Overlord Military Train in 7mm

Discussion in 'Modelling' started by CommanderChuff, Feb 2, 2009.

  1. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    Hallo,

    Here is my model train of military railway wagons with a full army of Hobarts funnies and other assorted vehicles in a link to my article on the model at: Overlord Military Train

    The model train is pictured on the old garden layout of my fathers and he used the Severn Valley Railway as his inspiration for the station buildings. The train is pictured in this very photogenic setting for convenience sake and I claim modelers license to get the photos.

    The train has been updated since the pictures was taken and I have now built a Crocodile and trailer combo on a warflat and ramp wagon. There are no pictures of this arrangement from the war but documents in the IWM describe it perfectly. The other new project just completed is a jeep in 7mm which has been motorised and converted to run on rails. Hopefully the photos do justice to a difficult but rewarding modeling project. In all the military train has taken 18 months to research, resource, build and to get running. In the next update of it I will correct some off the errors in loading tanks onto the wrong wagons, (Grommit!!).

    Hope that you like the models,
     

    Attached Files:

    Smudger Jnr likes this.
  2. Currahee101

    Currahee101 Junior Member

    Looks nice.I like those jeeps a lot.
     
  3. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Fantastic pieces of kit Commander. I'd say that took many hours of construction. Have you plans to expand upon it further or indeed to make other types of Armored Trains?
     
  4. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    CC,
    Congratulations on making such a great project come to life.
    I know just how difficult it is to scratchbuild and make brass 'O' Gauge kits, as I too was once a member of the Guild before selling all and converting to 'G' scale.

    My collection was all Great Western and I still have a vast selection of GWR Books gracing my bookshelves.

    Back in Sept 1995 I took a model to Telford that I had just completed. It was a GWR Court Class 2933 Bibury Court, built from a Slaters kit and a few extra bits of detailing.
    I managed a Second place with certificate, much to my surprise.

    Great to see the WW2 theme integrated ito the layout.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  5. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    Thanks for the kind comments. I have plans for several ongoing projects relating to the military side of railways:

    Railway guns = 12in and 18in Howitzer, 14in guns,
    Ambulance Trains = LSWR Netley coaches, SR CAT,
    Munition trains = Tallboy, Grand Slam, gun shells, 5in rockets, air dropped bombs, on crocodile and open wagons,
    Military train = WW1 tanks and vehicles ( have already got most of the vehicles and tanks), and have got suitable locomotive being a GCR 2-8-0 04 to be built. Also now have sound files for this loco.
    Overlord military train = updates to the loading plan, more vehicles to load and general improvements to vehicle markings.

    The project list is long but hopefully the next one to be completed will be later this year.
     
  6. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    That jeep is a sweet thing, I'm waiting for the rest :)

    Pardon my ignorance, but 7mm scale is equivalent to what?
     
  7. cash_13

    cash_13 Senior Member

    Fantastic stuff, bet your glad my old dads remote control BF110 never saw it:p
     
  8. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    7mm scale is a ratio of 1:43.5, which means that 1 foot in real life is modeled in 7mm. Also known as 0 gauge, which is twice the size of 00 gauge. 00 is the standard Hornby scale and is 4mm to the foot. the track gauge for 0 is 32mm, 00 is 16.5mm.
     
  9. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    I see, thank you kindly :)
     
  10. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    The Overlord model train is having a makeover in readiness for the next running season so I thought that I would post the article which I produced some time ago to describe the model in more detail. There are some examples of exceptional loads which were carried on the wartime railways. I hope that the WW2talk modelers may be encouraged to getting building some of them.

    The Overlord Military Train: David Austin.

    Concept and Realisation.
    The idea of the Overlord train was conceived as just a small train of military vehicles on my freelance model of the Southern Railway in the pre-war years. The Southern Railway in the late 1930’s had three main types of traffic; mainline and branch passenger trains, which included the Pullman trains for the boat and airways travellers, big freight trains from the South Coast docks with perishable and bulk goods, and the military trains which conveyed the expeditionary forces to continental Europe.

    With this operational scenario in mind the military train was going to be key feature of running the layout as the South of England had been the kicking off point for all of the military expeditions to leave these shores. As far back as the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1588 the major ports of Southampton and Portsmouth have bid farewell to the warriors of the British Isles, and early in 1944 the largest ever invasion fleet was assembled in the ports of the South Coast and despatched to France. After the recent 60th anniversary of the Overlord landings there has been renewed interest in the D-Day invasion as it was probably the last big celebration of this momentous event in the history of warfare. This renewed awareness has heightened my interest in the landings, and the logistics of moving five divisions of men and material, mainly by railway, to the assembly areas on the South Coast for embarkation onto the invasion fleet was a huge undertaking of organisation and improvisation.

    At the start of the project there was little expectation of the outcome of this little modelling acorn, as in fact, it was only meant to be a little train of tanks on flat-wagons. But the internet is such a fantastic source of information, and after much research on the web and in the library produced photographs by the dozen, mostly with human stories of courage and derring-do. There are not many photographs of military railway trains in the war as the concerns of security have curtailed general access and restricted need, and those which are available are of troop carrying passenger trains, casualty ambulance trains, wagon freights with ammunition and stores, and long bulk trains with US made Sherman tanks or British made Cromwell type tanks on flat wagons. As the troop and freight trains are easily catered for by standard stock the tank carrying train is the subject of this model. However, the only photographs which feature military vehicles on the railway are shipments of new build tanks from the factories of the North to army units in the South.

    It was a great disappointment to find that the main model manufacturers such as Tamiya and Corgi, have only produced some soft skinned vehicles in the scale of 1:43, but no armoured tanks. The military modelling world usually uses scales of 1:35 and 1:50 but this scale will turn out models which are too far out of size to be practical. The closest popular scale for military vehicles is 1:48, but the range of availability in this scale is also limited.

    So idea of bulk trains with one vehicle type was looking un-achievable. It seemed that there was no consistent source of vehicles in the correct size or scale at a reasonable cost. However, the internet has produced many types of soft skinned military vehicles at very reasonable prices. There were jeeps and trucks exactly the right scale and size from Corgi, Shucco, Solido, and Cararama, with many variations on colour and army unit markings. Further, these mass produced models have been used by smaller firms to produce upgraded variations. The amount of information on the subject from the internet and books really started to hurt the grey matter, so all of this data was collated in a reference database to track and analyse the availability of suitable models. The key to finding the right vehicles was the size of the actual model, and not its scale, as it become clear that some models were incorrectly sized with some out-of-scale models being more suitable than others. It was a matter of trail and error to find the models which had a ‘best fit’. The database has been developed to contain details, for each vehicle type and manufacturers, with model numbers, and scale sizes, and this information allowed the selection of the vehicle which were correct for size and period, regardless of scale.

    Daring-Do and Great Deeds in Normandy
    Back to the real world and notwithstanding the dearth of photographs of railways carrying military vehicles, the coverage of the armed forces in the D-Day landings is much more prolific and interesting from the modellers point of view. The troops and vehicles of the invasion force were loaded into ships in the South Coast ports of Plymouth, Weymouth, Poole, Chichester, Southampton Railway docks, Portsmouth, and Newhaven. The hardware included all types and sizes of tanks, trucks, armoured carriers, jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles. The warriors were going into the unknown on defended beach in enemy territory and were unlikely to be supported during the first days of the landing. It was very noticeable that the main feature of the vehicles in the invasion force was that each and every one is loaded up to the hilt with personal gear, and covered with tent rolls, packs, helmets, oil cans, jerry cans, spare track links, spare wheels and other personal items. For the recent Overlord anniversary Corgi, Solido and Cararama have produced updates of the jeeps and small trucks, some with interesting details of personal packs and weapons. As most of these ranges are limited editions, individual vehicles can be quite scarce, but fortunately eBay is an excellent source of models, and many a happy hour has been whiled away in the search for the exclusive find. In something close to an obsession and a frenzy of plastic card abuse, the model military vehicle train started to take shape, and thirteen vehicles were delivered and loaded onto ten flat wagons. Each vehicle was detailed with personal packs and loads, and secured to the wagon with either chain or rope.

