Schwingetfest? Watch the skydiver's rapid flight from a completely new and safe perspective and enjoy the mountain air in the beautiful Lauterbrunnen without any equipment.
9
SCALES in MODEL RAIL From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Railway modelling has long used a variety of scales and gauges to represent its models of real subjects. In most cases, gauge and scale are chosen together, so as to represent Stephenson standard gauge. By choosing a smaller gauge than this for a particular scale, the model represents a subject of a narrow gauge example. Such gauge and scale combinations are of course used for the deliberate modelling of particular narrow gauge subjects, where the choice of subject is behind the choice of combination. Narrow gauge modelling has also become especially popular from the purely modelling aspects: it combines a conveniently visible large scale that is easier to work on, with a narrow model gauge that allows tighter radius curves and so fits layouts into smaller spaces. This has been a particular reason in Europe where, houses being generally smaller than in the US, there is rarely space for 0 gauge and even 00 gauge is restricted in the size of curves. At times, particularly in the early days before the inertia of popular scales developed, modellers would choose seemingly random scales in order to model a particular prototype and its original gauge whilst using a readily available gauge. As the range of commercial products increases, both for gauges and scales, it is easier to find a combination that is already supported and so there is less need to scratch-build everything. Naming Naming of these gauge and scale combinations follows a few broad rules, but not always consistently. Some, such as G gauge and SM32 were defined from the outset as narrow gauge scales and so have a single component to their name. Many names, particularly those of British origin, such as O14 and 00-9 combine the name of the scale used with the physical measurement of the gauge, i.e. the 7mm to the foot scale from standard O gauge with a rail gauge of 14mm, giving a precise representation of 2 ft (610 mm) prototypes. It is the scale that controls interoperability between models and also the manufacture of non-railway scenery etc., it is the scale and not the gauge that takes the primary position in names. The German model railway standards organisation NEM document NEM010 defines all model railway gauges, including narrow gauges. It defines and names narrow gauges for all the supported scales although it takes a broad approach and only defines the prototype gauges within broad ranges: 1250-1700 (standard gauge), 850-1250 (metre gauge), 650850 (narrow gauge), 400-650 (industrial) and 300-400 (park). Names are of the form 'H0e', comparable to 00-9, as 'Narrow gauge in H0 scale' and define the scale and gauge used (9mm). The scales used include the general European modelling range of Z, N, TT, H0, 0 and also the large model engineering gauges of I to X, including 3 1/2", 5", 7 1/4" and 10 1/4" gauge. 10
As 00 is a particularly British scale, it is not included within this German standard. However the predominantly US imperial-based S scale (1:64) does feature. US gauges are named as On30 or Sn3, composed of the scale, 'n' for narrow gauge and the dimensions of the prototype gauge being modelled. These are universally in imperial units rather than metric, but there is no consistency between using inches or feet. Both On42 and On2 are used, but when referring to the prototype gauge, e.g. On30 / On2½, the gauge is usually given in inches. UK O gauge uses a scale of 7mm/foot, Europe uses 1:45 and the US 1:48 T gauge is a constant 3mm gauge, although it defines two scale standards: 1:480 for modelling Stephenson gauge and 1:450 for Japanese 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). The numerous original track sizes (width) are summarized in of four groups. The reduction scale gives a series of model track widths and is expressed by the term "nominal size", which is denoted by letters or numbers (Table 1). The pure nominal size designation without additional letter refers to the original track widths â&#x2030;Ľ 1250 mm, while in the case of narrow gauge railways with track widths <1250mm, the additional letters m, e, i or p are added to the nominal size designation. For this combined nominal size and track width designation, the term "Spur" (track) is used in German. Examples: Replica of a standard gauge railway in the scale 1:87: Nominal size H0 ("H-zero"), H0 gauge (gauge 16.5 mm) Replica of a meter gauge railway in 1:45 scale: Nominal size 0 ("zero"), track 0m (track width 22.5 mm) In Anglo-Saxon countries, the scale is also given in the ratio "mm per foot". For example, such 3.5 mm scale the scale 1:87 4 mm scale the scale 1:76 (track 00) 7 mm scale the scale 1: 43.5.
