16mm scale Rail Mounted Crane

The French narrow gauge rail-mounted crane is a fascinating and elaborate piece of engineering. Only special circumstances could have brought it into existence. Indeed, the story of this crane and the whole system of narrow gauge portable railways begins under special circumstances. The picture below shows a 16mm model of an ammunition crane, built from a Wrightscale kit. Photo courtesy MD Wright.

In the War of 1870-1, France suffered catastrophic defeat against Prussia. As a result, most German-speaking states united under William of Prussia and France was forced to cede territory in the east – the Lost Provinces. In the early 1880s, Prosper Péchot devised a system of portable military railways. His motive was to create transport for the French Army which would strike into the Lost Provinces and recover key cities such as Metz.

Backed by Paul Decauville, he struggled to persuade his superiors to adopt his innovative system. The diagram of a Péchot bogie (Type 1) shown below demonstrates the care and detail that went into every part of Péchot's designs. Diagram drawn by Malcolm Wright. In fact, between 1884 and 1886, the Navy was the Service which were most interested; thanks to Decauville and the Ministère de la Marine, several kilometres of portable track, and about a hundred special bogies were built. The Navy was particularly worried about Britain! The Army professed no real interest; they were going to depend on a line of modern earth-sheltered forts to keep out the enemy.

In 1886, the first of a new generation of ammunition was introduced – the high-explosive shell. The Army were foolish enough to demonstrate the value of their forts in front of the Free Press. Modern guns were lined up against Fort de Malmaison. The place was blown to smithereens in an afternoon; worse still, under the noses of newshounds.

Something had to be done!

Senior generals were still keen on their forts. It was clear from the exercise that the real problem was letting guns get too close. If a protective screen of subsidiary forts, defended in their turn by small batteries, defended in their turn by subsidiary batteries and so on ad infinitum, could be constructed, the enemy could be kept away.

These sub-fortifications had to be supplied efficiently. The Army realised it had just the system, the système Péchot.

Between 1886 and 1889, this was refined and expanded. At the Great Centenary Exhibition of 1889, the public were moved around on Decauville 60cm gauge railways. Péchot style locomotives were used and, displayed in pride of place, was a 64 tonne gun carried on Péchot bogies. By way of thanks, within a couple of years, Decauville was removed from his office in the Company he had built up and Péchot was virtually exiled in Castres. But that is another story.

Péchot was always considerate of his foot soldiers. He designed everything to be within the limits of what could be reasonably carried or pushed by a human being. On the other hand, his wagons were designed to carry loads almost unimaginable for portable track – artillery ammunition was getting bigger and angrier. Stations and loading areas were equipped with gantry cranes. Away from permanent installations, the Army and Marine depended on pulleys and winches mounted on sheer-legs. The French called this type of lifting gear the chèvre (literally goat). Colonel Péchot: Tracks to The Trenches has photos showing these sheerleg cranes in use between 1886 and 1890.Over the years, ordinance grew in bulk and mass, as the picture below shows.

As anyone knows, sheer-legs have their disadvantages, particularly in cramped spaces and when time is of the essence. Prosper Péchot wasn’t going to let his squaddies down. Two sorts of rail-mounted crane were devised. We have reason to believe that they were designed and built in the 1890s (the photographic record and studies by Jacques Pradayrol.)

One type was the grue Magnarde with a theoretical rating of six tonnes. This was basically a scaled-down version of a standard gauge rail-mounted crane. We can tell from the name that there was another hand as well as Péchot’s in the design. Grue is a crane with a movable jib, Magnarde the name of the officer which commissioned it. The grue Magnarde was a large device carried on four Péchot bogies, which required stabilisers when in use.

The other type was definitely more ‘Péchot’. This was a small crane suitable for single shells or, as we might say, pieces of heavy ordinance weighing over 30 kg. Mounted on a single Péchot bogie, its typical use was to handle large calibre shells and their propellant. They were needed when a supply wagon reached a gun battery and then again at the point of fire. Its official name was the grue a obus - crane for shells.

The crane was brought up by rail then positioned over the wagon. It picked up a shell in a scissor-grip. The load was balanced by a counter-weight that ran out on a parabolic track. The greater the load, the further out the counterweight travelled. The device was safe without a safety ratchet or brake. Thanks to the design of the bogie, the jib could be turned, if necessary through 360 degrees. The picture below shows a 16mm model made from a Wrightscale kit.

A 370mm gun, just one of the uses, would be supplied by Péchot track. A turntable was inserted in the track and the wagon would be diverted to a siding at right angles running alongside the gun. When firing a the available crane would pick up a shell, run along the back of the gun, swing around and release the shell on to a track which led up to the breech of the gun. The crane was then withdrawn. A painting by Henry Cheffer shows the crane in action.  Interestingly, Cheffer has omitted the system of track around the gun.

Wrightscale has produced a 16mm scale model kit for this, the ‘people’s’ rail-mounted crane. It is designed to be mounted on a Péchot bogie. The standard support provided by the bogie is a turntable, capable of turning through 360 degrees. The circular baseplate of the crane acts like the rotating top. To the baseplate are attached the jib supports. They in turn support the jib and the counterbalance rails.

With the cable rig in place, the lifting gear is connected to the counter-balance. The cable travels from the fixing point on the drum, three turns around the drum and then on to the second top pulley, up round the hook, over the top pulley, round the pulley  fixed to the rear of the counterbalance rails and finally is fixed to the back of the counter-balance itself.

A handle equipped with gears moves the drum. Thanks to the gears, no extraordinary effort is require in lifting a significant weight. Thanks to the counterweight arrangement, there is no danger of the weight suddenly falling. Thanks to the bogie, the crane can be pushed along easily. It has brakes, operated by screws; because of the protruding jib and counter-balance, the brakewheels, as used on the standard bogie, have been removed.

