DONE (pics+story @p.5) +++ H0 Scale CFL Class 3800 locomotive

[PR19_Kit]

Oh yes, that does look very 'real'. 

[Rheged]

I am most impressed!

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you. It looks quite convincing, both concerning the "markings" but also the finish. The PE ladders really improve the look. 

In the meantime I found out that (at least) one NS Class 1200 received a very similar livery - apparently after it was sold to a private operator:



I was not aware of this, but good ideas seem to pop up independently. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Hmpf, schenic pics are in the works., but they turn out to be more complex than expected - perspective is an issue, and the delicate pantograph makes picture transplants very complicated. 

[Gondor]

"No Pain, No Gain" they say. The pictures you have done so far look great anyway

Gondor

[Dizzyfugu]

Progress on scenic pics is slow, just five so far, and they are probably not finished yet.

[Dizzyfugu]

Finally, I was able to glue together six scenic pictures, and here's the story about the CFL's Series 3800, too.

Some background:
The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (Luxembourg National Railway Company, abbreviated CFL) is the national railway company of Luxembourg. The Luxembourg rail system comprises (only) 275 route-kilometres (170 miles), of which 140 kilometres (87 mi) is double track and 135 kilometres (84 mi) single track. Of the total track length of 617 kilometres (383 mi), 576 kilometres (358 mi) are electrified at 25 kV, 50 Hz AC.

Luxembourg borders Belgium, France and Germany. Correspondingly, there are cross-border services into these countries. Some are wholly run by CFL, whereas others are run by SNCF, NMBS/SNCB and DB. CFL passenger trains cover most of the network and are operated by EMUs and electric locomotives, typically with push-pull stock. Despite a high degree of electrification, the CFL also had a fleet of diesel locomotives for hauling freight trains and for general shunting purposes. CFL.
The CFLs first electric locomotive, introduced in 1958, was the Class 3600, the so-called "fer à repasser" (= "electric iron"), a group of twenty electric locomotives that were built to the design of the French BB 12000 class. These were primarily intended for freight trains but also capable of pulling light passenger trains with up to 120 km/h (75 mph). The Class 3600 was originally designed to be capable of pulling 750 ton trains along a grade of 10 ‰, but in service it proved more than capable, frequently pulling 1100 tons and then even 1400 ton trains without problems.

However, for fast and heavier passenger trains, especially those that crossed the borders to Northern France with the same 25 kV, 50 Hz alternating current system as Luxembourg as well as to Germany with its 15 kV, 16.7 Hz electrification, the CFL ordered twelve additional dual system locomotive. They were more powerful and faster than the Class 3600 and became the new Class 3800 – roughly comparable with the German E 310/BR 181 dual system locomotives that were operated in the same region. The Class 3800 machines were designed and built between 1959 and 1961 in the Netherlands by Werkspoor in Utrecht, with technical support from the German Siemens-Schuckert-Werke (SSW) for the electric systems. They were heavily influenced by the contemporary Co′Co′ multipurpose Series 1200 electric locomotives for the Netherlands Spoorwegen (NS), originally designed by Baldwin and sporting typical American styling with a brawny silhouette, stepped "Cab unit" style nose sections and doors at the locomotives'  front ends to allow direct access to a coupled wagon from the driver cabins.
Even though they were based on the NS Series 1200, the CFL Class 3800 units used a shortened main frame and newly developed bogies with a Bo′Bo' arrangement. All in all, the Class 3800 was more than 20 tons lighter than its Dutch six-axle sibling and only shared a superficial similarity – under the hood, the locomotive was technically totally different from the NS' Series 1200 (which was designed for the Dutch 1.5 kV DC system).


