FarRail Tours Blog

New Galleries

Ian Silvester — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:45:57 +0000

Three new galleries featuring the Ffestinog Line, Welsh Highland Line and the Bluebell Railway.

See the new galleries section at

www.dorneyphoto.com

Enjoy

Ian Silvester

Help us to restore our MPSB Vulcan steam locomotive!

Bernd Seiler — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:36:16 +0000

By David Blondin

Our volunteers society run the “P’tit train de la Haute Somme” in North of France, an historic 60cm gauge line built during WW1.

As it used to be on the MPSB, © Alfred Luft

We actually rebuilt our Vulcan steam locomotive after a major overhaul. It was built in Germany in 1925. This locomotive, carrying number 99-3461, ran on the Mecklenburg Pommersche Schmalspurbahn (MPSB) in North East Germany. In 1972 it was sold to John Snell for a project on the Vale of Rheidol Railway, and spent some times in UK. As this project was never completed, we bought it in 1978. This locomotive is now listed as an Historic Monument in France.

We launch an appel for donations, with help of “My Major Company” website to pay a part of the new boiler we ordered for this locomotive. Each donation will give you something to thanks you (free travel, footplate ride, etc.)

So we hope you’ll be able to help us and make a donation before 24th August. This is the deadline to collect 5000 Euros, or more ! If you can’t help, could you please share this information with your friends, on your facebook page if you have one, or on a forum you know.

The new boiler is actually under construction and could be delivered in July. The frame is nearly ready to receive it. We hope to have a steam test before the end of this year and have a locomotive in service order for 2014 season. With your help!

new firebox for the loco

You can make a donation on this website :

http://www.mymajorcompany.com/projects/restaurez-la-locomotive-a-vapeur-vulcan

This website is in French. If you need it, please feel free to contact us for any help.

Thanks for every help you can provide!

Regards,
David BLONDIN

appeva@club-internet.fr

Coming soon: Steam in Brazil – Dona Teresa Cristina

Bernd Seiler — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:25:22 +0000

In a month we’ll start to Brazilto visit the Dona Teresa Crsitina railway. As written on http://www.FarRail.com they made a test run in 2012 to check out how many loaded wagons we can haul. There are some amateur videos on YouTube available of this test run.

Dona Tereasa Cristina: no. 205 test run

The one on my website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rXW5EloSHE

Tender first (we won’t do that on the tour):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qn02MG148Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjXKohVay7k

Parallel run beyond Morro da Fumaca

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0kqx_pxp1E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejq0Zd3AWWk

Uphill section:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnOEf-_ctd0

Enjoy these video clips or just come to Brazil and take better videos and photos …

Yunnan Railway, China metre gauge line

Bernd Seiler — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:53:46 +0000

Ben Kletzer reports from Yunann in China:

I have just arrivged in Kaiyuan to photograph the remnants of the Yunnan meter gauge. I spent half of a day in Hekou before taking a bus here and found some disturbing sights there. First the tracks to the border were covered in rust. The railroad yard was completely empty and all tracks were very rusty as well. The control office was empty (with no power). Overall the yard looked like it hasn’t been used in a few weeks or maybe months.

Kaiyuan is a different story. I spent an hour talking to the station master (who was very helpful) and he reports the following. The only good news is that there is still a lot of traffic between Xiaolongtan and Kaiyuan. Now for the bad news: the branch to Shiping has not run in months and replaced by a standard gauge line (visible from the Hekou-Kaiyuan highway). The branch to Mengzi sees two trains a day but this service was cease on April 28th, replaced by trucks hauling freight to the standard gauge line near Shiping. I was shocked by this date but he was very sure of it! There is still one or two trains south on the mainline towards Hekou and Vietnam but he confirmed that there is no regular service to Hekou itself anymore.

I will know more tomorrow when I explore more around here, but everything seems like it is coming to a close. The station master could not give any predictions on the future of the meter gauge past the next month, but he said that next year does not look good.