The colour varied. When originally used in the 19^th century, most military railways were painted ‘horizon blue’ – a sort of grey, as can be seen from hand-tinted postcards of the period. This is the colour of the 16mm models shown in the pictures above. During the Great War, the science of camouflage came into its own. Military equipment was more likely to be painted a khaki green, and perhaps decorated with splodges to further break up the outline. By now, colour printing was more widespread and there are a number of pictures of camouflaged material – the picture below, featuring a 370 mortar, as used in the First World War, shows the crane in new colours.Picture courstesy MD Wright.

The Péchot model crane has proved to be a popular product. It has a fascination – a charming little crane which finds a place on many sorts of layout. It can be installed line-side or the mobile version runs along the track.

Further, we all like a model which works. The bogie runs along the track, the crane turns on its pivot. Turn the little handle and the hook goes up while the counter balance runs out. The only disappointment is that we supply a hook rather than a scissors grip. We would be delighted if an enthusiast sent us a picture of a 16mm scale working scissors grip!

The grue a obus offers something else – a story. It is an old-fashioned story. It is how an officer spoke to decorated generals and the elite of French society but also cared for the lowly men who laboured under his command.

If you can, find out a copy of Dr Cénac’s ’60 centimetres for supplying the French Army during the 14-18 War’ (French language)

Sarah Wright ‘Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the Trenches’

 

16mm Alice on an incline

The gravity hauled incline has a long history. There are fascinating traces of early wooden railways around the Mediteranean, but that is for another time. Suffice to say that those pioneer porters knew that, when there was timber, coal, wheat etc to be carried, gravity was a good friend and an implacable enemy.When commodities were being extracted from a hillside, gravity was a potential friend, so the principles of using gravity to take freight out of a quarry were not new. The Germans used it, then the miners of North-east England, then the quarries of North Wales. In our part of the world, at the Wells of Lecht, near the watershed between Spey and Don, manganese was extracted from an adit into the frowning face of Cairnmor. 

Below in a more rural setting, a 16mm Wrightscale model of an 'Alice' Class Hunslet conveys some wagons. Here is the story of how the prototype negotiated a gravity incline and could do so on your layout.

The Welsh prototype was of world-wide importance. Before going on to conquer the world, the Frenchmen Paul Decauville and Prosper Péchot always acknowledged their debt to the slate quarries of Wales for valuable ideas and for saving them many painful mistakes.The Dinorwic quarries, poised above the Menai Straights, taught the French valuable lessons. The area around Dinorwic provided a series of challenges; a river and two bonny lakes – or llyns – led up to a mountain composed of slate. In the 1870s, slate from these quarries was transported by a 4’ (ie almost-standard gauge) railway. Above this railway were the quarries which were connected by cable-worked inclines.

2’ gauge proved to be the most convenient gauge - as Prosper Péchot was to demonstrate though he translated this into 60cm. Wanted! A locomotive tough enough to stay out of the workshop for long periods, small enough to be cable-hauled up and down where necessary and powerful enough to haul significant tonnages of slate and waste. Although the company loved a bargain as much as any, only three of the 31 they purchased were second-hand. A worn loco was a false economy.

Most of these were from the Hunslet Engine Co Ltd of Leeds. Above is a 16mm model by Wrightscale. Broadly speaking, they provided three types of loco. Port and Tramway were both seen around the loading docks while the Alice class, as pictured above,  generally stayed in the high quarries. Although the quarries are closed, the National Slate Museum of Wales gives an idea of the atmosphere and grandeur of the site. If you can’t get there yet, at least visit the website, (directions below).

The Alice locomotives which were destined for narrow slate galleries had neither cab nor steam dome. Their looks were peculiar.They catered neither for health, safety nor comfort. And yet … these ‘Quarry’ Hunslets are much loved. Although they have been manufactured in several different workshops in 16mm scale, the interest in the Wrightscale model is undiminished.

Strictly speaking, your Dinorwic (Dinorwig) Hunslet, or any other well-loved Quarry locomotive, should have its own little circuit on your garden railway. It should be connected to the main layout by a gravity incline. Above, we see a short train on the gravity incline on Peter Kinnear's layout.  Most people won’t want to reproduce the majesty of a Welsh quarry in the back garden, but that shouldn’t stop you from having your own little gravity system. Peter Kinnear, as mentioned before, has made a splendid feature of one. Some day, our South Deeside Railway will have one too.

Thanks to Jim Hawkesworth, we have some pictures of an incline he knew when he was a lad. It was built to serve one of the Beeston collieries. These would have been known to DH Lawrence. The hero of one of his novels tries his hand as clerk in the office; no doubt Lawrence wrote from experience. He himself quickly decided to become a ‘stool-harsed Jack’ and become a writer instead.  The area was well known. The labouring class knew the mines, of course and the Quality also liked it. They would drive past workings and Incline to picnic by the Hemlock Stone picturesquely placed on the top of the hill.

By the 1950s, the incline was abandoned and became a playground for naughty boys. The photo above is courtesy of Jim Hawkesworth. It was great fun to pull an abandoned wagon to the top of the slope and let it roll down again, until, one by one, the wagons were smashed.  In 1979, Bramcote crematorium and garden of remembrance was built on the site.

Jim’s first photo is the view from above. You can see the line running into the loading shed. This was fed from the left by a ramp up which was hauled the coal, or spoil, ready to be dropped into the tippers waiting below. A small engine house beside it would have provided the power. DON’T ask what powered the engine – coal of course! Empties would be hauled back up on the bypass lane – an overturned example is seen on the track. Near the top of the photo can be seen another building.

The second photo, also courtesy Jim Hawkesworth, gives us a better view of this building, no doubt at one time the lower winding house. An incline and the remains of a coal store are visible. The building was also shelter for the switchman – the site of the original turnout is clearly visible. Two naughty boys are engaged in an altercation while a third looks on, waiting for a bit of help in removing the ‘dead’ tipper wagon.

Jim’s third photo show the line then running alongside a lane, complete with telegraph poles. The footprints show just how narrow the gauge is.

Although the scene is one of decay and the weather is filthy, you can just see its beauty. It makes use of a valley – hills, trees and swift-flowing stream. There must be potential for a modeller.

