LOOKING

1971

LOOKING

Back, around and forward. Life leads us to look.

Nowhere do we look more intensely, without realising it, and with such uncertain success, as at our parents, then at our children - and the same applies to them. They in their turn are doing the same to us and their children and their children carry on the process. It is part of nature.  Yet the older we get, if we are honest, I believe the more we will admit how imperfect the observations are.

It is a fascinating subject the more we think about it. Yet through this shifting, evolving process of imperfect comprehension, assessment, misapprehension and misjudgement our lives are all forged. I have been led to this reflection by the approach of our eldest child's fiftieth Birthday -  a very happy family occasion.

We, as parents are no longer who we were when she began to know us, and we were then becoming different people in many ways from the individuals we had been as we began our married life. The experiences tumbled in upon one another. Getting to really know each other - far better than one can when courting. Learning, and adjusting to each other's foibles, and their family. In the latter case, learning some things which themselves turn out over time, to have been imperfectly known or understood in the first place. Every family has its surprises....sometimes quite obscure. We still relied to some degree on OUR parents - now proud Grandparents - for a sympathetic ear, for occasional advice or assistance, and truth to tell, we came to realise how difficult their path had been. Our teenage "know it all" assessment of them, came to be more humble and understanding.

Into this scene, after nine months and some weeks of marriage, comes baby M. who begins learning about the world, and the main people in the world are her parents. Baby M. comes to know Love and Caring, Comfort and Security at the hands of Mum and Dad. Much of this process is not remembered as Baby M. grows up. Nothing is known, in any case, of the struggles of Mum and Dad to get established- the laughter and the occasional tears, the anxieties and the stresses when every resource of personality and possession, is stretched to the limit to advance that process of getting established. Even Mum and Dad don't share EVERY thought or experience...in order to shield one another from undue anxiety or stress. 

In time, Baby M. has to learn that there are significant others in the world, firstly the two sets of Grandparents. These are easy to handle - their Loving and Caring is exceptional and can be summed up in the one word: "doting". But in due course there comes on the scene another: Baby J. This is something else! She too is only self-interested at first - she needs to share the Love and the Caring, the Comfort and Security and yes, even the Doting.

                                                                      DOTING 1971

After this, things settle down for a couple of years to some degree. There are extremely difficult times, which mark the Parents but must not be allowed to affect the development of the children who are beginning to form their own views of the wider world via kindergarten and pre- School, mixing with complete strangers, even for short periods adds to their vocabulary, and their ideas. They are beginning the steps away from full parental influence.

The parents are, meanwhile, also mixing with wider circles of people in the neighbourhood and in the Parish and in the wider society. They are also becoming more mature. Then, the children face a challenge (in reality) but it is presented to them as a gift - they have a baby Brother - another Baby M! He is a delightful and funny little fellow whom the girls really love, they are almost invariably good and kind to him, fussing over him and calling him "little darling". Such an idyllic situation could not last forever. At about Age 2 years there came the day when the "little darling" was standing in his circular netting walled playpen when the girls removed from it some object which he REALLY wanted. For the first time ever, he let out such a bellow of displeasure that they, and we, were really shocked  - quite out of character to date. The shock to the girls seems to have been the more significant and seemed to set the tone for future dealings.

Life in any young family is somewhat like a kaleidoscope. It is forever changing unpredictably, colourful but somewhat trying, yet the parents would not have it any other way. All the while, the parents are, with unwavering love, building up their "picture" of each child, out of concern for the child's well-being and sub-consciously and consciously assessing their personality, abilities, inclinations and potential. For their part, the children are building up their "pictures" of each of the parents. But this process is radically different. The parents are trying to identify and develop the children's true self. The children on their part are, often unwittingly, trying to do the same ( "Who am I really? What should I become?) and they tend to see the parents in terms of the degree to which they are perceived to facilitate or impede the will, the decisions, of the children.  

                                                        A very accomplished Mother

Consciously or not,  the children come to experience the parents less and less, in a protective role, and more and more in an adversarial role.  The children acquire a certain elementary knowledge of the parents' background and life experience, but their knowledge and appreciation of this are limited by their own lack of life experience. There is a marked difference between the two activities: beyond the issue of their own survival, the parents are concerned for the wellbeing -present and future, of their children.  The children, for their part, tend to take the parents' wellbeing for granted - true they do not really, can't really, appreciate the things that might threaten it. They are intensely preoccupied with their own situation and prospects- generally immediate prospects.

Soon their interest in the parents' earlier lives and even present lives, is overcome by the onset of puberty. This is a sometimes traumatic experience, leading to introversion, embarrassment, lack of self-confidence, or sometimes extremes of overconfidence and self-assertion often impulsive and not ideally rational. It leads frequently to the quest for friendship with peers experiencing the same stresses. One way or another, it will often lead to a degree of distancing from the parents in attitudes, sometimes leading to the choosing of diametrically opposed views of the world. 

I can only speak with some degree of certainty, about my own circumstances. I was raised with many opportunities - which today would be thought of as modest - to be educated up to Matriculation standard. My parents' means were limited so that I could not attend University full time. I endeavoured to do so part-time on two occasions, but unfavourable working arrangements led to both attempts resulting in failure. Still, I saw for myself in late 1950's Sydney, Australia, bright prospects and no insuperable barriers to personal progress.

