More from Bill Alborough's TEFS (To Europe for Steam) trip in 1982, with a bit from a subsequent trip with Pete Lockley in the summer of 1983 added on. First we see Konya, which is quite high up on the Anatolian plateau. It was April, there was a bitter wind blowing in from the East, and I confess to have been feeling the coldest ever in my life during those days.
However we were able to wander all over the yard, into the shed, and even partake of a welcome cup of tea in the turntable cabin! Stars of the show were the magnificent Henshel 2-8-2 locos, which once handled the fastest trains between Istanbul and Ankara. Note the steam crane coaling the loco.
The route over a high pass at Bozdag was being replaced by a less steeply graded alignment through a new tunnel, and these engines were soon to be replaced with diesels. Even in their last days, however, these elegant machines were lovingly maintained, cleaned and embellished, as can be seen in these views. For me, they were the most aesthetically proportioned engines ever to turn a wheel in Turkey, and even a German enthusiast was known to have suggested that they were better than anything that ever ran in Germany! I suspect he meant in terms of looks rather in performance.
Our group's coach then took us close to Bozdag, where a short trek through the snow took us to the actual summit. There was a siding and telegraph post, where we were made welcome by the lone attendant, all managing to squeeze in round his fire. We were offered bags of raisins to sustain us for the wait for the trains. This was just one of the highlights of an unforgettable trip.
Some views at Bozdag taken the following summer then follow, including a "Standard" 2-10-0 on a short freight.
We then backtrack in the Izmir direction to Usak, a quiet town where the station sees little action for most of the day, until the arrival of one of the few through trains. There follows a frenzy of activity, as locos are taken off the train, the pilot does some shunting, and a fresh pair of locos are attached. Calm returns to this sleepy shed as the train rolls out.
Motive power seen here are the ubiquitous German Kreigslok 2-10-0 locos, supplied during the second world war. Ironically there are also Prussian designed G10 0-10-0 locos, a number of which found their way to Turkey during the first world war. This clip includes one of my favourite scenes, where a G10 shunts the train on its own, slipping furiously. While not visually perfect, you can hear the loco's typlical throaty bark, only heard from this type when working at full cut-off.
The final scenes are of the train doubled-headed by a Kreig and a G10, in the direction of Afyon. One loco develops a dry bearing, which rhythmically compliments the locos' exhausts.
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