Peter Kinnear modelled his incline on the Waste Transfer System at Powderhall, Edinburgh. Although the prototype is no more glamorous than the Nottingham one, Peter has made it beautiful. inspiration for art can be found anywhere, even in a waste transfer system!

The above photo shows a wagon and haulage rope.

Unlike a true gravity system, the Kinnear scheme depends on a Prime Mover. The sequence goes as follows. The train gets shunted on to the incline track, leaves the wagons that are going down the hill. The 'Mule' (blue loco) comes from the shed, couples on, then pushes the wagons along, they start to roll down the incline and the mule carries on lowering them down.Peter explains that to reproduce a true gravity worked balanced incline, there has to be a lot of human intervention. We 16 millers don’t like too much ‘hands on’ and the alternative, humans in 16mm scale, is not yet available!

In this system, the 'Mule' is attached permanently to an endless cable; the winding-house powers the cable, one direction of winding taking the mule down the hill, the other direction bringing it up again. Before you embark on your model, a fact-finding tour is highly recommended. Once lockdown ends, watch out for East of Scotland 16mm Association Open Days. There will be an opportunity to see Peter’s layout.

A trip to the Welsh Slate Museum would be worthwhile. Alternatively, you can visit the old manganese mine. It is free, and open to the public all year round. Follow the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road. The Well of Lecht nearby is clearly visible and there is a public footpath. The main limit is weather.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dinorwig+slate+quarry&client=firefox-b&sxsrf=ALeKk0345mc2JsbN9WCi6kLmpbyrYQrhgA:1602499802650&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=qj8BoYA7N8sdbM%252CRIk32qCpbOm-EM%252C%252Fm%252F026nbwg&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSlv3SG7W-fS-h0_vMScRH9n7Y8pQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjj9fT78K7sAhWFs3EKHXZgAXUQ_B16BAgREAM&biw=1280&bih=877#imgrc=qj8BoYA7N8sdbM

 

16mm scale Hunslet ALICE

Here are just a few thoughts on running a 16mm Hunslet ‘Alice’ class locomotive. The loyalty this locomotive enjoys is based on the history of the prototype. It amply rewards its place on a 16mm layout.

The picture shows a Wrightscale Quarry Hunslet pushing slate wagons. Photo and layout by Malcolm Wright

Among the most celebrated Quarry Hunslets were those which served the quarries at Diorwic in Wales. The original quarries have served as inspiration for a number of super 16mm scale layouts, giving opportunities for a variety of situations.Strangely enough, they were dismissed as an industrial site during the lifetime of the quarries. Dinorwic never attracted the tourists who came to the Festiniog or the Talyllyn. The longer these quarries have been closed, the more intriguing they have become.

To us nowadays, an air of mystery hangs about Dinorwic. It is sited in North-West Wales, squeezed between Snowdonia, the lakes of Padarn and Peris and the Menai Straits. It has the most extraordinary and beautiful scenery and local folklore (last stand of the Giants, the Druids, the Welsh Bards). The English owners compounded the mystery of the Quarries with their family feuds involving racehorses and by deliberately destroying Company records. As an afterthought, bards and druids aside, it has to be added that the Quarries counted as outstanding both in longevity and mechanical innovation. JIC Boyd (Narrow Gauge Railwas Vol 3)

For centuries, slate had been used as a building material in North Wales. A 19^th century diarist, Mr Ellis, remarks of one of the quarries that it was ‘an old quarry worked by the old people for hundreds of years’. The quarries of Dinorwic became a commercial proposition in the late 18^th century because product could be taken to Llyn/Lake Padarn, thence by lighter to the nearest port. One village expanded from 13 households in 1785 to 140 by 1850 (Ellis again).

The Quarry Huslet adapts well to a more rural setting. 16mm scale Wrightscale Hunslet

Firstly, it is believed, there was a horse-drawn tramway. The word ‘legendary’ was used about it which is perhaps the wrong word. A legend is something written down and nothing first-hand remains about this. Between 1824 and 1843, a 24 ½ “ gauge railway ran 7 miles from quarry to lake. Because of sharp gradients, the wagons had to be hauled by cable part of the way. It was replaced by what was called the Padarn Railway though it came to be called the Dinorwic, begun 1841, closed 1961. This was 4’ gauge. 2’ gauge slate wagons were to be carried on special transporters. Quarries and railway were connected by cable-worked inclines.

We fast-forward to the 1870s. Down by the lake-shore, the quarries were served by a 4’ almost-standard gauge railway. Up in the quarries themselves, as railways developed there, 2’ gauge was more convenient. At first, horses provided the motive power, but as they quarried deeper into the mountain face, the advantages of locomotion became more apparent. These would have to be special. 2’ gauge locomotives would be virtually marooned up there although they did come down for major repairs (more below)..

Wanted! A locomotive tough enough to stay out of the workshop for long periods, small enough to be cable-hauled down where necessary and powerful enough to haul significant tonnages of slate and waste. Although the company loved a bargain as much as any, only three of the 31 they purchased were second-hand. A worn loco was a false economy.

A close-up view of this 16mm Quarry Hunslet shows how small and neat it is. Wrightscale model

In the 1870s, the company purchased some de Winton locomotives, but showed remarkable allegiance to one manufacturer – the Hunslet Engine Co Ltd of Leeds. Broadly speaking, they provided three types of loco: Port Class and Tramway which were both seen around the loading docks, the Alice which generally stayed in the high quarries.

Tramway and Port were supplied with cabs, steam domes and higher chimneys. The ‘Alice’locomotives which were destined for narrow slate galleries had neither cab nor steam dome. They catered neither for health, safety nor comfort. The lack of a steam dome gave them the look of the bogeyman in ‘Scream’ that celebrated image of alienation and fear.

In spite of or because of these peculiarities, they have proved to be the most loved of prototypes.

