RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. LIGHT RAILWAY LOADS (60-cm. gauge)

RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. LIGHT RAILWAY LOADS (60-cm. gauge)

One of the more surprising things about the tactical 'field* railways that sprung up during World War One was their versatility. They could—and did—carry almost everything since the overall bogie wagon capacity of about 10 tons was usually more than sufficient. Indeed the only cargo likely to overtax a wagon, and thus lead to empty space in it, was the ammunition for medium and heavy artillery. In this case, 10 tons of shell, distributed, normally took up only about two-thirds of the available floor space; otherwise the load was restricted only by cubic capacity.

It was for this reason that the French and British designed well-wagon variants of their standard vehicles. The plates show the most efficient examples, the British 'E' class (sided) and 'F' class (flat with stanchions) which had many parts interchangeable with their 'D' class equivalent. It will be noticed that, as in the French design, the vehicle was not a true well-wagon with cranked underframe, but simply had the centre portion between bogies dropped to form a stout box. This had the dual advantage of lowering the centre of gravity when light loads were carried and of allowing the main underframe solebars to be unbroken from end to end. The latter feature retained the structural strength of the original standard design without a weight penalty but did hamper unloading of small heavy items (e.g. cases of small arms ammunition)—hence the retention of the standard non-well-wagon for many purposes. The plates show typical loads carried by the light railways and for which well-vehicles were suited.

'E' class wagon loaded with heavy shells

The unbroken underframe girders made it quite possible to carry a full load of heavy shells which were normally stacked over the bogies in any case; the positioning made a wagon more stable and avoided placing too much strain on the underframe centre. The centre 'well' of an 'E' class came in very useful for the odd roll of barbed wire and other light battery stores that might be needed.

'F' class well-wagon with forage

A fairly common load for the light railways was horse and mule fodder. In the case of this light load, the extra cubic capacity of a well-wagon was extremely useful, and the stanchioned variety more convenient than a sided one which had only one door each side.

'E' class wagon with wreckage (aircraft)

Crashed aircraft were uncommon loads, though occasionally conveyed, but the drawing symbolises all the salvage that made up a good part of light railway traffic especially during the aftermath of an offensive.

'D' class wagon with ballast

Lastly for comparison, this shows a standard non-well-wagon carrying a load for which a flat floor and drop sides throughout were essential. Almost a quarter of light railways traffic was constructional, either ballast and track material for themselves or road-making material as shown here.

ROLLING-STOCK JIGSAWS (60-cm. gauge)

One of the most dearly loved concepts of the military railway designers was the all-purpose vehicle. The French started it with their '40 or 50 hommes, 8 chevaux'

goods vans on the standard gauge (Plate 151). The British, in particular, took up the idea on the 60-cm. gauge with what might almost be called universal pack-away wagons.

'A' class 4-wheeled wagon (U.K.)

The very first 'standard' 60-gauge vehicle for W.D. light railways was the 'A* class wagon introduced late in 1915. This was a small 4-wheeled vehicle, 7 ft 4| in. long by 4 ft wide (over body), having sprung axleboxes, proper centre buffer-couplers and a ratchet brake. It was designed for either locomotive or mule haulage, side chains or staples being provided for affixing the swingletrees of mule teams, and was essentially a high sided wagon of normal pattern. The sides, however, were hinged to fold flat across the wagon floor and the ends had pivoting hinges to enable them to be raised slightly and then folded down on top of the flattened sides. The vehicle could thus become a rather thick-floored flat wagon (Plate 122) and for this role it was equipped with four corner sockets each holding a massive stanchion. Three ring bolts were provided on each side of the solebar for securing loads. The wagons, of which two variants existed, tared either 17 cwt or 18 cwt and had a disposable load of about 3\ tons.

'P' class 4-wheeled wagon (U.K.)

In some ways a rather more sophisticated return to the 'A' class was the 'P' class wagon produced by the British towards the end of the war. Like the 'A' class it was 4-wheeled, with sprung axleboxes and a ratchet brake, but there the comparison ended. The 'P* class was especially designed for transfer work between W.D. light railways and the light trench tramways. It therefore was capable of locomotive or tractor haulage on suitable track, but also had an axle-load and capacity (i ton) suitable for man haulage over the light 9 lb/yd rails of the forward area tramways. Its bodywork was even more versatile than that of the 'A' class. Basically a flat wagon, it could quickly be fitted with barred ends dropping into stanchion sockets and capable of supporting two tiers of stretchers. For dual purpose work these could be supplemented by hinged sides, latticed for lightness, which could be either folded down on to the floor or removed entirely when needed. As a final variant the 'stretcher' ends could be quickly replaced by latticed ones matching the sides. Any combination of these variations was possible! Wagon length over solebars was 6 ft 6 in.; width 4 ft.

'B' and 'C' class wagons (U.K.)

