LMS Stanier Class 8F and North Africa in WWII

Hi railroad.net folks

I am a newcomer to the rail enthusiast world, but I have a research project for which I would appreciate any help that you all can provide.

I am working on a recreation, in 3D, of a railroad system that would be typical of that used by British forces in North Africa in World War II. This includes a locomotive, rolling stock, rails, and station equipment.

I have tentatively settled on creating an LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 locomotive(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Stanier_8F) and I have some good visual references for it. mostly from the book Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War, by R. Tourret, but I could always use more, especially images of the inside of the cab, and close-ups of the moving parts.

I have much less on all the other things, whether visual refernces or diagrams, or even basic info on what kind of equipment was commonly used.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, advice or other input.

Welcome. You may have heard of the WW II Railway Modellers group, which was active in Britain in recent years. They had a lot of data and photographic material. Their web site does not appear to be up to date, and I am not sure who to contact. The Imperial War Museum may know, also may have stuff itself. There are things out there, but I am not sure of exact references for you. Have you tried queries to British rail fan and model publications? Best wishes,

Roger

Thanks for the reply! Do you have a URL for the WW II Railway Modellers group? Even if their site is not being updated, it might have some useful inf, but I could not find the site on google.

I checked out the World War Two Railway Study Group site
http://www.saxoncourtbooks.co.uk/ww2rsg/PROSPECT.HTM, But they seem to be defunct. The main contact email is dead.

My main info about the locomotive is from "allied Military Locomotoves of the Second World War" by R. Tourney. It has pretty good general refs, although more "walkaround style" closeups would be very helpful. I also have a book about New Zealand sappers that has some photis of railroad stuf in Egypt at the right time.

I don't have a lot to go on, aside from that. WWII military railroads seem to be a lot better documented in almost every theater, except North africa.

I found some non-modeling railroad enthusiast sites in Britain, that I am hoping may be able to give me more locomotive refs. My biggest gaps are in rolling stock and railroad installations--buildings, tracks, signals, and so on.