Messages

1

Two Footers outside of the US / Re: Narrow gauge trains moving std. gauge equipment

« on: November 30, 2025, 04:23:15 PM »

'Rollbocke' of this type are, I believe, still in use on the metre-gauge lines in the Hartz region of Germany

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General Discussion / Re: Best steam locomotive wheel arrangement other than 0-4-4/2-4-4

« on: May 14, 2025, 03:03:44 PM »

In Britain, on the standard gauage, the 2-6-4T became very much a maid of all work from the 1930s onwards. It's a wheel arrangement that should do well on the narrow gauge as well, allowing for a bigger coal bunker than a 2-6-2T

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / Re: WHR Pullman car refurbishment

« on: July 10, 2024, 09:26:34 AM »

For reference, I'm appending a photo of Bodysgallen as built, in British Pullman Car Company livery.

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / Re: WHR Pullman car refurbishment

« on: July 10, 2024, 09:20:43 AM »

When originally built, Bodysgallen was paid for by the then-owner of Bodysgallen Hall, which is a Grade I listed manor house on the outskirts of Llandudno, latterly in use as a Historic Hotel. It was donated to the National Trust in 2008.

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / WHR Pullman car refurbishment

« on: July 09, 2024, 11:44:19 AM »

The Welsh Highland Railway's Pullman car Bodysgallen, built by Winson Engineering in the mid-1990s, has received a thorough internal and external overhaul over the past winter, including partial reconfiguration (the roof line has been altered to remove the domed ends so that it blends better with the more recent Pullman observation cars) and it has been repainted in the same deep purple-brown livery as the Pullman Obs.

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Work and Events / Re: So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

« on: March 28, 2024, 09:24:06 AM »

Cape Gauge is 3'6" – 42"

Like most members; I had never heard of Sandstone Estates Ltd. So I looked for it on Google, where else? It is an extensive farm museum with an operational Twenty-four-inch Railroad and a static display of Thirty-inch (Cape Gauge) locomotives and other items like a steam cane and a caboose. The web site shows a map of the active track; but not scale so I can not tell just how much track it has. The video on their site shows several locomotives in service; but no roster as such.

There are a large number of buildings which house equipment displays like tractors from steam to gas power. And stationary machinery including a gas engine powered washing machine!

As usual with farm museums there are lots of animals: oxen, cattle and chickens and others. 

The have a Facebook companion site to go with their own home page.  Like the old saying goes; Try it you will like it!


Ted Miles, Long time WW&F member

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / Re: SAR NG-Y hopper wagons

« on: March 12, 2024, 01:02:06 PM »

I'm pretty sure it's a vacuum motor (the wagons have vacuum brakes, so that would make sense) but I need to check. They certainly have a controlled discharge system.

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / SAR NG-Y hopper wagons

« on: March 10, 2024, 04:58:57 PM »

I've received a query about these wagons.

The FR/WHR has two of them, they are bottom-discharge ballast hoppers in which the discharge doors are vacuum-controlled to regulate the flow of ballast which can therefore be deposited between the rails over quite a long distance. They have a tare weight of 8,700 Kg and can carry 18,750 Kg of ballast. See attached


Sorry, I was mis-remembering when I wrote this! They are side-discharge hoppers – the FR/WHR does have a centre-discharge hopper, but that was built for us by a firm in Romania.

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / New Ffestiniog Raiway double Fairlie goes into service

« on: October 28, 2023, 08:56:49 AM »

The Ffestiniog Railways latest double Fairlie, James Spooner, went into service yesterday. It's first revenue earning duty was the 11:10 Woodland Wanderer Porthmadog to Tan y Bwlch service. The photo shows it passing Penrhyndeudraeth station on the Up journey.

10

Other Narrow Gauge / Re: Narrow Gauge Dining Cars?

« on: August 09, 2023, 12:16:26 PM »

Until Covid disrupted schedules, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway served light lunches in its Pullman saloon and Observation cars on the WHR between Porthmadog and Caernarfon. They still offer picnic hamper and afternoon tea options in the current timetable.

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Museum Discussion / Re: Raise "FREE" Money for the WW&F While Shopping Online

« on: January 19, 2023, 10:33:14 AM »

Here in UK we also have Easy Fundraising, which provides contributions from retailers such as Apple, Asda, eBay, Land’s End, John Lewis, Just Eat, M&S, Rohan, Sainsbury’s, Screwfix, TalkTalk, Tesco, Thorntons, Waitrose, Wex Photo, and over 4,500 other companies. Does this also operate in the US?

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The Original W&Q and WW&F: 1894-1933 / Re: Joint Bar Spacing

« on: November 22, 2022, 10:37:16 AM »

Reviving this old thread about parallel versus staggered rail joints.  I happened upon a November 19th isengard.co.uk photo showing track relaying at the Stwlan Dam Road level crossing renewal in Tan-y-Grisiau on the Ffestiniog.  The photo shows parallel joints along a curve. 

I'm guessing this has been and is the common practice in Wales.  I hope John Dobson and our other U.K. friends will weigh in.

I also understand Wales doesn't experience the deep ground freeze/thaw cycles that Maine does, and very likely has better soil conditions, particularly than mid-coast Maine, both of which would affect track alignment over time.

I know early on as the WW&F has been restored staggered joints were viewed as a concern for swaying cars at speed, but after many years of experience we've adopted staggered joints, particularly for curves, to avoid track kinks.

This post doesn't offer an answer for the practice historic Maine two-footers followed for track maintenance, but I think the comparison with Wales standards is interesting to learn.

Traditionally the FR used parallel joints and clasp fishplates, and had little trouble with kinks, largely thanks to the use of 48-50lb double-head or bullhead rail, which curves quite easily compared with the equivalent weight of flat-bottom. When we relaid the WHR, using the 60lb or 30kg/metre flat-bottom rail that is still commercially available for mining and other industrial use, we found that it was necessary to get this rail pre-curved by a specialist rolling mill before it was laid on anything but the gentlest curves. Staggered joints (and steel, spade-ended ties) were also used on the sharpest curves to prevent movement. Parallel joints are still used where curvature is slight to avoid the unpleasant rocking motion that can be induced in carriages if dips occur at staggered joints .

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Two Footers outside of the US / Re: Two-footers traveling home

« on: April 12, 2022, 12:32:57 PM »

These two locomotives were both built in the early 1930s for the Burnhope reservoir scheme of the Durham County Water Board, which involved building a large dam. An extensive narrow-gauge railway system was built to carry materials, using a fleet of small contractor's locomotives, at least six of which were bought new for the contract. Four of the locomotives were sold on to the Penrhyn Quarry when the contract was completed about four years later, and two more went to the neighbouring Dinorwic Quarry. AFAIK all six have been preserved.

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / Re: On the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales

« on: November 22, 2021, 11:30:24 AM »

The SAR's two-foot gauge Garratts weren't really designed for hill climbing. They were designed with a low (6-ton) axle load to provide relatively high power for lightly-laid, twisty, lines. Unlike the Ffestiniog's Fairlies, they only have one regulator, so it isn't possible to 'baby' the front power bogie to clear water and muck off the rails whilst the rear bogie does the work, as is normal practice with a Fairlie.

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The Original W&Q and WW&F: 1894-1933 / Re: Narrow Gauge Theory of the 1870s and '80s

« on: July 31, 2021, 03:30:55 PM »

Thanks Bill

You'll be welcome at the FR any time you want to visit.