'Planet' locomotive in Operation

'Planet' on a non-rainy day

The 'Planet' class was used on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830 and represents a significant advance on the 'Rocket'. The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester operates a modern replica of 'Planet' on weekends and holidays and Sunday 13th May 2007 was one of the days I was rostered to drive.

It's not true that it always rains in Manchester, but it certainly rained most of the day on this Sunday. Fortunately, most of the preparation was completed before the rains came - there's nothing more miserable than getting a locomotive ready for service, examining, oiling round, taking coal and water and shunting when you're wringing wet! Few steam locomotives offer very good weather protection to the enginemen but 'Planet', being a copy of an early locomotive, has no cab at all and I was resigned to being thoroughly soaked by the end of the day and so it proved. But there were plenty of passengers (the museum is currently hosting a 'Doctor Who' exhibition) who seemed to accept the rigours of a journey in our two imitation 1830 carriages. These are actually ex-BR 4-wheel wagon underframes with a custom-built semi-open top offering plenty of scope for getting cold and wet.

The train normally operates from about noon to 4.00pm, with a trip around every 15 minutes. There is a single platform near the main museum buildings where passengers board and alight. 'Planet' draws the two coaches over a demonstration line laid in between the 1830 Warehouse and the Coaching Shed, past the original Stationmaster's House (now Museum offices) and over the Water Street road bridge. The line continues over Stephenson's original Irwell Bridge and the train stops near the Museum railway gates, alongside the Network Rail line, just after the Museum's Pineapple Line converges from the right. When the Pineapple Line is in use, the fireman will go to the Ground Frame with the train staff (the driver's authority to run). Using a key attached to the Train Staff, the fireman reverses the points and secures them, before returning to the footplate. 'Planet' then propels its train onto the Pineapple Line which curves around the back of the 1830 Warehouse, past Granada television studios, coming to a stand quite close to the platform where the passengers boarded. The propelling movement is supervised by the train guard in the rearmost compartment. 'Planet' then draws the train forward to the Ground Frame, the fireman restores the points to the main demonstration line and the coaches are propelled back to the platform where the passengers disembark. On days when it is not possible to use the Pineapple Line, the fireman is saved the exercise of working the Ground Frame: instead, the train will make two or three round trips on the main demonstration line before letting the passengers off.

More photographs of 'Planet'

New York's District Heating

One of the images I had of New York was steam rising from manhole covers in the streets. Well, yes, it still happens.

Birdsill Holly (1820-1894) was an inventor who is credited with originating the concept of District Heating. He was born in New York State and the number of patents to his credit is second only to his friend Thomas Edison. By 1882 the Birdsill District Steam Heating System was in use in a number of cities across the United States.

Wallace C. Andrews set up a company to promote Birdsill's system in New York and in 1882 the first customers were supplied. The efficiency of the system lead to steady growth as the New York Steam Company and virtually all the famous buildings became customers. During the 1930s agreements were in place to exchange steam with gas and electric utilities to cope with peaks. In 1954, the steam business was acquired by Consolidated Edison.

Today, Con Edison Steam operates a network of 105 miles of mains and service pipes supplying around 1800 customers in Manhattan with steam for heating, hot water and air conditioning. See the Con Edison site.

Steam is distributed by underground steam mains rated at either 200 or 400 pounds per square inch. Periodic expansion joints and insulation are provided, together with a series of main valves operated manually from street level via manholes. There is no intentional release of steam at the surface - when this occurs it is due to leaks or surface water leaking into manholes and coming into contact with the hot steam main.

In various locations, I came across temporary chimneys erected over street manholes painted in white and orange stripes, presumably where maintenance work is taking place. The photograph above shows one such chimney on Fifth Avenue (with Central Park in the background). But can somebody explain the liquid nitrogen cylinders? I assume it has something to do with temporarily controlling leaks.

South African Railways

South African railways operates an extensive network of mainly 3 foot 6 inch gauge track. Some of the main lines and the commuter networks around Johannesburg and Cape Town are electrified. Electrification is overhead, using mainly 3kV d.c. with some 25kV a.c. and a small amount of dual voltage route.

I visited Johannesburg in February, 2007. I was unable to travel by rail but I did make some photographs showing the well-kept infrastructure and multiple-aspect colour light signalling. The main station at Johannesburg is large and complex - I was particularly interested in the diamond crossings with double slips. Because of the track gauge and the angle of the crossing, these are more complex than double slips on standard gauge, as the following picture illustrates:-

A few days later in Cape Town, I managed to make a journey one evening on the electrified suburban service to Bellville.

The first railway to be built in South Africa was the Cape Town - Wellington line, started in 1859 but not opened until 1863. The first locomotive is on display in Cape Town station. I managed one photograph before station staff decided that pictures of a 150-year old locomotive were a security risk! Click for my South African railway pictures.

The New York Subway

Of course, on my first visit to New York, the challenge was to find out a little about the Subway and how it works.

The initial settlement in Manhatten is bounded by New York Harbour to the South, the Hudson River to the West and the East River. As New York grew, expansion occurred in the North, towards Harlem and beyond. The 1811 street plan set up the layout of North - South avenues and East - West streets which survives today. As it grew, New York became a victim of its own success and congestion on the North-South avenues made commuting horrendous.

The first improvement was the construction of elevated railways (illustrated below - a delightful diorama in the NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn) which gave some relief. Many of the avenues were built over by the 'El' but, with short trains hauled by diminuitive Forney 0-4-4T steam locomotives, the improvement in conditions for the still-growing city was only temporary.

More elaborate plans envisaged underground electric railways speeding commuters in and out of the city and it's that system, opened in 1904, that's still in use, now with 25 lines and well over 400 stations.

