Newsflashes about steamtrains or issues concerning add-on’s of steam locomotives.
June 22, 2017
New site dealing with the Guide: “Driving the steam locomotive and the technical aspects” in investigation.
A new site in addition to Steamtrains Unlimited is now under investigation in order to move the Guide to the new site. This is aimed to give much more freedom and a better way to improve and establish the website. The Need to expand has all to do with the limitations that is encountered within the workshop guide of steam.
The need of the expanding to a new site is nessecary in order to expand and to deal with the bandwidth of the website itself.
Steamtrains Unlimited investigate both possibilities in order to have the best way of getting the guide reestblished within the possibilities and bandwidth.
All three major aspects Driving with Steam. Signalling aspects and Safety will be issued on the new site. The new site will work seperately of this present site with its own recognizable name and lay out.
We do understand the vastness of all the work it takes in order to get all information transported to this new site so please be patience and keep updated throughout this process.
June 5, 2017
Challenging grades of Nottingham with Fowler Class 4F and Stanier Class 8F
The history of freight movements surrounding Nottingham began in 1850, when the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston & East Junction Railway formed an east-west link to Grantham. At Colwick, near the small town of Netherfield and the original western end of the line, several sidings were constructed to allow inbound goods to be transported by horse and cart into the city of Nottingham, as the Midland Railway was outright refusing to let freight traffic pass through their station.
Having already made its place known, the Midland Railway grew a monopoly over the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coal traffic and the Great Northern Railway, which consumed the ANB&EJR, wanted to have their own say in the lucrative industry. Since the original Ambergate line reached the outskirts of Nottingham, any further passage towards the city was through running rights. As the GNR sought to introduce their own coal traffic, the Midland Railway saw fit to significantly increase the cost of the rights to be prohibitively expensive. In return, the GNR decided instead to build their own infrastructure, it would be cheaper.
The line from Colwick was already extended into Nottingham, through a new station titled ‘London Road’, (owing to the Midland’s freight refusal), but a new line linking to various collieries all the way up to the Derbyshire coalfields via Daybrook was soon in place. The first GNR shed at Colwick was completed by 1875, and once the entire line was complete, it did not take long for tons upon tons of coal to start rolling in from the north, and the sidings, depots and collieries all saw massive expansion in the following years.
The GNR, and the Midland, were not the only railways to pass through this area, the Great Central Railway was also a keen contender in the coal industry, shuttling between the yards of Annesley and Woodford Halse (south of Rugby), upwards of 40 times a day!
The Stanier 8F
William Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LMS, adjusted policies when stepping up to his role, and adapted his simply incredible ‘Black 5’ design to produce a more powerful heavy freight locomotive. The 4-6-0 wheel configuration was swapped out for an appropriate 2-8-0 equivalent with smaller driving wheels, and the end result was the Class 8F. The first of these new locomotives rolled out of the famed Crewe Works in 1935.
Venerable by nature, the growing 8F fleet took the heavy freight scene by storm across the LMS network. They proved themselves to such a degree, that by the time the Second World War began, the Stanier 8F was chosen as the country’s standard freight design. More than 200 would be ordered by the War Department for use both on local and foreign lands. Countries like Italy, Iran and Egypt all saw the 8F’s used on their rails during wartime; additionally, with war came sacrifice, and several 8F’s were lost at sea during transit, and a couple of examples still remain to this day off the coast of Egypt, visibly submerged with the SS Thistlegorm.
The Fowler 4F
In the early 1900s, the Midland Railway’s Henry Fowler designed a new 0-6-0 locomotive which would be primarily focused around freight work. Two examples of this new loco, classified as the 3835 Class, emerged from Derby Works in 1911 and got busy on the main line. It would be another 6 years before more were built, and between 1917 and 1922, no less than a further 195 entered service.
The 3835 Class was a reliable freight hauler, and was considered a success, so when the Midland was absorbed into the LMS (and Fowler took CME status), the design continued to be produced, however new engines would be classified as the Fowler 4F. There were some minor modifications made in-between the Midland and LMS locomotives, mainly the switch from right-hand to left-hand drive, a standard among most of the British network (excluding GWR).
