Inspired by the recent postings on Steam Trams, which I very much liked, I thought why should the tram enthusiasts have all the fun?
I did a bit of research into non-tram steam railcars (is there a distinction between tram, light rail and narrow gauge?) or dampftriebwagen as I was looking for German examples. One of the early famous ones is called the “Kittel” (after the designer Eugen Kittel) and many of these were made, originally for the Württemberg State Railway. You can read about these on Wikipedia here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Württembergischer_DW (German).
They were strange beasts, basically a 2 axle passenger car with front axle driven by a vertical boiler steam engine (A1 configuration). They were quite successful and ran until 1953. There is even a G scale model of this from Kiss www.kiss-modellbahnen.de/spur-1/kittel/ which looks terrific but a) as the prototype is standard gauge this model is gauge 1 (1:32) so would look a bit small in my collection b) it can only negotiate 1000mm curves or greater – presumably the motor single axle is fixed – and c) it costs €2,000. There is even a Regner live steam version. Märklin have recently brought out a Z scale version (50mm long) for those who like the other end of the railway scale spectrum:
https://www.maerklin.de/en/products/details/article/88145/
This costs €200 so maybe the Kiss model is not such bad value!
Continuing my search I came across a narrow gauge (750mm) steam railcar called DWss (DampfWagen schmalspur).
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Württembergischer_DWss
This was also developed for the Royal Württemberg State Railway. Like the “Kittel” it had one driving wheel but it was based on a 4 axle passenger car, configuration (1A)2. Only one was built for the Württemberg but three or four were made for the Bleckeder Kreisbahn. Carocar do an Hoe/HOm model of this www.carocar.com/html/m_1040.html
This is what I thought I would try and model – based on rather than a fine scale replica. All the links above give more than enough detail, and I also found some more technical drawings and historical data in this PDF if you want to read more (this is in German) http://www.museumseisenbahn.de/images/dev_dme/dme05_1_dampftriebwagen_dwss.pdf
This indicates this particular railcar was not a great success for the passengers; slow, uncomfortable (passengers were only separated from the boiler by a wooden bulkhead) and perceived to be dangerous as going in reverse the driver had no vision forwards except by leaning out the window, and relied on the conductor to act as brakeman (the conductor had an emergency stop control). But the company saved money as no fireman was required, the driver assuming that role. Now where have we heard that before?
I took the technical drawings and scaled them to 1:22.5. The length should be about 530mm but my layout is all R1 curves and points and I have an unwritten rule of nothing longer that 450mm. (That rule will only be broken should LGB ever bring out a Saxon VIIK 2-10-2T) So I have shortened it a little.
I took an LGB 3062 passenger car as the starting point for the bodywork. That was the right height, width, window style and roof profile, so a pretty good start.
For the steam engine I cannibalised a Stainz (courtesy of ebayMike) and drastically cut down the moving parts until I had just a cylinder and piston driving one wheel. The prototype has a large driving wheel (900mm according to the drawings but that sounds too big to me) and a standard 720mm non-driving wheel at the front. At some point I might replace the front axle with a smaller non-powered wheel set but in the meantime I have painted it back to try and hide it, and anyway it is hidden behind the cylinder.
It all needed to be as low profile as possible to fit under the carriage body. I had to raise the rear bogie by a few millimetres but it is hardly noticeable. I have replaced the plastic wheels on the rear bogie with metal pickup wheels to increase the number of power pickups (track power DCC). I haven’t wired those up yet.
I fitted a Massoth LS small steam loco decoder (the green and yellow leads are reversed on purpose, as the motor block is effectively running backwards), and put the body on top.
To my amazement it ran first time. Very short video clip:
I still have lots to do, but I have all the necessary bits and pieces for the internal fittings.
I need to fabricate the water tank that goes under the frame between the wheels from plasticard. That is where I will put some weight. I will probably use the Stainz boiler mounted vertically inside the cab, suitably trimmed. I need to think about the large circular chimney cowling on the roof.