                                                                                 1947

In the case of my Father - born on 1907 - his schooling had ended at age 11 when he commenced working in Newlands' Iron Foundry on the eastern side of the railway near Central Station in Sydney. He later worked for the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board and after years of unemployment and the bitter search for work during the Great Depression, he came to work for the Commonwealth Government on the construction of the great Graving Dock at Garden Island on Sydney Harbour. He always saw himself as a "Working Class" man and was continually a loyal supporter of the Australian Labor Party. That bond was so strong that even when he was convinced that the Party had been thoroughly subverted by Communists (whom he detested), he could not bring himself to vote against the Party. My Mother, on the other hand, had also always been a "Working Class" girl (though her Father had always endeavoured - without success- to become a small retail business owner, as he strove to match the expectations his Father in Germany had set for him when the Father was unable to afford to educate both his elder brother and him to University standard). Despite this working background, my Mother was always a voter for the conservative side of politics. I found my political sympathies with the freer, more economically liberal approach of the conservative side also. It was not a case of rebelling against my Father or following my Mother, rather it was all personal -a matter of how I saw the world and the opportunities available. For me, the Australian Labor Party was identified with all the restrictive aspects of the Second World War which I had known from Birth to Age 5. I was well familiar with Rationing of all foodstuffs, shortages, electricity blackouts, and many other irritants greater or less. And now, after the War, I saw how the Australian Labor Party in Government had tried to cling on to these controls long after the War was over. I was for freedom from all of that and I detested the attitudes of the politicians who were not. I did not see any formal restrictions to what I might do in life nor did I want any.

As the years pass, and one matures, we come to take note quietly and privately, of how we are regarded by others. Parents note how their surviving parents change. Our love for them colours our view, but it cannot be denied that we come to see them as slipping away steadily, reality demands that we take account of this as practicalities force themselves in upon us. 

Most painful of all is the thought between the parents that in time there will be only one of them. A lifetime of love and respect will have come to an end with no further opportunity to be kind, to be happy together, to be sorry for things that have not been as we had hoped. The parents come to realise that they are being treated differently by all manner of people. With inordinate consideration by some, patronised by others, with loving care and respect by others, their lives inevitably change. From "the inside" they must adjust to all this. The process is handled differently depending on the personality involved. It may involve anything from deterioration of the personality perhaps involving a withdrawal in growing silence in order to deflect unwanted attitudes experienced. Or it might involve a desperate effort to be "with it". There is an inevitable impact as friends who are older, or sometimes even younger, come to the end of their lives. The whole world seems to be increasingly made up of younger folk. And they are in turn discovering and at the same time re-making the world.

It is a fascinating experience and we only get one shot at it- always the learner - it does not pay to think you know it all, no matter who you are or how young and "debonair, and brilliant and brave"* you think you are.

* The description of Raymond Asquith who died in WW I as described by the Author John Buchan ( Lord Tweedsmuir who became Governor-General of Canada).

WE ARE PRIMITIVE STILL

                                                ROYAL NAVY DAYS OF SAIL - MARINE DRUMMER

DRUMS. Who can fail to react to them?

 

As I grew up, one of the earliest sounds that impressed me was the sound of drums. It actually went far beyond that to the idea of drums and the influence of the drumbeat.

 

The link to this primitive influence was instilled and re-inforced at almost every level. From civic pageantry , to comic books, to military parades and entertainment and tales of history, the influence of drums was important.

 

My childhood was launched during the Second World War, and even going to the Movies in my pyjamas as a very little fellow carried by Dad and Mum, I learned the necessity to stand for “God Save the King” before the show began – drums rolled and the mighty anthem burst forth while the image of King George VI appeared against a background of ocean waves (which of course, we “knew” Britannia ruled with our help). So the drums attested to dignity , honour and glory.

 

But when I was at home, Tarzan comic books and others, referred to different drums : menacing, not understood – jungle drums! Who knew what “the natives” in the African Jungle were up to ! Surely with all those drums in the night menace was the intent. And I pretty soon learned that the heroes – apart from Tarzan and his skimpy loincloth, were desperately scared of those “jungle drums” – it seemed that the Safari Suit and Pith Helmet goodies and even their almost civilised native bearers were often scared out of their wits at the sound of drums.

 

                                                                   THE PHANTOM

Then the movies got into the “swords and sandals” genre – ancient Rome and later still Ancient Egypt. Drums again but now the drums had a different role – they inspired resolution in the troops of Rome and earlier of Egypt, but that very relentless resolution whilst it steeled the troops, struck fear into the hearts of the enemies of the two Empires. I was steadily absorbing the lore of the Drum.

Then came the Death and Funeral of King George Vi and I learned the effect of the muffled drums, and the solemnity of the muffled Base Drum and its slow beat.

 

After an indecent length of time, there came the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Civic processions and military parades abounded as the English-speaking world determined that it would shake off the austerity and gloom of wartime and open the “new Elizabethan Age”! The drums were everywhere involved it was a drummers Paradise. But these drums marked nothing but joy, confidence and celebration.

