The LNER Encyclopedia

Hallo,
I wonder if anyone can help with a line drawing side view of the A4 in prewar condition. My reason for asking is that I would like to apply the A4 style of streamlining to a fictitious 4-8-4, of which I have already produced two variations.

URL:

http://www.kropplenburg.de/rsr/pages/n62434D.html
http://www.kropplenburg.de/rsr/pages/n94434DD.html
http://www.kropplenburg.de/rsr/pages/t06434DE.html

Many thanks for any help you can give me.

Artur Gorote
RSR works
Bevice

Saint Johnstoun has various very accurate line drawings of A4's, but if he's not willing to let you butcher it for a 4-8-4, I can provide mine via email

EDIT: A quick scaled down preview; I have just noticed how incorrect the '1's are on my fleet and I am currently correcting them. Still no luck with finding gill sans for free yet though

This GA is available on the internet, it's not very detailed or of high resolution, but you should be able to get a the shape of the streamlining from it.

Hello Artur - I see you have taken the art of "never was" to an altogether higher level. You appear to have invented a whole new central European country to provide a plausible set of reasons for the locomotives. Fascinating!

You may already have seen this:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2443&start=330

G'Day Gents

I wonder if you know that the Pennsy T1's were copied by the South Australian Railways, who produced a non articulated version in 1944, these 'light mountains, gave good service up until the lat 60's, two have been preserved, here in South Australia, and are famed for there speediness and light axle loading, a H0 model is available, (somewhere) as I've seen them a model railway shows.

Here's the the real thing.

Many thanks for your replies, gentlemen.

Thank you, Blackout60800, for the coloured illustration. I intend to apply both Jubilee and Coronation livery to the RSR locos. There is a very nice pull-out illustration of the Coronation in Brian Hollingsworth's "Steam Passenger Locomotives" (Salamander, London, 1982 - ISBN 0-86101-106-6). There is however potential for conflict, as there may not always be an engine of the "right" colour available (vide 455AA - http://www.kropplenburg.de/rsr/pages/n96455AA.html). This is something I quite forgot when "doing" the 434DE. Duh! And as I recall, the LNER had just the same "problem". I'm also debating whether to create new coaches for the A4-styled 4-8-4, rather than just repaint those Eurovision ones. And thanks for the online tip, EHeaps, I'll bear that in mind.

Many thanks, Atlantic 3279, for your compliments on my modest effort. And /my/ compliments to /you/ on your 4-8-2 "Streak".

manna, your SAR 4-8-4s are also well know in Germany (where I am based). I must say though I prefer the front-end cowling of no. 520. According to Wikipedia, the class 520 streamlining was indeed inspired by the Pennsy T1.

Best regards
Artur Gorote
RSR Works
Bevice

I have a coloured coronation version too (only livery I have yet to do is BR experimental purple)

You're way ahead of me, Blackout!

My drawing technique is quite simple though, with MS paint. My current locos up to my full standard are Peppercorn A1, Gresley A1, A3, A4, V2 and EE Deltic. Works in progress are DP2 and Peppercorn A2. I'll either re-do my D11 or do an EM1 after that.

Here's my livery samples for you. Quite a bit of research in these, I hope they meet everyone's standards: Left to right: Garter blue, stainless steel, maroon, Br blue, Br green, LNER grey and LNER apple green

manna wrote:G'Day Gents

I wonder if you know that the Pennsy T1's were copied by the South Australian Railways, who produced a non articulated version in 1944, these 'light mountains, gave good service up until the lat 60's, two have been preserved, here in South Australia, and are famed for there speediness and light axle loading, a H0 model is available, (somewhere) as I've seen them a model railway shows.

Here's the the real thing.

Morning Manna,

The T1's weren't articulated either. The Pennsy built them with rigid frames for the two sets of powered axles, in the hopes of using the arrangement to balance the hammerblows of the pistons. They were a pig to balance in traffic, though. The best balance was obtained by offsetting one of the drives by 45 degrees compared to the other, but due to their incessant wheelslipping, even at 80mph, this rarely held true. Like the GN Atlantics, crew reckoned they needed stirrups to work them.

Many thanks again, gentlemen, for your helpful replies.

The first quick-and-dirty draft of A4-styled 455A (455AB) is done. Proportions need more work, as do colour, cab and tender. See final entry on this page:

http://www.kropplenburg.de/rsr/pages/ModernExp.html

The first problem when drawing up this loco was the loss of smokebox volume. The reason, of course, is that the streamlining of the A4 was not an afterthought like that of the NYC J3a or LMS Duchess but integral to the design. Only by shortening the boiler barrel and shifting the chimney back was I able to compensate. The chimney housing still looks a bit like a pimple on a peanut, though.

More to follow.

Best regards
Artur Gorote
RSR Works
Bevice

The first draft of the 455AB is also attached in a smaller format, which saves ftp and other internet and website work but leads to lost resolution.
I have also a number of working drawings that would be simpler to attach to the posts but they are quite large. Is there any limit on attachment file size?

Many thanks

Artur Gorote

I love the garratt

EDIT: A little bit of critique over my V2 would be greatly appreciated: http://2509-silverlink.deviantart.com/#/d54tr7o

A couple of things strike me about your V2, Blackout. The first is the brilliant LNER apple green livery. Hats off! The second is that black components, when rendered in black in a digital graphic, lose all their detail. I had the same problem with the RSR drawings. I'd suggest making them dark grey, just light enough for black outlines to show. For the RSR I set the colour to 70% black. A third point is down to MS Paint, which seems to lack any kind of anti-aliasing facility, causing harsh stepped lines. MS bundled software tends to be a bit primitive, which is, of course, no fault of the user's. Fourthly, I'd include the rail. It helps to round off the drawing at the bottom, give it a foundation.

My own graphics are made in two stages: (1) Vector graphic with CorelDRAW. This allows you to zoom in on small details. It also allows you to keep standard elements such as wheels and buffers in a library. Display with anti-alias and take screenshot with "Print" key. (2) Paste screenshot to CorelPHOTO and crop, then save as jpg.

I was able to obtain a licence for the latest-but-one version of Corel from the German mailorder firm http://www.pearl.de for 99 euros, as against over 600 for the latest. I'm sure there are firms in England who have similar offers. I reckon 100 quid or so is not a bad investment for the functionality it offers.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks for your compliments on my Garratt but which one, specifically?

Getting to know the functionality here a bit better, I'll chance attaching the working drawing to the 455AB.

Best regards

Artur

The 115A

Thanks for the comment on my apple green livery , and I'll think about rails for the future. I tried them once but I couldn't get then to look 'in scale' with the locos

Since what I do is not professionial, I'm not keen on spending any money on it so I make do with MS paint.