[Moved from page 5 on 11 Oct 04 and expanded.]
BW/Baldwin/PRR Class T3 Oil-Fired Cab-Forward.
BW/Baldwin/Virginian 2-4-6-8-10-12 Multiplex.
The ELEGARNT (Elegant Energy-Efficient Elephant-Garratt)
12,000HP SD90MAC2.
ALCo-GE-BW FPA-1.
On the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Continuation Page 7:
9,000HP GE-BW Turbine (B-B+B-B)-(B-B+B-B)-T.
9,000HP UP Turbine (B-B+B-B)-T-(B-B+B-B).
12,000HP GE-BW Turbine [(A-1-A)-(A-1-A)+(A-1-A)-(A-1-A)]-[(A-1-A)-(A-1-A)+(A-1-A)-(A-1-A)]-T.
16,000HP GE-BW Turbine (C-C+C-C)-(C-C+C-C)-T.
20,000HP GE-BW Turbine (D-D+D-D)-(D-D+D-D)-T.
18,000HP GE-BW Turbine (D-D)-(D-D)-T.
PRR S3 6-10-6 Turbine.
PRR BH50T 2-D+D-2 Centipede Turbine #5821.
PRR HH2 1-D+D-1.
Shay Geared Handcar.
On the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Continuation Page 8:
CP/MLW/BW Super Selkirk 2-10-10-4.
CP/MLW/BW Super Selkirk 2-10-10-6.
CP/BW Super Duper Selkirk (Auld Kirk)
2-4-6-8-10-12.
PRR/Baldwin/BW 8-8-8-8 Duplexii.
On the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Continuation Page 9:
Apocryphal Miscellany, including the
ALCo-BW FA/B-0.1 and PA/B-0.1, the
FM-BW CPAB2.4-5, the
EMD-BW FL-0.9, the
ALCo-GE-IR MILW OF-5, and the
BW-ALCo-Heisler RS-1DPH
On the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Continuation Page 10:
More Apocryphal Miscellany, including the
NPC/BW (4-4)+4 Cab Forward Articulated.
Whiting Track Speeder with JAP engine.
Vulc-Hand Crank-Pneumatic Handcar.
Ruhnian State Railways's 665A-001.
PRR Zippo Hippo.
Poppet Valves and Worse
On this Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Page 11:
Ruhnian State Railways - con't'd..
ALCo-BW DH-16220 "Big Time" A-B-C-D+E-F+G-H
ALCo-BW DH-16220 "Big Time II" A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H
ALCo-BW DH-18240 "Big Time III" A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I
BW 2-4-6-8-10-12 "Shayntipede" 6-TruckLogger
On the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Continuation Page 12:
BW-Moldover A-B-C-D-E-F-G Scale Test Car
Because the Apocrypha and Guest Apocrypha indices exceeded the capacity of the
individual pages, they are now presented in full on a separate
Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Index (including the
Guest Apocrypha Index).
Before I start, I should note that all this started with a secret project that is still unfinished and the next major development of the Berlinerwerke was their fabled DDP45:
For more about her and her family, see my EMD page.
EVEN MORE APOCRYPHAL MISCELLANY
Ruhnian State Railways - con't'd.
The RSR's Marek Luršimonš page is now done, but it is GROSSLY inaccurate as to the
Class K 2-Cylinder Fink System Articulated Locomotive #303!!! That locomotive
and it's odd engine were redesigned by no less than Ira Ersatz himself when he was
VERY young (people tend to forget just how old the Ersatzs really were)! This
was one of Ira's very first European commissions and even one of his earliest
commissions from any client.
Ira was quite fluent in Ruhnian and drew up the modification in Ruhnian; some clod in
the Kraußwerke mistranslated it into schweres Deutsch such that the resulting drive
system was the appalling Rhät-Fink drive; no wonder it didn't work correctly!
When they used two Dereks to hoist the chassis, they replaced the elements
incorrectly, including some of the original, instead of the Berlinerwerke replacement,
elements!
Needless to say, it didn't take me very long to find Ira's original drawing:
(left image by B. Clubb/RSR | right image 24 Apr 06 by and © 2006 S.
Berliner, III after B. Clubb/RSR - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed images for larger pictures]
As one can readily see, Ira specified concentric hollow layshafts and his very first
radial steering bogie for the rear two axles. By crossing the drive through the
layshafts, all would have worked out magnificently on reverse curving had the job
been done correctly!
Sorry to throw a monkey wrench (spanner) into Marek's otherwise magnificent œuvre!
Incidentally, Ira also had a go at an RSR Unfairly Bogey, sticking two of Marek
Luršimonš's K units together and utilizing Ersatz radial steering bogies to allow the
two chassis and the tender to articulate on curves - RSR #808:
(07 Jun 07)
(06 Jun 07 image by and © 2007 S. Berliner, III after B. Clubb/RSR - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture]
It is not known if the fool thing actually worked or not.