In common with a lot of early underground railways, construction was mainly cut-and-cover, where existing roads are dug up to allow a railway to be built just under the surface and then the road is replaced on top. From the start, the principal routes were 4-track. Where space permitted, the two outer tracks were the 'Local' lines, provided with platforms at every station, whilst the 'Express' tracks only had platforms allowing interchange with the 'local' every so often. This approach was intended to minimise journey times. Where space was restricted, the 'local' lines ran near the surface, with easy access from the street, whilst the 'fast' tracks dived underneath the local lines.

Tracks are standard gauge and electrification is 625 volts d.c. using an outside third rail. The top of the rail is the pick-up area and a hinged skate on each bogie collects current. A horizontal wooden board is fixed above the conductor rail, presumably both for safety and to exclude ice and snow on the surface lines.

Each line is designated by a number or a letter. Trains which operate over only part of a line may have a separate designation. But with the perversity I imagine is typical of New Yorkers, the designation is applied to the train, not the line - for instance, (cue music) "If you take the 'A' Train". The front of each train carries the designation and all recorded announcements use the form "This is a Six Train for City Hall". Since many of the minor stations have their geographical position in the name, such as '51st Street', it's easier than I imagined to get to somewhere you've never been. There are also simple rules you can learn (I didn't on my short visit) to convert a building number into the nearest cross street, to decide where to get off.

In general, stations are busy and there are plenty of trains, although I did experience more than once a sudden hiatus where trains appeared to stop running for a while, followed by an equally mysterious resumption of service where the first train was crush-loaded. Most of the stations are fairly run-down and cramped in layout but they're reasonably lit, reasonably clean and I could see why residents make such use of the system.

Like the majority of subway systems, if you stand right at the front of the train, there's limited visibility ahead through the door to the driving cab, allowing the sharp deviations to be observed and giving at least a vague impression of some of the complex underground pointwork and the colour light signals.

Speed signalling appears to be in use so that a reduced speed indication allows the driver the anticipate the sudden lurch as the train is diverted from, say, the through line to the local line. As is common on this type of railway, approach release is used in places. For instance, running into a station a signal may remain red until a timer triggered by the occupation of track circuits clears the signal, provided the train's approach speed is consistent with stopping in the platform.

There's an interesting example of approach released signalling on the Manhattan Bridge, which carries four subway tracks, two used by B and D trains, two by N and Q trains. At the bridge approach, the trains pop out of the ground and climb a fairly steep gradient to reach the bridge deck, high above the East River. On the other side of the bridge, trains descend a similar gradient until they disappear back underground. As trains commence their descent, they're faced with at least half a dozen closely-spaced red signals. Provided the driver suitably regulates his speed, each signal in turn clears as the train approaches.

South Ferry is the terminus for One Trains, right by the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. This is currently a very antique station on a very tight curve, with a series of post and chain barriers to prevent you approaching the platform edge, except in the vicinity of the doors. It looked as if trains go round a dumb-bell to reverse.

The One Trains also seemed the most temperamental. Whilst all the trains come into stations fast and use quite heavy air braking to decelerate, they generally rolled to a stop at the correct point. But on a few occasions, One Trains braked heavily but stopped short with a jerk, necessitating drawing up before the doors opened.

I went out to Coney Island on a 'D' train. Once in Brooklyn, the line emerges to run on brick viaducts to Coney Island, four track most of the way. I returned by an alternative route which was also four-track and on the surface until the vicinity of Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn.

The subway is operated by New York City Transit Authority. This is an agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) which has operated New York's public transport since 1965. Other MTA-agencies run commuter rail lines, buses, bridges and tunnels. The Long Island Rail Road is owned by MTA and has nine lines radiating from New York into Suffolk and Nassau counties. Metro North Commuter Railroad is also MTA-owned covering the Harlem, Hudson and, in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, New Haven lines. Lines to Port Jarvis and Pascack are operated in conjunction with New Jersey Transit.

The Staten Island Rapid Transit is another MTA agency. This is a surface line running the length of Staten Island (about 23km). Equipment is similar to the subway but the operating voltage was 600 volts d.c. Operation appears to be automatic except in the vicinity of the Northern terminus, by the ferry terminal, where signals are provided.

Click for my photographs of New York's Railways

[Expanded 18-Mar-2007]

Two-train working at Peak Rail

Peak Rail inaugurated two-train working on Saturday, 3-Mar-2007 during their Mixed Traffic Weekend.

Jan was the driver of the steam-hauled passenger services using 'Austerity' tank locomotive 'Royal Pioneer'. Alternate passenger services were diesel-hauled.

The second train was a demonstration loose-coupled freight, hauled alternately by 'Royal Pioneer' or diesel traction.

The line from Matlock Riverside to Darley Dale forms one single line section, the line from Church Lane to Rowsley forms a second single line section. Trains pass on the double track between Darley Dale and Church Lane which is worked Absolute Block.

The first train of the day, 11:00 from Darley Dale to Matlock Riverside, was double headed by D8 (train engine) and 'Royal Pioneer' (pilot engine). On arrival at Matlock Riverside, 'Royal Pioneer' ran round the train, so that we were 'top and tail', with the steam locomotive leading on the way back. We were held briefly at the approach to Darley Dale, waiting for the demonstration freight to arrive in the Up platform before we could proceed. At present, Down trains are not stopping at Darley Dale. On arrival at Rowsley, the steam locomotive dropped off the train to take water and then stabled in the loop, leaving D8 to take the next Up passenger. The next arrival at Rowsley was the Class 31 with the freight. By this time, I'd been relieved by Gary Dixon, who coupled 'Royal Pioneer' onto the freight for its next run. This allowed me to travel on the brake van of the freight train and take some photographs. This pattern continued through the day until D8 coupled onto the last Southbound passenger at Rowsley with 'Royal Pioneer' as pilot for the short journey back to Darley Dale. Click here for photographs.

On the day, everything worked well and congratulations are due to everybody who worked to achieve this step forward for the railway. Note that, at present, two trains will only operate on certain dates.