11
ERAS IN RAILWAYS In general terms, this is a classification of time periods applied to the development of the railways according to when major changes ocurred. The information is useful depending how period accurate you are modelling. The classification also varies between countries and their interpretation by the various model manufacturers. We will start with Great Britain where currently there are 11 time periods: Era 1: 1804 – 1869 Pioneering This covers the very early days, from the first ever public passenger railway (The Stockton & Darlington, opened in 1825) through the ‘railway mania’ times when railway lines were being opened all over the country. Era 2: 1870 – 1922 Pre-Grouping This covers the period when railways were becoming more established, and there were numerous railway companies, ranging from small branch lines to large companies like GWR. Era 3: 1923 – 1947 Grouping: “The Big Four” – LMS, GWR, LNER and SR In 1923 many of the smaller companies were amalgamated or ‘grouped’ into one of the ‘Big Four’ regional railway companies: LMS (London Midland & Scottish), LNER (London & North Eastern Railway), GWR (Great Western Railway) and SR (Southern Railway). Era 4: 1948 – 1956 Early British Railways (Early Crest) The railways in Britain made a crucial contribution to the war effort during the Second World War, but after the war they were in a poor state, following the hammering they took from all the extra train movements and damage from bombing, and years of underinvestment, and the decision was taken to nationalise the network in 1948. The “Early Crest” refers to the early British Railways emblem, popularly known as the “unicycling lion”. Era 5: 1956 – 1968 Late British Railways (Late Crest) During this period the infamous ‘Beeching Report’ was issued (in 1965) which resulted in many lines being closed and the withdrawal of steam locomotives and their replacement by diesel locomotives. BR also officially changed its trading name from ‘British Railways’ to just ‘British Rail’ in 1965. The crest used in this period was nicknamed the ‘Ferret & Dartboard’. Era 6: 1968 – 1971 British Rail Pre TOPS This was the beginning of the ‘corporate blue’ period, when BR changed its livery to an overall blue and also adopted the ‘double arrow’ logo. Era 7: 1971 – 1986 British Rail TOPS ‘TOPS’ was the ‘Train Operating Processing System’, a computer system introduced by BR which resulted in locomotives being renumbered; diesel locos lost the ‘D’ prefix and were allocated a leading ‘Class’ number instead. 12
Era 8: 1982 – 1997 British Rail Sectorisation During this time BR, although still nationalised, was ‘Sectorised’ into separate business ‘Sectors’: for passenger traffic these were InterCity (express services), Network Southeast (London commuter services) and Regional Railways (regional services); and for freight traffic, Trainload Freight, Railfreight Distribution (for non-trainload freight) , Freightliner (for intermodal (container) freight) and Rail Express Systems (for parcels traffic). Each of these had their own livery, and there were also some subsectors such as petroleum, coal, etc. with their own livery variations. Era 9: 1996 – 2008 Privatisation Under the Railways Bill (which came into force in 1994) BR was broken up and sold off to private companies, leading to the present day arrangements of several competing freight companies (Freightliner, DRS, etc.) and several Train Operating Companies (‘TOCs’) running passenger services under regional franchises. Era 10: 2006 – 2017 Network Franchising The BR network was divided up and franchises for either regional areas or certain routes (e.g. the West Coast Main Line). Companies such as Stagecoach, Virgin and First bid for these franchises and were