On Shed July 2011 Edition

On Shed July 2011 Edition

                      "Preserving the steam locomotive legacy..and more..on film"

July 2011 Edition

FRONT PAGE

71000 Duke of Gloucester hauling the Cumbrian Mountain Express on 19 May 2011.(C) John Edkins


Welcome..site news
Steam Tube Video Highlights
Steam Tube Photographic Highlights
"The Man With A Gold Cap" - The Life of a Stationmaster - 1912
Khyber Pass Railway (All Things Pakistan)
India Train Ride (Best Of) India Railways Series-Nomadic Samuel
On This Day In Railway History
Blue Pullman (1960)
Nickel Plate Road - "The Nickel Plate Story" 1953 - American Trains & Railroad History
Southern Railway System "Via Sevier" - Historic American Trains
Around The World in 80 Railways: No 14: Shanghai to Hong Kong.
Where It All Began- The Rainhill Trials of 1829
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Welcome..site news
A warm welcome to this July 2011 edition of On Shed, the online monthly features magazine and newsletter of "Steam Tube(TM) - the Home of Steam on the Net"

Firstly. Steam Tube welcomes another 27 members...bringing our total membership world wide to 619. Additionally, 1,800 follow us on Facebook, and 550 follow on Twitter. Our page views total around 55,000 per month for our two sister channels, Steam Tube and the SMJ site.
Steam Tube News attracts a monthly page view of around 7,000, and On Shed has attracted twice as many views this last month as for the previous month, reaching almost 1,000 per month.
There is no explanation as to what it is that attracts people to view the site...apart, of course, from its friendly ambience and enlightened and educated content (thanks to all our contributors!)...but perhaps we are experiencing the "Tornado " effect..and add to that the "Flying Scotsman" effect, for that iconic locomotive has reappeared after a major overhaul, much to the delight of those associated with her.

In this months edition, we take a look at railways in India, Pakistan, and the USA..
Our regular feature "On This Day In Railway History" examines events in this month down through the years....and we  have another excellent historical contribution from David Turner "The Man With A Gold Cap" - The Life of a Stationmaster - 1912.

New member Digby Caballero  unearthed some gems on "The Grand British Experimental Railway of 1830".....and you will notice the historical photograph- which is our end piece for this month- involves Rome....take a look...

If you have any special requests as to what we can include, please let us know..
In the meantime, enjoy this edition of "On Shed"
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Steam Tube Video Highlights
There are now 2,864 video clips in the Steam Tube library. This growing collection provides a
fascinating insight into all aspects of steam locomotion, both past and present.
The following selection is taken from the 206 newly added this last month.....





Steam Tube Photographic Highlights
Our photographic library continues to grow....a total of  1,203 have been added in the last month,
bringing the total library up to 12, 821 photographs. These photographs display a keen interest in the subject and location.....and there are some exceptional captions attached to many which adds to the
overall effect. Thank you all for your continuing efforts...they are appreciated.
Here are a selection taken from this last months uploads.......






Thank you all for your efforts! Keep them coming. Upload your steam photos to Steam Tube.. first!!

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"The Man With A Gold Cap" - The Life of a Stationmaster - 1912

Steam Tube(TM) is pleased to present another excellent article on early 20th century railway activity......

More excellent articles for the rail historian can be found at David Turners site: http://turniprail.blogspot.com/

"The Man With A Gold Cap" - The Life of a Stationmaster - 1912

While I talk a lot on this blog about the broad issues of railway operations, I rarely discuss the day to day running of Britain’s railways. In July 1912 the Railway & Travel Monthly printed an article entitled ‘The man with the gold cap.’ The article discussed the nature of the daily work of the stationmaster. Written by J. Thornton Burge, a stationmaster on the London and South Western Railway, he stated that he had ‘often been struck by the apparent ignorance of the general public as to the duties and responsibilities of a stationmaster.’ Burge worked at Templecombe Station, a station of considerable size where there was a ‘very large transfer of traffic’ and ‘marshalling of trains.’ Burge, while working for one company, clearly felt that the experiences he was describing applied to most

 station masters throughout Britain.

Burge’s day started at 7.45am, where on arrival he would find between 50 and 100 letters. Some were from Head Offices which had ‘arrived by trains during the night,’ some were from his own staff, and others came from other station masters. The details of the letters were very varied, including requests for ‘special attention to be given to some old person or child changing trains,’ the quick transit of goods and complaints from traders. There were also enquiries from headquarters as to suggested timetable changes, derailments, operating irregularities, staff changes or pay rises. All of these had to be read, and responded to.