No Place Like Home

Wednesday, 28-Feb-2007: Up at 5.00 am, check out of the Cape Grace, picked up by the young lady from CC Africa at 5.45 am, an easy journey to the airport. There's extensive building work going on so she has to drop me some way from the terminal and I have to go on foot with my luggage across a virtual building site to reach the terminal building. Good job I'm travelling (reasonably) light! Check in, through passport control and security and find the British Airways Terraces lounge. I'm amazed to find no internet access. There's a business section all wired up for computers, but no equipment. We are in a 'Wi-Fi' hot spot, but it's a chargeable one (as are most of them, except for some enlightened hotels) and it's too difficult to contemplate signing up for one session. Instead, I have a very light breakfast and try to relax before the fairly long flight (about 11.5 hours).

We board on time. The aircraft is a 747-400 and I'm on the upper deck. This is probably still my favourite aircraft, although this particular example is a bit long in the tooth and not all the features work properly, like some of the video channels. But the important bits seem OK and once the four massive turbofans are spooled up, they keep going without incident until we touch down at Heathrow Terminal 4. I get decent views of Cape Town as we take off, although I'm in an aisle seat, but I don't see much of the ground as we make our way North over the African continent. Our initial cruise is at 34,000 feet but, once we have burnt off some of our fuel load, we climb to 39,000 feet for the remainder of our journey. They serve a decent lunch soon after take-off then there's a long interval with snacks and drinks available on demand before they serve a decent dinner shortly before landing. Heavy winds around London mean we have to stooge around for about 15 minutes waiting to land, then we disembark and clear passport control quickly. Heathrow distinguishes itself by taking over 45 minutes to start disgorging the luggage (I've not had to wait for more than 10 - 15 minutes at any other airport on this trip), but at least my bag is one of the early ones. I meet up with Alan in the Arrivals Hall and he drives me home. I'm home at 10.15 pm to a wonderful welcome from my dog Tai, who has also been on holiday, staying with my friend Marion and her dogs Jack and Harry.

Thursday, 1-Mar-2007: It's wonderful to be home, with so many experiences to review and think about. As time permits, I'll probably ramble on further about some of the things I've seen. I've posted photographs in various Collections on my Flickr Site.

I know it's not the type of trip that would appeal to everyone (why stay such a short time everywhere? why so many trains?) but it works for me and I feel very fortunate that I'm able to undertake such a journey.

A Day in Cape Town

27-Feb-2007:

After I left you at 6.20 this morning, I sampled the Cape Grace's continental breakfast before setting out, armed with a hotel map, to walk to the city centre. Incidentally, the hotel is just celebrating ten years of trading (see http://www.capegrace.com/). Well, I found Grand Parade with its town hall of Bath stone imported from England and located the main station, before returning to the hotel in time to be picked up for the 'Walk to Freedom' tour. There were two ladies from Essex on the tour, plus a girl and boy from Potsdam University doing a study on tour guides. The three of us on the tour had to complete questionnaires for the students both before and after the tour. The tour guide, Colin, was excellent and took us through the history of the Cape from initial discovery through to the introduction of Apartheid by the Nationalists just after the Second World War and the birth of democracy so recently. We visited a social history museum, the District 6 Museum. Then we visited the large township of Langa. The pattern of different types of housing is similar to Soweto, but in this case, we were taken right into peoples homes and invited to take photographs. A rather voyeuristic and sobering exercise. We also looked at a couple of bars, where the range of spirits on sale suggests on possible problem area in townships. Then we were taken to a primary school where a large group of infants sang to us. I'm still sorting out my responses to our experience in the township but it was very affecting. We were then taken to the Waterfront where our guide attempted to get our pre-booked tickets for the afternoon tour to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned. To Colin's astonishment, they had cancelled all todays for unspecified 'technical' reasons. I walk back to the hotel and formulate an alternate plan.

The hotel books a helicopter ride for me and there's time for a light lunch before the helicopter company pick me up by taxi. I had an excellent flight and the same taxi driver sets off to return me to my hotel. After a while, we change plans and the driver takes me to the Table Mountain Cable Car and I ascend for breath-taking views from over 3,000 feet up. The taxi then returns me to my hotel. But I'm not quite finished. I walk to the main station, book to Belville and catch the lightly-loaded 18:40 train (3 foot 6 inch gauge electric trains). After a brief look around, it's back to Cape Town as it drops dark, walk to the hotel, have a simple meal and post this update. Then, I must get ready: I've an early start for home tomorrow!

Pictures of Cape Town.

Cape Town

Tuesday, 27-Feb-2007: The last posting was done on a rather cranky computer at the British Airways Terrace Lounge at Johannesburg. No two computers I've used on my travels have behaved the same, but we've managed!

Once the flight was called, I made my way to the gate and outside to a transfer bus. The noise from nearby aircraft was intense. We started to drive across the apron, but had to wait while two aircraft taxied in front of us, only yards away. When we did move again, two other aircraft were manoevring quite close. The aircraft for the two-hour shuttle flight to Cape Town was a Boeing 737-400. This has 3 plus 3 seating with a small curtained-off area at the front for business class. I had 3 seats all to myself. The evening meal was simpler than I've been getting on long-haul flights, but completely made up for by the friendly attentions of the two lady cabin staff looking after us. South African BA staff seem a different breed from the usually-snooty UK staff. We were a little late away because they had to extract the hold baggage of three passengers they'd "off-loaded". We never found out why the passengers were off-loaded. We had a good flight and arrived at Cape Town more or less on time. Again, a coach took us to the terminal and I noticed that the early evening in Cape Town was decidedly cooler than Johannesburg had been. The luggage turned up on the carousel quite quickly and the young man from the travel company was displaying my name in the Arrivals Hall, so the two of us were soon speeding towards my hotel in a 12-seater personnel carrier.

I hadn't realised that Cape Town was so large (population around 4.5 million). It has a large central area dominated by built on land reclaimed from the sea by the Dutch (they were always good at that sort of thing). I'm at the Cape Grace, an impressive (though modern) hotel down at the harbour. My large bedroom overlooks the yacht marina and Table Mountain. Then there's a hallway with dressing room and bathroom leading off. The bathroom has a separate WC cubicle and shower cubicle. All very satisfactory.

