Allllrighty....

Just saw eBay item 1172631024 is an "operable" 2' Davenport 2-6-2T, coaches and a whole lot of other stuff. Wow!!!!

Rob

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... 1172631024

The first bid is $50,000 (the owner possibly?)
Here's a direct link to this stuff, in case you're
like me and always mess up typing the longer addresses!

ebay narrow gauge page
sjhussar@aol.com

Seller says that this is an ex trench loco his grandad bought in 1981. If it is a trench prairie, it is HEAVILY modified. Does anyone know the history of this engine, as I thought the only surviving WW1 trench engine was at Fort Benning

> Seller says that this is an ex trench loco
> his grandad bought in 1981. If it is a
> trench prairie, it is HEAVILY modified. Does
> anyone know the history of this engine, as I
> thought the only surviving WW1 trench engine
> was at Fort Benning

The locos (there are 2 - they both show in one of the photos, but it appears only one is for sale) were built on Davenport chassis. The chassis were discovered in the Davenport factory in the late '40s by Byron Hiatt, a plumber and steam fitter from Creston, Ia. The chassis were intended for never-completed WWI trench locos.

Mr. Hiatt found boilers and fit them to the chassis (or vice versa). Prior to Mr. Hiatt's work, the chassis never saw service. The reader may therefore decide whether the locomotives are actually "historic". They are however, interesting.

The complete story of the Byron RR may be found in the book "Little Railways of the World" by Frederick Shaw as mentioned in the eBay posting.

A fair number of American-built WWI trench locos survive and a number of these can be found on various sugar lines in India. To my knowledge, the only complete example in the U.S. is the Davenport you mention at Fort Benning. The book "Narrow Gauge at War" by Keith Taylorson (Plateways Press) contains a fairly comprehensive list of the survivors.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Glenn


christenseng@altavista.com

> A fair number of American-built WWI trench
> locos survive and a number of these can be
> found on various sugar lines in India.

And, perhaps more accessibly, the modified ALCO 2-6-2 trench loco "Mountaineer" on the Ffestiniog in Wales.

Steam tractors links
eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

> A fair number of American-built WWI trench
> locos survive and a number of these can be
> found on various sugar lines in India.

And, perhaps more accessibly, the modified ALCO 2-6-2 trench loco "Mountaineer" on the Ffestiniog in Wales.

eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

> And, perhaps more accessibly, the modified
> ALCO 2-6-2 trench loco
> "Mountaineer" on the Ffestiniog in
> Wales.
One question comes to mind. I've heard that many trench engines were used in the french sugar industry, on sugar beet lines there - what became of them?
Also, many years ago I remember reading (in the Narrow Gauge Gazette??) that a logging RR in West Virginia (?) used surplus trench equipment, including 2-6-2 tank engines. Anyone got info on this??

> One question comes to mind. I've heard that
> many trench engines were used in the french
> sugar industry, on sugar beet lines there -
> what became of them?

I know one of the Pithivier locomotives (in addition to "Mountaineer" of course) has been preserved and restored to its original WWI livery. This locomotive recently visited the ffestiniog from its home at the Transport Museum in Pithivier - AMTP.) I also seem to recall they may have another unrestored WDLR Alco, but this is not listed in any of my sources and I may be simply recalling photos of the French locomotive prior to its restoration. Taylorson reports another Alco 2-6-2T is preserved at the CF Touristique (CFT) Frossy-Cappy_Dompierre, but I do not know whether this was a former sugar beet locomotive or not. (BTW – A good reference is the book “French Minor Railways” by W.J.K. Davies – if you can find a copy.)

> Also, many years ago I remember reading (in
> the Narrow Gauge Gazette??) that a logging
> RR in West Virginia (?) used surplus trench
> equipment, including 2-6-2 tank engines.
> Anyone got info on this??

