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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Who likes steam locomotives?

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
This was taken with a 1DII and handheld sequential shot, quick-stitched on a trial version of AutoPano Pro software. This is a reduction to 1500 pixels wide of a 417 MB 16BIT file 8500 pixels wide.

Just S curve and sharpened. Not cleaned up of the signs and no sky added!

Pano_exRAW0983handheld_train.jpg

© 2007 Asher Kelman AT&SF Class 870 Consolidation (2-8-0) Heritage Park, Santa Fe Springs, CA

This train will be posted again in other reincarnations, for sure.

The stitching was surpisingly easy!

50 1.2L and the aperture was f 7.0, Speed, 1/85sec. ISO 320. This was just a 10 second 12 grab shots.

My first stitch with this software and it was fun!

The software is found here .

Asher
 
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Michael Nagel

Well-known member
Yesterday was the celebration of 100 years of railway between Schliersee and Bayrischzell. The main attraction was the train with two steam locomotives.

Here are the two:

The older one and the type initially used on this section is the Bavarian Pt 2/3:



The other was the more recent DRB Class 41:


It was a great occasion to take that train:


More to follow.

Best regards,
Michael
 
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Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Lovely series Michael. Please show more, do you also have the details of the locomotives? I am sure that some members will appreciate seeing those. :)
 

Ron Morse

New member
Very enjoyable series. I also would like to see more.

My grandfather was an engineer on a steam locomotive. I remember when diesel/electric first came out he told me those things will never last, you can't replace steam. He hated the thought of steam going away.
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Ron,

Very enjoyable series. I also would like to see more.

My grandfather was an engineer on a steam locomotive. I remember when diesel/electric first came out he told me those things will never last, you can't replace steam. He hated the thought of steam going away.
Reminds me one of my favorite quotes:
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. patent office, 1899
 

Michael Nagel

Well-known member
Cem, Ron, thanks for the nice words.

I see that Asher has made it a challenge, but please let me post another two series of photos before we open the flood gates :)

I will start with the details now.

Best regards,
Michael
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Michael,

....I see that Asher has made it a challenge, but please let me post another two series of photos before we open the flood gates :)....
Nowadays, challenges seem to be the only thing in OPF which causes some reasonable level of interactivity. Except, of course, for the usual periodical debates on what constitutes art, lol.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Michael,

I could not identify this one - could someone help me out?
Could it be a secondary air injection pump?

That might be a feedwater injection pump (steam-driven, it pushes the feedwater into the boiler which, being under pressure, does not drink gladly). But many locomotives use an ejector, a purely hydraulic mechanism for dealing with that.

More likely, especially given its location, it is the air compressor for the air brake system (also steam-driven). (They look very similar, and I'm not skilled enough to immediately distinguish them.)

Thanks for the great shots.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Michael,

The parts which transmit the motion to the wheels during maintenance:

In addition, prominent here are parts of the valve gear (evidently of the Walschaerts type or a derivative). The object at the upper left (in a joint housing with the cylinder proper) is the cylinder valve (a piston, or "spool", type) The almost vertical lever adds together scaled sine and cosine terms from the driving wheel rotation (not usually described that way), the sum moving the valve stem.

Lovely!

Those who might be interested in the basic theory and reality of such valve gear will find that discussed at some length in this article:

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/articles/Loco_Valves.pdf

Best regards,

Doug
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Michael,

Doug, thanks for the additional explanations.

Here are two details of the DRB Class 41 and the interior of one rail car.

Between the two wheels is the compressor for the brake (easy, it was written on it):

That's always a help!

When I was conceived (Buffalo, New York, about August, 1935) my father was working as a precision machinist for a company (then known as Worthington Pump and Machine) that made (among other things) feedwater pumps and air compressors for steam locomotives.

On this picture, on the driving wheel to the right, we note that the movement of the connecting rod (which of course actually moves the wheel) can be thought of as a cosine function of wheel position. It is picked up into the "summation" I referred to by a link from the crosshead (the part being greased on your "maintenance" photo) that is moved by the piston rod, and which in turn moves the driving rod.

Note the "wrist" in the picture (it is vertical at the moment). Its pin (at its top just now) is 90° from the pin the connecting rod works (on which the wrist is mounted), and so its movement can be thought of as a sine function of driving wheel position.

Its motion is carried by the link we see to a swinging arc mechanism (not seen right here) that scales it by an adjustable factor (with a range from plus to minus). Its output is fed by a link to the other input of the summation (at the very top of the "almost vertical" rod I commented on in the other picture).

This is all neat stuff.

Best regards,

Doug
 
Some beautiful steam locomotives pictured in this thread!