The Alice class was quite tiny and could turn, almost, on a sixpence  (2 ½ New Pence). They could negotiate a 21’  radius curve, roughly 6 ½ m. The frame was 11’6” long, with front and rear overhang of 4’. Those good at arithmetic will see that the wheelbase was less than 4’  (1.2m). Most stood 7’3” above the top of the rail – including chimney. You might assume that the other two were taller but in fact, KING OF THE SCARLETS and LADY MADCAP had even shorter chimneys. They were, to put it mildly, compact. Not all of them spent their lives in the upper quarries but they were well adapted to the high life.

Though the livery preferred by the Dinorwic Management was Midland Red, many prototypes were black.

Making a model of such a small prototype was a challenge and running one is a proof of the model engineer’s mettle. We are proud that, over the years, our customers have wanted the refined pleasures of lighting up ALICE (or, if you prefer, KING OF THE SCARLETS), ENID, or if you prefer, RED DAMSEL, CLOISTER and so on. 

True to prototype, they have a sharp sense of humour. The original Alice and Enid were members of the owner’s family. His son decided to rename them, and other Hunslets, after race-horses. The model ALICE is not above the odd prank. She shows when she is ready to run by ejecting hot oil and condensate from her chimney. Do not be kneeling within range!  As they are modelled on small prototypes, there is nowhere for the heat to go; once the locomotive is running, it gets quite hot. There will be cool spots on larger live steamers, but take nothing for granted with ALICE!

Yet once the locomotive is running, she has endurance and is actually easier to keep in steam than other models. This is true of he prototype. Boyd remarks that the non-Hunslets on site ‘certainly required more careful handling’or ‘though useful, lacked the quality of a Hunslet product of the same tonnage’ She is not a model to fear.

It is important to get to know your model before taking her out. (Good advice in any situation, I say.) She likes ritual. All preparation has to be done in order.

Looking into the open cab of a Wrightscale Hunslet from above, showing the lubricator (left side), gas filling valve, left of centre, regulator, central, gas control valve and water filler to the right.

Firstly fill with water. This should be distilled water or water recovered from a condenser-drier or dehumidifier. Use the syringe provided at water at around 70 degrees. Open the regulator slightly by turning anti-clockwise, or the water will bubble back, then inject into the water filler in the cab. Insert the syringe then push and twist to get a seal. Inject with water, withdraw the syringe and turn the regulator back to its original position.

Next, the loco must be lubricated. Use Heavy Steam Oil from a quality supplier such as Roundhouse. Take off the lubricator cap, fill to just above the steam pipe visible inside, then replace the cap. It should only be finger-tight.

Only then should you fill up with gas. Propane/Butane mix is recommended. Pure propane is a bit too volatile, pure butane tends to sulk in the tank when it is too cold. In the Scots climate, it is wise to keep the gas cylinder in an inside pocket. Use a long gas filler-adapter such as the Roundhouse adapter Part GFA. The gas-filling valve is on the cab floor, on the same side as the lubricator. Make sure that the gas-control valve, other side, is closed. Before you attach the adapter and press, raise the locomotive at the rear. When the liquid gas reaches the base of the valve, ie the tank is full, it will vent and you will smell gas. Propane/butane is not poisonous, so you are quite safe.

The first time you light up, and indeed all the first run will be tentative.  Get to know the regulator – no gas, no fire – and how long to hold your lighter in front of  the flue. Get to know the noises as the flame lights and as it settles down. At around 20psi, ALICE may eject hot condensates from her short little chimney. Get to know the warning sounds. Run the locomotive on blocks until you have a ‘feel’ for the delicate balance of fuel flow, water flow and air.   

ALICE runs at 20 to 30 p.s.i. The safety valve lifts at 65, so in normal running, you should never approach ‘danger’ pressure. In addition, never forget regular lubrication. White arrows show where Three-in-one or similar should be applied  from time to time. The valve rods and piston rods should get steam oil (see above)

 

During their lifetime, the Quarries were not very well-known though they were rich in innovation and folk-lore. They suffered a little because a few miles south was the Festiniog Railway, also serving slate quarries. The management were masters of Public Relations, even before the term was invented. When the French wanted to find out about serious Narrow Gauge, it was to the Festiniog that they went. When Prosper Péchot wrote his Memorandum about volume transport on 2’/60cm gauge, it was the Festiniog that he cited as an example, not the Dinorwic. For the full story, you can refer to Tracks To The Trenches.

 

JIC Boyd The Narrow Gauge Railways of North Caernavonshire Volume 3 Oakwood Press 1986  

Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches Birse Press 2014

 

16mm railway with gravity incline

In the last blog, I mentioned the gravity hauled railway system used by the Decauville works south of Paris. From a quarry on the site, a large amount of stone was extracted to help build Paris between 1860 and the 1880s. Decauville gave the young Prosper Péchot much encouragement before the two men fell out in the late 1880s. By then, however, Péchot was well advanced in his scheme to provide a true field railway system for the French Army. This detail from a print by Victor Rose shows a balanced gravity worked incline with the laden train of wagons pulling up th e'emprties'. The image is reproduced courtesy of Roger Bailly.

The principle of using gravity to take freight out of a quarry is not new. The Germans used it, then the miners of North-east England, then the quarries of North Wales.  

  So you will want to know how you could use this on your railway? This lovely scene is courtesy of Peter Kinnear of the North-East 16mm Association. This and all the following images are reproduced courtesy of Peter.

The actual prototype is rather prosaic,  being the Waste Transfer System at Powderhall, Edinburgh. Although the original is not very glamorous, Peter has made it  beautiful. As you can see from this photo showing the head of the incline, inspiration for art can be found anywhere, even in a waste transfer system!

Unlike a true gravity system, this depends on a Prime Mover, in this case what Peter calls the Mule (powerful, obstinate and inclined to be found in remote places).

You can probably see the sequence. The train gets shunted on to the incline track, leaves the wagons that are going down the hill.

Photo of the works shed on the layout of Peter Kinnear.

The 'Mule' comes from the shed, couples on, then pushes the wagons along, they start to roll down the incline and the mule carries on lowering them down. This picture, also on Peter's railway shows wagons rolling in controlled fashion down the line.

This picture shows another section of the incline on Peter's layout. 

Another section of the route on Peter's 16mm railway. The picture below shows the wagon in relationship to the train.