                                                DRUM OF THE ROYAL MARINES

The world was changing rapidly. Thoughts of “jungle drums” became embarrassing reminders of the now unpopular “colonialism” – what had been pre-war a sign of glorious power, and at the same time called forth the concept of “noblesse oblige” was truly awkward and embarrassing. The former colonies were all in short order to become independent nations. They too were embarrassed by the fact of having been colonies and wanted nothing to do with memories or imaginings of “jungle drums” – if they had anything to say long distance they would use the telephone or telegraph.

 

All the while there was an entirely different type of drum at work. The United States was to bring many new influences to the world, and prominent among those was its own varieties of music. In the 19^th Century through the compositions of John Philip Sousa new zest was brought to Military Band Music and the roles available to the drum in that time were very important. Quite a world apart from such military music however lively, was the evolution of popular band music . Here the drummer came to be a stand-out performer. No one was more successful than Gene Krupa (1909 – 1973) .His wild solo drumming performances in jazz music were immensely popular. Whereas drums had always had a powerful mental, spiritual and psychological effect, jazz drumming seemed more to relate to merely physical excitement.

                                                                    GENE KRUPA

Summing it all up, we can see that the impact of drums on man has always been at a  very basic level – a primitive level if you will – instilling fear, or awe or giving voice to grief, or exciting emotions of force, vigour, invincibility or terror of the perceived threat or the imagined unknown threat. Then, when all the banners and standards of honour and dignity were falling the wild abandon of the jazz drumming swept everything else away.                      ,                                                                                                                                               

All good fun!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

FINDING ANOTHER WAY : THE QUEST FOR POWER

PENNSYLVAIA RAILROAD CLASS T 1

We Have seen how an Australian Railway went about it http://butnought.blogspot.com/2020/07/conjugating.html and then how British and French Railways went about it http://butnought.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-friendship-of-giants.html, but we should not overlook that remarkable world of practice which is American Railroading in its heyday.

Just as Australian, British and French Railways experienced the demands of heavier trains and the need for greater speed, the Americans did so too, only more so in some ways.

American Railroads were of course not Government-owned. They were all companies and often direct competitors. They were blessed with historically larger loading gauges and frequently heavier built permanent ways.In many cases the density of population made possible things that could not even be dreamed of in Australia for example.

One of the outstanding Railway companies in the United States was the Pennsylvania Railroad whose famed symbol was the red Keystone which was emblazoned an all its locomotives. It had a proud tradition of extraordinarily successful locomotive design. This went back to the turn of the Century. 

The peak of development as the American Railroads came out of the early and the Civil War periods was the Atlantic type (4-4-2) Steam Locos. With their large driving wheels and ample fireboxes, they had boilers which could and did sustain very fast and relatively heavy passenger trains which grew in popularity. This growth, this success, led to the demand for more and heavier trains and thus double-heading became necessary. But this is always uneconomical given the doubling of crew sizes and it involves more complex practical arrangements. The requirement led to one of the greatest success stories of American railroading: the P.R.R. K4s Pacifics(4-6-2). It has been said that, at least at that time, steam locomotive design was more of an art than a science. Whatever the truth of that saying, the K4s were certainly masterworks! 

PENNSYLVANIA R.R. Pacific K 4  

(N.B. The red Keystone emblazoned on the Smokebox door.)

                                                                                                                                                                          No less than 425 of these splendid locomotives entered service between 1914 and 1928. They became, via the movies, the "face" of American railroading. They were still active until 1957 when steam operation on the PRR ceased. Two of them, nos.1361 and 3750 are preserved. By the time the 1930s arrived, trains had become so long and heavy that on occasions even K4s had to be double and even triple-headed. Clearly more powerful locomotives were required. The PRR was not shy about experimentation and, at the New York World's Fair in 1940 it had exhibited a streamlined duplex, 6-4-4-6 locomotive. This was, in operation, less than successful, and the T 1 design 4-4-4-4 shown at the beginning of this post was developed and brought into service. In 1942 two prototypes of these duplex locomotives were built and in 1946 the class of 50 in production began to come into service.They were remarkable locomotives generating 6,500 h.p. and a tractive effort of 64,653 lbs, and easily exceeding 100 mph. But times were a-changing and they were all withdrawn in 1952-3 and replaced by diesel locomotives in that era of cheap oil fuel. They were not without their operating problems notably slipping of the driving wheels.This has been traced to problems in balancing the springs and to lack of adequate driver training.

Passenger traffic was not the only pre-occupation of the PRR. Their freight services were also in need of greater power, and in 1944 they began taking delivery of the highly-successful Q2 Duplex  4-4-6-4 locomotives. Producing no less than 7,987 h.p. and 100,816 lbs.of tractive effort they were splendidly successful. Nevertheless, the economies of diesel operation in that low-cost fuel era, meant that all Q2s were withdrawn in 1951.