    The Overlord Military train made its first public appearance at the club in late 2005, and to critical acclaim as it was pronounced the winner of the Interesting Trains day, and with a mention in the Gauge O Guild newsletter. Not quite the Despatches but recognition enough

    But even though the military train was now a reality it was really galling that there were no armoured vehicles in my army, and particularly notable, there were no British military vehicles. So plans were drawn up to scratch build a suitable tank from plastic card with components from a Tamiya kit providing the detail. The chosen model was the Centaur Close Support tank, used by the Royal Marines, and an example of the Corgi model was used as a template. The Corgi model is highly detailed, with wading equipment, packs, tarpaulins, and markings on the turret for artillery observers. But in 1:50 scale is clearly too small in size to be used. However, it wasn’t too long into this little exercise of scratch building a tank from plastic sheet, that the construction of a whole train worth of tanks was going to be very long, very tedious process. As the Corgi model looked so realistic it was a shame to scrap it so the Centaur was paired with a Corgi model of a Cromwell tank, loaded onto a warflat wagon and marshalled with the military train for its next outing. In the context of a train running on tracks, and without the benefit of a figure in 1:43 to provide a measure of size, the train of out-of-scale tanks was a great success. But there was more, much much more to come.

    British Inventions and the Funnies.
    In the preparation for the assault the British were by far the most adventurous with specialised armoured vehicles in support of the assault troops on the beaches. The American Sherman tank and the jeep may be the enduring image of warriors going to war, but the lessons learnt in previous amphibious operations were fully acted on by the staff of the English military. The attempts of seaborne invasions of Gallipoli (1915), Norway (1940) and Dieppe (1942), were all lacking in vital equipment and detailed planning, and failed to achieve their objectives. To ensure success in 1944, the British army produced solutions of fantastic imagination and great success. The 79th Armoured Division was lead by Major-General Hobart and he was tasked by Churchill to support the attacking infantry forces with specialised armoured vehicles. The intention was to prevent a bloodbath on the beaches of Normandy and a repeat of the disaster at Dieppe where many Canadian soldiers were killed or captured. These machines were known as Hobart’s Funnies and included pragmatic solutions to the problems of overcoming defended shorelines, with modified tanks for mine clearing, demolition, bridging, anti-aircraft, swimming, and road building. The approach taken by Hobart's team was to identify specific problems in landing troops during the assault phase of the landings. A party of swimmers were sent in under the cover of darkness, and the eyes of the German defences, to bring back samples of the beach and other geological information. This was added to the vast amount of intelligence which had been gleaned from photographs and holiday postcards of the beaches. The problems of how to get vehicles and troops from the sea onto the beaches with enough equipment to assault the defences of the Atlantic Wall were quickly identified. On one beach a layer of clay was found on the beach which would have bogged down the assault tanks. The solution was the Bobbin carpet layer. A Churchill tank was fitted with a roll of flexible roadway carried on a rotating drum. As the tank proceeded up the beach the carpet unrolled under its track and the tank created its own roadway in the process of moving forward. As a part of the defences the German defenders had laid many millions of mines so the Crab tank was born. This version had a rotating drum carried on arms projecting from the front and turned by an engine. The drum had lengths of chain with heavy weights on the ends. As the drum rotated the weights hit the ground and detonated any mines. But the most amazing invention surely must have been the swimming or Duplex Drive tank. In this novel approach the assault troops were assured of leaving the landing craft with armoured Sherman tanks in support. The tanks were fitted with skirts of canvas and propellers. The skirts were raised by compressed air rams and formed a bath shaped hull whilst the prop drive allowed the tanks to swim through the sea at 5 knots. At sea the bulk of the tank was below the waterline and only a few inches of the hull was visible above the waves. The sight of these sea monsters arising from the surf into the beach left some of the defenders aghast with amazement. The swimming had been developed in between the wars and even the German army had experimented with the concept of Operation Sealion, the invasion of England. The army used any tanks which were available to create this veritable zoo of mongrels but the British Churchill tank proved to be the most versatile vehicle for adaptation into a 'funny'. These tanks were also used for bridging holes in the roads with deployable bridges, or for laying demolition charges against seawalls. Where a seawall on a beach was ten feet high or so, a Churchill tank was modified to be a ramp with trackways on its top in place of the turret. The tank was then driven up the side of the seawall to rest like a ladder against a wall. Other tanks could climb the first tank and gain the top of the seawall.

    As a reflection of the interest in these crazy inventions the military modelling world has taken the die-cast basic toy tanks which have been produced by Corgi and Solido and modified them to create these specialist vehicles. The box of worms was now and truly open, and there are now many more opportunities to increase the variation of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, AFV, on the military train.

    Wagons and More Wagons.
    The growing collection of suitable military vehicles for the model train was a step into the unknown. The escalation of the number of wagon loads meant that the train had become too heavy for a simple SECR C Class 0-6-0 tender loco, and further, heavier armoured tanks needed to be carried on specialised bogie flat wagons for transportation. In an attempt to keep the escalating costs under some measure of control a programme of mass wagon building was undertaken. Using styrene card and cast WD bogies a fleet of warflat, warwell and rectank wagons was constructed. The motive power also followed the evolution of the railways with big 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives being developed from existing freight engines.

    Genesis of the Wagons
    The Rectank originated in the WW1 and was the first purpose built railway wagon specifically designed to carrying AFV's weighing up to 35 tons. In the early days of the British tank the loading of the vehicles was by crane, but the Rectank flat wagon allowed tanks to be driven onto the train of wagons from a loading platform, moving from one wagon to another until it was parked. For those situations where a loading platform was not available a ramp wagon was provided to load tanks from ground level. These 4 wheel flat wagons were designed to have one axle set removed and the end to rest on the rails. Tanks were able to use the wagon as a ramp to drive up onto the train of wagons. The Warflat was next development of the wagons and was the answer to the increase in size and weight of tanks. This wagon was approved for Churchill tanks and other vehicles up to 50 tons. However, when the American built Sherman tank started to arrive in large numbers their size on the warflats caused problems with the restricted loading gauge on Southern railways. These tanks were the mainstay of the Allied armoured forces and stood very tall. The Warwell wagon was designed to carry the tanks in a well as its name suggests. These wagons came in two capacities of 50 and 80 tons. The load floor of the smaller wagon was 2 ft 6 in above rail height compared with 3ft 3 ¼ in for the higher capacity wagon.