It's now 6.20 am as I post this and getting light, so I must leave you.

Pictures of Cape Town.

Leaving Johannesburg

Monday, 26-Feb-2007: This morning, I visit TSI Communications in Aeroton for a business meeting. Paul and Andre make me most welcome and I am impressed with their product range and their operation.

I'm picked up by taxi and returned to the Michelangelo. I walk around Sandton, looking at the huge shopping mall and the numerous restaurants offering every type of food you can imagine. Very Canary Wharf. I've a little time left to relax at the Michelangelo, so I have a light lunch in the hotel. The architecture may not be to my taste but the well-run hotel's obsessive attention to detail scores highly with me. Afterwards, I spend some time in a very decent book shop and talk with a very interesting salesman there about various topics, including the iniquity of charging Luxury Tax and VAT on books, as they do in South Africa. A shower in the hotel then I'm picked up by CC Africa and taken to the airport. Shortly, I'll be boarding the flight to Cape Town, the last place I visit on my marathon journey before returning home.

Johannesburg

Saturday, 24-Feb-2007: The flight from Perth is another 'Code Share'. I booked with Quantas and get to use the Quantas lounge, but the actual flight is operated by South African Airways, using an Airbus A340.

So here I am, over the Indian Ocean, in a South African Airlines Airbus A340-200, headed for Johannesburg. The flight took off right time, 12:50 and they served a very good meal. Now they've turned off the lights to encourage us to sleep. Sleep? It's only 2.00 pm in Perth and eight o'clock in the morning at our destination. Still, it's a good, electric recline seat (including lumbar support and, if you want it, a massage feature) and they supply a duvet, so I try to get some rest. At the halfway point in the flight, they serve little tubs of ice cream. It's amazing how we now accept the wonders of long-distance air travel - a journey of about 5,000 miles scheduled to take around ten and a half hours. Our current speed is 489 mph, altitude is 39,000 feet and the outside air temperature is minus 59 Celsius. And yet, all I feel is boredom ('are we there yet?') and minor irritation that not all the feature films seem to be working correctly on my console. But the food is excellent and the cabin staff friendly and attentive.

When we land, somewhat ahead of schedule I believe, we disembark via covered steps to the tarmac, where I manage to get in the first bus to the terminal. There's only a short queue at passport control which is quick and friendly and only a few minutes to wait for my bag to come out. Customs is equally brief so I'm soon in the Arrivals Hall, looking for someone displaying my name. Nobody! Well, I locate a driver from my hotel who's come for somebody else and says he'll take me if my ride doesn't turn up. After a couple of minutes, he points to a girl who's appeared and she's displaying my name. The girl apologises (unneccessarily): she didn't expect the flight to be early. We're soon bowling along the motorway system to the Michelangelo Hotel at Sandton (www.michelangelo.co.za).

Check-in is friendly and painless - the room is more than adequate. Of course, I would normally stay at a city centre location, preferably at a classic site. But the notorious lawlessness of Johannesburg means that almost all of the hotels and half the businesses moved out to the 'new town' of Sandton, where the Michelangelo is sited. I'm told a mixture of CCTV and high-profile policing has reduced crime in the city by 80% but I wonder if business will come back?

The hotel architecture is a mixture of modern and faux-Roman which I associate with casinos and certainly isn't my preference, but the facilities are good and the staff extremely helpful. It's only about 7:30 pm local time but it seems much later to me, so I have a long soak in the good-sized bath and go to bed.

Sunday, 25-Feb-2007:

I initially sleep soundly but, once awake, have difficulty sleeping again for noisy air conditioning. The a/c in my room has been off since I arrived (my usual technique) but I can hear the air conditioning elsewhere in the hotel and, through the window, the air conditioning in the building opposite. I get up early (I haven't completely accommodated to the time change from Perth) and start to make arrangements. My multiway electrical adaptor, which has worked in every country I've visited to date, doesn't work in South Africa. No problem - reception can loan one. They use what looks like the old British three-pin 15-Amp plugs. I buy some time on their computer and catch up on e-mails. They've got quite a nice customer lounge with a couple of computers. After that, I appear to be the first one in for breakfast at 6:30 am and I enjoy a leisurely continental breakfast.

Then I take a walk round the block. Lots of modern buildings and what I'm told is the second-largest shopping mall in the Southern hemisphere. Interesting, but not really my style. Not wanting to spend the whole morning in the hotel or the mall, I book a morning tour of Johannesburg (I'm already booked on an afternoon tour of Soweto). I'm picked up at 8:30 am by a guide called Victor with a people carrier. We have one other pick-up for the tour at a nearby hotel and the three of us set off for Johannesburg. After a drive around the city centre, we take the motorway to Soweto. This means that there's going to be some overlap between the morning and afternoon tours. For the afternoon tour, I have Desmond. The history of Soweto is so complex and the approach of the two guides so different that the two tours were complementary. Mind you,when I get back to my room, just after 5:00 pm, I'm exhausted.

So, what did I see? Johannesburg was created by the Gold Rush which followed the discovery of gold by two Australian prospectors at the end of the 19th century. The city has some decent buildings from the 1900s, interspersed with skyscrapers which give it an American feel. One row of elderly shops has been preserved with the sign 'Nie Blankes' as a reminder of the apartheid era. Ghandi Square is nearby - remember, he practised law in South Africa for some time.

Close to the city lie the spacious houses built for the original city entrepreneurs around 1900. Not far away is the present millionaires row where house costs average around one million pounds. Depessingly, they are surrounded by high walls, surveillance systems and round-the-clock security. I saw the house Nelson Mandela occupied when president and another, one of the four houses he currently owns with his third wife.