awarded rights to operate trains on those routes. Era 11: 2014 onwards This bring us to the current situation where we have the franchise operators, several goods operators, and also some new TOCs such as Hull Trains and Grand Central. These are “open access operators” who run their own trains on specific ‘paths’ which the franchise holders do not operate. These last 3 Eras can make a very colourful modelling scene, with numerous different liveries running alongside each other- some of which (e.g. GNER) are now already history! Ref.: https://buyhornbytrainsets.com/british-railway-eras Next Month: Eras in European Railways
STOP PRESS: Miniatur Wunderland has opened their own hotel! “It is always a special moment when the family grows. Now the time has come also with us: the wonderland gets a little sister: the PIERDREI Hotel HafenCity Hamburg, 400 meters distance from Knuffingen away, is about to open! After nearly seven years of planning and construction, our hotel PIERDREI is now open at last. A lively place for locals and their guests. In addition to the 212-room hotel, it houses three creative designed camping vans, a small stage, a roof garden, one floor for children, a restaurant and bar, a cinema and other crazy things. For everything our motto "What is design for adults, for children playing" applies. It's about the little loving details and playing with perspectives. ”We have put together an effective package that includes not only the night in a hotel with breakfast, but also exclusive VIP entrance to Wonderland, with no waiting time - so ideal if you want to experience the wonderland once again. 13
LOCOMOTIVE WHEEL ARRANGEMENTS You would have seen some of this in the Sydenham scene description on page 7. In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and connections, with the adopted notations varying by country. Within a given country, different notations may also be employed for different kinds of locomotives, such as steam, electric, and diesel powered. Especially in steam days, wheel arrangement was an important attribute of a locomotive because there were many different types of layout adopted, each wheel being optimised for a different use (often with only some being actually "driven"). Modern diesel and electric locomotives are much more uniform, usually with all axles driven. The system designed by US engineer Frederic Whyte has been adopted in Britain and the US for steam engines. The Whyte system counts the wheels. Three numbers are separated by dashes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the first number gives the leading carrying wheels, the second is the driving wheels and the third the rear carrying wheels. The two parts of articulated locomotives such as Garratts are described separately and joined by a +
The continental system counts the number of axles. The UIC (International Union of Railways) describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives, multiple units and trams. You can see the detail in the comparable table overleaf: 14
picture scheme locomotive front is to the left Oo Ooo oO oOo oOoo ooO ooOo ooOoo oooO OOO OO OOo OOoo OOooo oOO oOOo oOOoo oOOooo ooOO ooOOo ooOOoo ooOOooo OOO OOOo OOOoo oOOO oOOOo oOOOoo oOOOooo ooOOO ooOOOo ooOOOoo OO OO OO OO OOo ooOO OOoo oooOO OOooo ooOOO OOoo OOO OOO oOOO OOO oOOO OOOo oOOO OOOoo ooOOO OOOoo oOOO OOOooo
UIC-System A1 A2 1A 1A1 1A2 2′A 2′A1 2A2 3A N/A B B1 B2′ B3′ 1B 1′B1′ 1B2′ 1B3′ 2′B 2′B1′ 2′B2′ 2′B3′ C C1 C2′ 1′C 1′C1′
1′C2′ 1′C3′ 2′C 2′C1′ 2′C2′ nameless (AA) B′B B′B1 2′BB2′ 3′BB3′ 2′CB2′ C′C (1′C)C (1′C)C1′ (1′C)C2′ (2′C)C2′ (1′C)C3′
Whyte Notation 0-2-2 0-2-4 2-2-0 2-2-2 2-2-4 4-2-0 4-2-2 4-2-4 6-2-0 0-3-0 0-4-0 0-4-2 0-4-4 0-4-6 2-4-0 2-4-2 2-4-4 2-4-6 4-4-0 4-4-2 4-4-4 4-4-6 0-6-0 0-6-2 0-6-4 2-6-0 2-6-2 2-6-4 2-6-6 4-6-0 4-6-2 4-6-4 0-2-2-0 0-4-4-0 0-4-4-2 4-4-4-4 6-4-4-6 4-6-4-4 0-6-6-0 2-6-6-0 2-6-6-2 2-6-6-4 4-6-6-4 2-6-6-6