I will post updates as and when but don’t hold your breath, it has taken me over a month of pondering to get this far!
I did a bit of research into non-tram steam railcars (is there a distinction between tram, light rail and narrow gauge?) or dampftriebwagen as I was looking for German examples. One of the early famous ones is called the “Kittel” (after the designer Eugen Kittel) and many of these were made, originally for the Württemberg State Railway. You can read about these on Wikipedia here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Württembergischer_DW (German).
They were strange beasts, basically a 2 axle passenger car with front axle driven by a vertical boiler steam engine (A1 configuration). They were quite successful and ran until 1953. There is even a G scale model of this from Kiss www.kiss-modellbahnen.de/spur-1/kittel/ which looks terrific but a) as the prototype is standard gauge this model is gauge 1 (1:32) so would look a bit small in my collection b) it can only negotiate 1000mm curves or greater – presumably the motor single axle is fixed – and c) it costs €2,000. There is even a Regner live steam version. Märklin have recently brought out a Z scale version (50mm long) for those who like the other end of the railway scale spectrum:
https://www.maerklin.de/en/products/details/article/88145/
This costs €200 so maybe the Kiss model is not such bad value!
Continuing my search I came across a narrow gauge (750mm) steam railcar called DWss (DampfWagen schmalspur).
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Württembergischer_DWss
This was also developed for the Royal Württemberg State Railway. Like the “Kittel” it had one driving wheel but it was based on a 4 axle passenger car, configuration (1A)2. Only one was built for the Württemberg but three or four were made for the Bleckeder Kreisbahn. Carocar do an Hoe/HOm model of this www.carocar.com/html/m_1040.html
This is what I thought I would try and model – based on rather than a fine scale replica. All the links above give more than enough detail, and I also found some more technical drawings and historical data in this PDF if you want to read more (this is in German) http://www.museumseisenbahn.de/images/dev_dme/dme05_1_dampftriebwagen_dwss.pdf
This indicates this particular railcar was not a great success for the passengers; slow, uncomfortable (passengers were only separated from the boiler by a wooden bulkhead) and perceived to be dangerous as going in reverse the driver had no vision forwards except by leaning out the window, and relied on the conductor to act as brakeman (the conductor had an emergency stop control). But the company saved money as no fireman was required, the driver assuming that role. Now where have we heard that before?
I took the technical drawings and scaled them to 1:22.5. The length should be about 530mm but my layout is all R1 curves and points and I have an unwritten rule of nothing longer that 450mm. (That rule will only be broken should LGB ever bring out a Saxon VIIK 2-10-2T) So I have shortened it a little.
I took an LGB 3062 passenger car as the starting point for the bodywork. That was the right height, width, window style and roof profile, so a pretty good start.
For the steam engine I cannibalised a Stainz (courtesy of ebayMike) and drastically cut down the moving parts until I had just a cylinder and piston driving one wheel. The prototype has a large driving wheel (900mm according to the drawings but that sounds too big to me) and a standard 720mm non-driving wheel at the front. At some point I might replace the front axle with a smaller non-powered wheel set but in the meantime I have painted it back to try and hide it, and anyway it is hidden behind the cylinder.
It all needed to be as low profile as possible to fit under the carriage body. I had to raise the rear bogie by a few millimetres but it is hardly noticeable. I have replaced the plastic wheels on the rear bogie with metal pickup wheels to increase the number of power pickups (track power DCC). I haven’t wired those up yet.
I fitted a Massoth LS small steam loco decoder (the green and yellow leads are reversed on purpose, as the motor block is effectively running backwards), and put the body on top.
To my amazement it ran first time. Very short video clip:
I still have lots to do, but I have all the necessary bits and pieces for the internal fittings.
I need to fabricate the water tank that goes under the frame between the wheels from plasticard. That is where I will put some weight. I will probably use the Stainz boiler mounted vertically inside the cab, suitably trimmed. I need to think about the large circular chimney cowling on the roof.
I will post updates as and when but don’t hold your breath, it has taken me over a month of pondering to get this far!