Yes, this was the Lost River RR, a 60 cm logging line that connected with the Winchester & Western in Wardensville, VA. The LRRR operated over 20 miles of line and used at least 5 of the Vulcan 2-6-2Ts. Operation of this line ceased in 1931. More can be found in the book "The Winchester & Western Railroad" by Lawrence P. Winnemore.

Best Regards,
Glenn



christenseng@altavista.com

There is an operating example of one of the WWI tank locos at the P'tit train de la Haute Somme. I do not know if the is the same one as mentioned below, but this one visited the Ffestiniog a few years back. They have a good slection of photos of it at the link below.

Roger

> I know one of the Pithivier locomotives (in
> addition to "Mountaineer" of
> course) has been preserved and restored to
> its original WWI livery. This locomotive
> recently visited the ffestiniog from its
> home at the Transport Museum in Pithivier -
> AMTP.) I also seem to recall they may have
> another unrestored WDLR Alco, but this is
> not listed in any of my sources and I may be
> simply recalling photos of the French
> locomotive prior to its restoration.
> Taylorson reports another Alco 2-6-2T is
> preserved at the CF Touristique (CFT)
> Frossy-Cappy_Dompierre, but I do not know
> whether this was a former sugar beet
> locomotive or not. (BTW – A good reference
> is the book “French Minor Railways” by
> W.J.K. Davies – if you can find a copy.)

> Yes, this was the Lost River RR, a 60 cm
> logging line that connected with the
> Winchester & Western in Wardensville,
> VA. The LRRR operated over 20 miles of line
> and used at least 5 of the Vulcan 2-6-2Ts.
> Operation of this line ceased in 1931. More
> can be found in the book "The
> Winchester & Western Railroad" by
> Lawrence P. Winnemore.

> Best Regards,
> Glenn


P'tit train de la Haute Somme

Belpaire@aol.com

> There is an operating example of one of the
> WWI tank locos at the P'tit train de la
> Haute Somme. I do not know if the is the
> same one as mentioned below, but this one
> visited the Ffestiniog a few years back.
> They have a good slection of photos of it at
> the link below.

Hi Roger,

Yes, that is the locomotive I recall seeing in photos! Which brings up a very interesting question, "Where did it come from?" Is AMTP still operating? Could it have come from the CFT Meyzieu? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Glenn


christenseng@altavista.com

> Hi Roger,

> Yes, that is the locomotive I recall seeing
> in photos! Which brings up a very
> interesting question, "Where did it
> come from?" Is AMTP still operating?
> Could it have come from the CFT Meyzieu? Any
> input would be appreciated.

> Thanks,
> Glenn

There are two ALCO (ex Br. Army 2-6-2Ts) in France:

No. C.N. Location
1257 57148 Chemin de fer Froissy-Cappy-Dompierre, Froissy, France
22 57131 Museum of Transport, Pithiviers, France

The latter is the one with the AMTP; the former is operational.


Surviving World Steam Locomotives
james1@pernet.net

> There are two ALCO (ex Br. Army 2-6-2Ts) in
> France:

Thank you, James. I appreciate your assistance.

Do you know the origin of the loco used on the "P'tit train de la Haute Somme"?

Sincerely,
Glenn



christenseng@altavista.com

I posted some more information at the following link (don't feel like typing it twice!)

Regards,
Jim Robinson


Info on Byron Railroad

The ebay auction is over, sold at the "Buy it now" price of $350,000.


sjhussar@aol.com

I have some not-so-good kodachrome slides of the Byron Railroad in Martinsdale, IA, taken in July, 1965, with #2967 pulling the train.The train consisted of the two open-sided excursion cars and the coach/observation car. Yes, his railroad was open to the public, operating only on weekends as I recall. Mr. Hiatt was a very personable fellow who was obviously very proud of his railroad. His operations were very informal, and I donÂ’t even remember that he had more than one or two people helping him. He also had a Wurlitzer military band organ which he would operate if one twisted his arm - which I did because of my fascination with these instruments.