Production of the Fowler 4F would continue until 1941, and 575 would roll out of the workshop in this time, and 45 of these locos were grudgingly ordered by Fowler’s successor, William Stanier. While able to perform, the 4Fs were not without their issues; short axle-box bearings were a common feature on Midland locomotives and they were subject to overheating, this would soon be fixed with the addition of mechanical lubricators.
Overview
When the GCR planned their ‘London Extension scheme, which would see the construction of the London Marylebone and the now-lost Great Central Main Line, they jointly worked with the GNR to build the entirely new ‘Nottingham Victoria’. This vast and complex station was mostly hidden from view, being sub-surfaced in the heart of the city, yet that doesn’t hide the fact that there were four signal boxes, two turntables and passing loops around all platforms, the volume of both passenger and freight traffic was incredible.
Of course nothing lasts forever, as was the case especially for the steam era and Nottingham Victoria station; a gradual decline of coal traffic and the streamline of the British railway network would soon see many lines fall silent, and the day-to-day operations of Nottinghamshire would be allocated to history.
Source: www.train-simulator.com
Go to the website Go to the WebstoreMay 24, 2017
Stroudley’s Wonder A1X Class by Victory Works
By the 1870s, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was in its prime, covering Sussex with hundreds of miles of track, which themselves were peppered with steam locomotives of various designs. William Stroudley, Locomotive Superintendent of the LB&SCR, sought to introduce a new fleet of locomotives that would bring standardisation to the roster, rather than dealing with the 70+ different classes which were a struggle to maintain.
One standard locomotive designed by Stroudley was classified as the A1, and it was to work amongst the hustle and bustle of a growing South London, hauling commuter trains between the likes of London Bridge, Victoria and Croydon. The first small batch of 6 locomotives rolled out of Brighton Works in 1872, and they were so successful that another 44 would be built, with the last entering service in 1880.
The undeniable success of the A1 Class saw continued growth in and around London, and by the turn of the Century they could no longer meet the demand they instigated. Larger, more powerful locomotives were brought in to replace the A1s, yet that would not be the end of the line for them. Granted, after some 30 years of a very demanding life, some A1s were simply worn out and withdrawals began in 1901; for the remainder of the class however, new lives on new rails awaited.
Until this point the A1 Class had been fully resplendent in Stroudley’s ‘Improved Engine Green’ livery, however since 1911, a select number of A1 locomotives, which were modified and reclassified to A1X, were repainted into a new Marsh Umber livery. Of course, other liveries also appeared on the A1s that were sold to other railway companies. Also, the A1’s distinctive ‘barking’ exhaust beat would soon earn the class the nickname ‘Terrier’.
Around the turn of the 20th Century, many Terriers found their way onto the Isle of Wight under many companies’ ownerships. These included the Isle of Wight Central Railway, Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway, Newport, Godshill & St Lawrence Railway and the Isle of Wight Railway.
The Isle of Wight Central Railway purchased 4 Terriers between 1899-1903, becoming the most popular class of locomotive on the line, with this number rising to 8 in total following the grouping and formation of the Southern Railway. It became something of a tradition during this time on the Island for the engines to be named after local towns and villages, as was the case with many LB&SCR locos, however one loco scrapped in 1926 never carried a name on the Island.
Back on the mainland, in 1923, the LB&SCR merged with the likes of the LSWR and SE&CR to form the Southern Railway, and the oldest A1s were topping 50 years old – but it would not be the end of the class just yet. Locomotives would be gradually withdrawn over a long period of time, while those that continued to survive worked on railway lines that needed a lighter engine. Even as time went on SR were so focused on express steam, and electrification, that older branch line stock was never replaced, and the A1s lived on.
Nationalisation swept across the network in 1948, and British Railways inherited a single A1 and 14 A1X Class locomotives which had continued to strive. They would continue their duties initially, however their age was starting to catch up with them – replacement parts were expensive, and above all, the 1955 Modernisation Plan would see many of the lines they served fade away. The final example of the class, a modified A1X variant, was withdrawn in the summer of 1963, and after an astonishing 91 years of service, the A1s finally got a rest.