 
The system is not the same as on the Welsh slate quarries, Peter explains, and certainly not the same as the one shown at the Decauville works. To reproduce a true gravity worked balanced incline would have required the assistance of a lot of 16mm scale workers. As Peter puts it, in model form the system would require a lot of 'hands on'.

In this system, the 'Mule' is attached permanently to an endless cable; the winding-house powers the cable, one direction of winding taking the mule down the hill, the other direction bringing it up again.

His system is prototypical; there is an example in Edinburgh, at the Waste Transfer Station at Powderhall. There are quite a few others in the country.

If you don’t want your incline to be based on a Waste Transfer System, how about creating a system based on the San Francisco cable trams? Unlike the fabled prototype, the trams would have to be permanently attached. Again, it would be wonderful to have a 16mm ‘Gripper Man’ to stop the tram.

Useful references---

'Rope and Chain Haulage' by Colin E. Mountford. ISBN 978 1 901556
84-1 Published by the Industrial Railway Society. www.irsociety.co.uk
Decauville Ce Nom Qui Fit Le Tour Du Monde (French language) by Roger Bailly Editions Amatteis, le Mée sur Seine ISBN 2 86849-076-X

16mm Layout With Gravity Incline

It is always fun to find links, especially with romantic times and places.

Here is a 16mm layout with plenty of contours and gradients, based on a Welsh slate quarry. Hunslet locomotive is by Wrightscale. We now invite you to go even further afield.

What, indeed could be more exotic than nineteenth century Paris? For centuries, the British have looked forward to fun or study in Paris. If they couldn’t make it there, they would import a few French chefs, Paris fashions or racy French novels. So here is a little bit of Paris which you could put on to your 16mm scale layout.

This print of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808-73) is taken from a photograph by Appert: courtesy MD Wright. LNB is a character I have tried to sketch in a former blog. He had a plentiful back-story. He considered himself to be semi-royal, and as the heir to Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821). The youth of Louis-Napoléon was spent in various parts of Europe and in circumstances varying from Army to prison. After a daring escape from captivity, he turned up in Paris just as the Second Republic was foundering. (The first Republic was post Revolutionary France.) In 1852, he took power and was elected leader for life in an in-out-simple-majority type plebiscite. Just like a certain other in-out referendum the result was always contested .

In honour of his uncle Napoléon, he called his administration (1852-1870) the Second Empire and himself Emperor Napoléon III. This empire ceased with humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and he ended as he began, in exile.

It is said that the French tried to forget about him, which is not entirely true. In school textbooks he was held up as something between Macbeth, tragically flawed, and a warning about the effects of fornication and substance abuse. Jean Paul Sartre sets Hell in a room furnished in Second Empire style. No-one is entirely useless - he can always serve as a bad example. At the same time, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte has his defenders. The turmoil since the Revolution had not done much for general living standards. There is some truth in what George Orwell wrote. A revolution merely transfers wealth from one group to another. There is no overall increase in assets themselves.

In other countries, the pie was increasing so everyone in theory could have a larger slice.These16mm models of a 19th century prototype show how freight could be moved. In early 19th century Britain, energy production, agriculture and industry all increased. Gradually, the population became better off. A widening network of railways shifting ever increasing volumes of freight. helped growth on its way. Up to 1850, France was somewhat behind Britain in this respect. During the Second Empire, the pie did increase. The Belle Époque, that explosion of wealth and general living standards was helped by the reforms of 1853-70. Education was reformed. Mechanisation crept into everything. The railways which had been but a pious hope began to be built.  There were improvements in agriculture.

To a hungry person, the arts are little more than a mirror or a lamp, but when the belly is full, they are important. A range of French arts flourished. Being something of an iconoclast, NIII suggested a Salon des Réfusés. Artists such as Manet and Pissaro could show their works and shake painting etc out of its complacent rut.

Most importantly for the Decauville story and through it the whole history of 60cm/2’ gauge railways, NIII authorised the rebuilding of Paris. Decauville and others were inspired by the 2’ railways of Wales, they in turn inspired the engineers of Britain and thus were built the lovely prototypes of the Lynton and Barnstaple, Clay Cross, Snailbeach etc.

This picture shows what we think of as a timeless scene. MD Wright has photographed tourists standing on a bridge leading to the Ile de Paris, with Notre Dame Cathedral in the background. Before 1853, the scene would have been different. The cathedral would have been hidden by slums, freqently threatened by the river in flood. The broad avenues and golden stone represent a tremendous effort. Napoléon III planned a peaceful and rational Paris, one where the mutinous under-classes could no longer build barricades, where Law and Order would reign supreme, where homes were airy and hygienic and large new hospitals could be built. It started on the back of the proverbial envelope, using coloured crayons. Wide avenues would spread from the centre. The old city walls, the old bulwarks, would become boulevards, providing concentric ring roads and linking the new railway terminuses.

One such plan was proposed for London just after the Second World War but was never built. What made the difference in Paris?

Enter Georges Eugène Haussmann. His weaknesses were to prove his strengths. He suffered from asthma, so he approved of green spaces. He had a genuine civil-service mentality, so he was not out to make money for himself. He was pig-headed, so he was blessed by certainty. NIII was prepared to back him.

An army of labourers more-or-less levelled the old Paris, evicting thousands. This (slightly later) picture shows the quarries at the Decauville premisses just outside Paris supplying stone. Before rebuilding, they created a network of sewers and gas pipes below ground and fresh water supplies above. Vast new parks were allocated. Then Paris was rebuilt, largely as five to six storey blocks of mansion flats, with handy attics for artists. There was no real provision for labourers and servants; their accommodation was simply moved from the centre to the outskirts.

