Schwartzkopff 0-10-0 in Indonesia

[The_Ghan]

I found this by accident.  I'm interested in the Schwartzkopff 0-10-0, the first two photos on the webpage.  In the few minutes I had before Mrs_Ghan gave me something else to do I couldn't find much info.  However, a trip to Indonesia suddenly looks inviting ...

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[marknewton]

I'm a bit confused, Nige. The first two photos on the webpage aren't Schwartzkopff engines, and only one is an 0-10-0. Where else did you look?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[The_Ghan]

Yes, confused myself.  The problem is I'm short of time this year ... it is, after all, the year of Mrs_Ghan ... oops! ... the dragon!  There seem to be so many chores for me to do around the home.

 

I've attached a photo of a Schwartzkopff.  That's what I'm interested in.  I'd like to know what their original use was.  As you pointed out, the photos I referenced aren't Schwartzkopffs.  Nonetheless, I'm finding these rack rail steam locos interesting too ... and something else I know nothing about.

 

Once again it's almost midnight, so I have to leave it for now.  But if you know a decent website for me to learn about these things please let me know.  I think its tops that they're still in operation.  Althought I wonder about the Indonesian maintenance regime, they have succeeded in keeping these locos running where others have, for one reason or another, failed.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[marknewton]

Yes, confused myself.  The problem is I'm short of time this year ... it is, after all, the year of Mrs_Ghan ... oops! ... the dragon!  There seem to be so many chores for me to do around the home.

 

Sounds familiar! 

 

I've attached a photo of a Schwartzkopff.  That's what I'm interested in.  I'd like to know what their original use was.

 

They were actually built new for the Indonesian sugar mill railways. All of the 8 and 10-coupled engines that ran on these lines had some form of articulation - Klein-Lindner, Luttermöller and Schwartzkopff being common.

 

As you pointed out, the photos I referenced aren't Schwartzkopffs.  Nonetheless, I'm finding these rack rail steam locos interesting too ... and something else I know nothing about.

 

The two rack engines you referenced are very interesting machines. The 0-4-2RT was built by Esslingen circa 1902, and the big 0-10-0RT, which was based on an Esslingen design, was built by Nippon Sharyo, of all people, and in the 1960s!

 

Once again it's almost midnight, so I have to leave it for now.  But if you know a decent website for me to learn about these things please let me know.

 

 

Offhand, no.

 

I think its tops that they're still in operation. Althought I wonder about the Indonesian maintenance regime, they have succeeded in keeping these locos running where others have, for one reason or another, failed.

 

I have an idea why that might be, but it's getting late, so more later.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[The_Ghan]

Thanks Mark,

 

This has certainly piqued my interest in steam, particularly the peculiar ... rack and geared steam locos.  I've seen a model of a geared loco at a couple of the shows over the last year or two.  Clearly, I'm going to need to buy a few books on steam.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[marknewton]

Nigel, I did a bit of reading, and a bit of googling, and came up with some interesting information about these Javanese mill locos.

 

Some years ago, Locomotives International published a special edition titled "East European Narrow Gauge", by Keith Chester. It has an article on the Upper Silesian Narrow Gauge Railway, or Oberschlesische Schmalspurbahnen, a 785mm gauge network in what is now Poland. This railway had some 0-10-0T engines built by Orenstein & Koppel with Luttermöller articulation, OSB class T39. After WWI, the Polish Ministry Of Transport ordered new 0-10-0Ts from Schwartzkopff, class T40, but these had a different system of articulation, designed by a Polish Engineer, Professor Czeczott. Mr Chester suggests that the Poles may have been unwilling to Pay O&K the licence fee for the Luttermöller patent. They may have also been unimpressed with the complexity and heavy maintenance required by that system.

 

Here I quote an article that appears online at : http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/articulateds/articulated03.htm

 

Schwartzkopff produced a series of 0-10-0Ts in which there was extra lateral movement possible in the outer axles. The drive was taken on the central axle which was flangeless and this meant that the first, second, fourth and fifth axles could follow a curve while the third stayed aligned with the cylinders. The second, fourth and fifth axles has extra side play of about an inch with extended crankpins and naturally there had to be extra flexibility in the way the rods were connected. The diagram below by Roger West was first published in the Industrial Railway Record in 1975.

A feature of this design is a 'dummy' 6th axle which was intended to ensure things got back to normal quickly on the straight, but was left out of later designs.

 

Also note the double-flanged lever between the 4th and 5th axles. Mr Chester states that the 'dummy' 6th axle or layshaft was overloaded by the movement of the 5th axles and frequently ran hot, often leading to the total failure of the axleboxes. He also states that in later years the layshaft was often removed from these engines. The next batch of T40s was built by Chrzanow, and dispensed with the layshaft altogether, relying instead on spring-controlled sideplay in the axleboxes.

 

There are some more photos of Javanese sugar mill locos here : http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/51/Indonesia.htm

 

Also, if you are searching for Schwartzkopff locos online, try searching for Berliner Maschinenbau-Aktien-Gesellschaft or BMAG, which is the name of the company after they re-organised in 1870.  http://www.schwartzkopff-wildau.de/

 

Be warned, though - geared and rack locos are fascinating things, you could get seriously distracted! Stick with the Japanese ones!

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[The_Ghan]

Thanks Mark,

 

Awesome post!  Just what I was looking for.  I love the link to international steam.  With the Australia Day test coming up and my office being closed on the Friday, I can see myself having some time to investigate in detail.

 

You are right.  Some of the mechanisms are fascinating, even magical.  I can see how this could entice the enthusiast into O or G scale modelling.  For now, I shall enjoy the distraction.  However, I do intend to take your advice and stick to N-Gauge Japanese.  Mrs_Ghan would kill me if I came home with a steamer that was over a foot long ... !!!

 

I'm going to try and hunt down Keith Chester's book.  But by the looks of it, it's going to be hard to find.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

thanks mark,

 

i too have been seduced by the dark, steamy side of trains of late! the history of the evolution of these mechanisms seem soooo rich. must be amazing machines to work on!

 

jeff

[marknewton]

Thanks Mark, Awesome post!...I'm going to try and hunt down Keith Chester's book.  But by the looks of it, it's going to be hard to find.

 

No worries, Nigel, I'm glad you found it useful. Mr Chester's book is still available from the publisher, but I should point out that it only mentions the Schwartzkopff-Czeczott locos in a couple of paragraphs. I only mention this so you won't be disappointed - it's still a very interesting book regardless.

 

http://www.locomotivesinternational.co.uk/books/east_european_narrow_gauge.shtml

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

thanks mark, i too have been seduced by the dark, steamy side of trains of late! the history of the evolution of these mechanisms seem soooo rich. must be amazing machines to work on!

 

My pleasure Jeff. Amazing is one word to describe working on steam locos, although sometimes other, less savoury words spring to mind!  When you drag yourself out of a warm sleeping-car bunk at 4.00am on a winter morning to roll the fire and prepare the engine for the day's running, the most amazing thing is that you're silly enough to do it!

 

I've never run a rack-fitted loco, but I've crawled all over and under two preserved examples here in Australia, one in Hobart and the other when it was in Victoria.

 

http://www.australiansteam.com/2%20Abt.htm

 

http://www.australiansteam.com/5%20Abt.htm

 

They're very compact machines of fiendish complexity - I'm glad I've never had to maintain one!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.