                                                    PENNSYLVANIA R.R. Q 2 Class

                                                                                                                                                                       Though both claimed a pre-eminent position in the market, the PRR had long kept a steady eye on the New York Central Railroad, which had the distinction of operating the Twentieth Century Limited which was the country's best-known train and famous throughout the world. It's distinctively streamlined locomotives by Dreyfuss were striking. it operated between Chicago and New York - a distance of 958 miles at an average speed of 60 mph. The train was so popular that, at its peak, it ran in seven divisions. Mail carried by the  train bore a distinctive stamp impression.

                                                                                                                                                                                                            The TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                        New York Central Hudson 4-6-4

                                                         without the above streamlining.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The Hudsons employed on the Twentieth Century Limited were said to be poor performers at low speed but superbly capable at high speed. All were withdrawn in the dieselisation rush and not one was preserved. In a particularly vindictive mode, the same was done to all PRR locomotives, the two Railroads having been amalgamated and the diesel obsessed management wanting no association with steam. The famed Twentieth Century Limited had been dieselised in 1945.

But the pinnacle of steam locomotive design on the New York Central was to be the "NIAGARA" Class of 4-8-4 locomotives Which were extraordinary in performance. They were designed to operate 6 days out of 7 without service and even then the service was carried out in the most exceptional manner in specialised facilities by men in some instances in asbestos padded suits cleaning the still hot fireboxes from the inside so that the locomotives almost never cooled off. The locomotives developed an exceptional 6,700 h.p. and a 61,568 lbs Tractive Effort. There were 27 in the Class and the last was decommissioned in 1956 - not one was preserved.

                                        NIAGARA CLASS LOCOMOTIVES 4-8-4

The same issues in locomotive design were addressed by the Norfolk & Western Railroad with particularly happy results. The company was heavily involved in the coal industry and was the last of the American railroads to succumb to the pressure to dieselise. In 1941 it introduced its streamlined J Class 4-8-4 s. These remarkable locomotives featured rather small driving wheels at 70 inches diameter (e.g. the NYC Hudsons were 79 inches and the PRR T1 was 80 inches..)

Nevertheless, they were no slouches when it came to speed and were capable of 111 mph. They were very powerful delivering 5,300 h.p. and a tractive effort of 

  84,981 lbs. There were 14 in the Class but only one is preserved, the famous 611. In their day they hauled the well-known trains in their region the "POWHATAN ARROW" and "POCAHONTAS

.                                 NORFOLK & WESTERN  J CLASS 611     4-8-4                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                SUMMARY

There is a lot to be considered in the design and construction of steam locomotives and I have tried here to give a brief sketch showing how the various issues have been addressed by some major operators. I have enjoyed doing it of course as I did in writing earlier http://butnought.blogspot.com/2017/04/horses-for-courses-even-apart-from.htmlI hope that my paltry efforts might move some folk to read further, or at least share in some passing fashion the joy I find in reflecting on the mighty achievements now past.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

THE FRATERNITY OF GIANTS

SIR NIGEL GRESLEY (1876-1941)

We are accustomed to certain concepts of British anti-French prejudice as being as reliable as if cast in steel. These ideas go back even centuries. And the more "Establishment" the British person is, the more lively the prejudice we expect.

Now in the pre-WW II era there was no mechanical engineer in England more celebrated than the great Sir Nigel Gresley. He was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.) and designer of many locomotives but of greatest note for his A4 Streamlined Pacifics especially their class member "MALLARD" at the time, the fastest steam locomotive in the world at 126mph, although Sir Nigel Gresley only accepted 125mph!

                                                   L.N.E.R. A 4  MALLARD

But the brotherhood of Mechanical Engineers exceeds the power of national prejudice. There was another, greater Mechanical Engineer in France: Andre Chapelon. Unlike Sir Nigel Gresley, this genius was relatively frustrated by his administrative superiors, and, unable to get approval to build many new locomotives according to his ideas, he had to content himself with re-building existing locomotives. This he did with remarkable brilliance, which was acknowledged by his peers around the world, but treated as an embarrassment by his superiors. Chapelon was among the earliest champions of a scientific approach to the detail of locomotive design and performance, which had up to that time, been largely pragmatic being based on trial and error -  evolution from previous practice.In 1925 Gresley was so impressed by what he read of  Chapelon's work that he went to France to visit him and consult him. When he returned to England he put in hand the experimental fitting of a Chapelon "Kylchap" exhaust system to an existing L.N.E.R. 4-4-0 "Derbyshire". In 1930 Chapelon visited England and rode the footplate of "Derbyshire". Unfortunately, Chapelon's plans had not been well followed and the system did not work as well as it ought. 

This was far from being their only collaboration. The conventional steam locomotive has a "fire tube boiler" that is, it is pierced with tubes which take the heat from the firebox through the surrounding water to the smokebox and exhaust through the chimney. The steam generated gathers atop the boiler in the steam dome and travels from there, via the valves, into the cylinders and then out through the valves to the exhaust, creating a draught which draws the heat from the firebox through the tubes. The faster the locomotive goes, the stronger the draught, the hotter the boiler and the more steam.It is a real demonstration of a virtuous circle. But in the mid-1920s Gresley began to consider the concept of a water tube boiler such as used in marine applications. This would have been the first variation from the essential principles formulated by George Stephenson in his splendid "ROCKET" in 1829. The motivation for considering this radical change was to obtain marked economies in fuel consumption which, in his latest high-speed trains was becoming a serious concern. 