22.4.2013

Dampfbetrieb in Bosnien/Steam in Bosnia April 2013

Bernd Seiler — Sat, 04 May 2013 21:40:44 +0000

Kohlemine Durdevik

Die Kohlemine Durdevik hat den eingeschränkten Betrieb wieder intensiviert. Ein Großauftrag aus Slowenien brachte sogar wieder Güterwagen – und somit die Dampflok 62 111 – auf die landschaftlich schöne Strecke zum Staatsbahnhof Zivinice zurück. Die Züge fahren nur sporadisch, etwa ein bis zwei pro Woche.

Mit dem Kraftwerk Tuzla laufen derzeit auch Gespräche. Vielleicht wird man auch wieder per Bahn an das Kraftwerk liefern. Es handelt sich nur um wenige Zugfahrten pro Monat, die geplant sind, aber immerhin …

Dampf nach Durdevik

Kohlemine Breza

62 636 ist nicht mehr betriebsfähig. Man hat zwischenzeitlich 62 020, die letzte original amerikanische 62 im Plandienst, von Kakanj angemietet. Aber deren tage sind gezählt. Im August oder September wird die bestellte tschechische Diesellok geliefert, und diese wird die Dampflok ersetzen. Damit müssen wir den Besuchspunkt Breza für die im Herbst 2014 geplante Fahrt streichen. Es wird einsam um die letzten planmäßig und kommerziell eingesetzten Dampflokomotiven Europas.

*****

English version

Coal mine Durdevik

Recently the coal mine in Durdevik re-activated the railway connection to the state railway station in Zivinice. An order from Slovenia made it possible, about one to two trains per week running over the line, hauled by 62 111.

Currently there are talks with the power plant in Tuzla to deliver coal by train. There are chances that they will transport coal by rail. Only a few trains per month, but that’s better than the last two years with no trains at all.

Coal mine Breza

62 636 is not serviceable any more. They rented the last original American-built class 62: 62 020. But the use of steam is coming to an end soon. The mine ordered a new diesel locomotive from the Czech Republik. It should be delivered between August and September 2013. Then steam will be history. I need to cancel the planned visit to Breza on the planned Bosnia tour in 2014 …

Breza with 62 636 and 62 020

Indien 2012 Über die Westghats – an der Küste & Galerie / India 2012 Across the Western Ghats – along the coast & Gallery

Ronald Kappel — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:41:47 +0000

Hallo!

Der letzte Teil meines Reiseberichts aus Indien, plus eine Galerie mit über 700 hochauflösenden Bildern:

Indien 2012 – 14: Thums Up für Ankai Killa! (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 15: Pune – Deccan Queen (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 16: Pune – I have been to Monkey Hill! (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 17: Angry Birds Pune (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 18: Goa – Diesel im Paradies I: Anpfiff! (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 19: Goa – Diesel im Paradies II: Klassenausflugsmorgen (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 20: Goa – Diesel im Paradies III: Dudhsagar Fälle (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 21: Goa – Diesel im Paradies IV: Eisenbahn-Traumstrand (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 22: Goa – Diesel im Paradies V: Zuari Amazonas-Querung (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 23: Goa VI – Zu Wasser, Schiene und Elefant (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 24: Erste Klasse Goa – Mumbai – Pune (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 25: Mumbai – Vaitarna Western Railway Morgen (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – letzter Teil 26: Mumbai – Churchgate nach C.S.T.
(50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 27: Retrospektive 1/2 (50 B.)

Indien 2012 – 28: Retrospektive 2/2 (50 B.)

Zur Galerie:
Indien 2012 – Galerie

Hi,

The last part of my travelogue from India, plus a gallery containing over 700 high resolution photos:

India 2012 – 14: Thums Up for Ankai Killa! (50 p.)

India 2012 – 15: Pune – Deccan Queen (50 p.)

India 2012 – 16: Pune – I have been to Monkey Hill! (50 p.)

India 2012 – 17: Angry Birds Pune (50 p.)

India 2012 – 18: Goa – Diesel in Paradise I: Kickoff! (50 p.)

India 2012 – 19: Goa – Diesel in Paradise II: Class Trip Morning (50 p.)