    Models in the Train
    The method of construction of the models is very straightforward. The top deck is 0.6 mm sheet and is laid over the frame of sole-bars and headstocks made from 1mm sheet. Lateral members between the solebars form the framework of the chassis. To give some rigidity a lower sheet is added over the central part of the wagon leaving the bogie centres as an open frame. The bogie mounts are boxes of 1mm sheet of 20 x 10 x 10 mm with the long length transverse at the bogie centre. The buffers are made from tubular styrene, with 5mm outside diameter rams inside the next size tube acting as the buffer bodies, and sprung with thin piano wire. The buffers ends are circles cut-out from 0.7mm sheet of 10 mm diameter and cemented to a 1mm pad before being glued to the end of the ram. The bogies are cast white metal and fully sprung from ABS and are fitted with Slaters 3ft 1in diameter 3 hole wagon wheels. The Rectank wagons use 2ft 9in spoked wheels. The brake vans were converted from standard Parkside SR 25t brake vans, and following the prototypical modifications to the originals the end windows and side planking were altered, and a pair of large vacuum cylinders added to the end platforms. The ramp wagons were scratch built from styrene in the same manner as the flat wagons. Some of the wagons were planked and coffee stirring sticks were used for this purpose. The loads are secured by chains for tanks and AFV's, rope for trucks and jeeps. The chains are very fine, being 1mm links from Quarter Kit, and use container securing shackles from Slaters. The chain assembly is attached by 03mm nickel silver wire. The lower edges of the tyres of the wheeled vehicles are flatted to represent a loaded truck and tracked vehicles are scotched with lengths of railway sleeper in accordance with prototypical practice. Some of the vehicles are relatively heavy and the chain is very light so of necessity the heavy vehicles are glued to the wagons.

    Army Trainloads of Vehicles
    From research of the archives the typical AFV train was two or three passenger coaches, two brake vans, two ramp wagons and 5 or 9 flat bogie wagons. These were, in fact, trains which had been assembled and positioned in strategic locations ready for the immediate movement of tank formations in 1939. This precaution was taken to move armoured forces quickly to the coast in case our enemies desired to invade the shores of Britain. With the co-operation of the railways the military produced the Guide Manual for AFV Movements which prescribes the wagon load combinations to comply with the railway loading gauge.

    AFV
    Loading
    Wagon
    Comments
    Matilda, Covenanter
    Crusader, Valentine, Light tanks, Light Armoured cars
    pair
    Warflat

    Churchill, Cavalier, Centaur, Cromwell, OP Tanks
    single

    Challenger
    Comet
    na
    Not rail carried

    US Grant, Lee , Sherman, SP 25pdr Ram
    single
    Warwell

    Churchill AVRE
    single
    Warflat
    All attachments removed
    Churchill Bridge Layer
    na
    Not by rail

    Valentine / Covenanter Bridge Layer
    See comments
    x3 rectanks or x3 Warflats
    Two tanks on one wagon, their bridges on another 2 wagons
    Crocodile trailers
    See comments


    warflat
    Loose chocked on one wagon and connected to tank on next wagon,
    17pdr Valentine SP
    pair
    Low well
    Floor less than 2’2”
    M7 SP 105mm, M10 3”,
    M10 17pdr,
    na
    Not by rail
    M10’s were carried as exceptional loads, on well wagons with 2’2” height from rail.
    Medium Armoured car, Armoured Command Vehicle
    pair
    Warflat or Rectank


    Special Loads and Likely Projects
    In the build-up to Overlord a number of movements with exceptional loads and special trains were recorded and these are described in Appendix A: Weekly Movement Report 1944. The interesting trains loads which merit consideration as a modelling project include, loads of naval ammunition, 42 foot long steam derricks, a 30 foot motor launch, 52 foot cargo lighter boats, 30 foot Landing Craft, 3.7 inch anti aircraft guns and equipment, Bailey bridges, Terrapin amphibious trucks on Warwells, and Crocodile flame-thrower tanks complete with trailers. These tanks were based on the ubiquitous Churchill with an armoured trailer to carry the inflammable mixture. The trailer units weighed 4 tons and were permanently coupled to the tank. The largest warflat wagon was only qualified for a single Churchill. It is not difficult to imagine the men of the railway and the Royal Engineers pondering the problem of safely loading the pair of steel monsters onto the wagons. The pragmatism and ingenuity of the British engineer soon arrived at workable solution. The tank was secured onto one end of a warflat and its trailer sat on the end of the next wagon in the train, still coupled to its parent like an unruly child. It was lateral thinking at its best. This pragmatic approach was hardly going to win a health and safety award but there was a war on. The remaining space on the two wagons was taken up by a light tank or small truck, or the next trailer of the Crocodile.

    As the tanks were developed to meet the demands of war there were limitations on the vehicles which could be carried. And for the movement of vehicles by rail it was determined that wheeled vehicles for 200 miles, tracked carriers could be conveyed for distances of 150 miles, tracked AFV's for 100 miles, and tanks for 50 miles. The vehicles were permitted to be fully fuelled and armed with ammunition but the speed of the train was limited to 30 mph. On the Southern Railway with its smaller clearances the permitted top speed was reduced to 25 mph.

    Vehicle
    Issue
    Comment
    Crusader AA 1+2, 95mm SP, 17pdr SP,
    Loading gauge,

    25pdr Mark 3A, M3 75mm MGC, M7 105mm MGC,
    M10 3“ SP
    Loading gauge,
    Can be loaded to wagons with height of well floor 2’ 2“ from rail;
    Challenger, Crab, Baron, Scorpion, Comet, Churchill Bridgelayer, Sherman DD, Valentine DD,
    Not to be moved by rail
    The smaller bridge layer tanks could be carried on several wagons; see table above;
    AFV with wading equipped, ARVE, Crocodiles, AFV with Y security, AFV with experimental fittings
    To be sheeted.

    Cromwell VII and Challenger with 15 ½ “ tracks
    .Loading gauge
    Can be transported when fitted with 14 ½” tracks if absolutely essential

    At the height of the build-up to the Overlord operation there were 511 train movements in February 1944 of AFV, 54 of which were for the US army.

    Number of Vehicles
    Description
    Owner
    Comment
    170
    35t Rectank
    Railways

    210
    50t Warflat
    War Department

    250
    50t Warwell
    War Department

    64
    80t Warwell
    War Department

    50
    50 t Warwell
    Ministry of Supply

    25
    20t Deep case
    Ministry of Air


    Oopps!.
    During an exhibition of the Overlord model train an old railwayman related a story of how the army demonstrated the loading of tanks onto the new warwell wagons. The driver of a tank was instructed to carefully drive along the row of wagons from the loading platform, climbing out of and falling into the wells of each wagon in turn, keeping the heavy vehicle on the narrow pathway of the wagons. The visibility from the tank is very limited and normally the tank commander or a marshaller provides guidance instructions. The demonstration was proceeding smoothly and the whole of the train or several wagons was traversed without problem. When the train ended at the last wagon the tank driver didn’t see that it had and the tank promptly fell off the wagon buffers onto the track with an almighty crash. The reaction of the officer in charge or the watching senior officers wasn’t recorded but I would image that the tank driver was shaken somewhat but not stirred.

    Big Trains and Heavy Loads
    The history of the No 5 Movement Control Royal Engineers, (RE) describes huge trains and worn out locomotives in Continental France in 1944. The unit of 45 officers and 190 men controlled the movement of many thousand trains in France in 1944. The usual load for French locos was 750 tons, but sometimes 1,400 tons was loaded behind a 4-6-0 Pacific. These were fairly worn out from a lack of maintenance and the poor crews must have worked hard to get the thing to move at all. There were two main train types: trains with 10 flat wagons, 2 coaches, and a number of vans. These were mainly for mainly for transport personnel and was designated P. The other type was for trains with vehicles, coded V, and carrying lorries, armoured vehicles, cars, and guns on 46 flat wagons , with 1 coach, and 4 to 6 vans. It was reckoned that 35 flat wagons took 2 hours to load and could run for 120 miles on most days. In the chaos of war which was raging at the time the equivalent road journey took twice as long. The capacity of the loading terminal was the main limiting factor for big train loads provided that enough motive power was available to move the end result. The RE worked to the criteria of train loading that determined how many wagons were needed to transport an army unit of 4000 men and 500 vehicles. This movement required a total load of 450 flat wagons (to include contingency of 15%) and 115 vans (at 40 men per van) in 13 trains. Twenty-six years on from the last Great War and horse wagons bearing the infamous legend '8 chevaux or 40 hommes' was still a familiar sight for the fighting soldiers of the Allied armies in 1944.

