Paris Exposition Articulated Locomotives in France

Class Pechot-Bourdon (Locobase 7433)

Data from Titre Exposition universelle internationale de 1889 a Paris. Rapports du jury internationale. Auteur - Volume France. Ministere du Commerce, de l'industrie. Picard, Alfred, ed. Volume Groupe VI - -Outillage et precedes des industries mecaniques. Electricite (5e partie) Classes 60 a 63. Rapport sur le materiel des chemins de fer. p. 304 ([] (accessed 1 September 2005). See also Jean Florin, "Belfort Strategic Railway" on the at [], last accessed 21 June 2021. Produced mostly by Cail whose works numbers were 2771-2789 in 1888 for engines 1-20, 2377-2380 in 1892 for engines 33-35, and 2794-2809 for engines 41-56. Fives-Lille supplied one batch, works numbers 2769-2780 for engines 21 to 32.

Locobase 4953 shows a later version of the Pechot-Bourdon system, a "Fairlie du Ffestinog" that was designed specifically for the 600-mm gauge. The first of the type appeared at the 1889 Paris Exposition. The military railway site -- [], accessed 11 Feb 2006 reproduces an illustration of this type. It shows shapely stacks on each end, tapering outward from the base to contain the spark-arresters topped by a tall cylinder with lids on the top. Slab side tanks flanked both boilers. Note that all four cylinders were the same size; they were positioned at the ends of the frame.

The cab had a keyhole opening and a cupola at the top. A single lever controlled all four sets of Walschaert gear.

Class unknown (Locobase 3254)

Data from Titre Exposition universelle internationale de 1889 a Paris. Rapports du jury internationale. Auteur - Volume France. Ministere du Commerce, de l'industrie. Picard, Alfred, ed. Volume Groupe VI - -Outillage et precedes des industries mecaniques. Electricite (5e partie) Classes 60 a 63. Rapport sur le materiel des chemins de fer. p. 304 ([] (accessed 1 September 2005). See also Gustav Reder (Michael Reynolds, trans), The World of Steam Locomotives (New York: Putnam, 1974).

Built for the same exposition that introduced the Eiffel Tower, this little prototype led the way of all Mallet engines. The fundamentals appeared here first -- two engine sets under a single boiler, the front one articulated and usually carrying the larger LP cylinders, the rear one driven by the HP cylinders. A meticulously colored illustration of the set of locomotive and two cars -- [], accessed 11 February 2006 -- shows a vase-like stack, small sandbox, and taller dome, the latter located over the gap between the two engine units.

Reder wrote this tiny locomotive was commissioned by Paul Decauville to demonstrate the usefulness of his 60-cm-gauge rail system. Mallet's design, although constrained by the very low weight allowances, performed well, covering 66 miles a day and climbing a 7.1% grade pulling 10 tons of train. Within a year, 110 other examples of the Mallet layout had been ordered.