                                                  Andre Chapelon (1892-1978)

Completed at the end of 1929, No.10000, as it was designated, was a 4-6-4 with a water tube boiler operating at 450 lbs psi. It had 6'8" driving wheels. Its unusual appearance gained it the nickname "the galloping sausage" from the engine crews. After running 70,000 miles it was brought into the workshops for a major overhaul. It seems that not a great deal could be said in its favour. Gresley consulted Chapelon whose reputation for improving locomotives was legendary. Chapelon was interested in the challenge. He recommended some highly technical changes related to superheating All of Chapelon's recommendations were followed, but No.10000 never did live up to expectations. In 1937 No.10000 was fitted with a conventional boiler and streamlined in the manner of the A4s.  George Stephenson RULES!

Judging by the photograph - and there are few of them on Google Images - M.Chapelon was not the sort of person to suffer fools gladly. Perhaps this offers a clue as to why his superiors were so determined to frustrate his brilliance.

                                                              S.N.C.F. No. 242. A. 1.

The finest example of Chapelon's genius is shown in the magnificent  SNCF (Societe Nationale Chemin de Fer - the French nationalised Railways) 4-8-4  No. 242.A.1 completed in 1946.It has been described as " the most outstanding steam locomotive that ever ran upon rails".(Col. H.C.B. Rogers O.B.E. in Express Steam Locomotive Development in Great Britain and France p 105) It produced 4,000 h.p. continually at the Tender drawbar at speeds from 50 to 75 mph.Even at low cut-offs it produced 3,800 h.p.

Books aplenty have been written about the achievements of these great locomotives and their designers. How different from our own times, those in the not so distant past, have become.

CONJUGATING

NSW D 57 Class Steam Loco -The Conjugating Gear for the centre valves may be seen below the Smokebox door.

"Conjugated" is not a word that we hear often. This is doubly so in these times, in this post-classical world, because it is a word heavy with Latin association. Literally," it means " joined together with". So, how does it relate to the massive, brooding, almost brutish image above? The clue is right in front of us, right at the front of the locomotive itself. Right there under the "chin" of the smokebox is  "Gresley's conjugating valve gear".

The locomotive shown above is one of the D57 Class freight locomotives of the New South Wales Government Railways. When they were introduced in 1927 they were the only three-cylinder steam locomotives on the N.S.W. Railways. They retained that exclusive status until 1957 when the nearly identical, but strangely less successful D 58 Class came into service. 

Three-cylinder steam locomotives were developed where the outside cylinders and valve gear on either side were complemented by a central third cylinder between the frames and driving a cranked axle, this was most commonly made practical using Gresley's conjugating valve gear. This valve gear drew its action from the outer valve gear via a rod moving on a pivot under the front of the smokebox.

Three-cylinder steam locomotives were already common in British railway practice and had been so for several decades. They were the result of the restrictions of the British loading gauges and the need for greater power to draw heavier and heavier trains at greater and greater speeds.This arose from the intense competition between the various railway companies prior to the disastrous railway nationalisation undertaken by the Socialist Labor government in 1948.

In New South Wales the need for additional power had historically been met by increasing the size of the locomotive - principally its boiler.This process can readily be traced through the development of the C32, C34, C35, C36 classes of passenger locomotives culminating in the C38 Class. In the C38 Class, we see the absolute limit in many respects, of what was possible. The locomotive and its tender filled the limits of the loading gauge much as a bodybuilder might cause his shirt to bulge and strain. They were as long as the principal turntables in place could handle. Freight locomotives were a different set of requirements, and the D57 Class was also built to the limits of the loading gauge. Moreover, its weight, especially the load on the driving axles, restricted its employment to certain main lines only.If extra power was to be gained, the third cylinder was the way to go.  It is interesting to note that in the USA there were very few three-cylinder locomotives. The reason was simple, the American loading gauges were so large that it was possible to easily envisage and build larger locomotives.

Three-cylinder locomotives had, by and large, been avoided in N,S,W, practice due to the desire to keep mechanical servicing simple since servicing facilities were relatively few and far between in N.S.W. as they are throughout Australia.

The D57 Class locomotives were colloquially known to railway staff as "the big engines".

This classic photo by the great Leon Oberg shows the Gresley conjugating valve gear

Anyone who has heard the triple-beat of the exhaust of a D57 or D58 Class locomotive, and felt the trembling of the earth as they passed at the head of a heavy freight train, will never forget the experience.