Distances around Johannesburg mean that the city is threaded with flyovers and motorways. We take the route to the sprawling Soweto (SOuth WEstern TOwnship), passing the preserved pit head gear to Shaft Number 5. All around are the strange-looking, yellow mine dumps. Gold Reef City is a theme park with two more examples of preserved headgear. On the outskirts of Soweto, there is a middle class area with detached houses which would not look out of place in the U.K. Next, there are more modest houses with some facilities. Then, there are great long barrack blocks - the Hostels dating from the 1950s with communal taps and no power. These areas are illuminated with very tall lighting stanards, called locally 'Apollo Lights' originally provided to improve police surveillance.

Although there was a Soweto power station, it did not supply power to Soweto. It's now derelict, awaiting development as the inevitable shopping mall. The two massive cooling towers are now painted - one depicting scenes from South Africa's history, the other advertising a bank.

Some areas of crude wooden shantys still remain - the Government is committed to eliminating them in the next seven years, in an attempt to make Soweto a decent, self-sufficient city. Light industry is being encouraged, apartments are being built for rent and the private sector are being involved in housing developments, like the gaily painted apartments we passed similar to ones I've seen in Canary Wharf.

We pass through a street market selling everything from live chickens to huge plastic bowls which are used in lieu of baths and go to Freedom Square, where the ambitious bill of rights was adopted. We see 'Winnie's House' purchased for Nelson Mandela by an unlikely group of supporters including Qaddaffi, Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood prior to Mandela's release from Robben Island and passed to Winnie in the divorce. I tour the more modest home Mandela lived in prior to his incarceration, now owned by a museum trust.

We visit the innocent-looking crossroads where, in 1976, the thousands of marching student protesters were stopped by police and shots were fired with tragic results. I visit the large Catholic church which gave sanctuary to the protesters and still displays the bullet holes from the ensuing firefight. The signatures of Nelson Mandela, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Chris Rock are pointed out to me in the visitors book. Finally, the Hector Peterson memorial and museum, movingly telling the story of the troubled events of 1976. Hector, you may remember, was fatally wounded in the shooting and the attempts to get him to hospital were immortalised in a famous photograph.

A new football stadium is being built in Orlando district for the forthcoming World Cup and an existing stadium is being extended. We see the biggest hospital in Africa - Chris Hani. Baragwanath and the black university. We see budding entrepreneurs running car wash businesses in the street, the single public park for the four million residents of Soweto, the horse drawn carts, the huge drive-in cinema atop a spoil heap. So many images, so much to ponder on.

Pictures.

Leaving Perth

Friday, 23-Feb-2007: Late afternoon, Keith and I return to his home. He's invited me to accompany Fhines and himself to a barbeque in Freemantle. Before we leave, Anthony comes in for a while and, whilst trying to show him my photographs of the day, something nasty happens and the picture storage card becomes unreadable. I'll wait 'till I return to the U.K. to see if we can recover this series of photographs.

Postscript: After a bit of research on my return, I purchased Stellar Phoenix FAT & NTFS which successfully recovered all the photographs.

As you might imagine, there's a lot of interest in the marine in Perth, and the barbeque is for members of the steam boat fraternity, hosted by Bill Atterton, an enthusiast with a garage containing a diesel-fired steam boiler connected to a beautiful 2-cylinder compound launch steam engine which he rescued. There are a couple of the ever-popular 'Seagull' outboards on display and two other enthusiasts have brought along launch-type steam engines which they have built for the rest to study. A pleasant couple of hours is spent eating, drinking and talking about steam, steam engines and, occasionally, locomotives. Our host then 'brews-up' and runs his engine, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Keith and Fhines return me to my hotel in Perth and, with reluctance, we say goodbye for this visit. I'm grateful to Keith and all his friends for making my stay in Perth so memorable.

Saturday, 24-Feb-2007: I get up fairly early and start my packing. By 6:10, I'm walking to the station for one last trip on the Midland electric suburban line to its terminus at Midland. I see the remains of the old locomotive works, check out the dual-gauge trackwork in this vicinity, walk round part of the town, examine a preserved 'Dubs' 4-4-0 and watch a very lengthy diesel-hauled standard-gauge freight rumble through towards Perth. On the way back to the city, we pass the railway museum at Bassendean and the standard-gauge inter-state passenger terminal at East Perth.

Back to the hotel, my last buffet breakfast followed by a short walk to the Swan River, check out and to the airport.

My pictures

Perth (Western Australia) Railway pictures.

Railway Preservation in Perth

Friday, 23-Feb-2007: I start the day with the usual buffet breakfast followed by 1.5 hours on e-mails, blogs and uploading a few photos. Then Keith picks me up and we drive to the Rail Transport Museum at Bassendean. The President, Jim Oliver (a former footplateman in steam days) has agreed to open the museum specially so that I can study their wonderful collection of locomotives, coaches, wagons and artefacts. We spend a happy couple of hours clambering over locomotives and my photographs are here. My thanks go to Jim for his hospitality.

Lunch is a visit to 'Subway' for a splendid sandwich, after which we drive to the large country park at Whiteman Park, just 10 miles from the centre of Perth. I'm amazed at the scale of the yard supporting the 600m gauge railway operation which gives visitors a ride of almost 8km. They're not steaming today but a number of very friendly volunteers are working on various maintenance and restoration projects. Click for photographs of Whiteman Park.

Perth, Western Australia

Wednesday, 21st February 2007
Well, Quantas staff can be relied upon to lift your mood on any flight, so I arrived at Perth late at night but fairly content. A bit of a wait for taxis to the city but before midnight I was in a comfortable room at the Duxton hotel.

Thursday, 22nd February 2007
A few hours of sleep, an excellent buffet breakfast and a bit of internet work at the Perth Convenience Store, just across the road from the hotel. This is about the best Internet Shop I've come across anywhere - only four seats but all the equipment works and it's quite a fast internet connection, so I've uploaded some photographs to my travel site. Check out 'Stop Press' and 'Antartic Dream's Engine Room'.