    It’s the Wrong Wagon, Sarge!
    The observant reader would notice some anomalies in the pictures of the Overlord Military Train. There are vehicles which have been loaded onto the wrong wagons and contravene the regulations described above. And there is nothing worse to hurt ones pride than when a more knowledgeable 'expert' points out the discrepancies. In the next revamp of the model there will be changes made to the loading arrangements. The locomotive is a War Department Austerity 2-8-0 built from a Snowhill model. This loco was a development of the Stanier 2-8-0 goods loco and was re-designed by Mr RA Riddles to make it more suitable for production in years of war when most materials were of limited availability. The loco type has just one example in preservation at Keighley and Worth Railway, (number 90773). The type was developed onto the 2-10-0 and there are three examples at the Seven Valley Railway (600 Gordon), North York Moors, (3672 Dame Vera Lynn) and North Norfolk Railway (90775).

    References:
    1. IWM: PP/MCR/65: Captain AH Hastie; Movement Control RE:
    2. IWM: BM QM 01/41/01 to 03: Col SO Screen: Record of AFV Movements:
    3. IWM: BMQM 5/275 01/41/1 1944: Col SO Screen: Weekly Movement Reports;
    4. IWM: 01/41/3: AQMG mins: 14Mar44



    Appendix A: Weekly Movement Report for Railways 1944

    Date
    Wk End
    Event
    Item
    09Jan44

    by road, Tiger tank Chobham to Lulworth
    16Jan44
    Overlord
    train ferry terminals at Weymouth, Southampton x2, Dover (SR rail ferry);
    LST for rail rolling stock at Southampton x2,Folkestone, Dover x2.
    23Jan44
    Exercise Daddy
    unloading and movement at Shoreham.

    x5 Big Bobs in 90 cases arrived by road, taken in 13 wagons Glasgow to Watford;
    21Jan44
    Overlord
    Movement of naval ammo to dumps in rear of principal ports, then by motor transport to port.
    30Jan44

    25 wagons with Big Bob sections Glasgow to Watford
    06Feb44
    Exercise Daddy
    shipment of 80 wagons with 400 tons Aldershot to Southampton for loading.



    x500 USFlats 50ton made available by US Army to clear US traffic; x3 steam derricks, 26t, 41’13” long, 7’10” width, 4’6” high; x23 wagons for Big Bobs;
    20Feb44
    Exercise Chevrolet
    x7 special trains, (2 ammo, 3 petrol, 2 general) for loading onto vessel at Port Talbot;

    Rail terminal at Portsmouth Gunwharf Quay;
    27Feb44
    Exercise Cropper V
    600 tons dummy stores to 102 Beach Sub Area in Southampton, failure to contact 21st Army Group for regulation of movements,
    Overlord
    Freight traffic, agreement to have evening telecom for WD to hand over requirements to railway for next day movements;

    Laundry traffic; agreed to use Luton vans (road vans for conveyance of hats in Luton) to take laundry rather than rail;
    19Mar44
    Exercise Gold Braid
    Control of traffic to and from Southampton, timing of arrival of goods at ship for sorting and loading;
    Exceptional Load
    Motor launch, 30’4” x 8’6” x 8’6”, 6 ton, Cairanyon to Southampton,

    US 40 ton Refrigeration wagons lent to BR + 700 50t flats;
    Tests of wagon loading onto LST showed that loaded wagons cannot be shipped;
    02Apr44
    Exercise Gold Braid
    Special trains of x1 POL, x1 supply (39 wagons), x1 Engineer stores (32 wagons), x4 ammo (120 wagons), for loading at Southampton;
    Exercise Cargo VI
    Loading onto x3 coasters, (x2 at Portishead, x1 at Newport);
    Exceptional Load
    Steam crane, 26ton, 42’ long (longest piece), KGV dock Southampton to Redbridge Wharf;
    16Apr44
    Overlord
    Decision that only USA type locos should be shipped to Continent, but these are in South Wales and cannot be put onto SeaTrain ships in that area; Discussions on post hostilities for movements and respective roles of SHEAF, WO, US WD; Operation ORELOB; reverse of Bolero, closing down of US Army depots;
    30Apr44
    Exercise Roundabout
    No details of trains
    Exercise Cropper VII
    No details of trains
    Exercise Sebastian
    No details of trains

    US S160 movements, x60 locos from Ebbw Junction GWR to US depot Lockerley, Salisbury, in groups of one in steam and 4 others dead, separated by 2 wagons, movement to be carried in May44;
    Problem with supply of AFV securing chains;
    Overlord
    Problem with access to Poole Town Quay for x2 POL trains per day, decision to give trains traffic priority over cars;
    21May44

    Test to load a Churchill Crocodile tank and trailer onto one flat wagon unsuccessful;
    04Jun44

    On 31May44 test at Farnborough showed that Crocodile tank on one wagon and connected trailer on the next would work;
    11Jun44
    Exceptional Load
    x11 M10 SP Cardiff + x20 from Liverpool, out of gauge at 10’ 1/2”;
    18Jun44

    New Churchill VII being produced at 9’8” instead of 9’6”; exceeds loading gauge;

    x36 Churchill crocodiles, with connected trailer on next vehicle, moved from Farnborough to Portsmouth;
    16Jul44

    Request to move x76 static 3.7” AA guns + 27 generators + 18 vans from Glasgow/Leeds/Sheffield to Maidstone area; x1 special on 15Jul44 and 4 others, needing deep well wagons for the guns;
    23Jul44

    Intention to move DD tanks fully erected was cancelled when it was understood that they could not be moved out of the depot when loaded on a tank transporter;
    x2 special trains with x26 Terrapin amphibious vehicles on warwells, each 23’6” x 8’6” x 8’10”, and 8t.
    30Jul44

    US Army intends to withdraw 700 USflats for fitting with stanchions before use in France;
    06Aug44

    1,350 scout-cars and carriers moved from AFV depots to Crawley on 35 special trains as reserve vehicles for 21st Army Group due to no drivers available;
    03Sep44
    Exceptional Load
    x48 complete Big Bobs in 6 special trains of 240 wagons Dover to Elstree
    12Sep44

    x68 wagons Big Bobs from Dover to Elstree; x167 wagons Big Bobs from Ipswich to Elstree;

    Request to move x24 LCP of 29’ 6” x 9’ x 4’ 4” and 6t on x2 trains of warflats from Portsmouth to Preston on 11Sept44;

    Request to move x2 ramp cargo lighters 52’ x 18’6” x 6’9” 24t from Portsmouth to Glasgow;
    20Sep44

    Special train of Churchill Crocodiles with trailers from Bury St Edmunds to Swanwick;
    17Oct
    Exceptional Load
    x9 30’ x 9’ petrol storage tanks; x31 M10 SP;
    24Dec
    Exceptional Load
    x17 Bailey Bridges each on a special train from Thatcham to Southampton, each train of 48 wagons for pontoons, and 8 for ancillary items;
     
  11. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    The Overlord model train is having a makeover in readiness for the next running season so I thought that I would post the article which I produced some time ago to describe the model in more detail. There are some examples of exceptional loads which were carried on the wartime railways. I hope that the WW2talk modelers may be encouraged to getting building some of them.