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The locomotives drew their energy from the 15 kV / 16 2/3 Hz or 25 kV / 50 Hz catenary via two diamond pantographs with contact strips of different lengths for the different areas of application. The 3-core transformers were oil-cooled, to which the control unit with its 28 running steps was connected. The acceleration was designed to function in delayed mode, where the engineer chose the running step, and the control unit would initiate the chosen setting independently. For emergency operation manual control by hand crank was possible, too. The voltage reached the main transformer via an air-operated main switch. On the secondary side, the traction motors were controlled via thyristors using stepless phase angle control, a modern technology at the time, as were the comparatively light mixed current motors. Mechanical switching mechanisms were therefore no longer required, and the vehicle control technology also worked with modern electronics. To ensure a good frictional connection between rail and wheel, the power converters always regulated a slightly lower tractive force on the preceding wheel sets of each bogie. If, however, one or more wheelsets slipped, the drive control reduced the tractive effort for a short time.

The CFL Class 3800's four traction motors collective output was 3,700 kW (5,000 hp). This gave the Class 3800 a tractive effort of 275 kN (62,000 lbf) and a theoretical top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph), even though this was in practice limited to 140 km/h (87 mph). A time-division multiplex push-pull and double-traction control system was installed, too, so that two of these locomotives could together handle heavier freight trains and exploit the locomotives' good traction. All locomotives featured an indirect air brake, with automatically stronger braking action at high speeds; for shunting/switching service an additional direct brake was present, too. All units featured a separately excited rheostatic/regenerative brake, which was coupled to the air brake. The heat generated by the electric brakes was dissipated via roof exhausts, supported by a pair of cooling fans.

The safety equipment in the driver's cab featured a mechanical or electronic deadman's device, punctiform automatic train controls, and train radio equipment with GSM-R communication. For operations in Germany the units received a third front light and separate red taillights, as well as an "Indusi" inductive system for data transfer between the track and locomotive by magnets mounted beside the rails and on the locomotive. Later in their career, automatic door locking at 0 km/h was retrofitted, which had become a compulsory requirement for all locomotives in passenger service.


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


After a thorough test phase of the pre-production locomotives 3801 and 3802 in 1960, the first Class 3800 serial units went into service in 1961 and were, due to the characteristic design of their driver's cabins and their bulky shape, quickly nicknamed "Bouledogue" (Bulldog). The initial two locomotives were delivered in a pale blue-grey livery, but they were soon repainted in the CFL's standard burgundy/yellow corporate paint scheme, and all following Class 3800 locomotives from 3803 on were directly delivered in this guise.

Initially, the service spectrum of the Bouledogues comprised primarily fast passenger trains on the CFL's domestic main routes to the North and to the East, with additional border-crossing express trains, including prestigious TEE connections, to Germany (e. g. to Trier and Cologne) and France (Paris via Reims). The 3800s supplemented the CFL's fast Series 1600 diesel locomotives on these important international destinations once they had been fully electrified. Occasionally, they were also used for freight trains in the industrial Esch-sur-Alzette region and for fast freight trains on the electrified main routes, as well as for regional passenger traffic on push-pull trains. Heavier freight trains remained the working field of the CFL Class 3600, even though occasional ore trains were handled by Class 3800 locomotives in double traction, too.

Even though Werkspoor hoped for more CFL orders for this dual-system type, the twelve Series 3800 locomotives remained the sole specimen. Potential buyers like Belgium or the Netherlands also did not show much interest – even though the SNCB ordered several multi-system locomotives, including  eight indigenous Class 16 locomotives, equipped to run in France, Netherlands and Germany, or the six Class 18 four-system machines derived from the French SNCF CC 40100 express passenger locomotives.

During the Nineties the CFL started to use more and more EMUs on the domestic passenger routes, so that the Class 3800s gradually took over more and more freight train duties, relieving the older Series 3600s and replacing diesel-powered locomotives (esp. the Class 1800) on electrified routes. Border-crossing passenger train services were furthermore limited to trains to Germany since long-distance passenger train services in France switched to the TGV train system with its separate high-speed lines. Freight trains to France were still frequent Class 3800 duties, though, and occasionally coal trains were pulled directly to the industrial Ruhr Area region in Western Germany.


