keywords = Berlinerwerke Ruhnia Ruhnian State Railways RSR Kroplihne RK railroad stories tall tales apocrypha S. Berliner, III's Berlinerwerke RSR Apocrypha Page 3
Updated: 03 Jan 2009, 18:15 ET
(Created 28 Dec 2008)
[Ref: This is bwarsr03.html (URL http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/bwarsr03.html )]

S. Berliner, III's

(Berlinerwerke)

RSR Apocrypha Page 3

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher
This site has now been visited times since the counter was installed.

THE BERLINERWERKE APOCRYPHA

This page sponsored jointly (lots of 'em) by the
National Railway Hysterical Society
and the
National Muddle Railroad Association.

(Lighten up - they're spoofs!)

[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!]

Insanity doesn't run in my family, it just sort of dawdles along.

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).

INDEX

The main Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Page.

Earlier occurrences of joint RSR-BW efforts:

Ruhnian State Railways's 665A-001.
Ruhnian State Railways - con't'd.
Rhunian State Rwys 465B Push-Pull.
Rhunian State Rwys 465C V8.
Rhunian State Rwys 465W Wankel.
RSR 465H Heisler Beyer-Garratt.
RSR 46.5 Heisler.
RSR 164B 6-Cyl. Compound Beyer-Garratt Express Passenger Loco.
RSR 815A 10-Cyl. Compound Beyer-Garratt Express Passenger Loco.
RSR and PRR Meyer 0-4-4-0Ts.
RSR T900-10r Super Tanker.
RSR DD2 Banker
RSR Dual-Service DD3 Banker (29 Sep 08)
RSR ABCDEF Super-Banker

On the Ruhnian State Railways Apocrypha Page 1:
RSR 863 Boosted-Tender Series.
RSR RU94-15 Articulated 2-Unit Diner-Lounge.
RSR/BW 323-2I Inspection Car.
RSR/BW 523E2 2-10-6-10-2.
RSR/BW 533F 4-10-6T.
RSR/BW 675A 4-6-6-4.
1st RSR Loco Found! E24A 4-2-0 #1.
RSR/BW 756A Garratt.
RSR/BW 865A 4-8-8-8.
RSR/BW C9x 1-1-1.
RSR/BW Cat D8.
RSR/BW 464A 6-cyl. 2-4-2+2-4-2 Garratt.
RSR/BW 323-2B.

On the Ruhnian State Railways Apocrypha Page 2:
(08 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 460B Fireless Cooker. (08 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 460C Fireless Cooker. (08 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 460D Ersatz-Garratt Fireless Cooker. (08 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 1280 Ersatz-Garratt Fireless Cooker. (11 Dec 08)
RSR/BW E48D 4-2-2T. (14 Dec 08)
RSR/BW E24B 4-2-0 and E44B 4-4-0. (15 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 165A/B/C 4-2-2 and 4-2-4T. (18 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 161 4-2-2 Crampton. (23 Dec 08)
RSR 6-2-0 Crampton. (23 Dec 08)
RSR 6-2-0 Drippski. (28 Dec 08)
[Duplex coverage moved from RSR page 2 to this page 3 on 28 Dec 2008]
RSR/BW 4-14-4+4-14-4 Garratt. (28 Dec 08)

On this Ruhnian State Railways Apocrypha Page 3: (28 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 4-4-4-4 Class 464 Duplex. (28 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 4-6-6-4 Class 664 Duplex. (28 Dec 08)
RSR/BW 4-8-8-4 Class 864 Duplex. (28 Dec 08)
[Duplex coverage moved from RSR page 2 to this page on 28 Dec 2008]
RSR/BW 0-2-0T "Burdick Nightmare". (30 Dec 08)
RSR 121 0-2-0T "Burdick Nightmare". (31 Dec 08)
RK's First Loco. (01 Jan 09)
RK's Pre-Garratt Garratt. (02 Jan 09)
RK 2-2+2-2 Tank Twin. (03 Jan 09)
RK 0-4+4-0 NG Tank Twin. (03 Jan 09)

Before I start, I should note that all this (the BW Apocrypha) 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.

