Motor rail simplex armored locomotives

Does anyone know of dimentions and drawings of motor rail armored simplex locomotives that served in world war one in the trenches

 

Off the to of my head, no, but try the Moseley railway Trust web site as they have links to a Simplex web site and also the 'Tin Turtle' web site ('Tin Turtle' = Armored Simplex)
Hope this helps

Ian

 

2 good places to star are the leighton buzzard railway which have a armored simplex but it is not normally on display so you would have make arrangements to view it.
The second is Alan Keiths that have the writes to simplex machine so should have a full set of drawings. But you would have to pay for them.
I do not know of any other Armoured simplex about Moseley only have a projected simplex that i am aware of as appeared on salvage squad.

 

The Ffestiniog have two on the line at the moment, though they have the roof's removed. There is a book of scale drawings of most FR stock published, which is avaliable from the Harbour station shop (can order via phone or web) which I think has drawings of them in. Though it may be worth checking with John first that it does.

 

I have spoken to Alan Keef Ltd with some some success I am awaiting their efforts to check the archives

 

I think the IWM at Duxford had one as part of their WW1 exhibibit,Although I haven't been there for a couple of years.
Colin.

 

Went to Duxford a couple of weeks back, yes it's still there. I think there was also an open French? petrol rail tractor opposite.

PS I was surprised to see a long length of NG track survives alongside the runway, I thought the L&B and WHR had it all away a couple of years ago??

 

Regarding the Duxford track, I can speak with some authority as I helped to lift it back in 2003! It was an interesting exercise as we were only allowed "air side" with special authority, and even had walkie talkie contact with the Control Tower (Call sign "Railway One"). The railway had been severed by an aviation fuel bund built across the trackbed - Duxford would not allow us to lift the section between the bund and the land exhibits museum for safety reasons. That's why it's still there today, though they (Duxford) lifted the actual connection into the museum some time after that. The rail amounted to about a quarter of a mile, was almost new, approx 30 lb on timber sleepers with pandrol style fittings. Too light for the WHR, so the L&B lads had it together with some turnouts. A member of the WHRS East Anglian Group took away a large stack of Jubilee track for his private railway, along with some skips, while the L&B took away the remaining skips and a couple of coaches. The East Anglian Group retrieved four small Hudson flats; we refurbished these and 3 out of the 4 have seen a lot of service on rebuilding the Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog section of the WHR
Richard

 

Actually the track alongside the taxiway and the spur into the museum was still there in July. Colin.

 

Thank you for your informative answer kalahari.

springers,

As kalahari says, this is still present (and is what threw me as well, especially as there's a lot of it, and it goes further than the eye can see). However, looking at Google Earth, at the western end of the site beyond the bund there is a steeply curved section of track which I didn't know about before. It seems that only that section was taken - I thought the whole lot had gone.

The spur into the museum building had been removed when I visited (early December), although the point was still there (the track used to run into the building at the main entrance end, and join up with the internal track that the Simplex currently sits on). It's still on Google Earth though. Hope this helps! Paul

 

I've just had a look at Google Earth and the image is dated 2003,it includes all the track except the section through the fuel depot and it includes quite a lot of rolling stock parked on the loop. Colin.

 

A twenty horse power Simplex surely!

 

Could well have been - I was attempting to do the whole site during an afternoon off, I wildly underestimated how much I wanted to look at and had to rush around without reading as much as I would like! Either way there were two WW1 petrol rail tractors in the exhibition, one of which was a protected Simplex. Both are only a couple of feet from the visitor path and therefore easily viewable at quite close quarters.

Regards, Paul

 

There is a drawing of a protected version on one of the websites, but your best off getting the SIMPLEX book, also has the drawing in it, I'm currently using it to build a 16mm scale model.

 

i have found a drawing but does anyone know the lead dimentions off the top of the thier head the simplex book doesnt have them in

 

When a drawing provides a ratio, as the one in the simplex book does, you measure the drawing in whatever unit, then you times it by the number that isn't one, this gives you the true dimension in whatever unit you started with.

 

the drawing in the simplex book looks wrong

 

Well it isn't! Each of those chaps who wrote the book know more about simplexes than both of us put together, I highly doubt they'd put a incorrect drawing in their book. Also, I am building a 16mm model from that plan, and have spent hours looking at bits of the FfR one, and all three look pretty similar. Perhaps it's just yourself who doesn't know what they look like?

 

The WDLR website has a download-able drawing of the 40hp Protected Simplex & many other items too.

www.wdlr.org.uk

Gareth

 

I've just had a look at the drawing in the Moseley Simplex book and I agree at first glance something doesn't look quite right. It took me a little while to realise it but the curved ends are drawn as a compound curve from the top edge of the frame and curved throughout, whereas in reality approximately the lower foot or so of the front 'sheet' is in fact vertical, then curved evenly to the top face.

The David Smith drawing on the WDLR website is correct and was also published in one of Roy C. Link’s Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review.

James.