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale "3809" (Class 3800 dual-system multi-purpose locomotive); Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL; Luxembourg National Railway Company), 1991 (What-if/scratch-built) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


After the Millennium the Class 3800s gradually lost their duties to the new CFL Class 4000 multi-system locomotives, a variant of the Bombardier TRAXX locos found working across Europe. On 31 December 2006 the last Class 3800 (3809) was retired. Their versatility, robustness and performance have, however, allowed some of these locomotives to exceed 45 years of service. Bouledogue "3803" reached more than 9,2 million kilometers (5.7 million miles), a remarkable performance.
Only two 3800s had to be written off during the type's career: 3804 suffered a major transformer damage and was destroyed by the ensuing fire near Troisvierges in Northern Luxembourg and 3810 was involved in a freight train derailment south of Differdange, where it was damaged beyond repair and had to be broken up on site. A single Class 3800 locomotive (3811) survived the retirement and has been kept as a static exhibition piece at the CFL Dépot at Luxembourg, the rest was scrapped.


General characteristics:
    Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) standard gauge
    UIC axle arrangement: Bo´Bo´
    Overall length: 16.49 m (54 ft 1 in)
    Pivot distance: 7,9 m (25 ft 10 in)
    Bogie distance: 3,4 m (11 ft 1½ in)
    Wheel diameter (when new): 1.250 mm (4 ft  1½ in)
    Service weight: 83 t

Engine:
    Four traction motors with a collective output of 3,700 kW (5,000 hp)

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph), limited to 140 km/h (87 mph) in service
    Torque: 275 kN starting tractive effort
                      164 kN continuous traction effort

[PR19_Kit]

WHAAAAAT?  

Those pics are AMAZING Thomas, you've integrated the model loco in to the RW pic brilliantly! The model is excellent in its own right, but in combination with the pics it's OUTSTANDING! 

[scooter]

Photoshop skillz are gonna mess with folks on other forums.     

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you, glad you like it. But I am really not good at photoshopping composings, it's quite a complex task and my attempts prove me that the combination of disparate visual elements is not a trivial task. Too much light on the model, shooting it with a proper perspective is tricky (to say the least) and to me everything look too "constructed". But for the H0 locomotive it was the only viable option. Finished, at last! 

[Gondor]

Thank you, glad you like it. But I am really not good at photoshopping composings, it's quite a complex task and my attempts prove me that the combination of disparate visual elements is not a trivial task. Too much light on the model, shooting it with a proper perspective is tricky (to say the least) and to me everything look too "constructed". But for the H0 locomotive it was the only viable option. Finished, at last! 

Even so, thats far, far better than I can do.

Gondor

[loupgarou]

WHAAAAAT?  

Those pics are AMAZING Thomas, you've integrated the model loco in to the RW pic brilliantly! The model is excellent in its own right, but in combination with the pics it's OUTSTANDING! 

YES. Dizzy,  some of the photos are really fantastic!

[Old Wombat]

I'll be frank; the images aren't up to your usual exceptional standard, Thomas, but they're still far better than the vast majority of the rest of us could achieve!    

[zenrat]

Thank you, glad you like it. But I am really not good at photoshopping composings, it's quite a complex task and my attempts prove me that the combination of disparate visual elements is not a trivial task. Too much light on the model, shooting it with a proper perspective is tricky (to say the least) and to me everything look too "constructed". But for the H0 locomotive it was the only viable option. Finished, at last! 

You could find someone with a large HO layout to photograph it on.

Good job.
 

[NARSES2]

WHAAAAAT?  

Those pics are AMAZING Thomas, you've integrated the model loco in to the RW pic brilliantly! The model is excellent in its own right, but in combination with the pics it's OUTSTANDING! 

My thoughts exactly