RUHNIAN STATE RAILWAYS
APOCRYPHA

Continued from Ruhnian State Railways Apocrypha Page 2

Because the Ruhnian State Railways (RSR) had so much interaction with the Berlinerwerke, and especially with the BW's George and Ira Ersatz and their sons, George, Jr., and Ira, Jr., I decided to place any new BW-Apocrypha coverage of RSR loks on separate pages.

The RSR, and its cooperative competitor, the Kroplihne Railway (RK), under the successive directorship of Chief Engineers Giorg Maznicek (1839-57), Marek Luršimonš (1857-91), Karel Belčamin (1891-1919), Bela Šahlmeti (1919-29), Frihdrik Tešlov (1929-50 - in exile 39-45), Mikhail Rodnivacek (1950-62), Jochann Ketterik (1962-85), and Artur Gorote (1985-present), has presented to the astonished world some incredible examples of unique and pioneering locomotive design.

Thanks to the generosity of Norman Clubb, proprietor, we are able to show here some of the additional unbelievable adaptations of RSR lok types as developed jointly with the Berlinerwerke.

[Duplex coverage moved from RSR page 2 to this page on 28 Dec 2008]

Iris Ersatz of the RSR also reviewed the RSR's 434DD classes and thought that not only the PRR T1 Loewy styling but the duplex drive system might be a good idea with this nifty result, the RSR/BW Class 464DD;

(28 Dec 08)

The big factor in allowing the rear cylinders to exist in proximity to the firebox was the adoption of the Ersatz oil injection system and the super-efficient Ersatz oil firebox. Emboldened by Arthur Gorote's approval and acceptance and the incredibly free steaming of the boiler, Iris applied herself to expanding even further on the 434DD series with a six-coupled version, the Class 664DD 4-6-6-4:

(28 Dec 08)

That wheelbase required Ersatz-ALCo lateral motion devices on the two outer axles to negotiate yard turnouts and curves.

Drunk with success, Iris then outdid herself with an even longer eight-coupled duplex which reached the steaming limit of that boiler design, the 4-8-8-4 Class 864DD: (28 Dec 08)

(27/28 Dec 2008 image by and © 2008 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

Gorote, who was dead set against blind (flangeless) wheelsets, having seen the ten-coupled PRR I1 Decapod and N-1 and N2 2-10-2's drop blind wheels in switchwork, and having seen the UP 4-12-2 having to be eased through tight trackage, was exceedingly dubious about Iris's calculations, but here Ersatz-ALCo lateral motion devices were fitted to the two outboard axles and BOTH sets of inboard axles; in spite of the huge coupled wheelbase, the 864DD could handle any curve for which the 115A was rated.

Those of you who are modelers and old enough to remember the (U. S. National Model Railroad Society) NRHS's 0-2-0 "Burdick Nightmare" may have wondered from whence the idea sprang; wonder no longer! Digging through the endless Berlinerwerke files, I turned up an early Ira Ersatz drawing for the RSR's Marek Luršimonš of a wild variant on their Class E63k-nc, the one with the appalling Rhät-Fink drive. Luršimonš needed an incredibly short lok to handle longer dead loks on the RSR's early (short) turntables and transfer tables and George Ersatz came up with a great idea, this 0-2-0T: (30 Dec 08)

This lok had a split tank to make room for the engineer-cum-fireman (driver), who had to climb aboard from the rear. In order to get motion from the piston rod back to the main (only) driver, a modification of the Rhät-Fink rodding ran the power out to the regular R-F jackshaft and then back via a relocated side rod. You will note a small angled handwheel above the "RSR" on the rear of the tank; it operated linkage to raise and lower a small pair of "jockey wheels" to balance the loco when it was parked. The jockey wheels were raised when the loco was coupled to another unit (or car) and special clamps fitted to the buffers locked on to the mating buffers to transfer load to the Burdick to increase tractive effort. The unit was quite effective but was scrapped out when longer tables were built, which was just as well as the maintenance crew flatly refused to work on her because they were quite unable to cope with the weird Rhät-Fink rodding and valve gear.