For anyone wealthy, the new clean, tidy Paris became the ideal holiday destination. Thanks to improved transport, all the joys of French regional cooking were available. Art, theatre, fashion, music and dance which had received extensive state encouragement sice the renaissance finally had worthy showplace. Thanks to all the gas lighting and the quick routes for emergency services, Paris was safe. The other attraction were the girls drawn into Paris, at a safe distance from disapproving relatives. One 20^th century journalist doing fearless research at the celebrated nightclub, the Moulin Rouge, discovered to his pained surprise that ‘not a single girl was from Paris.’ What is true now was true then. Parisians considered that how foreigners met and what they got up to was their own business – as long as rents etc were paid. The tourists loved it. On the one hand, they could boast of their adventures in Paris, on the other, police and hospitals were always close by.

We haven’t forgotten Decauville. His family occupied a farm at Petit-Bourg, Evry on the Seine just south of Paris. They did well because they had specialised in sugar-beet. The pastry chefs of Paris could buy everything they produced.  They were doubly fortunate. The farm sloped down to the river and its upper levels were made of building-grade limestone.

The whole new Paris presupposed quality building stone. Sewers were lined with it, the new mansion blocks were lined with it. The Decauville family had the next best thing to a gold-mine, as long as they could transport the products of their quarry to the barges waiting on the Seine. The balanced or gravity incline was used in Germany at the end of the 18^th century. Rammelsburg in the Harz had parallel track. As they went down, the laden carts pulled up the empties. A more modern version of this existed at the Decauville farm, possibly as early as the 1840s.

Thanks to kind Roger Bailly, we are able to present a detail from an engraving, by the celebrated Victor Rose. It suggests that by 1880, the ‘plan incliné’ was transporting hardcore rather than top quality stone. It shows the sophistication of the quarry railway as well as the amount of material which had been extracted. One balanced incline leads to another. At least 20 tipper wagons are visible though relatively few labourers. Investment improves productivity which improves salaries, that virtuous circle which characterises France of teh later 19th century.

Decauville portable railway was the felicitous child of the agricultural and quarrying sides of the Decauville enterprise. If he hadn’t had track available, he would not have invented his agricultural railway. The agricultural railway gave rise to military railway. The genius of Prosper Péchot created essential refinements and the German Army improved on it yet again. And all thanks to Haussmann and his patron Napoléon III.

Here is a challenge for 16mm modellers. Add interest and contours to your layout by creating a balanced incline on your railway. As the laden wagons go down, they can pull the 'empties' back up to your quarry or farm. In the illustration of the Decauville quarry, a chain on a pivot links the up with the down train.TAs mentioned before, there ae many and varied prototypes. The pastoral 16mm scene below features a Wrightscale Wren pushing some empties along the level.  It could be just coming to the base of an incline. It pushes its empties to join the waiting train of empties. When a train is ready to descend, they are pulled up. It would be fun!

16mm WDLR stock

We read with interest Steve Thornhill’s article in the latest issue of Sixteen Millimetres Today (Issue 175 pp 42 to 45). We are delighted that he shares our interest in this strange yet strangely logical prototype. Various books have been written on the topic - more later.

The Baldwin Gas Mechanical was a locomotive used on 60cm gauge railways during the First World War. Photo taken at Froissy upper Somme by Malcolm Wright

We admire his go-ahead pioneer attitude. All he had was Mamod track and his ‘occasions’ box. And of course, an idea! From the basic bogie, he then created a series of wagons fulfilling several different purposes. Some were simple push-along ‘trucks’ some were more elaborate bolster wagons - bolster wagon consisting of two bogies linked by a chain. This flexible arrangement could take anything from a load of prefabricated track to a gun. 

The story of the Steve Thornhil wagons reflects the story of the originals. They too were ingenious improvisations. In the First World War, the British Expeditionary Force did not go to France with any portable railway equipment. They imagined that, like Napoleon, they would be powering through Northern Europe so fast that no railway building could keep up . Only the beastly trenches of the Opposition were stopping them!

In the meantime, they had to dig trenches of their own and staff them. Once armies were camped out in this way, supply became an issue. At first, they relied on their Allies to provide them with the necessities  – and didn’t ask too many questions as to how they were doing it. They didn’t reflect on how the German armies were supplying their own trenches.  Perhaps, as they struggled through the mud with rations on their backs, they assumed that the French and Germans were doing the same. But not for long …

This 'official' War Department bogie bolster arrangement could be used for timber, lengths of prefabricated track, you name it. Wrightscale 16mm bogie bolster kit

Various forms of supply were tried. They requisitioned horses and mules in their millions. Lorries, buses and taxis were tried. There were always problems. The life of the horse at the Front was tragically short. The primitive tyres of their lorries cut the French country roads to ribbons. For want of handy peasants, they used their own soldiers. But of course, if an army of humans is used to supply an army then that army in turn requires an army ….. Same went for the horses.

The men on the ground quickly spotted the problems and equally rapidly looked for solutions. Like Steve Thornhill, they found some good ideas and then looked in the ‘spares’ box to replicate them. The Imperial War Museum, whose archive is now available for genuine research, has some photographs which immortalise the creations of the men on the ground.

As early as winter 1914, experiments began. These first home-made narrow gauge tracks tended to be a practical way to address the most pressing problem – how to get supplies from a siding on a standard gauge, or metre gauge railway to the trenches. The counties of northern France were quite rich in metre gauge railways which supplemented the standard gauge network. Some of the tracks were quite ingenious, and that is before we discuss the rolling stock!

Around Ypres, in the northern section of the line, track was improvised from wooden stakes joined together. Sheets of metal bashed out of ration tins were used to plate the parts which received most wear. They even had points on these proto-railways. This has incredible modelling potential – Steve Thornhill and fellow enthusiastd please note. For the record, they used biscuit tins, the large size ….

An 'official' War Department bogie which as you see also doubles as a push truck, if a wooden platform is added. It has a metal frame and brakes and is rated at 5 tonnes. Wrightscale 16mm WD bogie

On these ran the ‘push-wagons’ so-called because they were designed for pushing by human power. It is to be noted that their descendants, Class A wagons with removable sides were rated at a maximum load of 3 tons 12 hundredweight – well over 3 metric tonnes. Simply by putting the load on rails made humans more productive than military general service road-wagons each hauled by two mules. The limiting factor was the quality of the rail.

