Shipbucket

Armored Train “Charlemagne”

Prior to the outbreak of the Sieuxerrian-Saintonge War in 1937, useage of armored trains in the Sieuxerrian military had been limited to the War of Sylvan Succession in the early 1900s. These trains were improvised and were generally of limited tactical value, mostly being used as long-range artillery platforms. Following their use in the WSS, planners worked out newer designs for dedicated armed trains, but this work mostly consisted of rail cars equipped with anti-aircraft equipment to protect exposed rail networks from air assault. The plans for a purpose-built armored train designed for ground combat did not start until the start of 1937, just in time for the first tanks to roll across into Sieuxerr in mid-June of that year.

Development of an armored train was shelved, but then quickly retarted following the breakout in August. Saintonge forces had advanced to the Seine river, shelling the industrial city of Cleebourg and had been attempting to cross the river. Attempts to advance across the river were halted by a combination of nearly all bridges being blown up, as well as a reserve contingent of armor being use to halt any beacheads from forming. However with the continuing Ostlandic/Saintonge advance, with the possibility of it threatening even Líme itself, the armor forces were needed elsewhere. The development of armored trains was accelerated at an incredible rate. The idea would be to use the extensive railway system between Cleebourg and Líme to move armored trains up and down it to prevent any attempted crossing, and to provide infantry with support to crush any beacheads that were established.

The product of this would firstly be known as Charlemagne. The armored train would be heavily armored to resist small arms and light cannon fire, and was to be armed with the rough equivalent of a tank platoon in terms of firepower.

Mobility was to be achieved with a V-12 gasoline engine, a model that was also to be used on super-heavy tanks that would be featured at the Battle of Líme roughly 6 months later. Protection would be enough to stop small arms and near-by shell splinters from artillery, with the side armor totalling out at 25mm in most places.

Armament for the train would be 2 75mm guns in their own turrets, a 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine gun that would be manned by lower hull gunners when needed, and 9 7mm machine guns. The two 75mm guns would get fire control information from a mechanical rangefinding turret sat in between them in an elevated position. The 13.2mm machine gun was set in an elevating mount with inspiration drawn from hide-away guns used on early merchant cruisers from the WSS, allowing the machine gun to be protected from danger when not needed. The turret was the same as used on other Sieuxerrian tanks of the time. Ammo for the 75mm guns was 200 rounds, the 13.2mm machine gun had 2,000 rounds, and in total the ammo for the 7mm machine guns was over 20,000 rounds. Crew was 14 personnel including a commissioned officer, 2 gunnery NCOs, 8 gunners, a mechanical NCO and 2 mechanics/drivers.

In addition to the single armored train, two reconnaissance cars would be provided. These would be of a standardized typed, known just as the Type A. These two cars, which bore the name of swords from the Song of Roland, were both armed with 47mm guns. The turrets for these cars were taken off battle damaged Sieuxerrian tanks to cheapen the production process, however these turrets were single man only, and had issues with overloading the commander. These recon cars were armed with the aforementioned 47mm gun and also 5 machine guns. They were crewed by an NCO, 4 gunners, and 2 mechanic/drivers. All cars were equipped with radios for communication, as well as signal flags and flares for non-radio communication. Crew weapons included mostly rifles as well as an egress kit for the 13.2mm machine gun to use it dismounted if ever needed.

The 3 train cars would also have two flatbeds for supplies and railroad repair equipment, each other be positioned on either side of “Charlemagne” itself to also protect it from possible mines if its recon cars were not around.

Design and production were both incredibly quick, with all 3 vehicles being produced in Cleebourg in just 2 months. The trains were crewed and commanded by the armor branch, with railroad drivers and mechanics being drawn from the railroad service. “Charlemagne” would set off in November of 1937 and almost immediately throw in into combat. The train was used to assault raids and landings across the river from Saintonge forces, as well as shell known important targets.

In December, with Axis forces only hundreds of kilometers away from the capital, Saintonge saw an opportunity to attempt to finally cross the Seine river. The 5th Army, supported by reserve divisions as well as an Ostlandic cavalry brigade, assaulted the river across bridges that had not been blown up to a failure of the detonating charges themselves. The forces managed to cross and establish themselves. “Charlemagne” was dispatched rapidly to assist and would spend much of the next few months engaging in various battles with Axis forces. The train would conduct both direct and indirect fire support, with its recon vehicles being typically detached to assist with other units.

