Back in the Workshop.

It was an enjoyable break in France, as Sarah told you, the visit to the Gare de Sos was a real treat.
At the 16mm AGM show in Peterborough I purchased a kit from Swift Sixteen for a protected Simplex(Tin Turtle).  The were built in large numbers, 104 were ordered in 1917 and quite a few are still around.  This kit was based on the locomotive at Apedale. Where they are having a WD commemoration  on 12th/13th September this year.  Well worth going to, not only a unique assembly of WD locomotives and stock but also an accurate re-creation of a section of trench showing all the different trenching methods used.
The kit itself was excellent.  Well detailed and no problems in assembly- everthing fitted and the downloaded instructions were OK, perhaps some of the photos were a little hard on old eyes. Last weekend saw it built and painted.  I still have to paint the details and apply the well etched works plate and number plates.

The Tin Turtle assembled from a Swift Sixteen kit

After the Turtle was finished thoughts turned to the Quarry Hunslet locos.  We have notes of interest in over 50!  So the time has arrived to start building them.  I have decided to start with the mechanism.  We make this in house by fabrication.  The cylinder block starts out as a length of 3/4" x 1/2" bar.  The first operation is to get the batch all square and the same length having cut them roughly on a chop saw.

All machined to length

Next using the end of the machine vice as the datum they are all endmilled with a recess that is going to become the valve face between the frames of the loco.  The removal of metal is limited by the table stops and the down stops.  So once set up not much skill is needed.  The machine takes off 50 thou at a pass.

Starting to machine the last one in the batch.

Visit to France reopens memories of writing our last book

We have been away to France. Our hope was to hide away and make progress on the book about Colonel Pechot and the tracks to the trenches. We were distracted by friends who lured us to the Gers. We didn't need much persuading! South-west France is the land of perpetual spring, roses that bloom in April, cherries that ripen in May and idyllic domaines/wine-growers' properties surrounded by vineyards. The locals have a wonderful wide spread of animals to chase - they love animals, especially on their plates.
We were not disappointed. After the usual catch-up between good friends - politics, scandals and so on, they took us to Sos. Sos? I'd never heard of it, though Malcolm had, as a station on the Midi which closed in the early Sixties. As we approached, the years fell away and I was back to my youth (well almost) researching our last book, the Tramways a Vapeur du Tarn (TVT).

Book on the TVT Oakwood Press 2001

 Like Sos, this is also in the area once dominated by the Midi Railway Company but further to the east. Let's tell you more about Sos.
The old station has become a gite of luxury and character. To find out more and see it, go to the website which is www.gare-de-sos.com  It is a perfect little Midi station. The halle/goods shed is tacked on to the batiment des voyageurs/station building. (No accents - sorry!) A length of platform still survives, as does the pumping house which once brought water for the steam engines. The site of the water tower is still visible, though it has gone. The amazing thing was my feeling of deja vu. I could almost have been standing outside the station at Lavaur, researching our book about the narrow gauge railway in Tarn -  well, almost. In this picture we are standing beside the station hotel and Lavaur gare is larger.

Ex Midi station at Lavaur, a small town which is still served by a railway in the department of Tarn. The picture was taken by Malcolm in 2000

My previous book was pretty thorough. A reader told me that I was obviously determined to have the last word on the subject and I suppose that I nearly did. Yet apart from a peek inside the ticket office at Lavaur, I never saw inside any of the old buildings that served the TVT. Readers were probably spared another chapter! Yet here we were, being invited by David, the owner, to have a look around a perfect little Midi station at Sos.
When David purchased the station as a restoration project 20 years ago little could he have expected to find in the old salle d'attente/waiting room, hidden behind decaying wall board a set of Midi poster panels from the 1920s with layer after layer of promotional pictures. The rows of posters were high on the walls and below this pasted to the walls were the timetables. It would have been possible to travel from Sos to Tarbes in the south and Agen in the north. Sitting in the living room of the gite, you are in an atmosphere which must be unique, with unspoiled walls dating from the 1920s. We are not going to spoil it for you with any photographs. Stay at the gite and enjoy a trip back in time. We were invited upstairs to the old station-master's lodgings - a living room looking over the station yard, a kitchen looking over the sidings and three bedrooms which once had a view of the water tower. Stairs lead up to the attic which was once a store. These have been converted, but with sensitivity and panache. Once again, look at the website to be reassured that the creature comforts of the 21st century have all been included.

