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1:1 steam locomotive photos


SteamPower4ever
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Hi all.

 

For years I have had a personal site, mainly to show my pictures of steam locomotives. Some time ago I decided the site had grown to a size where I could no longer be bothered to maintain it, so I shut it all down. Gone. Bye!

 

I have taken some great pictures through the years, though, and I thought it would be a shame that they just sit on my hard drive, so I've collected the cream of the crop and opened an account on Flickr.

 

So - with further ado - I present to you my best steam locomotive pictures.

More will follow. I'm still trying to find my way around Flickr.

 

Best regards

Jens

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  • 11 months later...

Great pictures Jens:

Denmark had some remarquable steam locomotives, it's good to see which ones escaped the torch and are in preservation.

 

By the way smoke deflectors were developped after Chapelon (following the scandinavian Kyllalla) developped his exhaust system which created  a better vacum in the smoke box for less counter pressure (meaning less loss of power through throtling of the exhaust), which in turn brought more air to the fire. This was a big breakthrough in European steam developments back in the mid thirties, it permited his Paris Orléans Pacifics dating back to 1911 to nearly double their output in horsepower while consuming 2/3 less coal and water (in term meaning longer runs on the same tankfull). The only drawback to this development was that the smoke and steam instead of shooting many meters over the boiler tended to cling to the boiler and ruined the crews visibility of the road ahead. So windtunnels tests were conducted and the German (Wagner) type smoke deflectors became standard on many european designs because of this. Tightening up the exhaust or the chimney diameter may spoil this engines performance. Although in preservation with light lmoads one may not be aware of this. But if the engine needs to work hard, which engines in regular service had to do now and then, it could become apparent.

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Thank you  :)

 

The S class locomotives did not have the smoke deflectors from the start. The engines were built for commuter traffic around Copenhagen - thus the tank design to avoid turning the engines - and especially in the downtown tunnel north of Copenhagen central station, the problem with smoke not lifting properly was soon apparent. So they got these very large deflectors and the sloped plate in front of the boiler. They look very compact from the front.

 

I'm not sure Danish steamers benefited much from the developments you mention. The engineering managers were very conservative for a very long time, even questioning the use of superheating when the benefits have been well proven. Except for some experimental units, I only know one engine type - the second series of the H class freight engines - which had a LeMaitre exhaust and a wider chimney. Of course, the softer exhaust of the LeMaitre meant that these engines eventually also needed deflectors, which the first series didn't get.

 

Luckily one of each series is preserved, and I know that H no. 783 from the second series is being restored to running condition at the time I'm writing this. I stopped as volunteer before work began, but I was in fact on the crew that pulled H783 and a smaller switching engine from the central workshops in Copenhagen to the museum workshop in Roskilde.

 

Here's a picture of H783 at the central workshop in Copenhagen after it had been moved from its 'monument' position elsewhere at the facility.

 

h783cvk.jpg

 

And here's a picture of the night train hauling H783 and F class no. 500 to Roskilde. The picture is taken at Høje Tåstrup station west of Copenhagen.

Pulling the train is MZ class no. 1401 - the first of its kind. Also a Nohab build, but with a 16-cylinder GM 645 prime mover in it.

 

nattog.jpg

 

Jens

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Great pic's! I'm always amazed at how light & airy looking the European steamers are in the running gear area. Guess I'm used to seeing the massive rods on American loco's.

 

I know the UP Steam Crew years back tried the Lempor Ejector Type exhaust system on either 844 or 3985 and it lasted 1 trip. They went back with the Modernized Master Mechanic exhaust system/ front end that consists of 2 large blast nozzles per cylinder aimed to shoot up the stack.

 

Interesting about the S Class not being turned around. Most US Steam can't go much over 40 mph in reverse. 

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I think most Danish steamers could go equally fast forward and reverse. They were not allowed to go particularly fast in reverse, but that was because of any possible issues running tender first, not any physical restraint. That's why the S class was well suited for fast turnarounds on the suburban lines.

 

One weird quirk in the speed rules was for the D class (picture below).

It was a very versatile 2-6-0 which was used for almost all purposes all over the country. It had an allowed max speed of 70 km/h ... but relaxed to 80 km/h on Sundays  :rolleyes:

 

Here's D825 with an excursion train in Næstved some time in the 70's.

d825.jpg

 

Jens

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Very interesting about the reverse speeds. From what I've read over the years is that at least the late US super power steam used a lot of suspension and compensators on the front truck to steer the locomotive drive wheels into a curve...which didn't work very well in reverse  :huh:

 

I have a book titled Steam Passenger Locomotives of the World and it does have a article on the Class P. The book is written by an Englishman so it is very heavily slanted towards the UK esp. when it comes to compounding.

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Ah yes, the P class is undoubtedly the most famous Danish steam locomotive.

 

It was designed by the Danish State Railways' (DSB) engineering dept. under the management of Otto Busse. It was a 4-4-2 atlantic with fairly large drivers - almost 2 meters or more than 6.5 feet - and it had a wedge shaped "aerodynamic" cab. The manufacturer Schwartzkopff of Germany had one on display at the World Fair in Brussels in 1910 where it was awarded a gold medal.