This is where the train would spend much of its time until mid-1939 when a counter-offensive broke the Axis forces. Here Charlemagne would be used as a mobile shelling platform, effectively going down the river following the various counter-attacks.

With fighting moving off the Seine by 1941, the train was put into reserve status and kept with a half-sized crew. The recon cars would be taken away to patrol the new-conquered Saintonge, but the differing railroad gauges and a lackluster will to convert them meant they would stay with “Charlemagne”.

Sadly by the 1950s the train had been abandoned near Cleebourg with other armored trains and traincars, by the 1960s most of these had been scrapped to fuel the rapidly re-expanding Sieuxerrian economy during the economic boom preceding the Crazy Years.

Overall, the train would be the first of a small handful of armored trains produced by Sieuxerr, and like the others, they would perform relatively well at their job to patrol the river and support or directly engage enemy forces. The trains would help reduce the need for a large armor reserve across the Seine, and would allow said armor to be used in the fighting leading into and around Lime, allowing the capital to stave off being captured by Saintonge and Ostlandic forces.

Rule Update
In response to a question asked by Armoured Man on Discord, a sentence has been appended to Challenge Rule 2. This allows exceptionally long trains to be divided within the same drawing. The rule now reads: "One side-view of the participant's train must be included. One front-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited. Long trains may be divided into separate side views within the same image for viewing convenience." You may now break up long trains into segments so that the final image is not unreasonably wide. Challenge Rule 3 has also been updated to reflect the change to Challenge Rule 2. The word "two" was replaced with "multiple".

IKEA Express: North American Tilt Trains



Kalmar Verkstad's Acadian portfolio highlights two key staples of Acadian culture: rail ridership and hockey. Though unable to be successfully exported to either the US or China, AcadiaRail found itself in need of a tilting train built for harsh winters out of the box to run on its Improved-class routes. One of the key differences of the exported system was the bi-mode operation, enabling the trains to run where catenary wires have not yet been installed. Delivered beginning from 1995, the trains have been refurbished several times, and include modern amenities like onboard wifi, power outlets at each seat, and a cafe that allows first-class passengers to order menu items and have them delivered to their seat and second-class passengers to order their menu items in advance in case of a long line at the counter.

When a partnership was struck between AcadiaRail and the Acadian Junior Hockey League for the rail firm to provide transportation for the teams to away games, Maritime & Atlantic Works was approached to produce an additional run of carriages for the trainset, but with a key modification: the forward third of the car was to be converted into a baggage area for the hockey teams to carry their equipment during the regular season. Sixteen such cars are decorated with liveries inspired by each team, the others painted in the livery of AcadiaRail. During the AJHL's season, the cars are reserved exclusively for club use, but for the remainder of the year are used in revenue service. The example provided carries the livery of the Inverness Volts, the defending Anderson Cup Champions.

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"What are they gonna do, fire me?" - Nate "Tic-Tac" McNally, 2016 (Fired 2019)


All my newer stuff is signed as czslworldtour.

JR N700s shinkansen




the N700S, is the latest development of Japan's N700 series shinkansen train sets, beginning development in 2016, the N700s has a design speed of 223 mph (360 km/h), and has many new updated systems such as, a refined ATC system. increased breaking capacity in the event of an earthquake, and standardised underroof equipment layout, making the production of individual cars much easier.

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Work list: 1. various pre-1900 Zipang ships 2. Some protected cruisers and other miscellaneous projects

Bagnall Barreto 0-6-2T, Superb of 1940



The last of a series of three Baretto-class 0-6-2 tanks built by W.G.Bagnall for the 2ft6" gauge Bowaters railway system that served the two paper mills at Sittingbourne and Kemsley, alongside the dock at Ridham.

Built in 1940 Superb has been a regular performer on the preserved section of the railway system, and was withdrawn on account of poor firebox condition over the winter of 2018/2019. As of posting, the locomotive has been partially disassembled, current intention being to receive the boiler until recently held on sister locomotive Alpha, which is in better condition.

I've tried to be as accurate as possible to late 2018 condition, working in a scale of 1px=1-inch, including unique features of the loco such as the working life damage to the rear of the running plate. I have also included a version of the drawing that omits the sliding cab window, which I have displayed in a non-standard style, these windows are often removed in summer months when it is not necessary.