The Baldwin Gas Mechanical BGM         Sarah's Remarks

We all love a mystery and this family of locomotives offers a few. First of all, there is her name. The official US title is ‘Baldwin Gas Mechanical’ but her crew preferred the term ‘tractor’ although the term already applied to that ubiquitous bit of farm machinery. The attitude spread to France where the official name was ‘locomotive à essence’ (petrol) where the name locotracteur stuck. http://appeva.perso.neuf.fr/imgapp/t33-01.jpg

Photo. A model in 16mm scale made from a Wrightscale kit by the late Henry Holdesworth.

There is also power in her mystery. Scrutiny of original Baldwin documents – the 1919 catalogue – explains that she was supplied in 35hp and 50hp versions. Richard Dunn suggests that the original order may have been for 20 and 40 hp locomotives, but given the famous just-do-it philosophy of the Baldwin Works, this may have changed to suit the engines available. It all seems very simple 35 and 50 hp were delivered – 35Cv and 50Cv (chevaux/horses) to France.

And yet … the myth of the 20, 40 and 45 hp locotractors persists quite obstinately. In a splendid, well researched book of 2002, we see a photo of a US train passing over a wooden bridge of the Wild West type. Below are the august Paris-Strasbourg mainline and the equally regal Canal de l’Est. In the background is the elegant arch of a stone bridge. The cheery tourists are hitching a ride on a Péchot wagon while being hauled by a cheeky Baldwin locotractor, also carrying some passengers. The caption reads ‘The locomotive is Baldwin 45hp no 7023’ How do myths develop? In this case, one suspects that it is through careless labelling by the war photographer.

At the beginning of the War, steam locomotives were used on trench narrow gauge, but both the French and the Germans soon realised that internal combustion locomotives had many advantages, chief of which being they were less visible. They were also less likely to emit stray sparks – given the combustible environment, quite an advantage. The British and French had their own designs, but they were just not being produced in enough numbers. When the USA entered the war, they looked to Baldwin who was already delivering locomotives in large numbers to both the French and British. We must remember that the powerful reliable internal combustion engine that we so take for granted was only just emerging.

            

Baldwin combined existing technologies. It was accustomed to cast steel bar frames, as used for example on the Baldwin 4-6-0T it was producing for the British War Department. It developed existing gear boxes. Usually, at the time these may have been 4-speed, but the BGM had only two. Its usual top speed was 6mph though 12mph was a theoretical maximum. It had an electric starter for the motor and lights, a boon for the atrocious conditions. The motor modified existing technology. Each cylinder was a separate piece for ease of maintenance

Trench conditions did not allow for turning and so machines such as the Péchot-Bourdon could be run in either direction. The Simplex 40 hp and the BGM solved the problem by having the driver sit side-on.

Telling them apart? The divided windscreen on the 50hp version consists of a pair of rectangles whereas those on the 35hp are a pair of squares. The transmission jack shaft crank is larger on the 50hp version. The pair of louvres in the bonnet next to the cab are narrower than the third louver in the 35hp version. All three are the same width on the 50ph.

Was the BGM loved? It was certainly more convenient than a steam locomotive, but it did have problems. Large, tallish and balanced on four wheels, it tended to derail and topple too easily. Most squaddies would have liked a four-speed gear-box, it would have prevent strain on couplings. The War Department Simplex and the French Schneider were more popular at the time, so is reported. Yet, in a cold dawn, with supplies running low, throb of its arrival and the sight of its angular bulk looming out of the mist must have cheered many a heart.

