CFR 150.1114 at Brasov Train Station

 I have known for a long time that there is a beautiful steam locomotive exhibited at the train station of Brasov. Unfortunately when I was in Brasov I was usually just travelling through, so for years I did not get a chance to see the locomotive... until the spring of 2011, when I went there with the clear purpose to take some shots of the magnificent CFR 150.1114. It is on display right behind the station, so if you go there, you really cannot miss it:

  This is not the first locomotive of the CFR 150.1000 series or of the 150.000 series that I have written about before. For detailed history about the locos 150.1101-150.1123 please read my article bout CFR 150.1123 at Dej Triaj Depot, but I also recommend taking a look at CFR 150.1105 at Sibiu steam locomotive museum and CFR 150.105 at Dej Triaj Depot. Note, however that the 150.1100 and 150.100 series are quite different. Also the locomotives 150.1101-150.1123 (including the 150.1114 at the Brasov train station) were not really built for CFR, they arrived to Romania as war prey and they are German locos. The 150.1114 is actually a steam locomotive of type DR 50.

  Being exhibited in the train station of one of the most important cities of Romania, CFR 150.1114 is quite well known. Even H0 scale copies of it exist. Here are a few videos about the CFR 150.1114 model:

  CFR 150.1114 is well-maintained and nicely painted. The poeople who travel through the Brasov train station really do have something to see there:

Facts:

ID: CFR 150.1114

Wheel Arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1941

Builder: Borsig

Top Speed: 80 km/h

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Brasov, Romania (train station)

Links:

CFR 150.1123 at Dej Triaj Depot

CFR 150.1105 at Sibiu steam locomotive museum

CFR 150.105 at Dej Triaj Depot

H0 Locomotives in Wooden and Glass Vitrine

I have finally found a solution for storing my H0 locomotives in a way that can protect them from the dust and also let them be admired: in a vitrine especially made for 6 H0 locomotives. The vitrine's frame is built of wood, the back panel is a mirror, and it has a large glass door through which the locos can be seen. The glass door's corners and knob are made of metal covered with chrome. Five glass shelves separate the interior space into 6 compartments, at the bottom of each there is a piece of H0 track, on which the locomotives rest. And the whole cabinet hangs on the wall. Perfect!

I've put in it a 4 German steam locomotives: BR 01, BR 41, BR 43, BR 50, the wreck of a BR 86 (just to occupy the space until I put together my second BR 01 kit) and a class 232 diesel locomotive ("Ludmilla"), all built from Revell kits.

Revell BR 50

One of the most successful classes of German steam locomotives is/was the BR 50. Designed to haul goods trains, the BR 50 locos were built as standard locomotives (Einheitsdampflokomotive) between 1939 and 1948 by almost all major locomotive factories. A total of 3164 pieces were produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn and they received IDs between 50 001 and 50 3171. One of the important advantages of the BR 50 design was the low axle load (15.2 t), which even permitted the use on branch lines with light track beds. The Br 50’s wheel configuration is 2-10-0 and total weight is 86.9 t. The locos were originally fitted with Wagner smoke deflectors but some of them later received Witte smoke deflectors. They were coupled to tenders of type 2'2' T 26 or 2'2' T 30.

The BR 50 locos were part of the war preparation effort and the ones that were built later were called provisional war locomotives (Übergangskriegslokomotiven) and classified as 50 ÜK. Also, class 52 (BR 52) was derived from BR 50 by omitting all possible components, making the locomotives as cheap to produce as possible. Some BR 50 tenders were fitted with a front shield, to protect the crew and some were also equipped with a driver’s cab, thus reducing the volume of carried coal.

After the war a large number of BR 50 locomotives were taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (2159) and together with class 44 they took care of most of the goods hauling operations. About 1000 of them had boilers made of ST 47 K steel, which was not very resistant to ageing, so many of these locomotives were given the boilers of scrapped BR 52s. Most BR 50 locomotives were retired up to 1977. A few remained in service until 1989. Towards the end of their service they were used for pulling both goods and passenger trains.

Facts:

ID: BR 50 519

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1939-1948

Builder: Henschel & Sohn/Hohenzollern/Krupp/BMAG/etc.

Top speed: 80 km/h (both directions)

Power: 1195 kW

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Length: 22.94 m

Weight: 86.9 t

Axle load: 15.2 t

Couped wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Driving wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Leading wheel diameter: 850 mm

A few days ago I assembled Revell's BR 50 static steam locomotive, which contains a beautiful H0 scale model of the famous original locomotive. The kit was produced in 2002 and has item number 02165. It wasn't hard to assemble, the 41-step instructions were pretty clear and contained enough detail, but it required a lot of work, especially the painting of the parts. It took me about 10 days and a total of over 30 hours of work to complete the locomotive. Most of the time was spent on painting and repainting the parts (some of them require two layers of paint to look really nice and the paints need to dry for 4 to 6 hours before a second layer can be applied). Some spots require a steady and precise hand, to paint adjacent areas of the same part with different colors. In contrast with Revell's Big Boy steam locomotive that I assembled over a year ago, this kit contained some water slide decals that were surprisingly easy to apply. They adhered to the plastic with ease and did not dry off at all.

Used colors (in order of importance):

- 302 - black, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 330 - fiery red, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 91 - iron, metalic (used moderately)

- 301 - white, silky-matt (used only for a few surfaces)

- 93 - brass, metalic (used only for the bell in the cab)

- 87 - eart brown, matt (used only on the tracks)

- 83 - rust, matt (used only on the tracks)

Links:

Revell's official website

BR 50 @ Wikipedia

Revell #02164 - BR 01150 steam locomotive

Revell #02160 - BR 41242 steam locomotive

Revell #02170 - BR 43001 steam locomotive

Revell #02165 - UP X4006 "Big Boy" steam locomotive