Perhaps we should pause a moment to remind our gentle readers that George and Ira Ersatz were the Chief Engineer and roving salesperson of the old Berlinerwerke, that they left to form the Ersatz Motive Corporation (EMC), that EMC was taken back into the BW fold as the Ersatz Motive Division (EMD), and that they begat Ira, Jr., and George, Jr., who followed in their fathers's footsteps with equal energy and genius. Unlike many such families, the spark was handed down to the third generation undimmed. Ira, Jr., begat Ira, III, and Iris, whil(e)(st) George, Jr., begat George, III, and Georgina ("Gina"). Gina became the HR Director of the BW, Ira, III, and George, II, each followed their fathers and grandfathers, and Iris, also an engineer, apprenticed to Artur Gorote, Chief Engineer of the RSR, where she shines as a creative star. (31 Dec 08)

Well, one lunch break, when George, III, was visiting his cousin Iris while calling on the RSR at the Akohniçe works, they were strolling through an old store room and their ever-inquisitive eyes fell on a set of very old wheels, linkages, clamps, and a handwheel in a dusty cubby. Under all the dust and cobwebs shone the unmistakable green of an old RK or RSR livery. A quick cleaning revealed nothing less than the actual jockey wheels and mechanism of the old RSR "Burdick Nightmare" shown above! (31 Dec 08)

Now, as it happened, Gorote had been complaining about a lack of means to shunt dead loks in the shops, Even though the super-gigantic "Euro-crushers" like the RSR/BW 865A 4-8-8-8 or the Class 14105 4-14-4+4-14-4(!) Garratt had to be turned on wide-radius wyes or loops, there were still plenty of very long locos that barely fit on the latest RSR turntables and transfer tables. Always concerned with safety, Gorote flatly rejected mechanical mules or pullers; he wanted some sort of stubby loco, run by a human being, on the spot. The jockey wheels and clamps sparked both cousins; they had recently seen the old drawing of the Luršimonš Burdick and Iris knew there was a Class 321 (old C9) in the dead line out in the Akohniçe back-lot - it was one of those "AHA!" moment for which all three generations of Ersatzes are famed.

Even without any BW help, the crew in the heavy repairs area of the Akohniçe is quite accomplished and can work wonders. Under Iris's able direction, they quickly cut up and reassembled the 321 into a remarkable one-off Class 121 0-2-0T Burdick Nightmare:

The second axle was used as a jackshaft with a shortened side rod to transmit power back to the driver set. As you can readily see, that old handwheel graces the backhead of the 121.01 and the jockey wheels and links, along with the buffer clamps, all now repainted in modern RSR gray and red, have been retrofitted to the "new" lok, which now serves admirably. After recovering from his initial shock on first seeing the beast in operation, although he wouldn't admit it, Artur Gorote was quietly proud of his young protégée.

[First post of the 2009 new year!]

Workmen cleaning up an ancient shed at Bevice uncovered the remains of the very first locomotive of the Kroplihne Railway (RK), the cooperating rival of the Ruhnian State Railways (RSR). With the upcoming public inaugural run for the RSR's great 175th anniversary celebration in 2014, when the 1839 E24A 4-2-0 #1 will run from Kropčahne to Bevice and back, this is a simply-fantastic find! #1, it turns out, was the RK's first loco built by the RSR, but the hulk just found was actually built by the RK's own shop force, under the direction of General Manager Iosif Ruhkani. As built, it used a leather belt drive to transmit power from cylinders mounted atop the boiler down to a pulley on the front axle:

(01 Jan 09)

(01 Jan 2009 image by and © 2009 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

Also numbered #1, it quickly had an adjustable idler pulley added as the leather stretched but even that fix was in vain as rats ate the belts as fast as they could be replaced. Finally, in desperation, Ruhkani scrapped the belting and had stub shafts grafted onto the pulleys and a main rod added; it was awkward, but it worked:

(01 Jan 2009 image by and © 2009 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

The main-rod configuration (or, rather, all that's left of it) is what was uncovered at Bevice, and it is too far gone to restore in either configuration, but the remains will be conserved and stabilized for display at the 2014 celebration and then placed in the great railroad museum at the grand junction outside Kalmorska. One can easily trace the lineage of the E44A from this early model though the E24A.