As so many were produced – 600 50hp for France, 126 50hp for the AEF in France and at home, 65 35hp - many survived the Great War and some were sold off for War Surplus, finding their way on to agricultural and industrial lines. They were often customised, a process that fills Malcolm with horror. A survivor at Froissy was re-gauged. Another went to the Festiniog Railway- Moelwyn.http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=381723  ‘Malheureusement’ scolds Jacques Pradayrol of APPEVA who is of the same mind as Malcolm, they gave it a front bogie to help adhesion. To me personally, change is part of the process, a labour of love, even. Today, judging by the interest in this highly distinctive locomotive, the BGM has puttered its way into many hearts.

Hi, rather than telling you a bit more about the workshop I thought I would show you what is going on.  Today, after two months work I have completed a batch of 16mm to the foot Baldwin 50HP gas Mechanical locos.

The photo shows four of the five locos sitting on the only free space in the workshop-the guillotine!
The engines are built from my own parts.  The frames are laser cut steel, the bonnet and jackshaft gear box are whitemetal.  All the plate work is etched brass and the details are lost wax castings. They are battery powered with two speeds like the prototype.

A close up shot of one of the batch of engines.
The prototype was developed in the First World War by the Baldwin Company in the US for the French.  These locomotives were used by all the Allies.  Unlike the War Department steam engines they didn't make their presence known close to the front line with a column of smoke and steam.  Consequently they were sought after.  They were the first rugged and reliable internal combustion locomotives of the period.  Many survive to this day on preserved narrow gauge railways in France.  One, much altered is on the Festiniog Railway in the UK.

How a picturesque railway scene can transport you to the Great War and WD Light Railways

The last time that our blog left the workshop, I mused about how how a narrow gauge railway, the Talyllyn, inspired many happy years of garden railways. We looked at small locomotives and quaint trains winding among Welsh mountains. The keen gardener can set up his or her own miniature happy valley on a rockery!

Here is another picturesque and hidden scene. When a friend showed us his photo, we gasped and had to find out more. It shows a rake of abandoned wagons in a woodland siding. Though they were small, they were also extremely long. Looking at their age, they were tough. What were they and where did they come from?

WD wagon underframe.  Photo J. Hawkesworth

The short answer is that these were wagons abandoned when the Ashover Light Railway closed many years ago. Our friend was proud to capture the scene for posterity. You already know the story of the Ashover. Basically, its main traffic was mineral but it served some small rural English communities between the Wars. Its locomotives and rolling stock included War Surplus purchases - veterans of  the punishing conditions of the Western Front - which ended their working lives in deepest Derbyshire.

The track is very narrow gauge, only 60 cm, as you can se from the small length in the foreground. The centre wagon in the photo (others only just seen) is surprisingly long, but adapted to narrow twisting track because it is bogie mounted. Though its life has been eventful, the characteristic wide Vee-shape of the truss  rod (angle iron)  of the classic WD  Class D wagon can still be seen. It has survived all the repairs and modifications of a long life. It is still a willing little beast, able to carry heavy loads.

'Oh aye' said our friend, 'there's not much left now, but there were plenty in the past' There were indeed! Nearly three thousand bogie wagons for use on the Western Front were ordered in 1916 alone. A lifetime later, this ghost hovered in an English wood.

More from the workshop

Carrying on from my last post, I thought it might interest readers to have a look at some of the other equipment that is used to create our models.
In the middle of the workshop is a George Alexander engraving machine. This was purchased nearly 25 years ago from a guy in Kent who had used it to die-sink the tools used to mould PECO's flexible track.  I use it in two ways: to cut out difficult shapes used in pattern making and as a copy milling machine in the production of small batches of models. A pattern is made of the required shape in Formica or plastic sheet. This is usually made twice as large as the finished object. The pantograph reduces this as you trace round the edge of your pattern.  A cutter head rotating at 12500 rpm holding a solid carbide cutter cuts the shape out. Because it is smaller by the ratio set, it is more accurate. These old machines are easily capable of achieving one or two thou accuracy.