India 2012 – 20: Goa – Diesel in Paradise III: Dudhsagar Falls (50 p.)

India 2012 – 21: Goa – Diesel in Paradise IV: Railway Dream Beach
(50 p.)

India 2012 – 22: Goa – Diesel in Paradise V: Zuari Amazon-Crossing
(50 p.)

India 2012 – 23: Goa VI – On Water, Rails and Elephant (50 p.)

India 2012 – 24: First Class Goa – Mumbai – Pune (50 p.)

India 2012 – 25: Mumbai – Vaitarna Western Railway Morning (50 p.)

India 2012 – final part 26: Mumbai – Churchgate to C.S.T. (50 p.)

India 2012 – 27: Retrospective 1/2 (50 p.)

India 2012 – 28: Retrospective 2/2 (50 p.)

To the gallery:
India 2012 – Gallery

Enjoy! / Viel Spaß!

Cheers,
Roni

Update to my web site

Ian Silvester — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:25:12 +0000

Have added galleries featuring King Edward II in blue on the Great Central Railway in March and 1450 and auto-coach on the Severn Valley Railway in April 2013.

See the New Galleries section

www.dorneyphoto.com

Enjoy

Steam is fading out in Sandaoling/Dampfende in Sandaoling

Bernd Seiler — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:32:19 +0000

Just got an information from Jun that they held a meeting in Sandaoling. New decision is:

Steam at the west end of the pit will be finished in 2015. Not sure yet whether beginning or end of 2015.

Eastern side will remain steam with two to three locomotives.

The planned line to the new mine will be built. It will take about two years to construct the new line. Initially it will be served by seven JS, later by diesel.

*****

New prices for Baiyin: 500 Yuan per person and Fuxin: 600 Yuan per person and day (200 each for stabling point, depot and workshop). Less steam for more money …

Steam in Sandaoling open cast mine

Soeben erhalte ich von Jun diese Information über neue Beschlüsse aus Sandaoling:

Der Dampfeinsatz im westlichen Tagebau wird 2015 beendet. Noch ist nicht klar, ob Anfang oder Ende 2015.

Auf der östlichen Seite werden weiterhin zwei bis drei Dampflokomotiven eingesetzt werden.

Die geplante Strecke zur neuen Mine wird nun doch gebaut. Das dauert vsl. zwei Jahre. Anfangs sollen sieben JS dafür vorgehalten werden, später soll die Strecke verdieselt werden.

*****

Neue Preise in Baiyin: 500 Yuan pro Person und Fuxin: 600 Yuan pro Person und Tag (je 200 für Personaleinsatzstelle, Aw und Bw). Weniger Dampf für mehr Geld …

Sandaoling: Xibolizhan

Personenzugdampf in China/passenger steam service in China: Diaobingshan (Tiefa)

Bernd Seiler — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:26:23 +0000

March 30th Diaobingshan (formerly Tiefa) stopped the passenger service to Daqing. This was a steam service until then. Since April 1st they run the Donguangtun passengers (two pairs a day) by steam instead. This line is known as “Faku-line”. It’s the scenic line of the system.

Seit 30. März ist der Personenverkehr auf der Strecke Diaobingshan – Daqing eingestellt. Das war bis zum Schluss die Dampfstrecke von Diaobingshan (früher Tiefa). Siether werden aber die beiden Personenzugpaare auf der landschaftlich schöneren Strecke nach Dongguangtun mit SY gefahren, auch bekannt als “Faku-Strecke”.

Bernd

Diaobingshan: Dongguantun line

The Mount Lyell Abt Railway (the West Coast Wilderness Railway), Tasmania

Bernd Seiler — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 22:44:48 +0000

by James Waite

It’s early in the morning at Queenstown loco shed and works. In the foreground are no. 5 to the left and no. 1 to the right. Between them is the bunker of no. 3 and to the right is ex-Tasmanian Government Railways Drewry-type diesel no. V9. It was the first of the class to have been built at the TGR’s shops in Launceston rather than being imported from the UK. It started life working on the Strahan-Zeehan railway and so is very much a local machine. It was sold to the Puffing Billy line in Victoria as a source of supply for spare parts and bought from there by the WCWR. It’s now been restored to its original TGR red paintsheme as is used as the depot shunter at Queenstown.