RK's Pre-Garratt Garratt

WOW! In researching the background of the early belt-driven RK loco (above), Iris Ersatz found detailed notes by Kroplihne Railway General Manager Iosif Ruhkani about a special loco he had constructed by the RK crew to solve the ages-old problem of more power (plus ça change, plus ç'est le męme chose, hein?). It helps to understand the situation in Ruhnia in those bygone days. The RK (and later the RSR) had an almost-incestuous relationship with the giant Kruppshtielwurkye in Kruppčahne, buying virtually all its rail, steel plate, forgings, and castings from Kruppshtiel while that august firm had to rely solely on the RK (and RSR) to ship its supplies in and its products out. When Kruppshtiel expanded and opened its giant new plant in Krupptranka Dronti, that symbiotic relationship became even stronger. So, it is not at all surprising that Ruhkani, who had no formal technical (let alone design engineering) training should lean heavily on the Kruppshtiel people for advice. Understanding enough to know that he could not fit a bigger-diameter boiler between the wheels of the locos in use and also knowing that large-diameter wheels were antithetical to higher tractive effort, he hit on the idea of slinging a large boiler between two powered bogies (trucks), thus anticipating the Garratt principle by many decades! Kruppshtiel made up a set of plate girder and channel frames and the shop force made up siderod wheelsets for a pair of standard RK tender chassis. Mounting cylinder pairs on the tender chassis and utilizing a novel spherical ball-joint to both connect the loco frame to the tenders and to carry steam from the boiler to the cylinders, Ruhkani (who really should have patented the whole idea) came up with this unique loco, RK #44: (02 Jan 09)

(01/02 Jan 2009 image by and © 2009 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)
[Click on thumbnailed picture for larger image]

The frame yokes were narrowed at the ends to clear the cylinders and a barrel platform was fitted at the front end, whil(e)(st) a firing deck was slung behind the firebox. Laterally-mounted friction snubbers on the rear ball joint minimized roll on the RK's less-than-perfect trackage. Although it would have been far better from a weight-balance standpoint to have the cylinders outboard on the tenders, Ruhkani was forced to place them inboard to minimize steam loss in longer steam lines.

Weird though it was, it worked! The offset of the cylinders from the wheelset driveline was extreme and later designs, especially once Giorg Maznicek came aboard at the RSR, rectified that situation. The big problem was that the packings in the spherical joints just weren't up to the job of holding "high" pressure steam; the technology for mobile steam joints hadn't been perfected yet. To change out packings meant jacking up each end of the center section every time and that was not at all economical, so the unit ended up side-lined.

There's been some talk of "an alleged, earlier, vertical-boilered version of the RK's #44, an 0-4-0+0-4-0 which - - - saw the light of day on some industrial line the year before the No.44 hit the rails". The BW and RSR folks are checking into this with only a glimmer of hope; what DID turn up, though, was this neat back-to-back, tank version of semi-permanently coupled twin E24a's, the RK's #11: (03 Jan 09)

With those large pilot wheels, it's easy to see why the E24a twin was confused with an 0-4+4-0 amd those standard boilers are visually only a wee bit different from the vertical ones. This loco was fired with coal oil, making it one of the first, if not the very first, oil-fired steamers. Pumped-fuel nozzle systems had not yet been developed but Iosif Ruhkani had a really neat idea; he crushed pumice, molded it into cones, and sintered them to form long-lived burner mantles. Pannier tanks for water and oil handled the liquid supplies. He'd come up with the burner system for that earlier 0-4+4-0; we were hard at work looking for that one and, sure enough, it turned up as well:

(03 Jan 09)

Here's another case where Ruhkani should have patented his rather-excellent ideas. Because RK #41 was used on meter (39" narrow) gauge in factories and industrial yards, he also had the opportunity to hang the cylinders outside the wheels.

On both twins, the RK had labor problems because the engineers (drivers) and firemen fought over who controlled which end; Ruhkani side-stepped that neatly by qualifying both men on each loco as drivers so that one could run one way and t'other t'other way.

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!}

[See also the HO (1:87.1) Berlinerwerke saga or the Z (1:220) Berlinerwerke-Z saga.]

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!

Continued from Ruhnian State Railways Apocrypha Page 2

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 the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha pages.

Return to Top of Page