Our member from China, Liang Chenyuan, reports that steam locomotive construction did not end with the last of the SYs in 1999, but that anyone with enough money can still purchase a brand-new narrow gauge C2 Class 0-8-0 locomotive.
He sent the picture below of the most recent version of the diminutive type, built in 2015 by the Sichuan Jiayang Group based in Qianwei, Leshan, 100km south of Chengdu. It runs on the Bashi railway (芭石铁路) in Yuwei County, Leshan City, Sichuan, primarily hauling tourist trains, but sometimes carrying commuter trains for local residents. [It differs from earlier versions by having an extended front frame.]
Chenyuan further reports that the Dalian Locomotive company no longer has a steam locomotive production line.
Equally exciting is the news that China has just completed what are believed to be its first working replicas of historic locomotives, being reconstructions of British-built locomotives delivered to the Tangshan Railway. No 2 is a reproduction of an 0-6-0ST built by Robert Stephenson & Co of Newcastle in 1888, while No 11 is of an elegant 4-4-0 built in Glasgow by Dubs & Co in 1888.
The two locomotives were built for the Kailuan National Mine Park Museum in Tangshan by the Kailuan Tietuo Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Kailuan Group Co., Ltd., under the inspiration and guidance of Peter Crush, honorary curator of the museum.
A website article on the project can be found here or an English version (courtesy of Google Translate) can be downloaded by clicking here.
For those who are unaware, ASTT’s 2019 Conference was a great success with 50 in attendance, most of whom can be seen in the above photo, lined up in front of Britannia in Crewe. 10 papers were presented, and an afternoon was spent visiting Locomotive Storage Ltd’s workshops in Crewe (where Britannia was on display).
More information can be found on ASTT’s website from where members can access a members-only page with links to the papers and video recordings of the presentations.
ASTT’s publication of Porta Papers Volume 2 is now on sale. The volume includes three papers by Porta:
Adhesion in Advanced Steam Locomotive Engineering Facing the Oil Crisis, 1984 (revised 1986);
Fundamentals of the Porta Compounding System for Steam Locomotives, 2000;
A Proposal for the Tornado Project, 1992.
As a corollary to the Tornado paper, it includes a 2012 commentary by David Wardale titled “Locomotive Boilers: Firebox Stays: Breakage – an analysis of boiler problems on Tornado”.
Its 250 soft-bound A4 pages are offered for a retail price of £27 including postage within Europe + £3 extra for postage outside Europe. Members are offered a 20% discount – see separate members’ payment page.
It is hoped that Vol 3 will be available in the new year.
ASTTs 2019 Conference will be held over the weekend of 5th-6th October. at the Ibis Styles Hotel in Crewe. It is expected to include nine presentations from an international cast of speakers representing the UK, USA and the Netherlands, plus a tour of Locomotive Storage Ltd’s workshops.
Volume 1 of a collection of technical papers by Livio Dante Porta is now available for sale – see the book sales section.
This first volume focuses on the tribology and lubrication of valves and pistons, and should be essential reading for everyone involved in new-build steam, and wise reading for anyone who is interested in how steam locomotives maiintenance costs could be reduced. It includes four papers as follows:
Steam Engine Cylinder Tribology 1995 edition;
Steam Engine Cylinder Tribology 1975 edition;
Cooling of Piston Valve Liners 1978;
Mechanical Design of Piston Valves 1975 revised 1977.
The three papers from the 1970s were written for the guidance of David Wardale in his South African endeavours. The 1995 Tribology paper was written as a full update of the original and, in the view of Joseph Cliffe (who wrote the Preface for this transcribed version), it is “the most complete account of steam tribology ever written and offers the steam movement a new level of understanding of lubrication and wear”.
The volume contains 250 black and white A4 pages and is priced at £27 including postage within Europe and £30 for postage outside Europe. Being ASTT’s own in-house publication, a 20% discount is available to members.