    The Overlord Military Train: David Austin.

    Concept and Realisation.
    The idea of the Overlord train was conceived as just a small train of military vehicles on my freelance model of the Southern Railway in the pre-war years. The Southern Railway in the late 1930’s had three main types of traffic; mainline and branch passenger trains, which included the Pullman trains for the boat and airways travellers, big freight trains from the South Coast docks with perishable and bulk goods, and the military trains which conveyed the expeditionary forces to continental Europe.

    With this operational scenario in mind the military train was going to be key feature of running the layout as the South of England had been the kicking off point for all of the military expeditions to leave these shores. As far back as the time of the Spanish Armada in the 1588 the major ports of Southampton and Portsmouth have bid farewell to the warriors of the British Isles, and early in 1944 the largest ever invasion fleet was assembled in the ports of the South Coast and despatched to France. After the recent 60th anniversary of the Overlord landings there has been renewed interest in the D-Day invasion as it was probably the last big celebration of this momentous event in the history of warfare. This renewed awareness has heightened my interest in the landings, and the logistics of moving five divisions of men and material, mainly by railway, to the assembly areas on the South Coast for embarkation onto the invasion fleet was a huge undertaking of organisation and improvisation.

    At the start of the project there was little expectation of the outcome of this little modelling acorn, as in fact, it was only meant to be a little train of tanks on flat-wagons. But the internet is such a fantastic source of information, and after much research on the web and in the library produced photographs by the dozen, mostly with human stories of courage and derring-do. There are not many photographs of military railway trains in the war as the concerns of security have curtailed general access and restricted need, and those which are available are of troop carrying passenger trains, casualty ambulance trains, wagon freights with ammunition and stores, and long bulk trains with US made Sherman tanks or British made Cromwell type tanks on flat wagons. As the troop and freight trains are easily catered for by standard stock the tank carrying train is the subject of this model. However, the only photographs which feature military vehicles on the railway are shipments of new build tanks from the factories of the North to army units in the South.

    It was a great disappointment to find that the main model manufacturers such as Tamiya and Corgi, have only produced some soft skinned vehicles in the scale of 1:43, but no armoured tanks. The military modelling world usually uses scales of 1:35 and 1:50 but this scale will turn out models which are too far out of size to be practical. The closest popular scale for military vehicles is 1:48, but the range of availability in this scale is also limited.

    So idea of bulk trains with one vehicle type was looking un-achievable. It seemed that there was no consistent source of vehicles in the correct size or scale at a reasonable cost. However, the internet has produced many types of soft skinned military vehicles at very reasonable prices. There were jeeps and trucks exactly the right scale and size from Corgi, Shucco, Solido, and Cararama, with many variations on colour and army unit markings. Further, these mass produced models have been used by smaller firms to produce upgraded variations. The amount of information on the subject from the internet and books really started to hurt the grey matter, so all of this data was collated in a reference database to track and analyse the availability of suitable models. The key to finding the right vehicles was the size of the actual model, and not its scale, as it become clear that some models were incorrectly sized with some out-of-scale models being more suitable than others. It was a matter of trail and error to find the models which had a ‘best fit’. The database has been developed to contain details, for each vehicle type and manufacturers, with model numbers, and scale sizes, and this information allowed the selection of the vehicle which were correct for size and period, regardless of scale.

    Daring-Do and Great Deeds in Normandy
    Back to the real world and notwithstanding the dearth of photographs of railways carrying military vehicles, the coverage of the armed forces in the D-Day landings is much more prolific and interesting from the modellers point of view. The troops and vehicles of the invasion force were loaded into ships in the South Coast ports of Plymouth, Weymouth, Poole, Chichester, Southampton Railway docks, Portsmouth, and Newhaven. The hardware included all types and sizes of tanks, trucks, armoured carriers, jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles. The warriors were going into the unknown on defended beach in enemy territory and were unlikely to be supported during the first days of the landing. It was very noticeable that the main feature of the vehicles in the invasion force was that each and every one is loaded up to the hilt with personal gear, and covered with tent rolls, packs, helmets, oil cans, jerry cans, spare track links, spare wheels and other personal items. For the recent Overlord anniversary Corgi, Solido and Cararama have produced updates of the jeeps and small trucks, some with interesting details of personal packs and weapons. As most of these ranges are limited editions, individual vehicles can be quite scarce, but fortunately eBay is an excellent source of models, and many a happy hour has been whiled away in the search for the exclusive find. In something close to an obsession and a frenzy of plastic card abuse, the model military vehicle train started to take shape, and thirteen vehicles were delivered and loaded onto ten flat wagons. Each vehicle was detailed with personal packs and loads, and secured to the wagon with either chain or rope.

    The Overlord Military train made its first public appearance at the club in late 2005, and to critical acclaim as it was pronounced the winner of the Interesting Trains day, and with a mention in the Gauge O Guild newsletter. Not quite the Despatches but recognition enough

    But even though the military train was now a reality it was really galling that there were no armoured vehicles in my army, and particularly notable, there were no British military vehicles. So plans were drawn up to scratch build a suitable tank from plastic card with components from a Tamiya kit providing the detail. The chosen model was the Centaur Close Support tank, used by the Royal Marines, and an example of the Corgi model was used as a template. The Corgi model is highly detailed, with wading equipment, packs, tarpaulins, and markings on the turret for artillery observers. But in 1:50 scale is clearly too small in size to be used. However, it wasn’t too long into this little exercise of scratch building a tank from plastic sheet, that the construction of a whole train worth of tanks was going to be very long, very tedious process. As the Corgi model looked so realistic it was a shame to scrap it so the Centaur was paired with a Corgi model of a Cromwell tank, loaded onto a warflat wagon and marshalled with the military train for its next outing. In the context of a train running on tracks, and without the benefit of a figure in 1:43 to provide a measure of size, the train of out-of-scale tanks was a great success. But there was more, much much more to come.

