NZR 4-8-4 Kb

Kb 968 (now preserved) seen in Christchurch in the mid-1960s.  For more, see our books. (Photo by the late Bill Pierre)

trolleybuses in Rivne, Ukraine: the last Skoda 9Tr paradise (2016)

 

Britain's tramway in the Forest of Dean

from RogerFarnworth.com

The featured image above shows the locomotive ‘Free Miner’ which was Works No. 61, at the Lilleshall Company Works, it was delivered to Trafalgar Colliery in February 1865 for use on the Tramway. The picture comes from Bob Yate’s book about the Lilleshall Company locomotives and railways, (c) Alan C. Baker Collection. [5: p55]

A little while ago, I wrote an article about the Trafalgar Colliery in the Forest of Dean and as part of that article started to cover Brain’s Tramway. That article can be found at:

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/09/24/trafalgar-colliery-and-railway

In that article, I noted that Brain’s Tramway was built soon after the opening of the colliery to connect to the Great Western Railway’s Forest of Dean Branch at Bilson [1] The single line of 2ft 7.5in gauge utilised edge rails laid on wooden sleepers and ran east from the colliery, turning south-east at Laymoor, and terminated 1.5 miles away at interchange sidings at Bilson. It would appear that the authorisation for its construction was a Crown licence for ‘a road or tramway 15 feet broad’ dated May 1862. The date the line was opened for traffic is unknown as, although the first of three locomotives used on the tramway was built in 1869, it is possible that it may have been horse worked before this date. [2]
I noted that the colliery appeared to have owned three locomotives: ‘Trafalgar’ and ‘The Brothers’ were 0-4-2 side-tank locos. The third locomotive was ‘Free Miner’, an 0-4-0 side-tank. The locomotive ‘Trafalgar’ continued in use until 1906, working on the northern extension of the tramway, built in 1869, to the Golden Valley Iron Mine at Drybrook. [2] We will return to these three locomotives later in this article.

Read the rest

railway accident at Alvsjö in Sweden, 1934

One of the Ds class electrics (see earlier posts) at right and a tank steam locomotive in the centre-left.

German class 24 2-6-0

See the earlier post.

'I've got a good real book, interested?'

1972 Ford Fairmont GT (Australia)

old NZRLS train headboard

Seen at Waimea Vintage, this looks like it was used for a Fiat railcar excursion.

1960 Fiat 600 motor

1959 Oldsmobile Starfire

Amsterdam tram and cars, early 1970s

Later in the decade a charcoal and yellow scheme was adopted for Amsterdam trams, matching the livery of the railways.

old bridges in Riga, Latvia, over the Duna River

At right is the railway bridge, "the first iron railway bridge in Riga -- over 600 ft long. It was erected in 1872 for the Riga-Jelgava Railway. It is lighted beautifully at night."

well, that's what the sign says

trams in Konotop, Ukraine, 2019

 

traffic in Downtown L.A., 1940s

 

1972 Chrysler Valiant Regal 770 (Australia)

 

'Read a little device at the beach? Nah, it's a real book for me'

1947 Jaguar Mark IV 2.5

Webb's Auction pics -- more of them 

L.A.'s new 6th Street Bridge closed again

Says KTLA:

"The new 6th Street Bridge continues to be mired in controversy as the Los Angeles Police Department was forced to close the bridge for the third consecutive evening Sunday.

"The LAPD tweeted around 7:20 p.m. that the bridge would be closed due to what was being called “questionable activity.”

"It’s the third time in as many days that the bridge was closed due to illegal activity.

"The first closure was due to a traffic collision, police said. A pickup truck parked in a no-parking zone was struck by another vehicle. On Saturday, the roadway was closed again due to illegal activity and disruptions by people who police say were looking for attention from social media.

"The $588-million bridge that connects Boyle Heights to downtown L.A. has been plagued by street takeovers, drag racing and climbers since it opened to the public earlier this month. Last week, an explosive was hurled at a KTLA reporter during a live report about a recent closure."

More

Above is a pic from Vintage Los Angeles of racers under the old bridge in the 1950s.

1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

Le Mans 24 heures 1967

1961 Alfa Romeo tourist rally poster

why Rolls Royces are so expensive

 

Not the only car marque that is super expensive, but arguably the best known.

1971 Chevrolet Impala with hydraulics

These are a feature of the LA Hood scene although this pic was taken in Sao Paulo.

1951 Commer fire truck in NZ

(David Quinn pic)

Delaware Lackawanna & Western electric multiple unit, 1959

Location not stated. This was only a year before this railroad, whose operations dated back to 1851, merged with Erie to become the Erie Lackawanna.  More.

And how an abandoned example looked 10 years ago:

'I get pleasure from good real books, not pretend ones'

1937 Auto Union Wanderer W24

Info

the former Belmont station on the former Wellington -- Hutt Valley -- Wairarapa railway alignment

A pic of this cute looking small structure taken by an NZR photographer in 1953, a couple of years before the new double track line on the east side of the Hutt river was opened and the old line including this stop between Melling and Silverstream was removed.  For lots more, see the book Wellington Transport Memories.

Swissair poster with a DC3 cutaway graphic, circa 1936

old Turin tram model

The first type from the 1890s, in HO scale, made by Leopold Halling of Austria.

Alfa Romeo grille

A question on a TV quiz show asked what the the Alfa Romeo logo featured and here is a picture of it -- what resembles a St George Cross next to a coiled snake in a circle.  The shape of the Alfa Romeo grille is a long established one and can't help remind you of the female pudenda. 

DSB 0-6-0 steam switcher, Denmark

An F class seen in action in 1958 with the first box car belonging to the Tuborg brewery. A total 120 of these were built in different batches between 1898 and 1923 with a final one in 1949; of these 10 are preserved. They could pull or push a train of 480 tons. See an earlier post.

Below is a close-up of one of the preserved examples, F 654 in Kappeln (Germany) in July 2008. (wikimedia)

1961 Oldsmobile ads with a 98 Holiday

Milk-e the electric milk truck

According to the media release, this is to be based at Fonterra NZ's Waitoa plant which is near supplying farms on relatively flat land, so the co-op can do shorter runs and reduce battery consumption with fewer hills.

Battery configuration changes gave the team an opportunity to trial additions to improve milk collection efficiencies, reduce safety concerns, and reduce the amount of work required to customise a Fonterra tanker.

A battery swap system is being installed at the Waitoa site to trial how this could work within a fleet to minimise downtime from battery charging.

More facts

German class 56 2-8-0 from 1919–1928, formerly Prussian class G.8.2

 More info

'it's fantastic what's contained in good real books'

 

German narrow gauge station model

 A model of the Oybin station in Saxony. The real thing is not far southeast of the town of Zittau, the start of the narrow gauge (750 mm or 2'6") line and also close to the borders with Czechia and Poland. The line also splits to serve Jonsdorf, see earlier posts. More pics

1948 Merryweather fire truck in Timaru, NZ

Although ordered in 1948, it didn't arrive until 1951.  From a local news story last December -- details here

1940s British fire truck mural art in Colbinabbin, Victoria, Australia

 

It looks like the wall is that of a grain silo.

a wacky beefed up Citroen 2CV

From an old issue of Road & Track.

dog filling station

The same fill usable by ducks.

a Wellington tram, its motorman and conductor pose outside a new tunnel, 1907

Although the postcard calls it the Kilbirnie Tunnel, it is better known as the Hataitai tram tunnel.  The road number looks like 41. See earlier posts and our book Wellington Transport Memories.

CP GE ES44AC on the point of a freight train at Banff, Canada

1980 Lada Niva 2121

1970 Pontiac GTO coupe