Some really, really odd steamers (real) - UPDATED WITH PICS
Sept 25, 2019 17:21:09 GMT
Country Joe, Joe Saggese, and 1 more like this
Post by harborbelt70 on Sept 25, 2019 17:21:09 GMT
I’ve been very interested in the threads posted here about certain prototype trains like the Blue Comet and indeed the remains of tracks and stations where they once ran. Just for curiosity’s sake, and partly because I unfortunately missed Big Boy 4014’s excursion through the Midwest, I thought I'd post about a chance encounter I had with another monster (or two) of the rails.
I do so despite having no long-term interest in foreign engines or models of them except to the extent they pulled classic passenger trains and even then my real interest is in the cars.
However, a while back I found myself on an unscheduled trip in the southernmost part of South Africa and in a city called George – probably mostly known for golf courses – I stumbled across a vast railway museum. Inside and out were the relics of what I think are called “Garratt” class 2-8-2+2-8-2 articulated steamers either known as Double Mikado or Double Mountain (in the little time I had I did not master the South African system of engine classification). One was displayed complete with a steam crane of the same era:
To my way of thinking this is a really peculiar but "form follows function" design in that at the front is a water tender, the boiler does not sit on the driving wheels but is suspended on a truss between the two sets of drivers and the cylinders are opposed at each end of the whole structure. The coal tender rides on the rear set of drivers and an AWT was often pulled behind. I understand that these were British-built. Here’s another one but with a different wheel configuration:
I also understand that these remained in freight service for a long time and then did some excursion duty. I bet they could be restored to operation but there doesn’t appear to be any will to do so.
The same can’t be said of the displayed passenger cars. Totally unexpected highlight of this visit for me was two “Pullman” cars (not from a US factory but faithful to Pullman-Standard interior designs I know) from about 1947 on the occasion they formed part of a Royal Train:
These are nicely preserved and if they were not so specific to their historical purpose could probably roll again.
Until relatively recently, the locals had an excursion line parallel to the Indian Ocean coast. Don’t ask me what the name “Outeniqua Choo Tjoe” means because apart from the first word being the name of the local mountain range, I could not find any explanation of the rest:
The excursion line engine and cars still exist and there’s an effort to get the old rail line back up and running after flood damage. But in the context of a vast country and unitary national rail system, that’s a tall order.
Finally, there were also some old examples of the modeller’s art on display, which struck a chord with me because even though the scale is metric, they looked close enough to O scale to pass for it:
If you can read the plaques inside the bottom display case, they show that the electric engine was built as long ago as 1952.
I do so despite having no long-term interest in foreign engines or models of them except to the extent they pulled classic passenger trains and even then my real interest is in the cars.
However, a while back I found myself on an unscheduled trip in the southernmost part of South Africa and in a city called George – probably mostly known for golf courses – I stumbled across a vast railway museum. Inside and out were the relics of what I think are called “Garratt” class 2-8-2+2-8-2 articulated steamers either known as Double Mikado or Double Mountain (in the little time I had I did not master the South African system of engine classification). One was displayed complete with a steam crane of the same era:
To my way of thinking this is a really peculiar but "form follows function" design in that at the front is a water tender, the boiler does not sit on the driving wheels but is suspended on a truss between the two sets of drivers and the cylinders are opposed at each end of the whole structure. The coal tender rides on the rear set of drivers and an AWT was often pulled behind. I understand that these were British-built. Here’s another one but with a different wheel configuration:
I also understand that these remained in freight service for a long time and then did some excursion duty. I bet they could be restored to operation but there doesn’t appear to be any will to do so.
The same can’t be said of the displayed passenger cars. Totally unexpected highlight of this visit for me was two “Pullman” cars (not from a US factory but faithful to Pullman-Standard interior designs I know) from about 1947 on the occasion they formed part of a Royal Train:
These are nicely preserved and if they were not so specific to their historical purpose could probably roll again.
Until relatively recently, the locals had an excursion line parallel to the Indian Ocean coast. Don’t ask me what the name “Outeniqua Choo Tjoe” means because apart from the first word being the name of the local mountain range, I could not find any explanation of the rest:
The excursion line engine and cars still exist and there’s an effort to get the old rail line back up and running after flood damage. But in the context of a vast country and unitary national rail system, that’s a tall order.
Finally, there were also some old examples of the modeller’s art on display, which struck a chord with me because even though the scale is metric, they looked close enough to O scale to pass for it:
If you can read the plaques inside the bottom display case, they show that the electric engine was built as long ago as 1952.
