Innholdsfortegnelse for October - November 2024 i Locomotives International

I recently spent two weeks in the vicinity of Victoria Falls (VF) (14-28 June). Whilst this was primarily a visit to the Falls and see wild-life with a friend I naturally took an interest in the local railway scene. Points of interest: 1. I didn’t see a single moving revenue earning train by ZR or NRZ. Very, very sad. NRZ has ceased running any passenger trains. 2. A plague of HGVs in Livingstone (LR), VF, and across the Bridge. There were no such things as HGVs in ‘my’ day (1960s). 3. Rovos Rail long luxury train turned up while I was there. Didn’t see it move or its motive power. 4. African Rail and Traction Services diesel 2606 was dead in VF yard. 5. The Bamba tram was parked at…

In issue 147 (January/February 2024) of Locomotives International I provided a primer on the beautiful “Linha do Douro” in northern Portugal and shared illustrations from my two visits during the first half of 2023. The Douro and its timeless English Electric traction are a truly addictive combination and since the first article I’ve made four further visits in August and October 2023 and in April and May 2024, with another organised for the future! I’m not alone in my enthusiasm, as on my visits I’ve bumped into old friends and I’ve made new ones, all of whom love the landscape, people and cuisine, but above all the familiar sound of 8-cylinder English Electric diesel engines “chopping” along the line. For those of us who enjoyed travelling behind classic British traction…

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 GUINEA Simandou Iron Ore Railway The massive Simandou iron-ore deposits in eastern Guinea have been under exploration for many years but development has been hindered by political, financial, environmental…

Looking back in time, there were formerly numerous rail-based systems used for the movement of both passengers and ‘freight’ on this island. In examining the old rail systems of Tenerife and in no particular order, it is worth starting with the 1924 built Henschel 0-4-0WT which is the last of five locos once used to build the harbour at Santa Cruz. Today this engine is displayed on a short section of 4′ (1220mm) gauge track on top of a road tunnel over the Avenue de Anaga next to the BP fuel depot to the north side of Santa Cruz. This 21 ton loco was one of five shipped to Tenerife between June 1925 and March 1928 to haul blocks of stone from a quarry known as Cantera La Jurado to…

This year, i.e. 2024, marks the 40th anniversary of trains run for tourists in Chile. The first one ran on 12th October, 1984, steam-powered, from the provincial capital of Temuco, some 690 km south of the national capital of Santiago, up to the small town of Lonquimay in the Andean foothills, this being as far east as a proposed transandine railway into Argentina ever got. The locomotive was No. 714, a 1919-vintage Canadian-built American Locomotive 2-8-2, and the carriages six one-time main line vehicles which were later demoted to secondary and branch line use and finally left redundant due to the withdrawal of branch line passenger trains, including those to Lonquimay, which finally succumbed late in the day, steam operated to the end, in September 1982. The idea for the…

In summer 2010 I was attending a professional conference in London when my business card was pulled from the pot in a draw, the prize being a free place at a European conference to be held in Copenhagen that winter. It was a valuable prize – but I had to get myself there and pay for a hotel. The conference ran from Tuesday 30 November to Thursday 2 December, but I decided to make the most of it by adding a weekend at the beginning, for which my wife would join me. Veronica was a teacher, so we planned to get a late flight on the Friday night with her returning on Sunday night and me on Thursday night. Booking in the summer got us cheap seats on SAS scheduled…

I had visited Bulgaria three times before - no, actually 4 - the first in transit between Turkey and Yugoslavia in 1972, but on that occasion, I didn’t stop, nor did I take any photographs, so it doesn’t really count. In 2011 I had arranged the flights for a LCGB group, and so joined the party for a few days in the pleasant spring sunshine. SLM Winterthur 2-8-2 01.23 and its train of royal carriages (built for King Boris III who was himself a great enthusiast, and often drove the engines when he could!) looked resplendent, as did narrow gauge 2-10-2T 60976 on the spectacular Rhodope Mountain railway. Ey 2022 it was becoming clear to me, as a tour operator, that the profile of railway enthusiasts who travel abroad, was…

Around the Continents: Czech Republic, Issue 150 Keith Chester writes: Ad van Sten’s photo of no. 477.013 on the attractive curved stone viaduct at Novina in northern Bohemia in LI 150 reminded me of an afternoon I spent at this location in April 1979. The reward was the sight of two 556-worked freight trains, both banked, from Liberec to Česká Lipa. The day was muggy so the exhaust effect was minimal but the sound of the 2-10-Os as they barked their way up the ferocious climb out of Liberec was a wonder unto itself. As I was waiting for the return railcar to Liberec, one of the bankers, no. 556.0510 (Škoda 3535/1958) and the last steam loco delivered to the ČSD, drifted back down to its home shed (pictured above).…

The RTC tour of Finland from 3rd to 11th July 2015 had as its main motive power Hr1 pacific 1009. However on Thursday 9 July the tour travelled from Nurmes to Kontiomaki and then south to Lisalmi, Sillinjarvi and back to Joensuu. The motive power on this day was Hv3 4-6-0 995 (Tampere No 137, 1941) complete with large chimney spark arrester as the locomotive was a wood burner. The highlight of the trip was a tender and cab ride from Polja to Juankoski, about 35 kilometres, which took about an hour. For most of this part of the journey I rode on the tender with another passenger and between us we passed the huge birch logs down to the fireman so that he could fuel the firebox more easily.…

In LI 138, reference was made in my short article concerning railways in Berlin in the 1970s about a trip on the “Berlinaren” being a story for another day. What follows is just a brief description of the journey and return on the “Saβnitz Express”. After overnight in a small hotel in West Berlin, it was an early rise on Tuesday March 14th 1977, to catch the “Berlinaren” from Berlin Zoo in West Berlin through to the port of Saβnitz on the DDR Baltic Sea coast. The plan was to travel on the then longest route (known to the author) behind a single steam loco in Europe, some 301 km. This involved buying a ticket from West Berlin through to Sweden, as travel was otherwise only possible between Berlin Ostbahnhof…

History This unique 3 ft. 6″ gauge (1067 mm) Abt rack and pinion railway runs between Strahan on the coast in Tasmania and Queenstown with gradients up to 1 in 12 (8.33%) which is the steepest gradient climbed by any regular train in the Southern Hemisphere and exists between Dubbil Barril and Rinadeena! It began operation in November 1892 from Queenstown to Teepookanna as the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in order to transport copper from the Queenstown mine to the port of Strahan for onward export. It was officially opened in 1897 but it was not until 1 November 1899 that it reached the port of Strahan. Until 1932 it had a monopoly on passenger transport, there being no road. At its peak in 1936 it had 6…