The Alexander machine

The next machine is a Tom Senior Milling Machine, again, a lucky purchase since it was fully equipped for both horizontal and vertical milling plus it had the high speed vertical head shown in the picture. It had everything - rotary tables, boring heads, cutters, arbours ... The person who owned it had died in his workshop just after installing his new purchase. Once I had set it up, I nearly repeated the story. When I plugged it in, it immediately blew a fuse. Whoever had first installed it, had mis-wired the starter. Luckily, I wasn't touching it! I then rewired the whole thing with proper armoured cables and flexible conduiting. There is a cautionary lesson here. Anything that you buy, check. If you don't know how to, pay an electrician to check on your behalf. Senior Mills like this one were built with no expense spared. I have heard that the company lost money on every one that they made; consequently, they went to the wall.

Tom Senior Mill with vertical head

The last machine is a Britan repetition lathe. These were made by the hundred in the last war. They were used to produce items such rivets for the aircraft industry. They are copies (with many improvements) of a Boley (German) repetition lathe that had been in production since early last century. One interesting anecdote is the German lathe incorporated a waist belt with a hook on it that engaged with the lever that moves the cutting tool back and forth. It seems our German friends were quite happy to swing their hips to move their tools!

The Britan. The tool guard is on the high chair, the various operating handles can be seen and in the tray, above the number plate can be seen the thin operating lever of the hydraulic feed control

Britan added to the lathe a hydraulic system to move the cutting tools and the tailstocks if required and a pneumatic system to operate the bar feed. The Britan's method of using the cutting tools makes them simple to grind and extremely rigid in operation. It is a direct precursor of the modern CNC machining centre. We use it to manufacture all the steam fittings for our locomotives from gland nuts to regulators.

Britan again. The cutting tools are held in the rotating cassette. The stop tool against which the bar stock will come to rest is resting on the tool slide. It is this tool support that gives the machine its extreme accuracy and ensures the rigidity of the tool. On the right you can see the double tailstock which is simply swung over by releasing the catch. The upper tailstock is holding a Coventry diehead that threads - and the lower tailstock is holding a rotating cassette for drills etc.

If anyone is interested in more details, get in touch.

 

How a visit to a great little train led to a 16mm railway then to an interest in British War Department finally to Col Pechot

Hi. We should explain why a family trip to the Talyllyn railway led first to an interest in 16mm railways, then to a fully scenicked garden railway, then to historic links with World War One and the THOUSANDs of miles of 60cm and 2' gauge railways used near the Western Front.
We were much taken by the little narrow gauge railway.

 It is not only the characterful locomotive in the foreground but also the setting. There are mountains, a variety of fascinating rock formations, greenery and waterfalls through which snaked the narrow gauge railway. Here and here, a small station building drew the eye back into the Welsh hinterland. The memory stayed with us.
Within a few years, the 16mm Association established itself. Small scale narrow gauge has a particular appeal. At 1:19 scale, locomotives and rolling stock are a good size yet the 32mm track can adapt itself to the contours and flowerbeds of an ordinary suburban garden. The feeling of forest and mountain can be recreated in a rockery! A few paths acting as roads and small buildings are enough to scenick the layout. The passions of gardeners and railway enthusiasts can be satisfied in the same smallish plot. I was happily involved in gardening as shrubs, rockeries and garden railways thrive together under judicious direction.
There is one place where Malcolm has never compromised. He always wanted to relate his models to a prototype, reflecting his passion for railway history. In the first place, this showed itself in the model locomotives. Let's face it, the Prime Mover always catches the eye.  He took a pride in reproducing engines which actually ran. Just to take one example, he knows the Corris Number 4 back to front, from her inception at the Kerr Stuart Works, through her service at the Corris Railway to time at the Talyllyn. He found out about the other locomotives in the Kerr Stuart Tattoo Class.
Not content with the railway literature, he started fact-finding trips.  Gradually new items entered his photos. He was looking at rolling stock as well as engines. Lurking in old photos, sidelined in old quarries, glimpsed in defunct yards were enigmatic, battered old wagons. He explored further. Some of these dated back to the First World War. Why did they exist? Very few people seemed to know. I was drawn in at this point. Soon after, a friend said  'You'll need to look at the French stuff too' That was our introduction to the lost world of military narrow gauge.