The 3ft 6ins (1067mm) gauge Mount Lyell Abt Railway opened in 1898 to provide transport from the copper mines rapidly being developed at Mount Lyell, near Queenstown in western Tasmania. The use of an Abt rack section provided the only feasible means for the railway to reach Strahan, a port on McQuarie Harbour around 40kms to the west. The line closed in August 1963, largely because of the prohibitive expense of maintaining the large number of bridges along the route, many of which were prone to washouts thanks to the large amount of rainfall in this part of the island. It was rebuilt at the expeense of the state and federal authorities as a tourist attraction and reopened throughout the old route in April 2003. Happily four of the line’s old 0-4-2 tank locos had survived and the railway was able to acquire three of them and to restore them to working order. Operation was let out to Heritage Group, an upmarket travel and leisure organisation operating on the west coast. Recent years have seen visitor numbers fall and the operators recently announced that they would close the line and give up their lease at the end of April 2013.I made a brief visit to the line in the last week of March 2013. I was more than usually lucky with the weather considering that this is a rainforest in the mountains which are on the receiving end of the Roaring Forties and where, as one of the drivers told me, they reckon it rains on 350 days every year except for leap years when they have one extra rainy day!

: Alex, the firelady on no. 3, oils round her loco at Dubbil Barril station. Some say that this is an aboriginal name and others that it’s named after a shotgun by someone with limited literacy skills.

The person in charge of the locos is Nigel Day, a talented British steam engineer whose previous appointments include the Snowdon Mountain Railway until about 18 months ago and before that the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire. Initially he was on a temporary appointment to improve the standard of maintenance and the performance of the locos, something in which he has certainly succeeded. He is very much into radical methods of improving the locos’ efficiency in the Porta and Wardale fashion and has been given a free hand to experiment on no. 3 (Dubs 3730/1898), the black loco which was running on the first day I was there. The latest version of its blast pipe incorporates ideas which Porta had been working on up to the time of his death. This necessitates the wide stovepipe-type chimney in place of the old copper-capped one. Nigel’s current project is to try to replicate its improved performance with the other locos. They currently currently carry an older form of improved draughting of his design while keeping the outisde dimensions of their old chimneys. This design has previously been fitted to all the working locos on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway in Wales in addition to other locos elsewhere. There’s a long and detailed article by Martyn Bane about the work he is doing in the new issue of Locomotives International (no. 84, Spring 2013) available via http://www.locomotivesinternational.co.uk/, one of the most worthwhile and perceptive articles which the magazine has carried for a long time in my view.

Inside no. 3’s smokebox.

The line is adhesion-only for about one third of the route starting at the coastal end and this stretch is usually worked by one of two diesels – narrow gauge versions of the British Railways Drewry/Vulcan Foundry class 04 diesel shunters. Quite a number of these were built for the Tasmanian Government Railway from the late 1940′s onwards and the Mount Lyell company also bought two of them direct from Drewry in the 1950′s. They are both now back on the line having been sold off after it closed in 1963 and work trains from Strahan, the port, as far as the start of the rack section. I started the trip by riding on the train from Strahan having told Nigel that I’d be doing this. I hadn’t expected to be greeted at Dubbil Barril, the changeover point, by Tristan McMahon, the driver, and told that I was invited to make the rest of the journey on the footplate! Quite a trip and it was most impressive that the boiler pressure never fell more than 10 psi below its 200psi max at any stage of the climb to the summit which is nearly 3 miles long. The loco was almost silent when pottering along the level stretches of the line and produced a monumentally sharp bark when climbing the rack. Altogether most impressive – testimony to the success which Nigel has had in improving the loco’s exhaust to enable much more efficient combustion.