After dealing with the correspondence he next received the night inspector’s report that detailed any irregularities as to the running of the trains, followed by the yard foreman’s report that showed how many wagons were in the yard. From this, he would be able to determine whether there were more wagons waiting to be sent from the station, than the goods trains that were due to arrive were able to convey. Thus, he would have to arrange special trains. Lastly he read the signalmen’s report which explained any delays, most of which he could account for to head office without the further need for investigation.

Stationmasters in the period were also responsible for the station’s accounts and returns. Therefore, he had to check and sign many returns, accounts had to be settled and claims by traders investigated. He also had to make sure all trains were ‘cleaned and birthed’ for the morning services and every delay in the train service had to be reported to headquarters.

By now many trains were passing through the station, it being the busiest part of the day. Being the man in charge he had to make sure that their movements were completed efficiently. On the one hand, he was not to delay the fast trains considerably, lest he ‘incur the censure of his chiefs.’ Yet because his station was a junction, if he let trains go that were due to connect with others that were late, meaning passengers missed their connections, he may also ‘upset plans’ and ‘greatly annoy passengers.’ However, the telegraph and telephone was utilised to regulate the service and plan for irregularities.

After all the correspondence had been completed and the rush in traffic was over, the stationmaster had to do his early morning inspection of the station to check that all was in order. This encompassed every part of the station from the waiting rooms to the lavatories, to the goods shed and yard. Additionally, once or twice a month he made surprise visits to the outlying signal boxes to make sure that nothing was out of order.

The rest of the day seemed to be filled up in attending to the range of other issues that arose at the station. Burge laid stress on frequency with which ‘blockages’ occurred on the main lines to which he had to attend. They occurred for multiple reasons, for example flooding on the line, the slippage of an embankment, a derailment, or an accident. It was the stationmaster’s duty to make sure that safety was ensured, but that, if possible, trains could continue to run. With a group of gangers and platelayers he would proceed to the blockage and put signalmen on either side of it to warn oncoming trains. He would then marshal the employee’s efforts to restore the free movement of trains. Interestingly, he commented that on such occasions it would be useful to not wear a uniform, as when hurrying around the station in times of urgency, he would be continually accosted by passengers or traders wanting information or trying to make a complaint.

Burge made the point that unlike other grades of employees, his responsibilities for looking after the station meant that he was never off duty and was ‘supposed to be always within reasonable call for cases of urgency day and night, Sunday and weekday, and from the time he becomes stationmaster he practically gives himself wholly to the company’s business.’ Thus, on many occasions, after he had left his post, he was called back to the station to attend to some matter. This was particularly the case for Burge as trains ran all through the night. He remembered a number of cases when he was called on at such times to attend to a disabled man, to make a decision about some injured cattle and when fog and snow storms slowed operations on the line.

While this was only a cursory view of stationmaster’s activities, and I could not do the entire article justice here (peppered as it is with very detailed, quite boring, information), what has been shown is that the stationmasters before the First World War were a dedicated group of individuals who were under consistent pressure to keep the railways of Britain moving. Their jobs while relatively clean and free from risk of physical harm, were far from easy and on occasions were very arduous.

All taken from The Railway and Travel Monthly, July 1912, p.201-210
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Khyber Pass Railway (All Things Pakistan)

Steam Tube (TM) acknowledges the kind permission of All Things Pakistan, and Owais Mughal
for permission to reproduce part of an article on the Khyber Pass Railway.
We hope to include more of the same in future editions of On Shed.

Curtain Raiser. On August 23, 2006, ATP had a post on Bolan Pass, on November 2, 2006 another post on Chappar Rift and on December 18, 2006 yet another post on Khojak Tunnel. In the following we will discuss another famous pass railway of Pakistan i.e. The Khyber Pass Railway. Before we start on our journey, a word about the photograph below. It shows the arrival of weekly Sunday passenger at Landi Kotal in 1975. It is being pulled and pushed by two steam locomotives which signify the effort required in bringing this train from Peshawar, up the Khyber Pass to Landi Kotal.