Last May we passed on news from our Beijing-based member, Liang Chenyuan, who reported that experiments were being conducted in Tianjin and in Inner Mongolia to power to preserved steam locomotives using compressed CO2 gas instead of steam – see http://advanced-steam.org/ast-news/news-from-china/.
Chenyuan now reports that modification work on Tianjin’s SY1007 is near completion and that it is expected to be put into service soon – see photo below.
CO2 tank and heat exchanger (to evaporate the liquefied gas) mounted on a flat wagon. Presumably, the locomotive behind is SY1007 with Tianjin high-rise flats in the background.
Another picture of SY1007. Presumably, it was taken at a later date
since it shows the finished enclosure over the tank wagon.
Chenyuan goes on to report that SY 1007 belongs to the Tianjin Giant Heavy Industry company and is used as a factory shunter. The CO2 conversion was undertaken because the company was asked to stop using coal because of environmental issues, so presumably the intention is to eliminate smoke pollution in Tianjin’s urban environment rather reducing CO2 emissions.
Chenyuan also reports that the JiTong Keshiketeng (Inner Mongolia) steam tourist festival will be held on December 28th after a two-year suspension. Two QJ locomotives have been modified to run on high-pressure CO2 during the festival, however the purpose in this more rural area is quite different from that in Tianjin. It’s being done because the QJs’ boilers are in a poor state of repair so presumably it’s less costly to modify the locos for CO2 operation than it would be to overhaul the boilers.
Whilst no coal-fired locomotives will be running during the Neimenggu festival, the Liaoning festival (presumably at Tiefa) will have coal-fired SYs in operation.
A new book by Robin Barnes “From the Files Locomotives that Were & Locomotives that Weren’t” is now on sale through Camden Miniature Steam’s website. Robin is the artist who painted all the illustrations of the 5AT and 8AT derivatives that feature on the 5AT section of this website and in the 5AT Feasibility Study. The book is to a large extent a sequel to his long-out-of-print 1985 title “Locomotives that Never Were”.
Camden describes the book as follows:
“In this lovely book, artist & writer Robin Barnes looks at locomotive development around the world over the years, considering and illustrating some 25 locomotives which actually were built, and a further 14 which never saw the light of day. There is also an autobiographical Introduction, and an ‘Interlude’ devoted to the trams of Robin’s home town of Edinburgh.
“This is Robin’s third book, the others being: Locomotives That Never Were (1985) and Broader than Broad. He has also contributed and illustrated many articles to enthusiast publications and undertaken commissioned works for patrons at home and abroad, the great majority of the latter picturing railway subjects but including to a lesser extent other forms of transport. Notably Robin provided the illustrations showing David Wardale’s 5AT Project in various versions and liveries; it is true to say that he is drawn to the unusual, and downright strange, as some of the locomotives featured in this book make clear.
“Very readable historical and technical details are provided for each locomotive or machine illustrated and, in many cases, there are secondary illustrations, be they paintings, technical drawings, or Robin’s own photographs.
“This is a book which will enlighten and entertain in equal measure for many years to come!
“96 large format (297 mm x 297 mm) pages. 65 paintings and illustrations by the author in a variety of styles, and 28 mainly colour photographs. Hardbound.”
Bookings are now open for ASTT’s Autumn Conference to be held in the Transport Museum meeting room at Bury over the weekend of 29th/30th September – see attached booking form.
The programme includes eleven technical talks on a wide variety of steam-related subjects, a steam-hauled ride over the East Lanc Railway in a reserved “conference coach”; and a conference dinner on the Saturday night.
Attendance fees have been set at £25 per day for members or £45 for two days with a surcharge of £5 for non-members. A two-course dinner has been arranged at the Two Tubs Pub for a price of £12 per head.
Space in the meeting room is limited to around 40 place of which around 30 are already taken on both days. So anyone wishing to attend is advised to book sooner rather than later.