Journey’s end. No. 3 and its train rest at Queenstown station. This must be one of the grandest narrow gauge stations anywhere. The overall roof provides much-needed shelter on the frequent days of heavy rain which characterise the west of the island. The original station included a much smaller overall roof. It survived the 1963 closure but was destroyed by fire in 1998 shortly before the reconstruction effort began.

The following day no. 1 (Dubs 3369/1896), the light green loco in these photos, was rostered to work the service train as Nigel had called in no. 3 to instal a system for pre-heating the fuel oil. The day started with heavy rain but I took a chance on the clouds clearing to drive up to the only spot on the rack section where there is road access and luckily the sun made a brief appearance to coincide with the train. I’d been told that no. 5 (NBL 24418/1938), the third loco, would probably be making a test run later on as work on servicing its rack mechanism was approaching completion and I might like to make sure I was around the depot at Queenstown to check this out. I duly headed back there to find the loco in steam and was treated to another footplate ride up to the summit of the line at Rinadeena as it made its test run. By now the rain earler in the day had cleared away and the train and the scenery looked magnificent in the late afternoon sunshine.

No. 1 climbs through the rainforest between Dubbil Barril and Rinadeena.

No. 2 (Dubs 3594/1898), the only other surviving loco, has lived in the Tasmanian Transport Museum at Glenorchy in the northern outskirts of Hobart since the 1970′s and where I called in on my way back to the airport. No. 4 (Dubs 4085/1901), the only other rack loco was used as a stationary boiler at a quarry in Queenstown after the 1963 closure. The quarry was later flooded leaving the loco’s remains submerged under many metres of water. The quarry lies behind what is now the town’s motel where I stayed. I resisted the temptation to dive in to try to find the loco!

Tristan admires the view up the King River Gorge, as no. 3 climbs up the 1 in 20 rack section from Dubbil Barril to Rinadeena.

Very recently the state government, which owns the railway, has bowed to local pressure and much lobbying from further afield and will fund the salaries of most of the staff staying on in their jobs from May onwards while attempts are made over the Australian winter to find a new operator. The line will still close over the winter, the first time this has happened since it reopened in 2003, but with luck it should see use again rather than closing permanently as seemed likely a few weeks ago. There has been much talk about the track needing major refurbishment. The state government now says it will carry out at least some of this at its own expense. The ride through the verdant rainforest is spectacularly beautiful and it would be a crying shame if this were ever to be lost.

No. 1 stands at the south end of the station alongside the old railway storeroom, the only part of the original station to survive the 1998 fire. In the background is Mount Owen which dominates the view from the town towards the east.

Equally spectacular in their own way are the bare, yellow colured hills around Queenstown where pollution from the mining destroyed the vegetation many years ago. It’s reminiscent of the countryside around the old copper mines at Rio Tinto in southern Spain, home to another magnificent steam-worked 1067mm gauge line which now serves a thriving tourist trade. Queenstown is a town of historic buildings rather like Rio Tinto but it’s still very much an active mining town – a place which those who like to see historic buildings in everyday use rather than being actively conserved will greatly enjoy.Everyone I met at the railway was exceptionally kind and friendly and I was treated very much as an honoured guest. Most of the shed staff are very much enthusiasts – Tristan McMahon who drove the test train was supposed to be having his weekend off but didn’t want to miss the chance of enjoying an extra day’s driving. Peter, who works at the depot, has rebuilt the rotted rold grounded body of one of the line’s old brake vans in his spare time. Mounted on a spare wagon body it now looks magnificent and is one of the few surviving pieces of rolling stock from the old railway still at Queenstown.

Alex adds a shovelful of sand to no. 3’s oil fire to help keep the tubes clear of tar residue.

Tasmania is not the easiest place to reach from Europe and Queenstown is a long drive from the nearest airport but I rated this as one of the most enjoyable railways I’ve ever visited. It was a really worthwhile trip. Wilson Lythgoe, Martyn Bane and Iain McCall were all very helpful at the planning stage and Nigel, Tristan, Alex and many others were equally helpful while I was at the railway. A big thank you goes to all of them.