I make telephone contact with my friend Keith Watson, whom I've yet to meet in person and arrange to go to his home at 10:00 am. In the meantime, I renew my acquaintance with the city centre and the railway station. The day is starting to warm up nicely. The hotel arranges a taxi to take me to Keith's but, to my surprise, the taxi driver gives me his Gazetteer and suggests I navigate to where we're going. But we get there without incident and I meet Keith, his friend Dennis and Sharon the 'Staffy' dog. Keith has laid out an intensive day for me, so we're soon heading South on State Route 20 to Yarloop. Yarloop is about 75 miles South of Perth through tinder-dry bush. The road was temporarily closed a few days ago because of bush fires.

Yarloop is the home of 'Yarloop Workshops', an industrial museum. In 1895, the Millar brothers arrived from England and obtained a contract to build railways for the state of Victoria. The complex they established at Yarloop eventually became the biggest timber centre in the world and home of the biggest private steam railway in the world. The vulnerable wooden preserved workshops at Yarloop include sawmills, locomotive workshops, pattern stores and hold a history of the Company Town of Yarloop, including almost all of the town's original library collection. It's a fascinating place.

Enthusiasts have brought together a group of working steam stationary engines which the volunteers are preparing for the next public steaming day and I meet Colin, Roger and the rest of the crew. They've done some remarkable work here and I am proud to be invited to share lunch with them. I clamber over everything in sight, particularly Colin's splendid re-creation of a Sydney steam Tram. I meet Geoff Fortune, who has written the Guide Book to the museum, together with 'Yarloop, No Better Place' (ISBN 1 876760 095), a detailed history of Yarloop.

There's a short piece about Timber Production in Western Australia here and my pictures of Yarloop are here.

All to soon, Keith and I are re-tracing our steps to Pinjarra, home of a major preserved railway: the Hotham Valley Railway (see www.hothamvalleyrailway.com.au). It's not part of their operating season, but we're able to go round their locomotive workshops and check out a remarkable survivor built by Dubs. Their preserved line runs from Pinjarra to Dwellingup but is currently divided in three places where floods have taken out timber trestle bridges. I understand funds are available for the repair of perhaps one bridge. The relatively remote location of Pinjarra means that the railway has a major problem getting sufficient working volunteers. Pictures.

Closer to Perth, we inspect a 7.25 inch gauge railway being built around a new Nature Park at Byford. We meet Roger again and he shows me the quality of the work which has been completed (engine shed, carriage shed and extensive yard) and also the scale of the remaining task. All very impressive. Pictures.

Then it's back to Keith's home to meet Fhines, enjoy a meal together and spend an evening yarning about railways and engineering, joined later by Keith's friend Anthony.

[Links added 21-Jun-2016]

Auckland's Railways

A few years ago, they abandoned the previous Auckland station and constructed the present Britomart terminal at the end of a new tunnel. Bringing the Western line into the new route involved constructing what I'm told is the tightest curve in New Zealand. Local services are based on three lines, all terminating at Britomart. Two lines go South, one near the shore (called the East Line), one inland (called the South Line). These routes combine at Westfield and continue to Papakura. This is an important station, currently in the throes of a major rebuilding. The line further South is used by freight trains and the passenger service to Wellington. The West line is the third route. It shares the inland route as far as Newmarket, where West Line trains from Britomart reverse to reach the line to Waitemake. This line is single in part, but a major project, costing hundreds of millions of New Zealand dollars, is currently doubling the line.

In general, lines are double track, left-hand running. Track is 3'6" gauge, flat bottom on timber sleepers, although major renewals use concrete sleepers. The station at Britomart and the approach tunnel uses a solid, cast trackbed. Signalling is multiple aspect colour light. Stop signals are divided into Stop and Stay or Stop and Proceed types. Where necessary, an additional signal head is provided (either vertically in line with the first or displaced to the right) to allow permitted speed to be indicated to the driver. Most, but not all, of the three routes is part of a Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) system administered from Wellington. Because of the intensity of the service in the Auckland area, there are plans to devolve control to a sub-office in Auckland. There are two types of train operating the local services, diesel multiple units (DMU) and loco-hauled push and pull. The DMU design is based on the American Budd railcar, with underfloor-mounted engines driving via a fluid transmission. As speed increases, the drive is 'locked', to give good torque characteristics. There are two similar classes of DMU - the 'K' and the 'L', both built in Perth, Western Australia. In the earlier pattern, only one axle per power bogie is driven. The later version has both axles driven to improve adhesion.

Pictures of Auckland's commuter railways.

Leaving Auckland

21st-Feb-2007: I decide to check-out a couple more ferry routes, so I buy another day ticket and catch the service to Stanley Bay - lovely little bathing beach with a residential area behind. I meet a nonogenerian ex-serviceman who is keen to talk. It appears that he's going into Auckland by ferry this morning to attend a funeral. I accompany him back to Auckland, and then continue.

So, now it's time to leave New Zealand and fly to Australia. I get the Quantas 767 flight from Auckland to Melbourne, with a connecting flight to Perth. The Quantas staff are top-notch, very friendly and attentive. But I'm not a great fan of the 767 - seats and entertainment are primitive compared with what I'm now used to on long legs. But this leg is, I think, less than four hours.

We arrive in Melbourne where I have to go through immigration (a breeze) collect my big bag and then go through Customs. They decide on a bag inspection, so we spend 20 minutes going through my personal possessions (fortunately stopping short of the dirty laundry, of which there's plenty). And although we part on friendly terms, I don't react too well to people asking me why I stay such short periods in each place. When I ask them, they claim it's the complex itinerary and short stop-offs which triggered their interest. That's probably true but, of course, they're not bound to tell me the truth.

Ah well, I make it to the Quantas lounge, from where I'm doing this work. Tell you more when I can.