DRESSING FOR SPEED IN DEUTSCHLAND

Dressing for Speed

In May 1936 a crossing gate guard on the important Berlin � Hamburg line was alerted by an almost unearthly but rapidly approaching howling. He likened it to a steam-powered siren. Before he could collect his thoughts, his humble crossing was host to the thunder and enormous speed of the streamlined locomotive 05 002 pulling four express coaches. With observers from the Reichsbahn on board, the thundering burgundy-colored machine recorded a speed of 200.4 km/h (124.52 mph). Paul Roth, from the Reichsbahn�s Berlin-Grunewald test facility, who was on board during the test run, likened the unearthly howl emanating from the smokestack of the BR 05 to its boiler working probably dangerously close to the edge of the envelope, as we like to say in today�s techno jargon.
Some time after Errol Kubicki and I had completed our article on tenders, I asked him if he had any ideas for other articles. After several e-mail exchanges, he asked what I knew about streamlined Dampfloks, specifically streamlined tank engines. Well, I never really paid much attention to them � tank or otherwise but that I�d be willing to do a little investigating. To urge me on, Errol lent me a copy of Modell Eisen Bahner featuring a fairly detailed article on the topic. So, here goes.
Much as we admire the sight of a steam locomotive with its jungle of pipes, valves, connecting rods, and much more of the external necessities that propel the machine, this beloved mechanical jungle does little to improve the efficiency of what is already a rather inefficient machine. By the 1930s, the major locomotive builders in Europe, specifically Germany, realized that, if they were to compete with lighter, more aerodynamic railcars such as "Der Fliegende Hamburg" and the up and coming electric locomotives like the E 18, they would have to take a closer look at clothing their Dampfloks in an aerodynamic shell.
While this well-known run set a record, Wolfgang Messerschmidt, the famous German railroad historian, thinks it is (was) not a record. Being quite familiar with American steam locomotive technology, he feels that some streamlined Alco steam locomotives achieved speeds as high as 230 km/h (142.9 mph). This, of course, also eclipses the run made by "Mallard" in England at 202.7 km/h (125.9 mph) but this latter figure is disputed since it was allegedly done on a slight down grade. Actually, some minor attempts to impart some windcheating form to locomotives go back to the early part of the 20^th century when cabs began to be enclosed and the front of the boiler was fabricated in a more conical shape. Take a look at the Bavarian S 3/6 locomotives.
The Beginning
Still, in Germany the effort to develop a more efficient streamlined steam locomotive was on and became more earnest in 1932. William Beil, the director of engineering at Borsig in Berlin (Hennigsdorf), recalls that they were looking at speeds in the 150 km/h (93 mph) range since that was already possible with lighter self-propelled railcars. Borsig conducted some windtunnel testing at its own expense and the Reichsbahn did similar work at the University of G�ttingen. The result was that Lok 03 154 was fitted with a more aerodynamic cab and a parabola shaped boiler door. The running gear and boiler were also enclosed with the enclosures featuring suitable access panels for maintenance. Steaming at 150 km/h (93 mph) it quickly became evident that the engine was able to pull more cars with less effort. This was attributed not only to the streamlining but also to the increased thermodynamic efficiency realized by the streamlining. At the time, William Beil calculated that the streamlining contributed an extra 290 hp at 120 km/h (75 mph). Further calculations for speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) showed that additional tractive effort would result which would translate directly into hauling more passenger cars.
All of this success led directly to incorporating this technology into the BR 05. As this new project began to, pardon the pun, take shape, the DRG also asked Borsig to streamline
03 193. By then the DRG had also mandated that passenger locomotives capable of speeds exceeding 140 km/h (87 mph) would be equipped with streamlining. Affected were BR 01¹⁰, 03¹⁰, 05 and 06. While this speed demarcation was in effect at the Reichsbahn, this concept was basically ignored in other countries. In the mid-1930s it had become fashionable, especially in the United States, to streamline locomotives whether or not any performance benefit would be realized or not. Fashionable or not, the German locomotive builders also had to be increasingly concerned with the competition offered by the already mentioned lighter and more aerodynamic railcars and electric locomotives. Not only were these quite efficient but they were also very attractive from a marketing viewpoint.
The ubiquitous BR 01 and BR 03
At first sight the famous BR 01¹⁰ and BR 03¹⁰ look almost identical but the difference was more skin deep with the BR 01 being the heavier duty machine with greater axle loading. The lighter duty BR 03 and its BR 01 counterpart were both destined to be clothed with streamlining. Altogether, these types were the most widely built and used streamliners. Initially, the DRG wanted to order 205 of the BR 01¹⁰ but the war reduced this by nearly 75 percent. Most survived those years and in 1949 they were overhauled but their streamlining was removed. Similarly, the original order for 140 of the BR 03¹⁰ streamliners was reduced to 60 at the start of the war. After the conflict, the DB and DR overhauled them but also had their streamlining removed.
The BR 05 in two versions
"In the BR 05 German steam engine development had reached its highest point." Those were the words of the editors of "M+F Journal" 25 years ago. That this is unarguable was proven in May 1936 when 05 002 broke the 200 km/h (124 mph) barrier. Three streamlined BR 05s were built by Borsig under the direction of Richard Paul Wagner at the DRG - two conventional (05 001 and 05 002) and one cab forward (05 003). All were 2�C2� (4-6-4) three-cylinder machines with five axle tenders. (Author�s note: This is the Wagner whose name is applied to the large smoke deflectors)
The conventional BR 05s were delivered in March and May 1935. Both entered revenue service in 1936 on the Berlin � Hamburg line. During the May 1936 record run, 05 002 developed over 3,400 hp (2,535 kW). With advent of the war, both were sidelined since high speed passenger service was deemed superfluous. They survived the war and in 1950, Krauss-Maffei dismantled the streamlining and reduced the boiler pressure to 16 bar. They then entered regular service in 1951 and were retired in July 1958. Engine 05 001 was installed in the N�rnberg Transportation Museum complete with its original streamlining. Together with 05 001, the two Loks regularly reached speeds of 150 km/h (93 mph) and 175 km/h (108 mph) on some stretches.
The cab forward design was radical by any measure. The engine was delivered in the fall of 1937. Unlike the Southern Pacific cab forward engines, the design of the 05 003 was intended primarily to provide better visibility for the crew at the anticipated high speeds. The obvious impossibility of trying to shovel coal into the boiler resulted in use of a stoker system that moved coal dust through a 14 m (46-ft) long pipeline. Even the use of coal dust proved difficult. Test results with two types of coal (brown and hard) were less than satisfactory. In 1944, 05 003 was rebuilt into a conventional locomotive but without streamlining. Its livery was wartime camouflage paint complete with strategically located armor plate to protect vital parts. After surviving the war, Krauss-Maffei overhauled this engine in 1950 and it joined the other 05s in revenue service. The ideal fuel would have been oil but this was not considered since it would have meant use of a very strategic material. Besides, the DRG had only very limited experience with oil-firing.
The Mammoth BR 06