A contemporaryphotograph of a heavily used road (the route supplying Verdun during the siege of 1916) shows that the army being transported is equalled by the army repairing the road. Collection MD Wright

The wagon which inspired Steve Thornhill was the so-called Calais-pattern push-truck. The drawing he refers to is the excellent one by Peter Foley. (page 171 of WDLR Companion). The ‘Calais truck' was still being used in 1918, though running on 16 pound per yard (approximately7kg per metre) rail rather than on timber baulks.

Other wondrous creations are recorded. What could not be made was scrounged, mainly 9 pound/yard or 16 pound/yard railway, from French agricultural and light industrial workings. Thanks to the Decauville company, almost every farm, brickworks or quarry had some. With good will and rough-and-ready engineering, much could be achieved.

The would-be modeller can refer to Imperial War Museum negative Q1453 for a picture of a man-hauled trolley, Q 7906, a Lartigue-type monorail, Q 33416, a Wilson-type monorail operating in a trench and to my special favourite, Q 4380. This is the Scotch Express, probably posed for the occasion. This wonderful construction was made from motor-car parts. The radiator is clearly visible and the locomotive is (possibly) running on the inner rims of the car wheels.

A trench, even a replica trench, requires wood, corrugated iron and plenty of labour. Photographed by MD Wright at Apedale 2014

Though the Imperial War Museum photos date from the Somme campaign and later (July to October 1916 on to November 1918), we can be confident that our boys had improvised labour saving devices long before then.

For those who are keen on vehicles repurposed from motor cars, there were some ‘official’ prime movers – the Crewe tractors. The Crewe works of the London and North Western Railways converted Model T Ford cars for military use, both on roads and on rail. 132 were provided for the  War Department programme, though not officially for War Department Light Railways. Another 6 one-ton Ford lorries were, it is believed, built for the war in East Africa.

By 1915, a tremendous tonnage was being moved out to the trenches. In the reminiscences of Ian Hay, some well-established regiments had built homes from home and many modern conveniences in timber. Piccadilly Circus and the Fleet, not to forget Tipperary, had been mapped on to the fields of the Somme. By early 1916, the British were quietly imitating the French, who had an immensely sophisticated trench railway, first developed by Prosper Péchot of the French artillery. To begin with, they were given a branch-line. A month into the Battle of the Somme they were forced into their own War Department Light Railways programme.

A century after the First World War, a bogie wagon designed by Colonel Péchot of the French artillery shows its metal, still able to carry ten tonnes of freight. Taken at Apedale by MD Wright

As the story goes, Top Brass had tried to support the Somme offensive by transporting supplies and ammunition by lorry. These machines were so thirsty that there was no fuel for buses at home. As the Home Front was vital for making the ammunition, this could not be tolerated. In fact, General Haig was already sympathetic to the concept of Field Railways and the Home Front was a welcome excuse for making trench railways official. Sir Eric Geddes and the War Department Light Railways were approved by the highest authorities..

In fact, as the photographic evidence shows, a proper railway of bogie trucks running on 60cm prefabricated track pre-existed the War Department Light Railways. On the other hand, the rough creations of the resourceful military workshops were still being used at the end of the War.

All self-respecting horses stayed well back from the action. These ones charged the enemy in Spring 1918. Photo copyright MD Wright

The First Hundred Thousand Ian Hay. A contemporary account, republished many times since

Col Péchot:P Tracks To The Trenches by Sarah Wright Birse Press

WDLR Companion by  Colonel David W. Ronald and Roy C. Link. It has a treasury of contemporary photographs, drawings by Peter Foley and it has illustrations refurbished from the sketches which appear in WJK Davies

WDLR Album compiled by Roy C Link (both RCLpublications)

Light Track to Arras

Light Railways of the First World War by WJK Davies

Ahhh... any excuse to show the BGM once more

The Decauville Company and young Péchot

Due to a technical problem, this post is not illustrated. We are working to resolve this.
Followers of Wrightscale always like a little background to our models.

In my last post, I began the story of French 60 cm railways. As you know, many years of fascination with the life and works of Prosper Péchot (1842-1928) resulted in my book, Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches. He was the father of 60cm military narrow gauge, but his achievement was only possible because of his near contemporary, Paul Decauville (1846-1922). The two underwent the same experiences and were both awarded the Légion d’Honneur for contributions to narrow gauge railways. Though friends in 1870s, in later life, they became frenemies. The railway ran through their most formative years.

It is interesting to trace the influence of Belle Epoque France (1870s to 1900s) on the development of narrow gauge.

The technology began elsewhere. The Germans first recognised the labour-saving potential. In Freiburg Cathedral, there is a detail in a stained glass window showing a miner pushing a hund, a sort of proto rail truck. It dates from 1350. We can clearly see how a single person could be made more productive. As Germans spread through Europe, it has been argued, they took their mining techniques with them. This spread a form of prosperity which did not depend on an underclass of slaves. Good for the Germans!

It has been argued, not unfairly, that the dark European slavery culture delayed the development of proper railways.

By Tudorbethan times, however, the English had need of German ideas.  The population was growing but the tree cover was not. Coal was a handy replacement for firewood, especially in London. Coal-ships could sail from the staithes of the north round to the port of London with much needed fuel. Railways carrying horse-drawn trains were developed to get the coal from mine to port. These railways were standardised on the old Roman wagon-width 4’ 8 ½ “  – what we now call ‘standard gauge.’ Over the years, standard gauge coal-fuelled locomotives were developed. Railways that were not built either to standard or broad gauge 7’ were basically outlawed.

The Methodist Welsh had non-standard ideas. Northern Wales did not have coal but it had an increasingly valuable resource – slate. As cities grew and thatch products – reeds, straw and heather – became harder to come by, slate provided a handy, hygienic alternative. Even better, it did not require constant maintenance, thus landlords could retain more rent. Railways were the obvious route from mine to the coast and then on to the expanding cities; the Welsh didn’t see why they should always be standard gauge.  The Great Little Trains of Wales were born as commercial necessities, firstly as horse-drawn narrow gauge railways.

