French Government 0-6-0 Locomotives in France

Class B1 (Locobase 14583)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 57, pp. 85+. Works numbers were 41763-41782 in November 1914 and 43214-43219, 43240-43245 in April 1916.

France's artillery railways were served by several types of lightweight locomotives. This set was ordered with rail weights of 9.5 kg/metre (19 lb/yard) and curve radii as tight as 45 feet (13.7 metres) although the maximum curvature encountered in the field was 20 metre (66 feet). Track rail was 2 1/2" (63.5 mm) high and 1.25" (31.75 mm) wide.

They were delivered with relatively thin #12 Birmingham Wire Gauge tubes; a "Hereafter" note says that later contracts should use #13 (even thinner). One source ([]) tells us that the broad spark arrester (looking like two washbasins placed rim to rim) on the stack is accounted for by the widespread presence of "live ammunition and other explosive stores."

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Class unknown (Locobase 20555)

Data from "Narrow-Gauge Locomotives for the French Government", Locomotive Magazine, Volume 23 (15 January 1917), pp. 3-4.

As soon as the First World War settled into trench warfare, the French government (Commission Internationale de Ravitaillement, also known as the Mission Hauser) to operate on its tactical light railways (those serving the front lines). A Decauville design (Locobase 3314) entered production as soon as World War I began and continued until the Armistice more than 4 years later. Although Decauville built the lion's share -- 320 locomotives -- other builders took up the slack between supply and demand.

Among them was Kerr Stuart of Great Britain, which produced 70 engines in three batches. 2402-2416 came first in 1915 followed by 2428-2457 later in the year, and 2995-3019 in 1916.