The class is survived today by 10 preserved locomotives, the Bluebell Railway (the world’s first preserved standard gauge railway) re-opened in 1960 with No 55 ‘Stepney’, which has since risen to fame thanks to Rev. W. Awdry’s ‘The Railway Series’ and latter ‘Thomas & Friends’. Two examples are also preserved on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, as some Terriers lived an interesting life on the island thanks to their appropriate size.
Source. https://train-simulator.com
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4MTT Enhangement Pack of Steam Sound Supreme
A set of amazing add-on and more features conceerning the Digital Traction 4MTT as main engine. Severall different and accurate physics of driving and further enhangements are included even as very detailed liveries comes with this package. You need to own the originat 4MTT of Digitaltal traction to get the full add-on pack of the Steam Sound Supreme 4MTT enhangement pack.
On the decision to build the BR standard series of locomotives, a series of class four tank engines was ordered, based on the ex-LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T with some modifications. The lineage of the class could therefore be tracked through the LMS/BR Class 4 2-6-4T locomotives back to the Fowler design of 1927.
Design work was done at Brighton, the overall programme being overseen by R.A. Riddles. The principal modifications to the Fairburn design involved the reduction of their envelope to enable them to fit into the L1 loading gauge. To do this the tanks and cab were made more curved than the Fairburn design, the Fairburn having a straight-sided tank. The biggest mechanical change was a reduction in cylinder size, also to reduce cross-section, and a corresponding increase in boiler pressure to compensate. Other visible changes include the reintroduction of plating ahead of the cylinders.
130 of the class of 155 were built at Brighton, 15 (80000–80009, 80054–80058) at Derby Works and 10 (80106–80115) at Doncaster Works between 1951 and 1956. The first to emerge was 80010 from Brighton in 1951. Fifteen that were due to be constructed in 1957 were cancelled due to impending dieselisation, and the last five would have been too had they not been at an advanced stage of construction when the order came to cancel them.
No significant modifications were made to the design. The tank vent was found to restrict the driver’s vision and was moved further forward from 80059. Initially built with fluted coupling rods, these caused problems on other classes and from 80079 plain section coupling rods were substituted.
The BR standard class 4 4-6-0 was essentially a tender engine derivative of the Standard Class 4 tank.
Visit the site for more details about the 4MTT enhangement pack and even the site provides you some amazing videos including their astonishing sound effects bringing the 4MTT back to real life.
(Source: Steam Sound Supreme and Wikipedia)
To Digital Traction Go to Add-OnMay 9, 2017
The Famous “Jupiter” class now available.
From Smokebox and that maestro of steam locomotive creation, Mike Rennie, the Train Simulator CPRR Jupiter is a marvel. Authentic in every detail including its stunningly beautiful black, blue, and crimson livery – the 4-4-0 delivers the true and challenging experience of taking the throttle of a mid-19th Century wood-burning steam locomotive.
Built in the summer of 1868 by the Schenectady Locomotive Works (a predecessor of the famed American Locomotive Company), No. 60 was one of a quartet of identical 4-4-0 locomotives built for the CPRR. The Jupiter was designed for dual service, with 60-inch-diameter drivers and 16 x 24-inch cylinders and a total engine weight of 65,400 pounds and was typical of its era in that many of its operating features were relatively primitive (including a lack of air brakes!). Smokebox has meticulously re-created the Jupiter in its “as built” condition, which promises a new, different – and demanding – experience for Train Simulator locomotive engineers.
The Jupiter itself is a true masterpiece – and accompanying the Jupiter are the historic locomotive’s three CPRR sisters: the “Storm,” “Whirlwind,” and “Leviathan.” The Smokebox Central Pacific Jupiter pack also features authentic flat cars, two styles of Emigrant coaches, baggage car, and a coach-caboose. Fittingly, given that Central Pacific’s crown-jewel accomplishment was its crossing of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, the pack includes three captivating and challenging career scenarios on the Train Simulator Donner Pass route.
And there’s still more: For those wishing to create their own 1860s-era Train Simulator route or scenarios, the pack includes a variety of period-authentic assets, including trackage, a wooden trestle, switch stand, water tower, and locomotive fueling point.
From the noted creators of the acclaimed Union Pacific FEF-3 4-8-4 and AT&N 2-8-0 “Connie,” the CPRR No. 60 Jupiter DLC is now available at the Store, ready to take you on a remarkable and challenging journey into railroading history!