Auckland

Tuesday, 20-Feb-2007: This is the quick version. Arrived safely in Auckland, taxi to hotel but room not available for hours (even for money - they're fully booked). Buy railway ticket and make a round trip on the Eastern Line to Papakura. Railway web site http://www.maxx.co.nz/ refers. Go to ferry and make round trip to Bermondsey. Catch a 'bus up to Museum and have a really excellent breakfast there, then spend an hour or so in the splendid museum. Back to hotel - magnificent room now available. Shower, then go and check out the Western Line which goes to Waitakere. Then the trains stop 'cos a contractor has cut through a signal cable. Start to panic since Waitakere is tiny and miles from anywhere. After an hour or so, train arrives and the charming driver of the diesel multiple unit leaves the door to the cab open, so I can take photographs. When stationary, we chat about railway things. Possible disaster turns to triumph! Off to Perth tomorrow afternoon.

Additions Thursday, 22-Feb-2007:

The overnight flight from Santiago was due in 04:15, and it was on time. The airport was so quiet, I got through immigration very quickly. The was a little wait in the deserted baggage hall for the luggage, but it came through safely. Customs and quarantine didn't take long and soon I was outside, looking for a taxi. At that time of day, the drive to the hotel didn't take long. So, before 5:00 am, I was in the Heritage being told my room wouldn't be available 'till midday. Since every room was taken, even offering to pay extra didn't help. They gave me a pot of tea in the lobby and after a reasonable wash and a change, I was fully revived and set off to see what I could do in the city.

I wanted to try out the suburban railway system, so I went to the newish terminal station, Britomart, and caught the next train out, just before 5:30 and still dark. The station ticket office doesn't open until 7:30 am, but you can buy tickets on the train. There's only about six people on this early train, so the friendly Maori lady guard has time to discuss the ticket options. I settle for a 14 dollar bus/train/ferry day ticket, which turned out to be excellent value. The train was going to Papakura, on the line to the South and Wellington and the journey took around 50 minutes, including a number of stops. By now, it was getting light (although none too warm), so I had a walk round the suburban town centre. Buildings are fairly modern and undistinguished plus the inevitable large supermarket open 24/7. When I get back to the station, there's a lot more activity with people arriving to go to work or school and three trains are waiting to depart. I catch the second train and, although I get a seat, people getting on at each stop take the numbers up to 'crush loading' conditions.

When we arrive back in the city, I decide to see if my ticket really does work on the ferries. Britomart station is surrounded with bus stops on various routes and the ferry terminal is less than five minutes walk, so multi-modal journeys are quite practical.

I choose Bermondsey as a destination, because I'm sure it'll be nothing like the Bermondsey I know. Because I'm going 'against the flow' of commuters coming into Auckland, I'm the only passenger on a catamaran which can carry perhaps 150 people. Then, there are three crew. A ten-minute sail across the harbour takes us to the landing stage at Bermondsey where there are around 30 commuters waiting to go to work. I explore for half an hour or so. The day's starting to warm up and I watch some people fishing from the jetty. An old Maori woman isn't using a rod - she's just hand-casting her line. There's a huge marina here, with the sorts of businesses to support boating, like chandlery. As you leave the marina, you come to an extensive residential area. All detached houses, gardens not as large as I expected, obviously well looked after but a bit bland for my taste. I return to the landing stage and catch the next ferry back to Auckland. It really is delightful to be on the water in such a beautiful location.

There is a circular bus, called The Link, that runs round the city. It's particularly aimed at tourists, but a lot of locals use it, too. I take this service to the museum stop which is nowhere near the museum. In fact, I and about four others aiming for the museum have a little trouble interpreting the brief instructions given by the bus driver. A final, stiff climb takes us to the commanding, hill-top position occupied by the huge classical style building. The new Grand Atrium was only opened a couple of months ago. Within the confines of a building with heritage status, Noel Lane has constructed a multi-story bowl of Fijian Kauri wood. By this time, I was starting to flag a little, so I decided to stop for an all-day breakfast and pot of tea at the Atrium Restaurant. The food was nicely presented and absolutely delicious. Thus fortified, I tackled the museum exhibits, spread over three floors. In general, I was very impressed. The top floor forms New Zealand's National War Memorial and such exhibits as are on this floor relate to the various wars in which New Zealand has participated. I found that I rather approved. See Museum web site.

Another bus returned me to the city centre and, on arriving back at the hotel I was initially disappointed to find that my room was still not available. But all was forgiven at one o'clock when I got the key, because they'd upgraded me to a suite with a large lounge, separate bedroom and bathroom with both bath and generously-sized shower cubicle.

Auckland's commuter railways.

Whaling

There's the remains of a whaling factory at Whaler's Bay on Deception Island in the South Shetland Isles which I examined briefly in February 2007. My distaste for whaling means that I have never previously studied the processing involved but, confronted by this industrial archaeology, I felt the need to consider the operation to help to understand what I was looking at. But I had a mere 30 minutes to look at the site, so I have probably made a number of blunders. My interpretation was greatly assisted by subsequently reading the book cited below.

The blubber and other parts of the whale were cut up and mechanically minced before being placed in large steam pressure cookers called 'digesters', so as to extract the oil which was stored in huge tanks. The remaining solid material was converted into fertiliser.

At Whalers' Bay, the steam was produced by a series of vertical, dome-topped, rivetted boilers with circular section - Cochrane Boilers. The fireplace is at the bottom, with two hinged firedoors, side by side, presumably for coal-firing. At the rear, at low level, there is the remains of what might have been the means of regulating combustion air. Two flat, vertical, parallel tube plates divide off the water space. The two tube plates are conneected by a large number of horizontal smoke tubes. At the front, the curved shell is provided with a large hinged door, to allow access to the tube plate. The inside of this door is provided with a layer of firebrick. There is a similar, but smaller, aperture in the shell at the rear to lead away the exhaust gases. A framework, which was originally plated, is provided around this rear aperture to form the base for a circular, sectional, rivetted, vertical chimney. A plug-type safety valve is provided on the dome top. Relieving pressure is set by a counterweight fixed at the end of a long arm which holds the safety valve plug in place.