    British Inventions and the Funnies.
    In the preparation for the assault the British were by far the most adventurous with specialised armoured vehicles in support of the assault troops on the beaches. The American Sherman tank and the jeep may be the enduring image of warriors going to war, but the lessons learnt in previous amphibious operations were fully acted on by the staff of the English military. The attempts of seaborne invasions of Gallipoli (1915), Norway (1940) and Dieppe (1942), were all lacking in vital equipment and detailed planning, and failed to achieve their objectives. To ensure success in 1944, the British army produced solutions of fantastic imagination and great success. The 79th Armoured Division was lead by Major-General Hobart and he was tasked by Churchill to support the attacking infantry forces with specialised armoured vehicles. The intention was to prevent a bloodbath on the beaches of Normandy and a repeat of the disaster at Dieppe where many Canadian soldiers were killed or captured. These machines were known as Hobart’s Funnies and included pragmatic solutions to the problems of overcoming defended shorelines, with modified tanks for mine clearing, demolition, bridging, anti-aircraft, swimming, and road building. The approach taken by Hobart's team was to identify specific problems in landing troops during the assault phase of the landings. A party of swimmers were sent in under the cover of darkness, and the eyes of the German defences, to bring back samples of the beach and other geological information. This was added to the vast amount of intelligence which had been gleaned from photographs and holiday postcards of the beaches. The problems of how to get vehicles and troops from the sea onto the beaches with enough equipment to assault the defences of the Atlantic Wall were quickly identified. On one beach a layer of clay was found on the beach which would have bogged down the assault tanks. The solution was the Bobbin carpet layer. A Churchill tank was fitted with a roll of flexible roadway carried on a rotating drum. As the tank proceeded up the beach the carpet unrolled under its track and the tank created its own roadway in the process of moving forward. As a part of the defences the German defenders had laid many millions of mines so the Crab tank was born. This version had a rotating drum carried on arms projecting from the front and turned by an engine. The drum had lengths of chain with heavy weights on the ends. As the drum rotated the weights hit the ground and detonated any mines. But the most amazing invention surely must have been the swimming or Duplex Drive tank. In this novel approach the assault troops were assured of leaving the landing craft with armoured Sherman tanks in support. The tanks were fitted with skirts of canvas and propellers. The skirts were raised by compressed air rams and formed a bath shaped hull whilst the prop drive allowed the tanks to swim through the sea at 5 knots. At sea the bulk of the tank was below the waterline and only a few inches of the hull was visible above the waves. The sight of these sea monsters arising from the surf into the beach left some of the defenders aghast with amazement. The swimming had been developed in between the wars and even the German army had experimented with the concept of Operation Sealion, the invasion of England. The army used any tanks which were available to create this veritable zoo of mongrels but the British Churchill tank proved to be the most versatile vehicle for adaptation into a 'funny'. These tanks were also used for bridging holes in the roads with deployable bridges, or for laying demolition charges against seawalls. Where a seawall on a beach was ten feet high or so, a Churchill tank was modified to be a ramp with trackways on its top in place of the turret. The tank was then driven up the side of the seawall to rest like a ladder against a wall. Other tanks could climb the first tank and gain the top of the seawall.

    As a reflection of the interest in these crazy inventions the military modelling world has taken the die-cast basic toy tanks which have been produced by Corgi and Solido and modified them to create these specialist vehicles. The box of worms was now and truly open, and there are now many more opportunities to increase the variation of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, AFV, on the military train.

    Wagons and More Wagons.
    The growing collection of suitable military vehicles for the model train was a step into the unknown. The escalation of the number of wagon loads meant that the train had become too heavy for a simple SECR C Class 0-6-0 tender loco, and further, heavier armoured tanks needed to be carried on specialised bogie flat wagons for transportation. In an attempt to keep the escalating costs under some measure of control a programme of mass wagon building was undertaken. Using styrene card and cast WD bogies a fleet of warflat, warwell and rectank wagons was constructed. The motive power also followed the evolution of the railways with big 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives being developed from existing freight engines.

    Genesis of the Wagons
    The Rectank originated in the WW1 and was the first purpose built railway wagon specifically designed to carrying AFV's weighing up to 35 tons. In the early days of the British tank the loading of the vehicles was by crane, but the Rectank flat wagon allowed tanks to be driven onto the train of wagons from a loading platform, moving from one wagon to another until it was parked. For those situations where a loading platform was not available a ramp wagon was provided to load tanks from ground level. These 4 wheel flat wagons were designed to have one axle set removed and the end to rest on the rails. Tanks were able to use the wagon as a ramp to drive up onto the train of wagons. The Warflat was next development of the wagons and was the answer to the increase in size and weight of tanks. This wagon was approved for Churchill tanks and other vehicles up to 50 tons. However, when the American built Sherman tank started to arrive in large numbers their size on the warflats caused problems with the restricted loading gauge on Southern railways. These tanks were the mainstay of the Allied armoured forces and stood very tall. The Warwell wagon was designed to carry the tanks in a well as its name suggests. These wagons came in two capacities of 50 and 80 tons. The load floor of the smaller wagon was 2 ft 6 in above rail height compared with 3ft 3 ¼ in for the higher capacity wagon.

    Models in the Train
    The method of construction of the models is very straightforward. The top deck is 0.6 mm sheet and is laid over the frame of sole-bars and headstocks made from 1mm sheet. Lateral members between the solebars form the framework of the chassis. To give some rigidity a lower sheet is added over the central part of the wagon leaving the bogie centres as an open frame. The bogie mounts are boxes of 1mm sheet of 20 x 10 x 10 mm with the long length transverse at the bogie centre. The buffers are made from tubular styrene, with 5mm outside diameter rams inside the next size tube acting as the buffer bodies, and sprung with thin piano wire. The buffers ends are circles cut-out from 0.7mm sheet of 10 mm diameter and cemented to a 1mm pad before being glued to the end of the ram. The bogies are cast white metal and fully sprung from ABS and are fitted with Slaters 3ft 1in diameter 3 hole wagon wheels. The Rectank wagons use 2ft 9in spoked wheels. The brake vans were converted from standard Parkside SR 25t brake vans, and following the prototypical modifications to the originals the end windows and side planking were altered, and a pair of large vacuum cylinders added to the end platforms. The ramp wagons were scratch built from styrene in the same manner as the flat wagons. Some of the wagons were planked and coffee stirring sticks were used for this purpose. The loads are secured by chains for tanks and AFV's, rope for trucks and jeeps. The chains are very fine, being 1mm links from Quarter Kit, and use container securing shackles from Slaters. The chain assembly is attached by 03mm nickel silver wire. The lower edges of the tyres of the wheeled vehicles are flatted to represent a loaded truck and tracked vehicles are scotched with lengths of railway sleeper in accordance with prototypical practice. Some of the vehicles are relatively heavy and the chain is very light so of necessity the heavy vehicles are glued to the wagons.

    Army Trainloads of Vehicles
    From research of the archives the typical AFV train was two or three passenger coaches, two brake vans, two ramp wagons and 5 or 9 flat bogie wagons. These were, in fact, trains which had been assembled and positioned in strategic locations ready for the immediate movement of tank formations in 1939. This precaution was taken to move armoured forces quickly to the coast in case our enemies desired to invade the shores of Britain. With the co-operation of the railways the military produced the Guide Manual for AFV Movements which prescribes the wagon load combinations to comply with the railway loading gauge.

    AFV
    Loading
    Wagon
    Comments
    Matilda, Covenanter
    Crusader, Valentine, Light tanks, Light Armoured cars
    pair
    Warflat

    Churchill, Cavalier, Centaur, Cromwell, OP Tanks
    single

    Challenger
    Comet
    na
    Not rail carried

    US Grant, Lee , Sherman, SP 25pdr Ram
    single
    Warwell

    Churchill AVRE
    single
    Warflat
    All attachments removed
    Churchill Bridge Layer
    na
    Not by rail

    Valentine / Covenanter Bridge Layer
    See comments
    x3 rectanks or x3 Warflats
    Two tanks on one wagon, their bridges on another 2 wagons
    Crocodile trailers
    See comments


    warflat
    Loose chocked on one wagon and connected to tank on next wagon,
    17pdr Valentine SP
    pair
    Low well
    Floor less than 2’2”
    M7 SP 105mm, M10 3”,
    M10 17pdr,
    na
    Not by rail
    M10’s were carried as exceptional loads, on well wagons with 2’2” height from rail.
    Medium Armoured car, Armoured Command Vehicle
    pair
    Warflat or Rectank


    Special Loads and Likely Projects
    In the build-up to Overlord a number of movements with exceptional loads and special trains were recorded and these are described in Appendix A: Weekly Movement Report 1944. The interesting trains loads which merit consideration as a modelling project include, loads of naval ammunition, 42 foot long steam derricks, a 30 foot motor launch, 52 foot cargo lighter boats, 30 foot Landing Craft, 3.7 inch anti aircraft guns and equipment, Bailey bridges, Terrapin amphibious trucks on Warwells, and Crocodile flame-thrower tanks complete with trailers. These tanks were based on the ubiquitous Churchill with an armoured trailer to carry the inflammable mixture. The trailer units weighed 4 tons and were permanently coupled to the tank. The largest warflat wagon was only qualified for a single Churchill. It is not difficult to imagine the men of the railway and the Royal Engineers pondering the problem of safely loading the pair of steel monsters onto the wagons. The pragmatism and ingenuity of the British engineer soon arrived at workable solution. The tank was secured onto one end of a warflat and its trailer sat on the end of the next wagon in the train, still coupled to its parent like an unruly child. It was lateral thinking at its best. This pragmatic approach was hardly going to win a health and safety award but there was a war on. The remaining space on the two wagons was taken up by a light tank or small truck, or the next trailer of the Crocodile.