(Source: Train-simulator.com)
Go to the website Go to the storeMay 7, 2017
London Transport Heritage with a fictional route
Featuring iconic locomotives such as GWR’s prolific Pannier Tank, the 5700 Class; English Electric’s definitive Type 1, known today as the BR Class 20 ‘Chopper’; and of course, the long-serving 1938 Tube Stock, which has served DC rails for nearly 8 decades, the London Transport Heritage Collection is the perfect way to experience a wide variety of operations. From passenger commuting to freight hauling, behind the controls of either steam, diesel or electric.
The bonus, and fictional, London Transport Heritage route is included to provide challenging and unique operations for each distinct locomotive. Work hard along the tough gradients of Stony Bay Quarry before coasting down to the quaint Breakwater docks, get busy on the loop and pass the scenic locations of Channel and Jurassic Halt, stoke up the fire at Vindelis and steam along to Stony Point. There’s no end to the potential of the London Transport heritage route, and with the plethora of route assets available, you’ll be able to create whatever you desire.
The London Transport Heritage Collection features the 1938 Stock, as used on the Northern Line, in London Transport Maroon livery; and in Maroon & Gold livery comes the BR Class 20 ‘Chopper’ (20142), and ex. GWR 5700 Class ‘Pannier Tank’ (L.92, L.94 & L.99), both of which didn’t start life in London, yet proved useful on the Underground when required and have such received commemorative liveries for their efforts.
With a dock and quarry fully ready for service on the route, freight rolling stock is an essential foundation of the London Transport Heritage Collection. BR Standard Van, TTA Tank, Conflat Wagons and a suitable brake van are all featured, and will help form your trains plus make the sidings come to life as you pass by on other duties.
A selection of career scenarios will put your skills to the test in each locomotive, across all areas of the included route, and the Railfan Mode scenarios will let you take in the action at some of the route’s most scenic locations.
With quick drive, you can not only run whatever you like on the included route, but you can make the included stock feel at home on our various London-based routes.
(Source:www.train-simulator.com)
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May 1, 2017
Now available, the Clear Creek Old Timer Rolling Stock Pack.
You can take a journey to the majestic Colorado Rockies – and travel back in time to the free-wheeling 1890s – with the Clear Creek Old Timer Rolling Stock Pack, now available to back-date operations on the popular Train Simulator Clear Creek Narrow Gauge route!
The Clear Creek Old Timer Rolling Stock Pack features an authentic and highly detailed selection of vintage equipment that worked on the Clear Creek Narrow Gauge lines during the time when the Clear Creek lines were under the control of the Union Pacific Railroad as part of a subsidiary company, the Union Pacific Denver and Gulf Railroad.
In 1860, thousands journeyed to the Colorado Territory, beckoned by reports of gold discoveries in the mountains west of Denver. In the early 1870s, W.A.H. Loveland built a railroad connecting Denver to the Clear Creek Mining District-the Colorado Central Railroad. Over the next 28 years, other lines were established, bought, sold, extended, and merged to service the mining towns of Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho Springs, and Silver Plume. In 1898, the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, and the Denver Leadville & Gunnison were combined to form the Colorado & Southern Railway.
After more than 40 years of dedication to the Clear Creek District, the railroad was scrapped in 1941. However, tourism would revitalize the area, and in the years to come a group of enthusiasts began to rebuild a portion of the old right of way. Toady, the spirit of the C&S is alive again, and rail fans can make the same journey over “The Loop” that thrilled tourists a century ago.
The add-on as it comes in the store comes with a number of freight rolling stock includes a wooden boxcar, 4-wheel “bobber” caboose, and wooden gondola (empty, and with coal and gravel loads) each provided in DSP&P and Union Pacific liveries, plus a wooden reefer in UP dress.
Three types of wooden passenger-service equipment are provided in UPD&G liveries: a baggage-mail-express car; a standard coach; and an open-side excursion car. These early passenger cars are equipped with Miller Hook couplings, an early version of the knuckle coupler. The baggage-mail-express car is equipped with a Miller coupler on one end and a link-and-pin coupler on the other, so it can couple both to the locomotive and the coaches.