The BW reworked an RSR Beyer-Peacock Class 115a Beyer-Garrett
2-5-1+1-5-2 (4-10-2+2-10-4) for heavy goods working on steep grades and
stiff curvature by moving the boilier to the left and fitting a huge 4-cylinder
Shay engine to create the RSR/Beyer-Peacock/Berlinerwerke Class 115š
Beyer-Garrett Šay (Shay). It should qualify as few others ever
have for an award of some sort (let us not dwell on just WHAT sort)!
[Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture]
(28 Apr 06 image by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III after B. Clubb - all rights reserved)
With that giant boiler offset to the left, even the huge 4-cylinder Shay engine
couldn't balance the loco, so Ira plonked four WABCO #5026 cross-compound
air pumps along the right side where the 115a's cylinders had been (I used
actual photos of 5026s but they don't show all that well at that reduction).
Note that the trim on the boiler front was removed and the cistern extended
back as close to the boiler front as possible to increase water capacity (the
front plate is now radically radially hinged for access in such a cramped
location - for retubing, it is only necessary to split a switch, throwing the
boiler front off center).
(29 Apr 06)
{More RSR info. follows}
ALCo-BW DH-16220* A-B-C-D+E-F+G-H Diesel Hydraulic Loco - Inspired by
the success of the earlier 2-4-6-8-10-12 Multiplexii steamers, George Ersatz asked his
brother Ira if they could propel EMC² and the Berlinerwerke to even greater fame and
fortune with a gigantic diesel version. Ira cogitated on that for a while and
came up with a most-ingenious locomotive, the stupendous ALCo-BW DH-36220
Diesel Hydraulic. With all major components drawn from the proven C-855
Diesel Electric and DH-643 Diesel Hydraulic "ALCohaulic" and licensed by Voith, Ira
predicated an A-B-C-D+E-F+G-H wheel arrangement under a huge integral fuel tank
inside a hollow frame and even inside hollow span and truck bolsters, thus keeping
the center of gravity as low on the rails as possible while enabling close spacing of
the wheelsets. The idea took fruit and caught on and the resulting
demonstrator was quickly dubbed the "Big Time" and toured the U.S., Canada, and
Mexico; unfortunately, not even the UP or a consortium of the Pennsy, Central, and
New Haven, could afford the beast and she was rented out to power-hungry railroads
as necessary before meeting an ignominious end.
In concept, the locomotive was basically a heavily-modified set of four C-855 and
C-855B bodies (from the UP's #60-61 B-B+B-B series), each housing the usual pair of
ALCo 251C 2,750HP 16-cylinder engines, for a resultant 22,000HP total, driving Voith
hydraulic pumps, sitting on a series of span-bolstered trucks with 36 axles (72
wheels). Each axle carried its own Voith hydraulic motor so that the entire
underframe and bolster volume was available for fuel tankage. This novel
approach, combined with quite-comfortable, capacious, and commodious on-board
crew quarters (at the rear), allowed the Big Time to run non-stop coast-to-coast with
a three-man crew rotating shifts at the throttle.
(28 Apr 06 image by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III
before S. Lytle and J. Moldover (see legend on drawing) - all rights reserved
Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture - and be prepared to scroll, and scroll, and scroll!)
[Will Stan Lytle (or Josh Moldover) ever forgive me?]
As with the C-855, there was no room under the crammed hoods for sand boxes, so
they were placed externally, ouboard of the handrails, making for an exceptionally
"bus" (cluttered) look.
However, after two crewmen froze to death in the Rockies, and then one starved to
death out on the Great Plains, trying to work their way between the two cabs, Ira
had a cowl body fashioned from old PA-PB units:
(29 Apr 06 image by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III
before S. Lytle and J. Moldover (see legend on drawing) - all rights reserved
Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture - and be prepared to scroll, and scroll, and scroll, again!)
[I really doubt Stan Lytle (or Josh Moldover) will ever forgive me, now!]
The outer skin just fit over the external sand boxes, so they were retained as fitted.
This history was a bit out of whack; one K. Parker sent me an ersatz Ersatz drawing
of a supposèd DH-12140* Big Time III:
(30 Apr 06 image by K. Parker in violation of © 2006 S. Berliner, III
after S. Berliner, III after S. Lytle and J. Moldover (see legend on drawing) - all rights reserved
Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture - and be prepared to scroll, and scroll!)
In trying to debunk it, I found all sorts of new information in the inexhaustible BW files.
It seems that the Big Time crews, both BW demonstration staff and client RR men,
refused to share the cab and accomodations (nor to lose the shower!) and
that configuration never saw the light of day. Double-ended cabs also meant
more expense and that idea was also nixed (especially as it was not necessary - the
Big Time could turn on any wye that could accomodate a UP Big Boy or 4-12-2, SP Cab
Forward, Pennsy Duplex, or any other long-wheelbase loco).
