Wednesday, May 18, 2022
1933 Tatra bus in Bratislava, Slovakia, 1947
Seen with a wood gas generator installed. This was one of two built -- technical details are here
1983 Volvo Turbo 244
"Turbo" was something of a buzzword in the 1980s; one of us remembers buying a vacuum cleaner that had turbo in the name!
More pics here
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
British Railways 'warship'
Unit D503 in the days of green livery plus an apron of yellow.
From keymodelworld.com
"THE D600 CLASS OF diesel-hydraulics, all of which were named after warships, were one of the earliest attempts to find a satisfactory solution to the requirement for a mid-power locomotive. Although intended to become one of the diesel standard classes, their design satisfied no one, and production was soon halted in favour of a new revolutionary model, which was to become the ‘Warship’ that we all know and love today."In the years following the austerity of the Second World War all four of the British railway companies were examining ways of improving efficiency by replacing steam with more modern forms of traction. The London Midland & Scottish, the Southern and the London and North Eastern all took their inspiration from the USA where there was already widespread use of diesel-electric locomotives while the Great Western decided to examine the possibilities of gas-turbine propulsion – a radical new source of power undergoing rapid development in the aviation sector.
"Following nationalisation in 1948, diesel development was largely in the hands of former LMS men, which led to development of the successful English Electric prototypes 10000-10001 into locomotives such as the Class 37 and the Class 40. Such locomotives did not find universal favour, however, with the primary cause for concern being their very low power to weight ratio – particularly in relation to the Class 40s which had to use a 16 wheel 1-Co-Co-1 chassis to convey the massive bulk of the design without exceeding axle load limits.
"Engineers on the Western Region were convinced that a better solution was to be found in Europe where the idea of lightweight high-speed power units driving hydraulic transmission was gaining ground. Further advantages could also be gained by fitting such engines into lightweight bodywork with pre-stressed sides, which therefore left the maximum horsepower available for working a train."
buses in the Wanaka Transport Museum
The 1954 Leyland Comet 90 in the middle has an interesting livery, probably not that of a municipality; was someone influenced by Southern Pacific Railroad's Daylight?
cars in Upper Queen Street, Auckland, 1958
Also from the Slides Worth Seeing FB page is this view of Auckland before the skyscrapers with the tram tracks still in place, even though they had ended two years earlier. The MLC building in the distance is still there, but now dwarfed. A new Chevrolet Bel Air can be seen parked on the left. (Pic credited to JBL Tucker)
Monday, May 16, 2022
1966 Chrysler Valiant VC and Ford Consul in Cashel Street, Christchurch, 1967
(From the Slides Worth Seeing FB page.)
Sunday, May 15, 2022
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