It took the genius of Colonel Stephen and his like to put mechanical power on to railways. There were problems. Steam-powered locomotives worked best on straight, level track but it cost fabulous sums to build railways to these standards, far more than would be economic for a mine or quarry. If a steam loco was put on tortuous narrow gauge track negotiating steep gradients, it would soon topple over, if it had not already been derailed by its train.

The Spooner family and a team of like-minded engineers addressed these problems. They had their own laboratory for experiments, the Festiniog Railway which took slate from various quarries down to Portmadoc (Port built by Alexander Madocks). With the help of various friends, political and financial, they managed to push through the required Act of Parliament in 1863. A 1’ 11 ½ “ gauge railway could be built on existing tracks (well, sort of) from Portmadoc up the Dwyryd river.

The Princess and Mountaineer (delivered 1863) were the first steam locomotives, joined by ‘The Prince’ and Palmerston. They were all to an 0-4-0 T design with square water tanks. In the first years, many modifications had to be made as this was cutting-edge technology. Fortunately, the slate quarries paid well and so there was the money available. A photo of a heavily modified ‘Prince’ dates from the 1890s. Even the name-plate was altered.

The very short wheelbase of the early locos was a source of problems. If the wheelbase was lengthened, then there was a risk of fouling on the curves of tight radius. How about an articulated locomotive?

Thus was born Little Wonder, 1869, using patents by Robert Francis Fairlie (1831-1885).

We shall now take a ferry across the Channel to see what is happening in France which was, at the time recovering from the Franco Prussian War 1870-1.

For the young Prosper Péchot, the war had been grim. His family had suffered. His beloved uncle who had spent the war year in captivity was released, only to be killed during the battles of the Paris Commune, 1871. His brother was recovering from wounds. His father endured the siege of Paris only to die soon after. He finished his military training with the determination to stop anything like this happening again.

Paul Decauville had also suffered. In 1870-71, he had been mobilised as a gunner, defending Paris. Because the city was encircled, this involved heavy work in the cold on starvation rations.  The privations of the siege finished off his old Dad, leaving Paul with a family of youngsters to rear. Fortunately, his old Dad also left him a farm and quarry, handily placed by the Seine. Using a gravity worked railway, they could transport building stone to waiting barges, so there was money to be made. The farm itself specialised in sugar beet.

Beet is a prolific but sensitive crop which rots quickly if bruised. The autumn of 1874 was unusually wet. There seemed no way that workers with wheelbarrows could haul tonnes of sugar beet away in the short harvest window. Then Paul Decauville put together stone, building techniques and beetroot to come up with a brilliant idea. A railway is a bit like a roofer’s ladder. A roof which cannot support the weight of a human, can do so, if the weight of the human is distributed by a ladder.  If the barrows were rail-mounted, they too could transport substantial weight over soft mud.

Dacauville had rails, thanks to his quarry, and he had the labour. All they needed to do was to make a few lengths of prefabricated track and adapt some existing wagons. The rack was laid where required, the beet carted away and the track relaid in the next field. By 1876, he was marketing a commercial version of the porteur Decauville. They were soon a rich family.

Once he was a qualified Gunner – the artillerie had been his first choice when he was in officer training – the young Péchot became acquainted with le porteur Decauville. It was used in the military base just outside Rennes. In no time at all, he could see the possibilities. Instead of beetroot, he could imagine a portable railway carrying infinitely large guns and enough ammunition to reduce Germany to smithereens.

I exaggerate. He had realised that bigger guns were better. As the weight of a shell increases arithmetically so the payload of explosive increases geometrically. (Apologies to Malthus). What he wanted was a portable system which could carry guns with large barrels and serious quantities of ammunition.  Simple! All he had to do was to persuade the French Army.

Unfortunately, he was treading on a lot of well-polished boots. His campaign basically cost him his career. Fortunately, Paul Decauville understood what he was doing and also wanted to ensure that France would win the next French-German war.

He put his money and his Cred behind the Army officer.

Decauville knew well that his porteur was not original. At least one French portable railway had been patented before his. The quarries of Wales were also of interest. We know that both he and Péchot  had read articles in the specialist literature and that Decauville paid a visit to the Festiniog railway.

He thought about the problems of putting steam power on to narrow gauge track and came up with two solutions. One was a stationary engine which could haul along a train. He was, after all, an agent for Fowler’s agricultural machinery – a contemporary engraving shows steam ploughing on the Decauville estate. Another power source was compressed air which seemed to promise so much.

At some point in the late 1870s, Péchot and Decauville became personally acquainted. When Péchot came to Staff College, he became a regular visitor at the Decauville works. They were very different men. Decauville was a proud supporter of the French Republic and felt that Monarchists, Provincials and Reactionaries had stabbed the nation in the back by submitting to the Treaty of Frankfurt. This had ended the Franco-Prussian War on terms most unfavourable to the French. The new Parliament, filled wth said monarchists, reactionaries etc, had driven the Parisians into declaring a Commune and were therefore directly responsible for the bloodshed that ensued.

We know that Péchot could not agree with all this – which made him a reactionary. In later life he was to suffer greatly during the backlash after the Dreyfuss Affair.

At the time, though, the two men made common cause. Péchot wanted the Army to adopt narrow gauge. Paul Decauville wanted to sell it to them. Between 1880-82, Prosper Péchot was allowed to develop and test a military version of  prefabricated track, at the expense of Paul Decauville's company.

In 1882, as was customary before students graduated from Staff College, Péchot submitted a thesis. The title was by the standards of the time unexceptionable ‘how to wrest the fortified city pf Metz out of German hands.’ (Sorry, Germans, but this was the late 19^th century.) The consequences were, quite literally, explosive.

We’ll leave off the Péchot story for a while. Our next post will be about locomotives and wagons that Malcolm has built, all 2’/60cm gauge and all of which can be related to Péchot’s work.

Further reading: Colonel Péchot, Tracks To The Trenches

The Spooner Album produced by the Festiniog Railway Group

Early Wooden Railways MJT Lewis