It’s gratifying to report that Dave Wardale’s Class 26 4-8-4 “The Red Devil” is once again back on track. On 4th July she moved under her own steam for the first time since August 2004, travelling from Worcester where she was overhauled, some 75 miles south to Cape Town. Her boiler certificate will see her through the next two years.
The locomotive is owned by Transnet (South Africa’s rail freight operator) as part of their Heritage Collection, and is currently under lease to Ceres Rail Limited which also operates 19D No. 3321 and 19B No.1412.
Ceres Rail takes its name from the Ceres Railroad branch line located in the Witzenberg Mountain Range 30 miles north of Worcester. In addition to its heritage operations, Ceres Rail operates passenger excursions from Cape Town to Ceres in the summer season, and from Cape Town to Elgin Railway Market, often using a double-headed steam. They have also co-ordinated a few small-scale freight haulages along the Ceres Railroad branch line.
The last time the Red Devil ran was in August 2004 on an excursion to Namibia after which she was parked at Dal Josafat, close to Paarl (half way between Worcester and Cape Town). Whilst there, most of the brass was stolen off her, and even after being moved to Monument Station in Cape Town she was still targeted by thieves for what remained on her.
Mr Ian Pretorius of Atlantic Rail in Cape Town came to the rescue by arranging various security measures to prevent further theft and vandalism. When Atlantic Rail had to cease operations at the end of 2017 due to drought and associated water restrictions, Ceres Rail Company took over their operations.
According to Derick du Toit, Managing Director of Ceres Rail, the recent restoration work was limited to puting the Red Devil back on the rails in her 2004 condition.
Whilst not currently in her 1983 apogee as a result of various modifications being removed during her operational years, Derick noted that further restoration work may be undertaken during the “fire season” when coal fired locomotives cannot be run, beginning what is expected to be a gradual process of “reverse engineering” back towards a “sweet-spot” somewhere between the condition Wardale left her in and her 2004 status.
Derick reports that he has visited the railway archives in Johannesburg/Pretoria and has obtained all the old meeting minutes, diagrams, and other records relating to the Class 26 which are being used to track changes over the years and to assist in planning future restoration work.
With regards to shedding of the locomotive, Ceres Rail is currently in negotiations with the Western Cape Provincial Government to take-over the old Kleinplasie Steam Depot in Worcester. The Red Devil will be shedded there in the off-season, but during the season she will most likely stay in Monument Station, Cape Town.
Below are three videos borrowed from YouTube courtesy Wayne Nauschutz:
ASTT will hold its annual Autumn Conference over the weekend of 29/30 September 2018 on the theme “Building up Steam for the Future”. The conference will be held once again at the Transport Museum meeting room in Bury, Greater Manchester, Lancashire.
Like last year, the conference will combine presentations with an outside excursion – this time a steam-hauled ride over the ELR tracks on the Sunday morning, with on-board refreshments provided. A conference dinner is also planned for the Saturday evening – once again at the Two Tubs pub which provided an excellent meal last year.
It is expected that the conference will host 11 or 12 speakers and offers have already been received that will fill several of the available slots. More speakers are nevertheless required, so if you would like to offer a presentation, please contact the conference organizer at conference@advanced-steam.org. Subject matter can (and will) cover a broad scope, and whilst many speakers will focus on engineering aspects, ideas or insights into how steam traction’s future might be enhanced through non-technical means, will be welcomed.
Seating space in the Transport Museum’s meeting room is restricted to around 40, so early bookings are advised. Attendance fees will be set to cover costs, and are anticipated to be £45 for members attending both days to cover lunches, refreshments, and the Sunday steam run. The conference dinner is expected to cost an additional £12. Non-members will be asked to pay a little more.
Roger Waller has successfully completed the commissioning of the oil-firing system that he has installed in tank locomotive No 14A that operates on the Puffing Billy Railway in Victoria, Australia – see http://www.dlm-ag.ch/en/news.