The next British designs were even more ingenious—probably too much so since subsequent standard wagons became simpler and more specialised. These wagons were the 'B' class 4-wheelers and the 'C' class bogie vehicles both introduced early in 1916. As can be seen from the plates they were developments of the earlier theme. Each vehicle was basically a flat wagon on to which side and end panels could be either socketed or hinged. The new feature was that the 'B' class wagon was exactly half the length of a

'C' class which in turn had each of its sides made up from two strongly braced panels. Both these and the wagon ends were therefore standardised between the classes as was most of the running gear— wheels and axleboxes in particular. The idea was obviously to produce wagons capable of easy cannibalisation in case of damage by enemy fire but it would appear that the ease with which detachable items could be dumped and lost outweighed the advantages. Certainly later vehicles had their bits and pieces firmly attached.

Standard well-wagons (France)

The French artillery railways also had their moments of ingenuity. They did have a standard sided bogie wagon but they also had, especially for carriage of fodder and shells, the pattern of vehicle shown here. This was basically a heavy, plate-framed flat wagon with a central well to give a low centre of gravity when carrying heavy ammunition. It was fitted with removable stanchions at sides and ends, had ring bolts fixed along each side of the frame and could be either locomotive or mule-hauled. Its interest lay in the fact that the complete under-frame-body shell was built in one piece and could simply be lifted bodily off the bogies. These in turn were capable of acting as independent units. Fitted with bolsters revolving on the bogie pivot ring and linked by a long cylindrical tie bar, they immediately became a timber wagon capable of carrying wood beams, rails or other long objects. A kit as supplied by the manufacturers consisted of one body, one bolster, one pole and two bogies, each of the latter having а рillar hand-brake. Presumably only one bolster was supplied because it was thought unlikely that more than half the wagons supplied would be used in this mode at any one time!

'F* class well-wagon (U.K.)

The British equivalent to the French wagon described in Plate 127 was the 'F' class vehicle, one of a series of standard wagons produced for the 1916 programme. This fulfilled much the same function, in carrying light but bulky loads but was not so versatile. It was a nominal io-tonner, with a body length of 17 ft 8 J in. and its main feature was the 'weir or, rather, lidless box, that occupied the centre portion. This was not a true well since the underframe solebars were unbroken but it did provide a low-centre of gravity and useful extra space when carrying light loads such as fodder. Otherwise the vehicle was a normal flat wagon with detachable wooden stanchions at side and ends, these fitting into metal sockets on the underframe. All major parts were interchangeable with the other standard underframes of classes 'D', 'E' and 'H\ The vehicle was, in common with them, a very efficient load carrier having a tare weight of only 2 tons 2 cwt., as against a disposable load of 9 tons 18 cwt.

SPECIAL VEHICLES for 60-cm. GAUGE

Light railways were mainly intended for moving material, and when people had to be moved it was usually in bulk—in the manner shown in Plate 153. Even smaller parties just dumped their gear in wagons and climbed aboard. Senior

(very senior) personnel, however, were another matter and most systems of any size eventually scraped together one or two presentable vehicles at least.

V.I.P. coach of British 2nd Army (1918)

The British used staff cars. Yet every one of the Army light railways at one time or another fabricated some form of coach in their own workshops for use by very senior officers on tours of inspection; most also used them for more mundane purposes. 3rd Army for example had what was said to be a very fine glazed coach of which no picture survives. When it was not toting the generals about, it formed the base depot ration train. Perhaps the most famous was the 2nd Army vehicle shown here. Obviously formed from an ordinary 'D' class wagon with a hut at one end and a corrugated-iron roof covering an observation verandah at the other, it was relatively crude but was used on one occasion by H.M. the King. It thus attained photographic immortality.

Office coach, Canadian Corps (1917)

The Canadians claimed that they inspired the whole of W.D. Light Railways (false) and built most of the central section (true). In their inimitable style they provided themselves with this very sophisticated vehicle. The 'standard' bogie underframe was just recognisable but the entirely new body with its transatlantic-pattern domed roof was a work of art. Outside it was— rather superfluously—painted in a dazzle camouflage pattern more often used to deceive U-boats on the high seas. Inside it was a very efficient office, with desk, filing equipment and a splendid cast-iron stove. The Canadian Corps was very proud of it.

Metal-bodied tip truck for ballast (all armies)

All the warring nations used their military light railway systems for mainly domestic purposes as well as for war-like ones. In particular they carried much ballast and roadstone both for their own use and for that of other units. To carry out this task efficiently they were equipped with side tipping wagons of the normal industrial pattern. The most common was the 'V-shaped metal 'skip' of either 18 or 27 cu. feet—or their continental equivalents—which was virtually an international design. Orenstein & Koppel in Germany, Robert Hudson in Britain, Decauville in France all turned out essentially similar vehicles in which the 'V'-shaped body had inherent instability and was simply located by two pins and a retaining stop at each side. When a stop was pulled out, the body automatically tipped to the appropriate side and deposited its load. A typical wagon had a wheelbase of 1 ft 10 in. with a wheel diameter of only 12 in., and was just over 7 ft long over frame ends.