The Big Time III DH-18240* - what really DID happen was that BW
Engineering found a way to tweak the 16-cylinder 251C a wee bit more, without
sacrificing reliability, from 2,750HP to 3,000HP, and that kind of pushed the limits of
adhesion and wheel loading more that just a wee bit, so a new configuration of trucks
was tried. Thus, the Big Time III actually had an A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I
truck arrangment, or 45 axles (90 wheels)! Tbe idea that
Tri-Mount trucks had to have the assymetrical spacing of a diesel-electric C truck is
assine; BW hydraulic motors were quite compact and were mounted coaxially, so
equi-spaced axles (as on A-1-A trucks) were quite acceptable (in fact, the spacing
was dictated by loading, not motor size).
(08 Apr 06 image by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III
after S. Lytle and J. Moldover (see legend on drawing) - all rights reserved
Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture - and be prepared to scroll, and scroll, and scroll!)
[I don't know about Josh Moldover but Stan Lytle seems to have forgiven me -
what a great sport!]
* - ALCo counted HP and wheels per truck (maximum in these cases).
The Big Time that was lost was thus actually the Big Time III; when she fell off a
bridge into the Mississippi River, she spanned the whole river and the Corps of
Engineers then used her as the underwater foundation for a new bridge.
The inquiry into her loss showed that, although ALCo lateral motion devices on the
last (E, F, G, H, and I) trucks were more than adequate for normal curving and grade
changes, those last trucks were woefully sensitive to bad rail alignments and they
derailed on a faulty expansion joint as she entered the bridge.
Incidentally, even Ira's best efforts could not tame the 251's famed penchant for
earning the sobriquet "honorary steam loco"; if she had not been lost, the client RRs
and the BW would have been slapped with many summonses for the prodigeous
amount of black smoke she emitted under load.
The BW always claimed the Big Time was the world's biggest and most powerful
single-unit locomotive; as far as is known, there is no challenge to this claim (except
for the SD-90MAC's power). She was probably also the only loco a hostler
could con in reverse from an easy chair, a comfortable bed or a kitchen sink (I'm not
sure about the shower)!
This investigation has been perhaps the most exhaustive (and exhausting) of all
those done to date and it is earnestly hoped that the hard facts uncovered are well
worth the author's (and the reader's) effort.
For shayme, I'd completely forgotten about Ira's attempt to break into the logging
market! Yup, the 2-4-6-8-10-12 Multiplex reference above triggered the flurry
of activity that uncovered his old drawing of the BW's six-truck "Shayntipede"
2-4-6-8-10-12 Shay logger:
(09 Apr 06 image by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III
after B. Johnson and J. Brandt (see legend on drawing) - all rights reserved
Click on thumbnailed image for larger picture - and scroll away)
[Lytle did Brad or Jobst know to what depths their excellent work would lead!]
Although the boiler is a tad shorter than preferable, jacking the pressure and the
superheat temperature 'way up easily overcame this "short"coming and, with its big
four-cylinder Shay engine, the Lytle monster could outpull anything in the woods.
Unfortunately, it could also straighten out any curves and collapse any bridges
loggers could erect, not to mention snapping knuckles and ripping out draft gear all
over the place, so it was not exactly a commercial success. As for disconnects
(paired disconnected log bunks, on which logs were chained and formed the "car
body"), fuhgeddaboudit! Rumor hath it that she's still working away out there,
somewhere; let me know if you spot her, please (I can always use a good
laugh).
As always, you know you can count on the BW to find totally-unbelievable
info.
- Any attempt to inject an element of
reason into this series of pages will be forcibly rejected!
{Stay tuned!}
I always wondered at the incredibly tight security at the Berlinerwerke during WWII;
now it can be told! See, for starters, the wild site of Sig Case,
Rails to the Stars - Steam in Space, files from the National Aeronautics and
Steam Administration and the tie-in to the Berlinerwerke V1 on
Apocrypha Page 2.
See also the HO (1:87.1) Berlinerwerke saga or the Z (1:220) Berlinerwerke-Z saga
and Berlinerwerke Guest Apocrypha (for taller tales?):
NORTHEAST CORRIDOR FREIGHT ENGINES.
LEWELLEN NORTHERN GARRATTS.
CSXT AC100CBW and NSC CB100W-10 10,000 horsepower locos!
Also, see the fabled BW DDP45 and other EMD engines EMD may never have dreamed of!
Because the Apocrypha and Guest Apocrypha indices exceeded the capacity of the
individual pages, they are now presented in full on a separate
Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Index (including the
Guest Apocrypha Index).
(03 Oct 06)
If you like this sort of nonsense, take a gander at Jim Wells' incredible 
and at the AW NUTS Magazine site, "A Publication of the A.W. N.U.T.S. Garden Railway Society".
If you are air-minded (take that as you choose), you must see the Lion Air site! I'd be Lion if I didn't warn you to keep your tongue in your cheek on this one!
Take your tongue out of your cheek and visit D. Dickens' The Patiala State Monorail Tramway site; whooie (and it's for real)!
THUMBS UP!
THUMBS UP! - Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!
S. Berliner, III
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
of this series of Berlinerwerke Apocrypha pages.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 2006,
2007
- All rights reserved.
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