The BR 06 was developed in 1933. It was necessary to have a high-performance locomotive for more mountainous areas and the all-important Berlin � Frankfurt/Main and Berlin � Munich lines. The new prototype engine had to be able to pull 650 ton trains at 120 km/h (75 mph) and on more severe grades at 60 km/h (37 mph). But, it was not until April 1939 that Krupp delivered the prototype three-cylinder BR 06 (06 001), a 2�D2� (4-8-4) design. It and its mate 06 002 were then the largest steam locomotives built in Germany. Their impressive size was further enhanced by their huge partially exposed drivers. Alas, the machines disappointed. There were boiler problems but perhaps potentially more serious was their inability to negotiate radii of 140 m (460 feet) without the possibility of derailing. Some railroaders also cast doubt on the machines� inability to safely negotiate some of the very complex turnout systems in place at that time. One of the driven axles was even flangeless. These limitations and the advent of more efficient electric locomotives on the Berlin � Frankfurt and Berlin � Munich lines doomed the BR 06. It never entered series production. Engine 06 001 was taken out of service in 1951 and 06 002 was hit by a bomb and destroyed during the war.
BR 61 and Henschel - Wegmann
Enter the locomotive builder Henschel & Sohn and the car builder Wegmann & Co. This team designed and developed a streamlined locomotive and suitable passenger cars to compete with the railcars. It was to be a relatively light train based on a 2�B1� (4-4-2) tank engine and passenger cars featuring Jacobs trucks. The DRG, however, wanted the design to make greater use of existing standard designs for both the locomotive and cars. What emerged was a streamlined BR 61 (61 001) and matching passenger cars painted in attractive aluminum and violet colors.
The train made its debut in May 1935 on the Berlin � Dresden route. In acceleration and top speed it matched "Der Fliegende Hamburg." Top speed was 185 km/h (115 mph), but at 150 km/h (93 mph), the locomotive�s running characteristics were not nearly as stable as those of other streamliners, notably the BR 05. Nevertheless, the new train did the 176 km (109 mile) Berlin to Dresden route in 100 minutes, a speed of 64 mph (103.5 km/h). The limited water capacity of the BR 61 was also an issue. Still, the train entered service. At war�s end, it was stationed in Braunschweig. It was then outfitted for service between Hannover and Bielefeld. An accident in 1952 led to its retirement.
To overcome these objections, in 1939 Henschel delivered a larger three-cylinder BR 61 (61 002) with the unusual axle configuration of 2�C3� (4-6-6). To accommodate the increased coal and water capacity, Henschel chose the three-axle trailing truck and too keep axle loading at the 18.5 tons dictated by the Reichsbahn. The new machine performed very well but scheduled service between Berlin and Dresden did not materialize and by 1943 both 61 001 and 61 002 gave up their attractive paint scheme and reverted to dreary wartime gray. But, the story of 61 002 did not end here, and as the immortal Monty Python gang often said, "and, now for something completely different."
After World War 2, 61 002 remained in the Soviet occupied zone of Germany. The servicing facility in Dresden had little use for the one-off locomotive other than to use it for various general purpose tasks. For a while, the engine was used for the personal train of the transportation minister but even while serving this dutiful bureaucrat, the machine exhibited all sorts of ills. As it turned out, the railway development center in Halle needed locomotives capable of at least 160 km/h (100 mph) to test high speed passenger cars then under development. The overhaul facility in Meiningen was given the job to convert 61 002 to a conventional tender locomotive of 2�C1� (4-6-2) configuration capable of 180 km/h (112 mph). The tender was from a BR 44 (44 468). The outside cylinders were from H 45 024, an experimental coal dust fired Lok with a condensing tender. (The less than elegant H 45 024, in turn, was derived from a conventional BR 45.) The reborn engine, now oil-fired, was designated 18 201 and in honor of the first German Pacific, a Badische IVf in 1907. This Lok used the 18 201 number in 1925. To some extent the new, green 18 201 looked like the Bundesbahn�s BR 10 of 1956.
The little BR 60
Though not intended to break or even approach high speeds, the private L�beck � B�chener Eisenbahn (LBE) ordered two streamlined BR 60s from Henschel. The two modest two-cylinder locomotives (60 001 and 60 002) were delivered in 1936. The LBE combined these with two-level coaches. The two trains were used in pull-push service on the Hamburg � L�beck � Travem�nde line. The little tank engines were capable of 120 km/h (75 mph). The LBE ordered a third slightly more powerful BR 60 streamliner (60 003) in 1937.
With the start of the war, the DRG de-emphasized high speed passenger traffic and relegated the BR 60s to heater service but eventually only 60 001 was used for that. In 1945, 60 002 and 60 003 went to the East German DR. Engine 60 002 was in service in the Berlin suburbs until 1958 and the third machine served until 1962 near Stralsund.
The Unconventional BR 19
Yet another but the last attempt to build another aerodynamic steam engine was Henschel�s design for the BR 19. In its outward appearance, the 19 1001 was very similar to the BR 01 and BR 03 streamliners. It was a decidedly unconventional machine of 1�Do1� (2-8-2) configuration. Four two-cylinder steam engines were used. On the right side, two engines powered the first and third driven axle and on the left side a similar arrangement powered the second and fourth driven axles. It was delivered to the DRG on June 13, 1941 and after solving some teething problems, the BR 19 showed stable and quiet running characteristics. Trials on a dynamometer at the DRG�s Grunewald (Berlin) test facility showed that speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph) should be easily possible. A promising start, indeed.
In tests on the Berlin � Hamburg line the machine reached 186 km/h (115 mph), a speed that was not only attributed to its unconventional propulsion system but also to the well designed streamlining. While the potential was clearly there, the times did not permit further development. In May 1943, the engine was transferred to Bw Altona (near Hamburg) and used in revenue service. A bomb hit in early in 1944 damaged 19 1001 but she was repaired only to be hit again in August 1944, but this time more severely that was followed by sidelining. In April 1945, the unusual machine was discovered by the advancing American troops, taken into custody and then shipped to Fort Monroe in Virginia in October of that year. Industry engineers and others examined the Lok but did not run it. As a matter of fact, the machine never ran again under its own power. The advent of dieselization by the American railroads quickly obsoleted steam power. By 1952, the engine was scrapped.
The BR 10
No doubt the last gasp in search of a more streamlined steam engine was the BR 10. It was a very advanced three-cylinder 2�C1� (4-6-2) and, according to Wolfgang Messerschmidt, it was really a pseudo-streamliner. Krupp built the only two of these prototypes in 1956, which were intended to replace the BR 01¹⁰ and BR 03¹⁰. The first, 10 001, was coal-fired and its mate, 10 002, was oil fired. The machine�s axle loading of 22 tons imposed restrictions on many lines and, in addition, not all lines permitted its service speed of 140 km/h (87 mph). With times and technology changing rapidly, the end of steam was clearly in sight. Both were retired in 1967.
The End of an Era
As we saw, those streamliners that survived the war were stripped of their elegant windcheating exteriors. Soon the groundbreaking V200 came on the scene as did the E18 before the war. Both were clearly more efficient and faster but even they are retired now. Today�s passengers on the ICE will probably never have heard of the mighty 05 002�s record run. The longest lived streamliner was no doubt 01 1102 delivered in the summer of 1940 and served until 1974. It is now restored and still operating much to the delight of Europe�s steam enthusiasts.
Streamliner Summary

