Other Trains

Some of the different types of types trains and locomotives all around the world, it really varies of size between countries.

American locos compared to British ones are huge. As seen below, other examples of massive steam locomotives are - Union Pacific Big Boy is by far the largest steam locomotive in the world, it has articulated bogies to navigate sharp turns. Steam locos with fixed wheels have trouble turning on sharp corners, but long smooth ones are easy. The largest non articulated steam engine was the Union Pacific 9000 with a wheel arrangement of 4-12-2.

Wheel arrangements vary for all locos as shown below is a diagram of each one. Big Boy was a 2-8-8-2 Mallet with its wheel arrangement but was also name the 4000, the Union Pacific 9000s wheel arrangement is 4-12-2.  Other steam locos from different countries are very different to the UK and US ones, for instance Australian steam locos like the NSWGR 3801 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive, or the SAR 520 or the SAR 400 Beyer Garratt articulated steam locomotive.

SAR 400 Beyer Garrett

It'd be awesome to go to these different countries to see these magnificent steam locomotives that are preserved, especially the UP big boy. As for my other post about model railways, if possible it'd be good to get a HO scale model of big boy or other foreign engines just to run on a layout for fun. But I'd also have to get rolling stock to match the couplings or change the couplings to the British ones, which are either tension lock or knuckle couplers.

Union Pacific Big Boy 

NSWGR 3801 

Union Pacific 9000 

Model railways

I started model railways with the Thomas & Percy electric train set, which got me into the hobby

after that I collected models from birthdays and Christmas, which grew my collection slowly. Also i I've been going to the model railway exhibition at the SECC (Scottish Exhibtion and Conference Centre) in Glasgow every year, some years I bought my self locomotives, coaches sometimes and wagons as well. As of now I have become way more involved into model railways by becoming more serious with it all.

I've always wanted to have a model railway to run trains on but i don't always have the time to work on it that often but at some point in the summer I'll probably work on it a lot more to get the track secured and maybe even ballasted.

The era I'd like to do it in is preserved, with diesels and steam locos that are still around these days, as I would find it difficult to model in one era to one company. Some people do and it's great to see at exhibitions.

The perfect layout I'd love to model would have to be to include the lickey incline, that's south of Birmingham which is a 1:37 for a continuous two miles, so trains need a banker when climbing it, so the incline would be on one side of the layout, with some long straights from the lower half of the layout, then flat at the top with a station and small junction for shunting. with the track to come around a corner, to a station, with a helix to get back down to the lower level of the layout.

If it all works out, then it'd be a really cool layout to model, the engines i'd include would be ones from preserved railways as that means i can run any era and don't have to focus on just one, with a lot of research going into it before hand.


Now here's a link to a youtube video on how to ballast model railway tracks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm_ChLgaado

Trains & Locomotives in the UK

Here's my blog about trains & locomotives from the UK. 

All the stats, information and records that i know are mostly from books, videos and DVDs. Like for example, on the 3rd July 1938 the A4 Pacific Mallard set a world record of 126mph on Stoke bank with the gradient being between 1:178 & 1:200, Mallard pulling a dynamometer car and 6 coaches, topped Stoke Summit at 75mph and accelerated downhill. The speeds at the end of each mile from the summit where recorded as 87, 96, 104, 107, 111, 116 & 119, half mile readings after that gave 120, 122, 123, 124 and finally 125mph. The speed recorded by instruments in the dynamometer car reached a momentary maximum 126mph 

November 30 1934, A3 Pacific Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to exceed 100mph on the same day, she became the fastest in the world. 


Thompson B1 with fully loaded train.

Some of my favourite locomotives are
Thompson B1 steam locomotive
A1 Pacific steam locomotive
A3 Pacific Steam locomotive.
Class 66 Diesel Electric locomotive

Class 50 Diesel electric locomotive
Class 20 Diesel electric locomotive