    As the tanks were developed to meet the demands of war there were limitations on the vehicles which could be carried. And for the movement of vehicles by rail it was determined that wheeled vehicles for 200 miles, tracked carriers could be conveyed for distances of 150 miles, tracked AFV's for 100 miles, and tanks for 50 miles. The vehicles were permitted to be fully fuelled and armed with ammunition but the speed of the train was limited to 30 mph. On the Southern Railway with its smaller clearances the permitted top speed was reduced to 25 mph.

    Vehicle
    Issue
    Comment
    Crusader AA 1+2, 95mm SP, 17pdr SP,
    Loading gauge,

    25pdr Mark 3A, M3 75mm MGC, M7 105mm MGC,
    M10 3“ SP
    Loading gauge,
    Can be loaded to wagons with height of well floor 2’ 2“ from rail;
    Challenger, Crab, Baron, Scorpion, Comet, Churchill Bridgelayer, Sherman DD, Valentine DD,
    Not to be moved by rail
    The smaller bridge layer tanks could be carried on several wagons; see table above;
    AFV with wading equipped, ARVE, Crocodiles, AFV with Y security, AFV with experimental fittings
    To be sheeted.

    Cromwell VII and Challenger with 15 ½ “ tracks
    .Loading gauge
    Can be transported when fitted with 14 ½” tracks if absolutely essential

    At the height of the build-up to the Overlord operation there were 511 train movements in February 1944 of AFV, 54 of which were for the US army.

    Number of Vehicles
    Description
    Owner
    Comment
    170
    35t Rectank
    Railways

    210
    50t Warflat
    War Department

    250
    50t Warwell
    War Department

    64
    80t Warwell
    War Department

    50
    50 t Warwell
    Ministry of Supply

    25
    20t Deep case
    Ministry of Air


    Oopps!.
    During an exhibition of the Overlord model train an old railwayman related a story of how the army demonstrated the loading of tanks onto the new warwell wagons. The driver of a tank was instructed to carefully drive along the row of wagons from the loading platform, climbing out of and falling into the wells of each wagon in turn, keeping the heavy vehicle on the narrow pathway of the wagons. The visibility from the tank is very limited and normally the tank commander or a marshaller provides guidance instructions. The demonstration was proceeding smoothly and the whole of the train or several wagons was traversed without problem. When the train ended at the last wagon the tank driver didn’t see that it had and the tank promptly fell off the wagon buffers onto the track with an almighty crash. The reaction of the officer in charge or the watching senior officers wasn’t recorded but I would image that the tank driver was shaken somewhat but not stirred.

    Big Trains and Heavy Loads
    The history of the No 5 Movement Control Royal Engineers, (RE) describes huge trains and worn out locomotives in Continental France in 1944. The unit of 45 officers and 190 men controlled the movement of many thousand trains in France in 1944. The usual load for French locos was 750 tons, but sometimes 1,400 tons was loaded behind a 4-6-0 Pacific. These were fairly worn out from a lack of maintenance and the poor crews must have worked hard to get the thing to move at all. There were two main train types: trains with 10 flat wagons, 2 coaches, and a number of vans. These were mainly for mainly for transport personnel and was designated P. The other type was for trains with vehicles, coded V, and carrying lorries, armoured vehicles, cars, and guns on 46 flat wagons , with 1 coach, and 4 to 6 vans. It was reckoned that 35 flat wagons took 2 hours to load and could run for 120 miles on most days. In the chaos of war which was raging at the time the equivalent road journey took twice as long. The capacity of the loading terminal was the main limiting factor for big train loads provided that enough motive power was available to move the end result. The RE worked to the criteria of train loading that determined how many wagons were needed to transport an army unit of 4000 men and 500 vehicles. This movement required a total load of 450 flat wagons (to include contingency of 15%) and 115 vans (at 40 men per van) in 13 trains. Twenty-six years on from the last Great War and horse wagons bearing the infamous legend '8 chevaux or 40 hommes' was still a familiar sight for the fighting soldiers of the Allied armies in 1944.

    It’s the Wrong Wagon, Sarge!
    The observant reader would notice some anomalies in the pictures of the Overlord Military Train. There are vehicles which have been loaded onto the wrong wagons and contravene the regulations described above. And there is nothing worse to hurt ones pride than when a more knowledgeable 'expert' points out the discrepancies. In the next revamp of the model there will be changes made to the loading arrangements. The locomotive is a War Department Austerity 2-8-0 built from a Snowhill model. This loco was a development of the Stanier 2-8-0 goods loco and was re-designed by Mr RA Riddles to make it more suitable for production in years of war when most materials were of limited availability. The loco type has just one example in preservation at Keighley and Worth Railway, (number 90773). The type was developed onto the 2-10-0 and there are three examples at the Seven Valley Railway (600 Gordon), North York Moors, (3672 Dame Vera Lynn) and North Norfolk Railway (90775).

    References:
    1. IWM: PP/MCR/65: Captain AH Hastie; Movement Control RE:
    2. IWM: BM QM 01/41/01 to 03: Col SO Screen: Record of AFV Movements:
    3. IWM: BMQM 5/275 01/41/1 1944: Col SO Screen: Weekly Movement Reports;
    4. IWM: 01/41/3: AQMG mins: 14Mar44



    Appendix A: Weekly Movement Report for Railways 1944

    Date
    Wk End
    Event
    Item
    09Jan44

    by road, Tiger tank Chobham to Lulworth
    16Jan44
    Overlord
    train ferry terminals at Weymouth, Southampton x2, Dover (SR rail ferry);
    LST for rail rolling stock at Southampton x2,Folkestone, Dover x2.
    23Jan44
    Exercise Daddy
    unloading and movement at Shoreham.

    x5 Big Bobs in 90 cases arrived by road, taken in 13 wagons Glasgow to Watford;
    21Jan44
    Overlord
    Movement of naval ammo to dumps in rear of principal ports, then by motor transport to port.
    30Jan44

    25 wagons with Big Bob sections Glasgow to Watford
    06Feb44
    Exercise Daddy
    shipment of 80 wagons with 400 tons Aldershot to Southampton for loading.



    x500 USFlats 50ton made available by US Army to clear US traffic; x3 steam derricks, 26t, 41’13” long, 7’10” width, 4’6” high; x23 wagons for Big Bobs;
    20Feb44
    Exercise Chevrolet
    x7 special trains, (2 ammo, 3 petrol, 2 general) for loading onto vessel at Port Talbot;

    Rail terminal at Portsmouth Gunwharf Quay;
    27Feb44
    Exercise Cropper V
    600 tons dummy stores to 102 Beach Sub Area in Southampton, failure to contact 21st Army Group for regulation of movements,
    Overlord
    Freight traffic, agreement to have evening telecom for WD to hand over requirements to railway for next day movements;