Type	Service Class	No. built	Service Years
BR 0110	S 36.20	55	1939 - 1953
BR 0310	S 36.18	60	1939 - 1959
BR 05	S 37.19	2	1935 - 58
BR 05*	S 37.19	1	1937 - 1939; 1950 - 1958
BR 06	S 48.18/20	2	1939 - 1945
BR 10	S 36.22	2	1956 - 1967
BR 19	S 46.18	1	1941 - 1944
BR 60	St 24.18/19	3	1936 - 1962
BR 61	St 38.18	2	1935 - 1956
18 201**	S 36.20	1	1961 - ??
* cab forward
** ex 61 002

Acknowledgements:
The author appreciates the assistance provided by Kevin Brady and Heinz Brockmann.
Sources:
"50 Jahre Einheitslokomotiven", Alfred B. Gottwaldt, ISBN 3-440-04253-7, 1975.
"Das Grosse Typenbuch Deutscher Lokomotiven", Weisbrod, B�zold,, Obermayer, ISBN 3-334-70751-5, 1995.
"Die Dampfmotor Lokomotive 19 1001", M�rklin Magazin, 2/74, pp. 28 � 30.
"Baureihe 05 � Die schnellsten deutschen Dampflokomotiven", M+F Journal, 1/1975, pp. 10 �12.
"Die Entwicklung der Stromlinien Lokomotiven der Deutschen Reichsbahn", M+F Journal,1/1977, pp. 47 � 49.
"Ganz in Schale", Franz Rittig, Modell Eisen Bahner, Nr. 12/1996, pp. 12 � 19.

"Jimmos starke Herren", Eisenbahn Magazin, 12/9