picture scheme locomotive front is to the left OOOO OOOOo OOOOoo OOOOooo oOOOO oOOOOo oOOOOo oOOOOo+oOOOOo oOOOOoo oOOOOooo ooOOOO ooOOOOo ooOOOOoo ooOOOOooo oooOOOOooo OOOOO OOOOOo oOOOOO ooOOOOO oOOOOOo oOOOOOoo ooOOOOOo OOOOOO OOOOOO oOOOOOO oOOOOOO oOOOOOOo oOOOOOOo ooOOOOOOo ooOOOOOOo ooOOOOOOOoo ooOOOOOOOoo OOOO OOOO oOOOO OOOO oOOOO OOOOo oOOOO OOOOoo ooOOOO OOOOo ooOOOO OOOOoo oOOOOO+OOOOOo ooOOOo+oOOOoo ooOOOoo+ooOOOoo ooOOOO+OOOOoo ooOOOOo+oOOOOoo ooOOOOoo+ooOOOOoo
UIC-System
Whyte Notation
D D1 D2′ D3′ 1′D 1′D1′ 1′D1′ (1′D1′)(1′D1′) 1′D2′ 1′D3′ 2′D 2′D1′ 2′D2′ 2D3 3′D3′ E E1′ 1′E 2′E 1′E1′ 1′E2′ 2′E1′ F F 1′F 1′F 1′F1′ 1′F1′ 2′F1′ 2′F1′ 2′G2′ 2′G2′
0-8-0 0-8-2 0-8-4 0-8-6 2-8-0 2-8-2 2-8-2T 2-8-2+2-8-2 2-8-4 2-8-6 4-8-0 4-8-2 4-8-4 4-8-6 6-8-6 0-10-0 0-10-2 2-10-0 4-10-0 2-10-2 2-10-4 4-10-2 0-12-0 0-12-0 2-12-0 2-12-0 2-12-2 2-12-2 4-12-2 4-12-2 4-14-4 4-14-4
D′D (1′D)D (1′D)D1′ (1′D)D2′ (2′D)D1′ (2′D)D2′ (1′E)E1′ (2′C1′)(1′C2′) (2′C2′)(2′C2′) (2′D)(D2′) (2′D1′)(1′D2′) (2′D2′)(2′D2′)
0-8-8-0 2-8-8-0 2-8-8-2 2-8-8-4 4-8-8-2 4-8-8-4 2-10-10-2 4-6-2+2-6-4 4-6-4+4-6-4 4-8-0+0-8-4 4-8-2+2-8-4 4-8-4+4-8-4
15
SNIPPETS Channel 5 in the UK has teamed up again with British Railway Modelling magazine for a second season of televised Great Model Railway Challenge. The first episode aired on 16 Sept.2019. I hope to obtain all episodes for the club in due course but the latest (EPISODE 3) can be seen here - 54 minutes, 841MB.
Flying Scotsman was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, and built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) for ÂŁ7,944 at Doncaster Works back in 1923. As the first steam locomotive to achieve an official 100mph run back in 1934, this high speed steam locomotive is instantly recognisable and has become an icon of British railway engineering. After more than a decade off the tracks, this much-loved engine has been returned to its former glory after a ÂŁ4.2m restoration project for York's National Railway Museum (NRM). Robson Green tells the remarkable story of Flying Scotsman whilst spending a year with the men rebuilding the most famous steam engine in the world. You can view/download the film which aired on ITV on 22 April 2016 on the PEMRC Google Drive, just Ctrl+Click on the image above. Look out for a new feature on Famous Trains and Locomotives in future editions.
OBITUARY: GRAHAM CROCKER Our condolences to Graham's family on his tragic passing on Wednesday night 2 October 2019 in a vehicle accident on the N2. There was a collision of his and another car with a truck and trailer on the stretch of road between Thornhill and Jeffrey's Bay, shortly after 8 pm. It is not yet clear what had led to the accident. Funeral arrangements are not yet known but will be advised to members via WhatsApp.
16
By the time you read this we will know a bit more....or not.
Contributions not received by the 15th of the month will be held over for the next issue. Email is preferred.
Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Email address: pemrailroadclub@gmail.com Committee: Chairman:
Mike Smout
Treasurer:
Attie Terblanche
Clubhouse: Mike Parsons
Email:
ma.smout@mweb.co.za terblalc@telkomsa.net
Tel:
041 365 3456
Layouts:
JP Kruger
juanpierrekruger@gmail.com
Librarian:
Carel van Loggerenberg
annie3@telkomsa.net
Editor:
Roel van Oudheusden
roelvanoza@gmail.com
Workshops: Graham Chapman Shop:
Mike Smith
chapman22@telkomsa.net WhatsApp:
078 069 7699
Email:
mwsmi5@iafrica.com
Subscriptions are R300 per year. Bank account: Port Elizabeth Model Railroad Club FNB Walmer Park, branch code 211417, Account no. 623 861 2205 7 17