RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. COLONIAL LINES: GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA, 1897-1910

RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. COLONIAL LINES: GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA, 1897-1910

In the last decades of the 19th century and the first one of the 20th century, all the great European powers were constantly expanding their colonial territories, particularly in Africa. Needless to say, the natives usually resented being forcibly civilised and there were constant skirmishes, between them and the settlers, occasionally developing into full scale wars. The Germans were fairly late in the field but, once they started, they did the job of colonisation with their usual thoroughness. South-West Africa, where they were constantly battling with both the climate and the main resident tribe, the Hereros, provides an excellent example of the use of railways in small colonial wars. Starting in 1897, from an open roadstead at Swakopmund where only light equipment could be discharged, the German military authorities constructed a 60-cm. gauge 'field railway' (Feldbahn) inland over the desert of Windhoek, some 382 km. in all. This was regarded as a military railway, was built and operated by an army Railway Brigade (in fact a weak battalion) and, besides supplying the troops and colonists, acted as a proving ground for military light railway equipment.

Zwillinge o-6-oTs and auxiliary tender (Germany)

Initial motive power of the railway was standard military equipment sent out from army stores. It comprised an unknown number of twin unit o-6-oTs known as 'Zwillinge' (twins). These were each composed of two 0-6-0T locomotives permanently coupled back to back and designed, so it was said, to be worked in multiple. In fact, this 'design' extended only to the provision of overlapping footplates and cab roofs of different heights, since the only mechanical connection was the drawbar and, later, a water hose. Each double-unit had a single running number, the individual locomotives having а В (low cab) or A (high cab) suffix. A double unit weighed 14 tons 1*5 cwt in working order, with a wheel diameter of 1 ft 1 of in. and a total wheelbase of 17 ft 3 J in.

These units and similar, though slightly stronger, ones delivered later were used both as delivered and, split, as single units ('Illinge'). Because of the long distance between usable water supplies they were soon equipped with auxiliary bogie water tenders, another standard piece of military equipment which even had seats installed for armed escorts. These must have seriously reduced the already small loads that the Zwillinge could haul and they were, in fact, found to be almost useless on steep grades, especially the climb through River Khan Gorge.

Krauss 0-8-0T for State Northern Railway

As a result of the weakness of the Zwillinge, two o-8-oTs, again to an army design, were ordered from Krauss & Co. in 1901 and sent out to act as bankers on the Khan Gorge section. In practice it appears that they usually took over the train entirely, working in tandem; they could pull 25 tonnes up the severe grades by this method. These locomotives and their successors can be considered as experimental prototypes for the later World War One's o-8-oTs. With a boiler pressure of 170 lb/sq in., two outside cylinders in. by n-f-§-in., a coupled wheel diameter of 25! in. and a coupled wheelbase of 16 ft in., they were rated at 60 h.p. as against the 40 h.p. of an Illing. They also had to tow water trailers.

Jung 0-8-0T for State Northern Railway

The o-8-oTs were so successful that eighteen similar machines, differing slightly in power and detail design, were produced over the next four years by various makers; no doubt the military were evaluating various items of equipment, notably the Klien-Lindner method of wheelbase articulation, since this locomotive No. 116 (Arnold Jung 814 of 1905) appears to have the jointed coupling rods associated with such a design. It also shows the typical German spark-arrester chimney fitted to most of the locomotive son the State Northern line.

Klien-Lindner method of axle articulation

The vital requirement for military 60-cm. gauge railway locomotives was that they should be capable of traversing sharp curves, and that they should not seriously distort light track while doing so. The efforts to solve this problem were essentially similar and probably stemmed from the experiments on 15 in. gauge equipment carried out by the British baronet Sir Arthur Heywood during the 1880s and 1890s. All required linked sleeve axles pivoting to give some side play to the end coupled wheels and

the Klien-Lindner arrangement (sometimes known as the Krauss-Lindner) was the standard German army adaptation for o-8-oTs. As can be seen, the two inner axles were fixed normally in the frames. Each outer axle unit comprised a fixed beam axle, in the centre of which was a spherical portion holding a vertical pivot. An outer sleeve being of greater diameter than the main axle, and having the wheels integral with it, was pivoted by this means and could therefore swivel to a limited degree. The coupling rods had a form of universal joint to give some flexibility and the swivelling axles were linked by yokes to ensure accurate and symmetrical 'tracking'.

Feldbahn 0-8-0T and auxiliary tender

The end result of the Swakopmund experiments was the 'standard' German army 60-cm. gauge 0-8-0T, equipped with spark-arrester, Klien-Lindner radial axles and an enlarged version of the old auxiliary tender. It is fully described in Plate 77, and the tender in Plate 85, but is shown here to illustrate the logical conclusion of the South-West African equipment programme.

Motor inspection trolley (60 cm. gauge)

The German colonial military railways were among the first to realise the value of internal combustion engined equipment for use on light field railways. Typical of the early vehicles is this 4-wheeled petrol-engined machine used on the Swakopmund-Windhoek line during the early years of the present century for inspection purposes. Not much is known about it but it does show the typical arrangement of reversible box-seats with the engine stowed underneath them, a feature common to most inspection trolleys for the next thirty years and more. Typical, too, is the haughty mien of the officer passenger and the humble attitude of his 'other-rank' chauffeur.

Drewry inspection car and trailer (U.K.)

Just to make the point that engined trolley design appears to have progressed only slowly is this drawing of a 'standard' Drewry Car Co. trolley for 4 ft 8J in. gauge, with a No. 2 matching trailer. This car was in use in the 1930s and is of very much the same basic design as its earlier German colleague.