What Ifs, and Locos that never were.

I believe it was a Beyer proposal to the GWR.

How did the crew operate the self trimming bunker? Was it just given half a turn every now and then? I always envisaged it turning continuously as a child, but presumably that would swiftly create a tender full of coal dust...

 

Wasn't there a small steam engine to turn the bunker?

 

Also, just today received a copy of 'British Steam Since 1900' by W.A.Tuplin, which contains the following sketches of a proposed UK Outline Chapelon-style 4-8-0 and 4-6-0

 

I've been told by one retired fireman that the Garretts were limited to 99 wagons plus a brake van (100 total) not because of TE, but if they had to leave the main line, 100 wagons was the capacity of the longest siding.
In his opinion the brake van was wasted as if the wagons did start pushing the loco, one brake van wouldn't have been able to do much to stop them.

 

The brake van would be useful in the case of a divided train though.

 

A major responsibility of the guard on an unfitted goods train was to use his handbrake to keep the couplings tight and thus avoid "snatching". When a loose coupled train decends a gradient, the wagons tend to bunch up. If this is allowed to happen, when the train reaches the bottom and starts to climb an incline, the resulting snatch is likely to break a coupling.

 

Who needs Garretts or brake vans for such long trains? There's a story of a 99 wagon train on the broad gauge Cinderford branch with no brake van and presumably a Gooch 0-6-0, though admittedly there's the report of any accident in 1863 when a 70 wagon train broke in two and the unbraked rear portion crashed into the front part when it stopped. It took 5 days to clear and trains were subsequently limited to 45 wagons.

 

Downhill, up to 1 in 50, all the way. Three guards rode on the wagons. I do wonder what happened to the train at Bullo; was it broken up, if so how (the wagons would have been loaded with coal) or did the trains continue along the main line to Gloucester? As more locos were later provided in order to permit shorter trains it doesn't appear that they were double headed.

 

Matt of The Bluebell Model Railway has built this monster in model form....

 

PH won't approve ...

Tom

 

Thats an impressive piece of kit. Is it 4-8-2 or 4-8-4? I can't zoom in properly. Now would the full size version be able to get out of Ilfracoombe without a banker?

 

P.S. I want one of those!

 

Very impressive, the way it was built too, a combination of 2 dapol kits, a 3D printed chassis, some scrarchbuilding and filler all brought it together. And I only suggested BR blue as a joke, but it looks great!

 

No problems as long as it remains merely a model.

PH

 

But think of how much electricity it will use compared to a standard 4 tank, and it'll only be pulling a few coaches.

 

It's a model. Unlike the full sized article the extra cost of operating a stupidly large and unauthentic machine over a sensible one is peanuts. Then a model is a fantasy world and the full sized thing is not. Wait a minute (he says, Eureka moment dawning) perhaps most heritage railways do live in a fantasy world. It would explain a great deal about their decision making processes.

PH

 

Something I frankensteined together, mostly from the leftovers of my Cathedral project.

 

It looks like Maeve but with blinkers. Very nice looking beastie.