Innholdsfortegnelse for August - September 2023 i Locomotives International

Events here have been dominated by the very sad passing of Howard Jones MBE on 25th June after an illness, aged 71. Our thoughts are with his Polish wife Alexandra and his brother Trevor. Wolsztyn depot had seen a resurgence of steam on four return tightly timed trains on the Poznań line (and one turn each to Leszno and Zbąszynek) from the 1993/94 timetable under the auspices of the Wolsztyn Depot Master, who was very prosteam and seemed to be able to fix things. This was probably the start of what was to come. Howard and his brother founded the Wolsztyn Experience (WE) in 1996 and although at the time they only dreamed of maybe 5 more years of regular steam working, amazingly 25 years later it was still possible…

The 760 mm Bosnian Gauge Septemvri–Dobrinishte narrowgauge line is the last remaining Bulgarian narrow-gauge railway and covers a total of 124.7 kilometres or 77 miles. Average speed is just 25 km (or 15 miles per hour) and the entire route from Dobrinishte to Septemvri takes around 5.5 hours. Most passengers will take the train from Bansko to Velingrad to enjoy the spa town, but others will continue to the end of the line, to catch a fast train from Septemvri to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city. The line was to continue to Nevrokop (Gotse Delchev railway station) but never did. History of the line During the First World War, the Bulgarian government realized two things: the first is that many of the territories of the country are difficult to access and…

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 Salmerón, 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 ANGOLA / DR CONGO Lobito Atlantic Railway is the new official name for the Benguela Railway (Lobito (Angola) – Kolwezi (DR Congo) which is being operated under a 30…

JAPAN Tobu Tetsudo's new Spacia X Founded on 1 November 1897, the Tobu Tetsudo is one of the oldest surviving railway companies in Japan. At 463.3 km, it has the longest 1,067 mm gauge rail network in Japan, among private companies, and among the latter superseded only by Kintetsu, whose 500 km-plus network in Kansai (the area between Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka) is mostly 1,435 mm gauge. The two Tobu networks are situated to the north and northwest of Tokyo. The northwestern network is ‘Y’-shaped, starting near the city centre at Ikebukuro (the Tojo Line), and branching at Sakado to serve Ogose (Ogose Line) and Yorii (Tojo Line). The northern network is considerably more extensive, originating in the city centre at Asakusa, Oshiage (Skytree) and Kameido, and also further…

In 1929 New Zealand Railways were trialling the use of three Garratts which were supplied a year earlier by Beyer Peacock of Gorton, Manchester and 90 years later New Zealand still has three Garratts on its soil, albeit totally different ones! The original three were built to the design requirements of the CME G S Lynde and were numbered 98 to 100 of Class ‘G’ and their works numbers were 6484 to 6486 respectively. These 146 ton machines were only the second double Pacifics produced by Beyer Peacock and also the second and last design to have 6 cylinders instead of the customary 4. The ‘G’s did have some innovative firsts such as exhaust steam injection, grease lubricated driving wheels and power reversing gear. Sadly for all their innovative features,…

People around the world have reacted in many different ways to the dire needs of Ukrainians who are suffering the effects of the Russian invasion. But can a small locomotive help? It turns out, it can! Financial as well as material help, whether it be food, medicine, clothes, generators or water purifiers, are crucial not only to those who have been displaced by the war but to all citizens. For those fortunate to be living far away from the active war zones, rockets still fly overhead and they are still affected by Russian attacks on energy networks, transport and civilian infrastructure. So how can heritage railways help? There are 750mm gauge locomotives, series ESU2a,- with an onboard 50 kW three phase mobile generator. These are powered by an old D108…

In August 2015, one of the most scenic railways in Chile was damaged by heavy rain in the driest desert of the world. Different issues, not yet explained, forced the closure of this historical line. Six years before, the SQM owners invested heavily on line improvements including a completely new locomotive fleet, which was designed and built in Chile. A Brief History Early in 1886 Mr. William Stirling, of Tacna, made a survey and report, which led to the formation in London of The AngloChilean Nitrate and Railway Company (ACNRC), for the construction of a railway from Tocopilla to Toco, and the erection of works (called Oficina) for dealing with the nitrate in the grounds they proposed to acquire. The railway was designed by William Stirling of Lima, a son…

CUBA The Cuban Railways are still in a bad situation. Since the outbreak of the pandemic many services have been cut back and reinstating is taking place at very slow pace if at all. In April the actual fuel crisis started which also affected railways. Rolling stock maintenance is very poor and so there are only a few passenger services. Long distance trains from Havana leave every fourth day to the following destinations: Holguin, Bayamo/ Manzanillo, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. These are operated with the new Chinese coaches and Class 52500 (Tangshan built DF7G-C). The locos are not very reliable and cause severe delays. Local passenger trains are even worse. Pinar del Rio only has the loco hauled train to Guane and occasionally to Los Palacios but nothing to…