    Laundry traffic; agreed to use Luton vans (road vans for conveyance of hats in Luton) to take laundry rather than rail;
    19Mar44
    Exercise Gold Braid
    Control of traffic to and from Southampton, timing of arrival of goods at ship for sorting and loading;
    Exceptional Load
    Motor launch, 30’4” x 8’6” x 8’6”, 6 ton, Cairanyon to Southampton,

    US 40 ton Refrigeration wagons lent to BR + 700 50t flats;
    Tests of wagon loading onto LST showed that loaded wagons cannot be shipped;
    02Apr44
    Exercise Gold Braid
    Special trains of x1 POL, x1 supply (39 wagons), x1 Engineer stores (32 wagons), x4 ammo (120 wagons), for loading at Southampton;
    Exercise Cargo VI
    Loading onto x3 coasters, (x2 at Portishead, x1 at Newport);
    Exceptional Load
    Steam crane, 26ton, 42’ long (longest piece), KGV dock Southampton to Redbridge Wharf;
    16Apr44
    Overlord
    Decision that only USA type locos should be shipped to Continent, but these are in South Wales and cannot be put onto SeaTrain ships in that area; Discussions on post hostilities for movements and respective roles of SHEAF, WO, US WD; Operation ORELOB; reverse of Bolero, closing down of US Army depots;
    30Apr44
    Exercise Roundabout
    No details of trains
    Exercise Cropper VII
    No details of trains
    Exercise Sebastian
    No details of trains

    US S160 movements, x60 locos from Ebbw Junction GWR to US depot Lockerley, Salisbury, in groups of one in steam and 4 others dead, separated by 2 wagons, movement to be carried in May44;
    Problem with supply of AFV securing chains;
    Overlord
    Problem with access to Poole Town Quay for x2 POL trains per day, decision to give trains traffic priority over cars;
    21May44

    Test to load a Churchill Crocodile tank and trailer onto one flat wagon unsuccessful;
    04Jun44

    On 31May44 test at Farnborough showed that Crocodile tank on one wagon and connected trailer on the next would work;
    11Jun44
    Exceptional Load
    x11 M10 SP Cardiff + x20 from Liverpool, out of gauge at 10’ 1/2”;
    18Jun44

    New Churchill VII being produced at 9’8” instead of 9’6”; exceeds loading gauge;

    x36 Churchill crocodiles, with connected trailer on next vehicle, moved from Farnborough to Portsmouth;
    16Jul44

    Request to move x76 static 3.7” AA guns + 27 generators + 18 vans from Glasgow/Leeds/Sheffield to Maidstone area; x1 special on 15Jul44 and 4 others, needing deep well wagons for the guns;
    23Jul44

    Intention to move DD tanks fully erected was cancelled when it was understood that they could not be moved out of the depot when loaded on a tank transporter;
    x2 special trains with x26 Terrapin amphibious vehicles on warwells, each 23’6” x 8’6” x 8’10”, and 8t.
    30Jul44

    US Army intends to withdraw 700 USflats for fitting with stanchions before use in France;
    06Aug44

    1,350 scout-cars and carriers moved from AFV depots to Crawley on 35 special trains as reserve vehicles for 21st Army Group due to no drivers available;
    03Sep44
    Exceptional Load
    x48 complete Big Bobs in 6 special trains of 240 wagons Dover to Elstree
    12Sep44

    x68 wagons Big Bobs from Dover to Elstree; x167 wagons Big Bobs from Ipswich to Elstree;

    Request to move x24 LCP of 29’ 6” x 9’ x 4’ 4” and 6t on x2 trains of warflats from Portsmouth to Preston on 11Sept44;

    Request to move x2 ramp cargo lighters 52’ x 18’6” x 6’9” 24t from Portsmouth to Glasgow;
    20Sep44

    Special train of Churchill Crocodiles with trailers from Bury St Edmunds to Swanwick;
    17Oct
    Exceptional Load
    x9 30’ x 9’ petrol storage tanks; x31 M10 SP;
    24Dec
    Exceptional Load
    x17 Bailey Bridges each on a special train from Thatcham to Southampton, each train of 48 wagons for pontoons, and 8 for ancillary items;
     
    Za Rodinu likes this.
  12. jeep688

    jeep688 Junior Member

    Hi Commander
    You are indeed an inspiration. I have a 1/43 Jeep in bits at the moment having found a tiny motor (for 009) that fits under the bonnet I had intended to drive the front axle via a belt and pulley but so far have been un successfull. May I ask where the motor is in yours I suspect in the load in the back!. I have a real jeep, but as yet have not found suitable railway wheels to fit on it. I doubt Network Rail would let me take it for a spin anyway.

    I have started a military train with 3 rectanks so far, I have just designed my first wagon on cad which is a warflat see attached, after measuring the one at Shildon. I am just waiting to find the correct buffers. I see you made yours up. I am planning a warwell next, may I ask where you sourced your plans from as I am finding it difficult to find details of the angular restraints on the bed of the wagon that stopped the tracks from going sideways. Also trying to find a preserved one nearby, up north.

    I have a few solido shermans which I think seem about the correct size as they are about the same width as the warflat bed and are bigger than the corgi 1/50 scale ones. The tracks are not too great though. Shame no body does a ww1 tank for the rectanks.

    Would I be correct in spotting your jeep and military train in the RM article on leamington spa?

    Keep up the good work

    Regards Stu
     

    Attached Files:

  13. jeep688

    jeep688 Junior Member

    another shot of the warflat
     

    Attached Files:

  14. CommanderChuff

    CommanderChuff Senior Member

    Hallo Stu,

    Thank you for your kind comments and I have sent a PM to enquire in your continued interest in the models. I havent been on the forum for some time but hope that you have made progress on your model.

    For the benefit of sharing my work/info with the other forum members I have replied to your specfic queries below;
    I have a 1/43 Jeep in bits at the moment having found a tiny motor (for 009) that fits under the bonnet I had intended to drive the front axle via a belt and pulley but so far have been un successfull. May I ask where the motor is in yours I suspect in the load in the back!. Indeed, I have used a small motor and 108:1 gearbox from High level kits in the rear deck and hiddent by the load of boxes. The main problem is lack of weight for traction and gearing with very small wheels.

    I have a real jeep, but as yet have not found suitable railway wheels to fit on it. I doubt Network Rail would let me take it for a spin anyway. I was inspired by a picture of jeep on rails at an 1940's re-enactment at Bristol docks. The chap has made up wheels, (just like the soldiers did in 1944) and put the jeep on the rails.

    I have started a military train with 3 rectanks so far, I have just designed my first wagon on cad which is a warflat see attached, after measuring the one at Shildon. I am just waiting to find the correct buffers. Great model, really looks the part. Love the end buffer detail, I am afraid that I have bodged mine a bit on the basis that the wagon end detail is lost when the train is coupled together and running around, and I have used styrene sheet. Graham at Gramodels is now doing a set of buffers for these wagons.

    I am planning a warwell next, may I ask where you sourced your plans from as I am finding it difficult to find details of the angular restraints on the bed of the wagon that stopped the tracks from going sideways. Also trying to find a preserved one nearby, up north. Happy to send details if you still need them.

    Shame no body does a ww1 tank for the rectanks. See comments above for Gramodels.

    Would I be correct in spotting your jeep and military train in the RM article on leamington spa? That is my train on the Pete Waterman layout, and I regularly run it at my local model railway club.

    Thanks for your interest again, and hopefully we will see some more posts in the railway section of this forum.
     

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