All I know is it's a Henschel 0-4-4-0 and is running on the "Vapeur de trieux" - Pontrieux to Paimpol - a friend took the picture last weekend (and has obviously got his wifi working in Treburden - lovely place to sail to) and I can't find out anything about it. Picture taken at Pontrieux, Brittany.

G

I'll see if I can do better than this, but if translated, it's the history of ABC#2 (Avricourt Blamon Cirey), which is in the photo

http://www.vapeurdutrieux.com/pages/fr/ ... otive.html

The following is based on Google Translations. I included some modifications where the English didn't work out so well. It's still awkward in spots, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time wordsmithing.

The locomotive is owned Mallet Train Thur Doller Alsace (TTDA) in the Upper Rhine near Mulhouse. It runs between Cernay and Sentheim on a former SNCF line 14 KM long.

This locomotive, one of two built in 1911 by Henschel & Son in Kassel in Germany, has spent its entire career on the private line Avricourt Blamon Cirey (ABC) between Meurthe and Moselle from 1911 to 1966. The ABC has been used by the Cie de l”Est (private company which operated the railroads in the eastern part of France) and then by SNCF (French National Railroad Co which took over the regional private carriers) until the end of its activity in 1966. The line was 17 km and included grades similar to those that can be observed between Paimpol and Pontrieux. Initally, the ABC Co. had three steam engines, 1 030T No. 1 and 2 Mallet T 020 020 N ̊ 2 and 3 (these are 0-4-4-0's). The only survivor is owned by the TTDA, and the paint scheme reflects its appearance as #2 on ABC.

The mallet locomotive was saved from scrap by CdF Abreschwiller in the late 60s, then was transferred to the CFT of the Vallée de la Doller (TTDA since May 2006) in the early 70s. Its poor condition prevented its restoration to service when it arrived and it was parked for many years on the line Cernay-Sentheim.

As the only standard gauge locomotive Mallet preserved in France, it has been classified a historical monument in 1987, and credits from the DRAC, the Conseil Régional d'Alsace and the Conseil Général du Haut-Rhin have helped save it.

The restoration began in 1990 and lasted 15 years. During that time, pieces of the locomotive traveled all over France: a new boiler was built in COMESSA in Epinal, the driving axles were replaced with Valdunes Dunkirk, valves and all accessories were revised workshops TTDA and repair of chassis and final reassembly has been made in CFTA Gray. In June 2005 the first match was lit in the boiler, and the mallet moved under its own power after almost 40 years of waiting.

Then almost 1 year was spent meeting various regulations until late 2006, and the completion of the agreement with SNCF and DRP Strasbourg was finally obtained on 2 June 2008.

Do a Google search for "la vapeur du trieux" (their site will be the first listing), then click on "translate" to get the site in English.

Jim Tatum.

I'd tried their website and it only referred to a Pacific when I checked.

Thanks for providing the answer - Now dispatched to a yacht somewhere in the channel.

Gavin

Click on "The Train" - "Specifications" and "History of the Locomotive" are both about the Mallet.

Jim Tatum.

I'd tried the various options and it still showed a pacific when I originally looked - can only assume I'd hit an older, cached, version of the website. As it's now up to date I'm happy that I know what it was - finding French Websites can be difficult!

Thanks to those who've assisted.

G