Challenge ending soon so I figured I may as well post my far from polished entry since I'll be gone the next few days.

In the early 1920s, the Hell Canyon Mining Company opened an epsomite mine on the Hawkshead mountains. Due to the remote location of the mine, nearly 30 miles from the nearest railway junction the need for a means of transporting the epsomite to the railway was a major concern. In order to solve this problem the company constructed the Epsomite Mine Monorail, as even a conventional narrow gauge railway was deemed too expensive. With engines based on converted Johnson tractors, the railway operated for several years prior to the mine closing. During it's operation the railway was the fastest monorail in the world with a top speed of of almost 30 miles an hour. Dismantled after the closing of the mine, all that is left today are some of the rotten wooden trestles. The steel rail long since removed for scrap. The fate of the engines is unknown but it is believed they were either scrapped or converted back into tractors.

The Blue Comet was a passenger train operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey from 1929 to 1941 between Jersey City and Atlantic City.

Three Baldwin G3s Pacific locomotives (831-833) as well as 16 pieces of rolling stock were painted in a Royal Blue, Cream, and Packard Blue paint scheme. All rolling stock were named after comets.

Diner: Giacobini
Combine/Smoking Car: Halley, Encke
Baggage Cars: Olbers, Barnard
Coaches: Tuttle, Holmes, Westphal, D'Arrest, Faye, Spitaler, Winnecke, Brorsen
Observation Cars: De Vico, Biela, Temple

The consist above is typical of a Blue Comet train prior to August 19, 1939 when the Diner, Giacobini, was damaged beyond repair in a derailment near Chatsworth, New Jersey.

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A.K.A. Das_Schlemm

BND 15

LNER Class A4 locomotive "Mallard" (1938)



Built in 1938 as the 28th of 35 Class A4 locomotives of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Mallard is most famous for her record-breaking high speed run on 3 July 1938. The A4 was designed as a series of streamlined 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives to pull the Silver Jubilee express train between King's Cross Station in London and Newcastle Central Station. Further A4s were built to pull trains like the Coronation between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley Station. The latter is the service Mallard was initially assigned to, so she was painted garter blue with red wheels to match the blue Coronation coaches. Being the first A4 fitted with double chimneys (earlier A4s would be retrofitted with them after the war), Mallard was selected for an attempted record run four months after entering service, when she was sufficiently run in but not yet overly worn.

Mallard pulled the following coaches on 3 July 1938 (shown in the smaller scale diagram below the locomotive):

• A dynamometer car to measure the speed.
• An articulated set of a 3rd class brake car and a 3rd class kitchen car.
• An articulated set of two 1st class coaches.
• An articulated set of a 3rd class coach and a 3rd class brake car.

The fourth articulated set, consisting of another 3rd class coach and a 3rd class kitchen car, as well as the streamlined observation car, were left behind to reduce the train's weight.

The dynamometer car marked the distance covered every half second on a roll of paper, and the distance between the marks could be measured to provide a final speed reading. While the maximum speed of 126 mph (203 km/h) was only maintained for a single second, the highest average taken over five seconds was 125 mph. There is some debate as to the reliability of these measurements, but nevertheless, 126 mph is generally taken as the record and it is accepted that the previous record of 124.5 mph (200.4 km/h) set by the German DRG 05 002 was indeed broken. It should be mentioned that Mallard's run was on a slight downhill grade and DRG 05 002's wasn't, but Mallard pulled a heavier train and had to slow down before a junction. Both Sir Nigel Gresley, the locomotive's designer, and Mallard's crew on that day believed 130 mph would have been possible if it weren't for the junction, but a second record attempt planned for 1939 was cancelled when the war broke out.

Mallard served throughout the war and continued in service with the newly established British Railways until 1963, by which point she had covered nearly 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km). The Class A4 locomotives were the only type of streamlined locomotive in Britain not to have their streamlined casings removed during their career, though some of the panels covering the wheels were taken off during the war for ease of maintenance and not replaced.

P.S. If mixing FD and SB scales in one drawing is not allowed, please let me know and I'll remove the diagram with the coaches, or you can just discount it during voting.

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I am colourblind, so please let me know if my colours are off.

I absolutely love the shading and colours of your locomotive. Unfortunately, when it comes to the poll, I can only choose one image. Challenge Rule 1 states "each participant must submit a single image". Do you have a preference?