American tip truck (U.S.A.)

This plate shows an American variant of the same type of wagon. It is, if anything, even more stubby in appearance but is included here mainly to show the large white lettering favoured by the
U.S. Army and to show the tapered end bucket that was fitted to some vehicles. Dimensions are similar to those of the truck above.

American pattern tip truck, upright and tipped (U.S.A. for U.K.)

During 1916, the British manufacturing capacity appeared likely to be fully occupied for some months to come, but there was an urgent need for tipping wagons. A trial order was therefore placed with an American firm, the Western Wheeled Scraper Co., which specialised in contractor's equipment. Their standard 60-cm. gauge tipper was of a type largely obsolete in Britain because of its needless complication. It consisted of a metal underframe with a rectangular oak-planked body mounted above it on three in-line pivots. The body had side-doors, pivoted at the top and was kept in place by chains leading down to the underframe, one at each corner. This body was inherently unbalanced and was tipped simply by releasing the chains on one side when it swung over. The door also swung open and released the load. The wagons had a capacity of 40 cu. ft and a wheelbase of 2 ft 10 in. They proved acceptable but British firms proved able to meet all demands so no more were ordered.They were put into service as W.D.L.R. Class L.

Carrying howitzers on trucks (U.K.)

Curiously, although the French Government Artillery Railways were set up specifically to supply artillery needs, it was the British who made most imaginative use of light railways to cart field guns around. Whole batteries, up to and including even 4'7-in. naval guns, were moved from one location to another in this way thus saving considerable time and trouble; after all movement by road not only cuttered up the roads but often involved a long haul through mud. The light railways, on the other hand, almost by definition could deliver guns right to the battery position; they were usually already in place to deal with ammunition supply. On at least one section of the front there was even a 'flying column' of 18-pounders which would move rapidly to a given position, carry out a brisk shelling and then be back on its rail trucks and away before the enemy could pin-point them and retaliate. These views show how a 6-in. howitzer was loaded for rail-transport.

Modified bogie well-wagon

There were many variants of gun wagons, but the 'usual' one was an 'F class well-wagon (Plate 129) with its stanchions removed and two steel troughs slung outboard of the wagon solebars and supported by girders or beams across the body. When it was desired to load a gun, this was backed into a suitable position and massive detachable ramps were placed in position at one end, straddling the rail track.

Loading howitzer via ramps

The gun was then moved up to these barrel first, and hauled up onto the wagon by brute force, the wheels running in the troughs which were broad enough to accommodate most patterns of field artillery—haulage could be

either by man-power or by the locomotive moving away and pulling the gun up after it.

Howitzer on wagon

Once on the wagon, the gun was supported in 'firing position' with the tail spade projecting over one bogie. It will be noticed that the wheel troughs normally extended only about three-quarters of the way along the wagon, since the gun barrel projected over the remainder. They were supported both above and below by massive beams.

Howitzer and limber in travelling position

Final act of loading was to run the limber up onto the wagon, resting on the gun tail. This was possible with the 6-in. howitzer and other low slung weapons, although certain high-trailed guns had to have their limbers carried separately. The loading ramps were then detached and stowed on the wagon body alongside the gun trail and the vehicle was ready to depart. Complete trains of these wagons were hauled, special long coupling bars being provided where the guns projected too far over the ends of the wagons.

TRANSPORTING TANKS BY RAIL (Standard Gauge)

139/142 One big difficulty solved by the Transportation Branch of the Mechanical Warfare Department was the carriage of tanks (the armoured fighting vehicle variety) from their manufacturers to the forward stores parks. The heaviest tanks weighed nearly 35 tons and this, combined with their height which fouled the normal loading gauge, meant that no standard wagons could do the job. The outcome, designed and produced extremely rapidly in early 1917 was the special R(ailway) E(xecutive) (Committee) Tank carrier or Rectank wagon of which some 787 were eventually built. As can be seen from Plate 139, this was a long, low bogie wagon, some 37 ft 2 in. long and with a platform height above rail of only 3 ft in.; as is evidenced by its tare weight of some 15£ tons, the wagon underframe was massively strengthened to take the concentrated weight of a tank between the bogies when being loaded from the side (Plates 139/140). Normal procedure was to run the tank on broadside on, under its own power and then manipulate its track steering to slow it into travelling position. Once in position the tank was secured fore and aft by massive chains.

There was, however, an alternative loading method, when a side ramp was not available. This was to load the vehicle over the slightly raised end and for this purpose the wagons were fitted at each end with a pair of heavy screw jacks (Plate 141). These could be lowered to take the strain off the appropriate bogie, the bogie bolsters being specially strengthened in addition. An interesting if rather useless discovery during trials was that careful positioning of a tank on the wagon end acted as a counterbalance to the remainder of the underframe which would pivot freely round the affected bogie! The plates show the process of loading from the side, with a tank nosing onto the wagon (Plate 139); partially swing round (Plate 140) and in travelling position (Plate 141/42).