Greg Elmassian said:
Neil... if you have not joined, you have advertising taking up the left side of your screen.You need to run higher resolution on your screen, or get rid of the advertising, or both.
There was an issue previously with chopped pictures … it seems to have been resolved … ones that won’t fit get scrollbars mostly. Photos (including, it seems these) now will generally display correctly in the forums.
Matthew ,
Joking aside , many locos were exported from Britain in the heyday of steam , and right up to the end of steam they were still being exported . The problem was , especially in the early years , a group would float a proposed rail link , get the money , order the bits ,and then go bust before taking delivery .
The loco builders quite frequently then sold the affected loco or even locos more cheaply to get them off their hands , thus some enterprising business chappies . not caring too much about left or right hand drive , bought in the locos satisfied they had a bargain .
They say beggars can’t be choosers .
Before the USA entered WW2 , pretty well all the British Commonwealth , to their everlasting credit ,
came to the aid of the Mother Country who in turn ordered large quantities of road vehicles from the USA . No frills , we need 'em fast , just send what you make already --so although all the Commonwealth affected , except Canada drove on the left , they happily accepted vehicles for driving on the right . Most were then marked "Caution , Left Hand Drive " on the rear --presumably
so you knew which side to hit it to hurt the driver . No , it was because hand signals were normal back then.
So there is another example for you .
The annoying thing is , I cannot for the life of me remember if the USRA tanks engines supplied to us in WW2 are LH or RH drive .
So , Matthew , there you have an explanation of some of the reasons for wrong hand drive . There is also the silly one --true , but silly–whereby some ex colonies , out of pure childish spite , went wrong handed just to show their independence .
Mike
I see the pictures have sprung scroll bars now - saves me uploading different sizes!
As for right v left drive - it is the case many older Brit lines had r/h drive locos originally - the North Eastern Railway (pre 1923) for one - but later (London & North Eastern Railway - post 1923 grouping) built l/h drive engines. Always ran on the left though.
Didn’t the GWR have right drive? Many industrials also did.
So - if we didn’t know which side to drive from, what chance did the colonials have???
The Fowler continues happily onwards, without caring - it has RADIO drive! Or - deck chair with beer drive!
NH Neil.
Matthew (OV) said:British railways run on on the left. Signals are also on the left of the line. Originally, locos , like coaches before them, had the driver on the right. As locos got larger, the driver had a hard time seeing signals around the boiler, so many (but not all) companies moved the driver to the left of the footplate. Made life a bit harder for a right-handed fireman, but did relieve him from the task of signal-spotting.
Ok, probably a silly question .... Was it British (or Colonial) practice to operate a locomotive from the LEFT side? Matthew (OV)
Hmmmmmm?? Back to the logic of the Knights, most people, being right handed shoot their guns with their right hand. American engineers needed to defend themselves from train robbers and indian attacks and still be able to operate the locomotive. Thus he needed to sit on the right…throttle in the left hand, gun in the right. The fireman could easily defend the left side of the locomotive.
Well, it sounds good… 
Warren
Warren ,
You raise a very interesting point . All the movies that I can remember involving chases whether it be Indians or Trainrobbers ,they always chase on the LEFT of the track . Can’t remember seeing them on the right . This means two things .
Mike Morgan said:Mike,
Warren , You raise a very interesting point . All the movies that I can remember involving chases whether it be Indians or Trainrobbers ,they always chase on the LEFT of the track . Can't remember seeing them on the right . This means two things . 1. It goes to prove the argument of fighting to the right ,so drive on the left 2. The train drivers were stuck on the right to let them concentrate on driving whilst the fireman fought off the attack from the left Pursuing this interesting phenomenum , before injuns got guns , they circled the wagon train in a anti clockwise direction .so making the attack more easy . This enabled them to fire arrows to their left . Being a bit of a crack shot with a gun , I can also state enequivocally that this put the injuns at a disadvantage , because it is easier to track a target which is moving left in front of you . Many a grouse on the moors has met an untimely end through flying this way across the guns . I understand from ghillies that they are trained to do this from chickenhood to make the shooter feel good . As did the drams bought for the ghillie to get him to tell his secrets . There is no doubt that this site is educational . Perhaps Bob should apply for an education grant . In a future lecture , I shall explain how grouse were taught to fly backwards by unsporting tree huggers . Mike
I remember many John Wayne movies in which the bad guys were chasing the train on the engineers side. Perhaps it has more to do with camera angles and scenery than with reality.
You are right about the Injuns circling the wagon train counter-clockwise. I seem to remember that the tactic for the wagon train was to move in a clockwise fashion, thus presenting a target for a shorter time.
I’ve never met a grouse who cooperated by flying left to right for me. I shoot left-handed, a distinct disatvantage with most caplock or flintlock guns, let me tell you. Even with the M-14 and M-16, it was very un-nerving to have the spent casing ejected in front of my face. And then land on my back or neck. Those suckers are hot, and the Drill Instructor has no patience with a recruit breaking shooting postion to get the hot casing off his neck.
I wait with baited breath to learn “how grouse were taught to fly backwards by unsporting tree huggers.”
madwolf
Warren
Warren Mumpower said:
Warren
Makes a change someone doing it to me - I’m a terrible off-topic-er! As for right hand drive…I just downloaded some drawings of the Fowler, and it has RIGHT drive - the model has the reverser (Johnson Bar to the colonials!!!) on the left. Confused - you will be! Get my new VoR tank tomorrow - must look out my old video to see which side…!!! NH Neil.
I’ve been yaking about train robberies and knights so much I think I forgot to say “Neat Loco”. I’ve been getting the bug to try live steam…even if I only have one locomotive. I’m hoping to learn more about the subject when I visit Marty’s later this month.
Warren
Glad you like it Warren - she just gets better the more she runs.
I have a Roundhouse Vale of Rheidol tank arriving tomorrow - then that is me absolutely broke!
Neil.