Departing Peshawar. It is 8:00 a.m. on a sunny Sunday at Peshawar cantonment. The Steam locomotive number 2216, which was built in 1916 by Kitson and Company of Leeds, UK is all set to start on yet another journey. The driver and fireman give one final inspection to the engine vitals and with a long whistle the number 2216 coupled to a tourist train pulls out of the station. Today the destination is Landi Kotal via Khyber Pass.
The train gains speed and soon passes through Peshawar localities of Notia Gate, Swati Gate and Bara Gate. Since the track is now seldom used, there are vehicles parked very close to the track. Many children run along and clap as they see the approaching train.
Across Peshawar Airport. After crossing Bara Gate the train slows down and ultimately comes to a full stop. In front of the locomotive lies the 9000 ft long runway of Peshawar International Airport. The train now waits for clearance from the airport control tower before it could move. Sometimes the clearence comes over the phone and sometimes the train crew has to personally walk to the tower and get clearence while enjoying cup of tea with the tower staff. Peshawar is the only international airport in the world where a rail track crosses the main runway. The small photo above is the satellite image of Peshawar airport’s main runway. The diagonal path crossing the runway is the Peshawar – Landi Kotal rail track. After clearance is received from the control tower, the train chugs forward.

To Jamrud. After clearing runway the train passes through the localities of University town, Kacha Garhi and Hayatabad. The famous 1756 km long Karachi-Torkham highway N5 comes closer to the rail track and both start traveling in parallel towards Jamrud. Located 18 km west of Peshawar, Jamrud is the gateway to Khyber Pass. The train reaches Jamrud in a less than an hour and and after a short stop continues its journey westward into the Khyber Pass.
While the train is slowly steaming through its 3 hour journey towards Landi Kotal, how about if we take a little detour and cover the history of railways in Khyber which spans about 150 years. We will catch the train again as it will be entering the Landi Kotal platform around noon.
History of Khyber Pass Railway. Let us start our tour from the year 1857. The “Great Game” is being played between the World powers on the chess board of central and south Asia. Russian influence is present in Afghanistan and British think there is a big possibility of Russian invasion into India. The most obvious routes for this possibility will be either through Khyber or Bolan Pass. Therefore it is suggested that strategic railways be built in both of these passes to thwart any Russian invasion.
In 1878, second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-1880) takes place and it makes it all the while more important to lay a railway track through western passes of India. In 1879 a reconnaissance survey is conducted with an aim to find the feasibility of laying railways through Khyber Pass. Many years pass without any action on the ground. Finally the construction starts in 1905 from a place called Kacha Garhi between Peshawar and Jamrud. The track makes progress westwards and 32 km of track is laid by 1907.
In the meantime, international situation changes and an alliance takes place between Russia and Afghanistan. Russia agrees to consider Afghanistan out of its circle of influence countries. This makes British consider Russia as no longer a threat. This also stops the work on Khyber Pass Railway. In 1909, several kilometers of permanent way and bridges are uprooted from Khyber Pass and sent to other areas of India to be used there.
As it goes with the World politics, international situation changes again and the third Anglo-Afghan war of May 1919 brings life back to Khyber Pass Railway project. Colonel Gordon Hearn is now assigned to the work of surveying and recommending the best route through Khyber Pass. Until now all surveys recommended a meter gauge (1000 mm) track. Gordon Hearn proposes and demonstrates by a masterly survey that broad-gauge (1676 mm) line can be laid through the pass. Construction restarts in 1920 and the section from Jamrud to Landi Kotal, opens on November 3, 1925. In early September 1925, several weeks before the railway was properly completed, the first piece of track was laid into Landi Kotal station, but the end spike was left out. Victor Bayley, the engineer entrusted with the construction of Khyber Railway has a 10 year old daughter called ‘Missy Sahib’ drove it in with 3 hammer blows. Then Bayley and his wife ‘Lady Sahib’ blew the whistle and drove the shunting engine pushing assorted wagons and a brake van into the station. This was a very low-key private affair, not officially sanctioned, and took place even before the extensive 10-track layout at Landi Kotal was put in. Bayley was in bad health at this time and left the Pass shortly afterwards for hospital and eventual convalescence in the UK. He missed the official opening ceremony with the Vice Regal train (but without the Viceroy) in November.
Continue reading at:: http://pakistaniat.com/2006/09/26/pakistan-train-khyber-pass-railway/

The Khyber Pass (NewWorldSpirits on YouTube)
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India Train Ride (Best Of) India Railways Series
NomadicSamuel on YouTube
"Nomadic Samuel" is a Canadian traveller..he calls himself a vagabond who has been travelling for 6 consecutive years, and isnt planning on giving this up any day now!
This video is an Indian Train ride (best of). Enjoy the experience...