NEW ZEALAND Glenbrook Vintage Railway On the 25th March 2023 Glenbrook Vintage Railway’s Ww 644 (NZ Railways Hillside Workshop makers No. 179 of 1915) hauled its first excursion on the New Zealand Railway network since its delivery trip from Greymouth to Auckland in March/April 1970. The first leg of the delivery trip to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway was from Greymouth to Christchurch as part of the Railway Enthusiasts Society 1970 Railfans Tour during Easter. Ww 644 then steamed from Christchurch to Auckland arriving a week later. In 1978 a start was made on overhauling Ww 644 but as other work took priority the overhaul stopped and Ww 644 remained in a dismantled state until 2004 when work again started on the overhaul by which time the cab, coal bunker and…

Railways on the Great Red Island, Issue 143 Guy Tritton writes: The suggestion that the line from Antananarivo to Antsirabe has been closed since the 1990s is not correct. We travelled it on the Sep 2012 PTG tour, crossing a freight train. It is also worth mentioning recent arrivals of diesels. • BB711/2 ex SAR 91013/8 in 2021. • AD1901-3 new type G20-3 in 2022. • BB1501-3 ex FEVE 1502/3/6 (also 1508) in 2020 for the FCE. A Brazilian Garratt, Issue 142 Richard Awde writes: The Henschel works number is 25259/52. My letter in LI 135 corrected the caption when the same photo appeared in LI 134. The Heartland Flyer - A Personal Account, Issue 142 Robert Sweet writes: Phil Barnes’ article where he mentions that Ja 1271 was used…

The story of the Uganda Railway (UR) will be known to most readers of Locomotives International magazine. It was dubbed the “Lunatic Line” because of its uncertain traffic prospects and considerable construction difficulties, notably the halting of work by man-eating lions. The UR did not reach Uganda. It terminated on the shore of Lake Victoria at Port Florence (which became Kisumu, Kenya), reached in December 1901. The first rail-based transport in Uganda was a Ewing monorail connecting Kampala and Port Bell on Lake Victoria, worked with animal power. It opened in 1909 but was not a success. A proper railway followed, opened on 1st June 1915. This and lake steamers to Kisumu made the first railway connection to the coast. Between Lakes Victoria and Kyoga, the Victoria Nile passes many…

“Of all the neglected wallflowers of modern steam locomotion the switcher was the most forlorn.” David P Morgan, 1955. When Class S-1a no.244 emerged from the Norfolk & Western’s Roanoke shops in December 1953 it was destined to be the very last reciprocating steam locomotive delivered to any Class 1 railroad in the United States. The S-1 and S-1a could trace their ancestry back to the First World War and in their short lives (on average eight years) revolutionised switching services on the N&W. Well before the USA’s declaration of war on 6th April 2017 the eastern railroads were suffering problems of acute congestion. Vast and largely unforeseen orders by Great Britain, France and the other allied powers for munitions, raw materials, foodstuffs and manufactured goods caused lengthy delays to…

ARGENTINA The continued expansion of operations by Trenes Argentinos has now taken in a weekend tourist operation, following the resumption of use of the 12km section of the former FC General Belgrano between Tomas Jofre and Mercedes GB, after more than 30 years without traffic, an initiative which appears to have been urged by the city of Mercedes. Track repairs have taken place, and an “Alerce” railcar has been renovated, just to provide a tourist service on Sundays, to serve the places mentioned together with Altamira, stations at all three locations having been refurbished to a high standard. FC News via Samuel Rachdi On the mainline network, the long awaited extension of passenger service from Justo Daract to Palmira, on the main route to Mendoza, on which we last mentioned…

AUSTRIA Vienna Technical Museum 19th May 2023 4-4-0 827 “Steinbruck” (John Haswell 87/1848). 0-4-2 37 “Ajax”(Jones, Turner & Evans 23/1941). 4-4-0 1.20 (WLF 446/1883) - sectioned. 2-8-4 12.10 (WLF 3101/1936). Lilliputbahn, Prater Park, Vienna (381mm gauge) 20th May 2023 4-6-2 DA1 (Krauss 8441/1928). 4-6-2 DA2 (Krauss 8442/1928). Strasshhof Park 20th May 2023 2-10-0 52.7593 (WLF 16941/1944). Strasshof Railway Museum 20th May 2023 0-6-0 106 (Weiner-Neustadt 652/1868). 0-6-0 29.852 (StEG 940/1869). 0-8-0 55.9708 (Weiner-Neustadt 3169/1887). 4-4-0 372 (WLF 768/1891). 0-6-2RT 97.208 (WLF 820/1892). 0-6-0T 97.73 (StEG 2404/1894). 0-6-0 1665 (StEG 2466/1895). 2-2-2T 69.02 (Krauss 3822/1898). 2-6-0 54.014 (WLF 4221/1899). 2-6-2T 30.109 (StEG 2809/1900). 0-4-0T 88.01 (Krauss 5396/1906). 2-6-2 15.13 (Weiner-Neustadt 4995/1910). 0-8-0T 92.2234 (Krauss 6249/1910). 2-6-4 310.23 (StEG 3791/1911). 0-12-0RT 197.301 (WLF 2090/1912). 4-6-0 109.13 (Weiner-Neustadt 5080/1912). 0-4-0T 1 “Lagerhaus” (StEG 3841/1912). 2-6-2T…