There was originally a rectangular tank mounted on a support structure at high level which was presumably the header tank for the boiler feed water. A part-buried Weir pump indicates the likely method of maintaining boiler water level.

I found two different groups of digester tanks, of slightly different sizes. They are vertical, closed cylinders. A rectangilar, hinged manhole is provided on the top for charging, with turnscrews to secure it tightly. I assume that there would have been a high-level walkway and means to get the whale material up to this level for charging the digesters. A reference in the book cited below refers to steam being applied for four hours, after which water would be fed into the digester to displace the whale oil which had been released. A second rectangular, hinged manhole is provided near ground level, again with turnscrews to secure it. Presumably, this was to allow the remaining solid material to be discharged for conversion to fertiliser.

Some yards away from the complex of steam boilers and digesters is a separate fireplace, now largely buried, somewhat similar in appearance to a Lancashire boiler. It is a substantial, rectangular construction of good-quality, red bricks, strengthened by metal banding. One smaller side is provided with a cast front mounting two hinged firedoors, side by side. Internally, the fireplace is lined with refractory bricks.

The most noticeable remaining feature of the factory is the oil storage tanks, because of their size. I am told that internally these tanks are provided with steam heating coils, presumbly to keep the oil sufficiently fluid at the low temperatures experienced.

A well-researched book on whales and whaling is 'The Whales' Journey', by Stephen Martin, published by Allen and Unwin, ISBN 1 86508 232 5.

It has been reported recently that the existing ban on whaling has been weakened. If you believe that the arguments in favour of such weakening of the ban are unconvincing, please add your voice to the call for a complete and effective ban on all forms of whaling.

Technical Problems

I've commented before on the problems of combining getting experiences with documenting at least some of them. On earlier trips, I've been impressed with the relative ease with which I've been able to keep in touch. But this time, I thought it might be useful to have "off-line text preparation facilities", so I bought a Hewlett-Packard iPAQ.

These are tiny computers you can hold in the palm of your hand with a simplified Windows operating system called, reasonably enough, Windows Mobile. In their basic form, to enter text you use a stylus to point to characters on a screen picture of a 'QWERTY' keyboard. It sounds dreadful, but I found it easier than expected. The unit arrived a few days before I left, so I was able to try it out and the problems I had I ascribed to "finger trouble" on my part.

But disaster struck on the first leg of the journey. I turned the unit off to conserve power and then it refused to turn on again. Eventually, a re-boot re-activated it, so I thought it must have 'crashed'. The next day, nothing I did would start it. In desperation, I got the mains power unit attached and continued to tinker. When it did turn on, it reported a completely flat battery. This was strange, 'cos the prevous day, I'd charged it fully. Well, I took out the battery and had a scratch at the terminals with a pair of nail scissors. Then I took my emery board and gave the spring-loaded terminals on the PDA which connect to the battery a bit of a polish. Not a nice thing to do to new equipment, I know, but so far it's proved effective. The PDA has ´Wi-Fi´ wireless connectivity. I got this to work for the first time in the hotel in Ushuaia but although e-mail worked and I could look at the internet, I couldn´t use Blogger. I've had the same experience in the hotel in Santiago - connected well all over the hotel but Blogger wouldn't work. Anyhow, it's proved useful and the 'off-line preparation' is the reason you´ve seen the blogs you have. But, I'm afraid, spelling and punctuation has been sacrificed to the need for speed.

Ferro Carril Fin Del Mundo

The Ferro Carril Fin Del Mundo is one of a small number of locations in the world pursuing more efficient steam traction. The work was originally inspired by the Argentinian locomotive engineer L. D. Porta, who was a consultant to the railway for a number of years. There are various diesel locomotives on the line but the mainstay of the tourist trains are three oil-burning steam locomotives arranged generally according to the Porta system and, I think, using 'Lempor' (Lemaitre - Porta) drafting. As far as I understand, combustion oxygen is supplied by steam which is dried by pre-heating through a helical tube before being used to atomise the diesel fuel. The divergent cone chimney is characteristic of the Porta system, as is the small tube which discharges steam upwards at an angle acoss the mouth of the chimney. On oil-burning locos, the firedoor is, of course, kept closed, but an upwards-angled inspection tube allows the flame status to be checked whilst standing on the footplate.Two of the locomotives are 0-4-0 + 0-4-0 Garretts. The third steam locomotive is a 2-6-2 side tank of attractive, elderly appearance. All three locomotives are normally in use, as departures are normally a 'flight' of three trains in one direction, followed by three returning trains. Train control is by one person acting as a train despatcher using radio.

My pictures of the railway.

'Antarctic Dream' technical notes

'Antarctic Dream' was built in Holland for the Chilean Navy and has an electric propulsion system. When de-commissioned by the Navy, she was privately purchased and converted into, I think, one of the more luxurious vessels doing Antarctic trips. We had 70 passengers - maximum capacity is about 82.

On entering the engine room, the Reverse Osmosis plant for de-salinating sea water lies to our left, the Chlorination Plant to the right. Moving further into the engine room, we pass three electrical control panels for 110, 220 and 440 volts. We then come to the engine room telegraph, a twin to the unit on the bridge. On ships, these always used to be a pair of interconnected 3-phase 'Selsyns' and I found no evidence that 'Antarctic Dream is different. Opposite the telegraph is what appears to be the control panel for the direction and speed of the screw. At a lower level, three compression-ignition ('diesel') engines are mounted fore-and-aft across the width of the hull. Each engine is a Cummins V12 developing around 1,200 horse power and it appears that all three engines are normally kept running. Each engine is directly-coupled to a 440 volt d.c. Main Generator. To the stern of the Main Generators, there is a single, huge d.c. motor, mounted so as to drive the single propellor shaft which is on the centre-line of the ship. Any one Main Generator is capable of driving the ship.