Two remain, nos. 917 and 931. Both are owned by the Danish Railway Museum, 931 is for display and 917 is retired at the steam shop in Roskilde and may one day steam again.

 

I don't have a good picture of a P engine although I have been on several excursions with P917 when I was a kid, but here she is at Copenhagen central station back in the 70's.

 

p917.jpg

 

Unfortunately, soon after the P class entered service, the trains got bigger and heavier, and in a small country with many stops on the line, you don't need a fast atlantic. In the mid 30's, new "high-speed" diesel train sets entered service and took away the high speed chores from the P class. There was a general locomotive shortage, especially on branch lines with limitations on axle pressure, so beginning in 1943, a total of 7 P class engines were converted to pacifics, the PR class. The last one was completed in 1954, the same year as the first Nohab diesels entered service, and the was no need for more conversions.

 

The frame of the P was reused and prolonged backwards, and because the PR got smaller drivers, the frame was lowered, so the running wheels had to be extremely small. Various other parts of the boiler and from other scrapped engine types were used. The firebox was changed from a very wide type on the P (it had two firebox doors) to a more slender and standard type on the PR. The conical piece in front of the firebox is there to match the old front of the boiler with the new firebox. The steam engine was unchanged. 4-cylinder compound.

I learned to fire on the last remaining PR - no 908 - and I passed my fireman's certification test on her too. Needless to say, she's my darling. Roomy cab, steady running and easy to fire.

 

Here is #908 at Kalundborg, resting after the first leg of a private excursion run for an energy company, hauling 700 people to a company outing. I fired her on the way out and it was by far the largest steam train in the country since the days of revenue steam, but #908 hardly noticed. Then again, as one of the guys calmly observed: "She's built for it".

 

pr908.jpg

 

The PR class was so called to designate its origin - the P class - and its type of duties (or whatever) - the R class.

 

The R class was two series of 4-6-0s with two and three cylinders, respectively. They were very versatile locomotives and could do pretty much everything.

Two remain, one of each type. 

#963 is retired after many years of excursions. She's at the steam shop in Roskilde and may steam again some day. I've had the pleasure of firing her briefly.

#946 is currently being restored to running condition, also after many years of excursions.

 

Here is R no. 946, the two-cylinder type after a parade at the 150 years anniversary of the Danish railways in 1997. Behind her in the doubleheader is #963, the three cylinder type. On the outside, the two types look alike unless you know what to look for.

 

r946.jpg

 

The fireboxes of the R, PR, S and H classes are pretty much identical. Long and narrow with a sloping grating.

The tenders were identical for the R, P, PR and H(1) classes. After the decline of steam, many of these 4-axle tenders were converted to snow plows.

 

Jens

 

PS: Oh, and I get it about the US super power locomotives and the suspension for the drivers.

We didn't have anything even close to that kind of power here, so I guess it didn't matter too much on the DK types.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Jens:

Very nice of you to take the time to explain to us the evolution on modern Danish steam, the only info I had before was in my regretted friend John, Van Riemsdijk book on compounds and he spoke well of the P class. Says it was one of Europe's best designs.

How is Heljan doing with their NOHAB? I might just get one if they make a Belgian version as they used to run on the Nord to Gare du Nord. I would also love it if they produced a Danish passenger car as it would look great on my rendition of the NORD express with the 2-3-2 U1. It and the Russian sleeper would be the only cars not available to date. As well as some French Forestier (or DEV) cars which don't seem to interest many manufacturers these days... Maybe I will tackle a scratch built version.

the Alco type front bogie was used in France on a few of Chapelon's designs notably his 2-4-0 P and the 2-4-2 A1 it used two inclined planes to guide the bogie on large radiuses and let the bogie realy move to the side in the tight radiuses in engine terminals and wyes. Thats another feature of US railroading we rarely see in Europe: Wyes and the idea of turning a train as it comes into a terminal by backing up on a wye. I did it once or twice on  my travels in the US and Mexico by rail.

Simon

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The Heljan NOHAB is scheduled for Q3. No further news available as yet.

If they decide to do a matching passenger coach, it would most likely be:

  • The B type, which was a slightly shorter version of the modern European standard 2nd class coach.
  • The Cc type, which was the standard express coach before the B type.

 

The problem with the B type is that while it looks standard, it isn't (it's slightly shorter), so you can't just make a ton of liveries on the same mold like you probably could with a German coach.

The Cc type is a special Danish design too, and I don't think you can use the mold for anything else. That would probably be the right one for your Nord Express, although I don't know if that was the type actually used.

 

Short story, the market for Danish stuff is probably too small.

In addition, ESU has stated that the Pullman brand will market models that showcase the capabilities of their decoders, i.e. models that "do" something. We will probably see mostly German models marketed by Pullman and produced by Heljan.

 

Heljan may eventually make some freight cars on their own, but frankly I doubt it.

 

Jens

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