Steam locomotives - specifically South African Railways ones - are some of my favourite things in the world. I posted some of these two recently (silver-gelatin darkroom prints, large format film):

gea_garratt_detail_by_philosomatographer-d3getad.jpg


garratts_in_profile_by_philosomatographer-d3hkxhj.jpg

And some much older, digitally captured ones:

Fleeting_memory_by_philosomatographer.jpg

(Ironically, this image was titled "fleeting memory" - and now, a mere three years later, the have sadly permanently discontinued this steam service)

A_Bleak_Outlook_by_philosomatographer.jpg

I have just developed a roll of film, and a number of large format film sheets, which contain some steam locomotive images that I am looking forward to printing soon. Watch this space! (this would be a great thread to contribute them to).
 

StuartRae

New member
A few more arcane bits and pieces to contemplate. Any information as to their purpose would be appreciated.

From the Northern Rock, Ravenglass and Eskdale 15" narrow gauge railway.

aut07-043-01.jpg


aut07-044-01.jpg


aut07-048-01.jpg


aut07-049-01.jpg


Regards,

Stuart
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Stuart,

aut07-049-01.jpg

Oh, in fact this is the whistle ("chime" type - not so used to that kind in the US).

Best regards,

Doug
 
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StuartRae

New member
Hi Doug,

Thank you very much for all the info.

I managed to work this one out all by myself :)

aut07-050-01.jpg


And here's the whole thing at Dalegarth station.

aut07-040-01.jpg

Regards,

Stuart
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Stuart,

aut07-049-01.jpg

Oh, in fact this is the whistle ("chime" type - not so used to that kind in the US).

Best regards,

Doug
 
Yesterday I scanned a couple of negatives that I had recently processed, which probably belong in this thread :) Both were from the railway museum in George (Western Cape, ZA) - depicting once again the handsome (and giant) Beyer-Garratt articulated locomotives used in South Africa, as well as a steam-powered recovery crane.

Garratt Aspects
garratt_aspects_by_philosomatographer-d422sh0.jpg

(Kodak TMY-2 400 film, Olympus OM-3Ti, Zuiko 35mm f/2.0)

Procession of the defunct
procession_of_the_defunct_by_philosomatographer-d422s8o.jpg

(Kodak TMY-2 400 film, Olympus OM-3Ti, Zuiko 21mm f/2.0)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Michael and Dawid,

These pictures, together, makes us rethink of steam locomotives in just terms of massive black sombre work machines. There's so much more. The amazing colors used and then the details of the machinery and fittings open up a whole new idea of pride, artistry, workmanship and diligence. It's so much more than industry in these breath breathing iron dragons!

Asher
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Dawid,
Yesterday I scanned a couple of negatives that I had recently processed, which probably belong in this thread :) Both were from the railway museum in George (Western Cape, ZA) - depicting once again the handsome (and giant) Beyer-Garratt articulated locomotives used in South Africa, as well as a steam-powered recovery crane.
The Garratt was such a classic - a triumph of engineering over "style".

The tonal range of this shot is just exquisite - it certainly reminds me of the glory days of B&W locomotive photography.

On the other shot, it is interesting to see its elaborate accessory steam manifold, painted in a light color, and the wonderful steam chime (as we saw in another part of the world earlier in this thread).

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug
 
Hi, Dawid,

The Garratt was such a classic - a triumph of engineering over "style".

The tonal range of this shot is just exquisite - it certainly reminds me of the glory days of B&W locomotive photography.

Thank you, Doug! I certainly have no complaints over the wonderful tones and dynamic range that the most modern and capable of analogue monochrome capture mediums - Kodak TMY-2 400 - is giving me. In a 12x16in print, it is certainly the lens - and not the film - that is the limiting factor of this film in 35mm. It's absolutely nothing like shooting an ISO400 film in large format, but it still does handsomely when 35mm is all you have with you at the time :)

On the other shot, it is interesting to see its elaborate accessory steam manifold, painted in a light color, and the wonderful steam chime (as we saw in another part of the world earlier in this thread).

Thanks so much.

Best regards,

Doug

The SAR Garratts certainly did push all boundaries of steam engineering. Speed was not important here with our mountainous curves, but power, flexibility, and reliability was. The last designs dated from the mid 1950s - when most other countries already started to make the switch to diesel/electric - and were handsome, trouble-free machines will fully automatic lubrication, highly refined mechanical stokers, roller bearings on all axles, etc. The two engines I posted here though were slightly older designs, the GF (a smaller, but handsome, and quite fast machine) and GEA class garratts, dating from the 1920s to the early 1940s. I did make some more "technical" profile shots from these engines as well, which I'll post when I get around to printing them in the darkroom.

