Innholdsfortegnelse for October - November 2021 i Locomotives International

BELGIUM & CHINA - THE PEKING-HANKOW RAILWAY by Ron Smith Archives Jean Jadot The modern country of Belgium was created in 1830 and came into being on the 1st of January 1831. The first King, (a German uncle of Queen Victoria and appointed by the British) Leopold I set about uniting and developing this new country. With far sighted vision, he saw that the new invention of railways would create a strong industry and unite the country. The first railway on the Continent of Europe opened between Mechelen / Malines and Brussels in May 1835. The original locomotives and rolling stock came from Britain, but by the end of 1835 engines and wagons were being produced in Belgium. The Belgian rail and heavy industry grew rapidly. King Leopold’s vision was…

A ROMANIAN CAB RIDE by Jim Ballantyne All photographs by the Author For very many years I have taken a particular interest in Romanian railways and particularly railways in the north east of that country. The city I know best is the historic city of Iaşi with its prestigious university and interesting railway operations. There are three main routes radiating from Iasi, to the south, the west and the east and it is the route to the east that currently interests us. As will be seen from the sketch map, this line crosses from Romania to the Republica Moldova between Ungheni Prut, where there is a halt, and Ungheni, a largish town, the frontier being marked by the River Prut. The line continues into Moldova to the capital, Chisinau, and…

READERS’ REPORTS Contributions for this section should be sent to the Editorial Office, with the following exceptions: • Southern Africa – John Middleton, c/o Editorial Office. Email: johnmiddleton3401@gmail.com • South America – Lionel Price, 9, Liverpool Road West, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1PE. Email: jldprice@btinternet.com • Spain & Portugal – Joan Carles Salmeron, c/o Editorial Office. Email: cet@terminus.cat Contributions which are primarily photographic in nature should all be sent to the Editorial Office to give the best choice of material for covers etc. Similarly historical articles and features should be sent to the Editor. The Editor’s contact details are inside the front cover. AFRICA MOZAMBIQUE CFM One of the new Indian built locomotives, D333, was dropped about 15 metres onto the quayside in India during ship loading. A video which appeared…

STEAM IN EAST AFRICA IN THE PRESERVATION ERA by Trevor Heath Rob Dickinson James Waite Several books have been written about the East African Railways, its history and the locomotives. There is however, a story to be told about the efforts to operate steam powered trains in East Africa in what is called today “The preservation era”. The last Garratt in regular service in Kenya was 60 class 6013 which operated out of Voi on the Taveta branch line into early January 1980. The 59 class Garratts were also gradually withdrawn in the late 1970s with 5918 which had been kept in service for occasional use in the Mombasa area, retired and driven into the Nairobi museum in May 1980 to represent the class after working a final revenue train…

THE RJUKANBANEN by Graham Fairhurst All photographs by the Author The 16 km long Rjukan Railway, opened in 1909, is rather a curiosity and was the subject of an article in Continental Railway Journal many years ago. It was built by Norsk Hydro at the same time as its electro-chemical factories and new town at Rjukan. This followed soon after Norway gained independence from Sweden and was part of an industrial revolution to increase the wellbeing of the country. The transport link from Rjukan to Skien and the sea comprised of: • The isolated Rjukan Railway which ran to a landing stage at Mæl on lake Tinnsjo. • Train ferries for 30 km. on Tinnsjo to a landing stage at Tinnoset at the southern end of the lake. • A…

THE WANAMAKER, KEMPTON & SOUTHERN RAILROAD by David Bott Originally opened in July 1874 as the Berks County RR, the WK&S operates over part of the former Reading Co.’s Schuylkill & Lehigh branch (3 miles). The featured locos are no.65, a Porter 0-6-0T of 1930, ex Safe Harbor Water & Power of Pennsylvania, and no.2, a Porter 0-4-0T of 1920, ex Colorado Fuel & Iron Co..…

TRAKO 2021 by Mike Bent All photographs by Marek Graff The one major European railway trade fair which did not have to be postponed on account of the pandemic was TRAKO, held in Gdansk every two years. The 14th edition of the event was held between 21 and 24 September, in overcast, cool weather. 17 vehicles were exhibited by Stadler, Siemens, Plasser & Theurer, PESA, Alstom, Newag, Skoda, H.Cegielski – FPS and PKP Intercity. In addition, the Connecting Europe Express paid a visit to TRAKO, arriving from Warszawa on the 20th at 16.20 and leaving again on the 21st at 17.00, bound for Bialystok. Keeping track of the CEE has been difficult at times – the much-vaunted satellite tracking system first failed near Zagreb, and then packed up altogether before…

BACK TRACK From Archangelsk to Kuala Lumpur, Issue 132 Martin Coombs writes: These Mallets were Baldwin class 12-20/32DD nos. 1 to 53. Their specification is available online in the usual incredible Baldwin detail via the DeGolyer Library website, in spec. volume 57, pages 312 to 315. The first ten locos, Russian nos. An101 to An110, had indeed departed from the Baldwin works by the time that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had been signed. They reached Seattle on their way to Russia and were still sitting there on the dockside in March 1921 when the General Equipment Co. advertised them for sale at a price of $US47,500 each. I found that advert some years ago in the Chilean government public works archive in Santiago, from where a Spanish translation had been…

END OF THE LINE FOR THE NITRATE RAILWAYS by Ian Thomson-Newman Luis Gutierrez Collection The geographical and historical context Nitrates, or, more precisely, sodium nitrates, are found in what is known locally as caliche, i.e. nitrate-bearing rock or ore, mainly in an intermittent band up to 45 km wide on the pampa, at altitudes of from 950 to 1 300 metres above sea level between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain chain and at latitudes from 19°S to 26°S. The caliche was usually concentrated in situ into nitrate at factories, known locally as oficinas. Nitrates are used as an agricultural fertilizer, in the manufacture of explosives and in other industrial applications. Before the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1883), the embryonic nitrate production was concentrated in Peru’s Tarapaca…

A PHOTOGRAPHIC MISCELLANY by Uwe Bergmann Uwe Bergmann collection Uwe Bergmann collection Uwe Bergmann At the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, on the final day of the “Victorian Iron Horse Round-up,” D. & R.G. 168 (BLW 6670 / 1883) arrived pre-dawn on the east end of the railway, having traveled overnight from Chama, New Mexico. At milepost 286, near Ferguson’s Trestle, the train stopped to await sunrise. After the passengers disembarked, as the sun rose, several photo runpasts were staged for the benefit of photographers. Thomas R Schultz…

THE VIVARAIS MALLETS by John Organ L. Manoha / F. Mottet collection Since its inception in 1890, the metre gauge CFD Reseau du Vivarais was noted for its use of Mallet locomotives. Initially small 0-4-4-0T variants were deemed suitable, six of these 24 tonne machines being supplied by SACM at Belfort. These were later joined by an enlarged version incorporating a 2-4-4-0T wheel arrangement, five being supplied in 1909 including two for the associated CFD Lozere in the Cevennes. In 1903 the three initial isolated lines, which had formed the Vivarais network during its first decade, were connected by a steeply graded route linking the lines each side of the Velay Mountains. It was obvious that efficient operation over this difficult route would require much larger motive power. At that…