Oh - lastly - I didn't originally post this image, but it's a bit of detail from inside one of these machines; A not-so-subtle reminder to the crewman to think twice before lifting any of the many long fire poking irons up into the air, where it could touch the 25,000 volt AC overhead wires on electrified routes and instantly kill the bearer:

Once there was danger
once_there_was_danger_by_philosomatographer-d422rxp.jpg

(Olympus OM-3Ti, Zuiko 35mm f/2.0, Kodak TMY-2 400 film)
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Dawid,

The two engines I posted here though were slightly older designs, the GF (a smaller, but handsome, and quite fast machine) and GEA class garratts, dating from the 1920s to the early 1940s.
Yes, I thought that perhaps the 4-6-2+2-6-4 might have been a GF class. I couldn't see the driver arrangement of the GEA.

Thanks for the additional info and for the great pix.

Best regards,

Doug
 
Yes, I thought that perhaps the 4-6-2+2-6-4 might have been a GF class. I couldn't see the driver arrangement of the GEA.

Thanks for the additional info and for the great pix.

Yup - South Africa had a couple of mighty 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratts - most significant the GEA (third largest), then the GM and GMA/M (second largest, and my favourite), and the immensely powerful GL (of 1929, most powerful steam engine ever to operate in on a guage narrower than the US/UK 4ft 8.5in standard; and more powerful than any british steam engine ever, period).

When I was still a boy, I had the pleasure of riding in the cabs of the two larger of these a number of times, and helping to clean and prepare a couple of them. I will never forget those wonderful days - The drivers were always so impressed with the fanatical knowledge this 8-year-old boy had of their engines, they were happy to take me along on rides, allowed me to help with the maintenance, etc!

I used to ride in the very GF engine depicted in my photo, and now it's a rusting hulk...
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Dawid,

When I was still a boy, I had the pleasure of riding in the cabs of the two larger of these a number of times, and helping to clean and prepare a couple of them. I will never forget those wonderful days - The drivers were always so impressed with the fanatical knowledge this 8-year-old boy had of their engines, they were happy to take me along on rides, allowed me to help with the maintenance, etc!

I used to ride in the very GF engine depicted in my photo, and now it's a rusting hulk...
Thanks for that wondrous story, bittersweet indeed.

It is so fitting that you are able to record the passing of that GF. It deserves no less.

Best regards,

Doug
 

StuartRae

New member
Hi Dawid,

The drivers were always so impressed with the fanatical knowledge this 8-year-old boy had of their engines, they were happy to take me along on rides, allowed me to help with the maintenance, etc!
Wonderful photos and a great story. I suspect that these days the Health and Safety police would soon put a stop to such activities. Another avenue of pleasure closed to us, as Basil Fawlty would say.

Regards,

Stuart
 
I suspect this is mostly for Doug, but I printed the side-on detail shot of the GEA-class Garratt recently, here it is (excuse the large size, I just have to show off the detail of this):

GEA Side Detail
gea_side_detail_by_philosomatographer-d45rnlh.jpg

(Ilford HP5+ film (4x5in) at ISO250, Linhof Technika V, Schneider APO-Symmar 150mm at f/22, hand printed in the darkroom on 12x16in Ilford MG IV paper)

For those not so much into steam engines: The Beyer-Garratt style of locomotive really gave the engineers freedom to build enormous fire boxes that went down almost right to rail level - coupled to exceptionally wide boilers - because the whole boiler unit is slung in-between what is effectively two steam engines. This gave these engine unparalleled ability to operate at "full steam" for (in some regions) hours on end. Most conventional engines cannot operate at full power for so long without losing too much steam pressure, or basically killing the fire.


If I may veer a bit off the topic of this thread, the resolving power of 4x5in film is brutal - here is a small crop of the above image (as printed on paper):

gea_side_detail_crop_by_philosomatographer-d45rnw8.jpg

For this type of subject matter, LF film is the way to go for me. I am having massive problems with uneven development using the deep tanks + hangers method, but other than that, large format rocks!
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Dawid,

Lovely! Thanks so much.

Surprised to see "Transnet" on the number plate. I don't remember exactly the history there.

Oh, its a "historic" plate. Ugh.

Thanks again.

Best regards,

Doug
 

StuartRae

New member
Foue nd - some more

Yesterday we visited Soqualmie, home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The museum itself was a bit disappointing, but just down the road several old locos were parked in the sidings. Some had been there for 40 years or more, slowly rusting away. What a shame that such beautiful old machinery should be left to rot.

Conditions weren't ideal, with the path to close to the subjects and a wire fence between me and them. I scrambled up a grass bank but was then on the highway and in danger of being wiped out by a passing Kenworth.

There was another Heisler, this time with the rear drive shaft in place, but with the front, driveshaft and con-rods missing.


heisler-pano.JPG


IMG_1064.jpg


There was also a 3 cylinder gear driven Shey, also with the driveshafts missing.

IMG_1060.jpg


IMG_1073.jpg

Regards,

Stuart
 
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