Alright, this comes from an inquiring mind; is there any builders reports on the
WD 4-6-0T that Baldwin put out during WWI? I'm doing some research, but haven't found anything that Baldwin has put out on them.
An inquring mind want's to know
Dylan M. Lambert

Okay...there's one of 'em undergoing restoration at Leighton Buzzard, UK. This is War Department No. 778, a Baldwin-built 4-6-0T built in 1917. Photo below:



Then there's War Department Light Railways No. 794, a Baldwin-built 4-6-0T from 1917 currently undergoing restoration at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway at Porthmadog, Caernarfonshire, UK. Photo below:



Those are the only two known Baldwin survivors. Hope that helps.

I vaguely recall there being another one at a theme park somewhere in Australia, operational, but rebuilt as a tender engine.

I think there was a report of a WD 4-6-0T preserved in France as well. Do I remember correctly that the one at Ffestiniog was repatriated from India?

It's not actually at the Ffestinog Railway; it's currently on loan to the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway as stated above, and is at their Gelert's Farm Works awaiting funding to complete its restoration.

To answer your question, the 794 was indeed brought back from India (where it had worked on a sugar plantation) in 1985 and was given to the Imperial War Museum (its permanent owner), which had planned on restoring and running 794 at its Duxford site. It was transferred to the WHHR in 2004, a new boiler was built for it soon afterwards, and WHHR is now raising the funds needed to finish restoration.

Based on what I found last night, there's three still on sugar plantations in India. Chances are that they're long gone though...

Dylan:
You should pick up a copy of the book: "Narrow Gauge To No Man's Land" If I remember correctly there is a WD 2-6-2 ? that exists in California ? Can't remember if it was a 4-6-0 or something else, but definitely built for WWI narrow gauge Trench railroading.
A GREAT book !

Kevin K

Well, that I didn't know. I know there's a 18in quarry hunslet out there, but a WD tank engine? That's something!

Well, I found one. Except it's in Georgia and it looks like it was retrofitted as a 2-6-2T instead of the 4-6-0T. That and it was also made by Davenport.
http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=369

The 2-6-2T at Ft. Benning is a purpose built locomotive (not converted from the 4-6-0T) for the US Army. Baldwin built the majority, but Davenport and Vulcan also received orders. I believe only Baldwins made it "over there", most of the Davenports delivered were used on camp railroads and for training. I think the end of the Davenport and Vulcan orders were cut short, because the war was over.

The Benning loco is the only intact 2-6-2T trench loco in the US. The runing gears of two more Davenports were used on something called the Byron Railroad on a private estate, but for some odd reason they were equipped with some poor aftermarket boilers, like from traction engines. One of these frames is now owned by Ron Trottier, I do not know where the other one is.

The 4-6-0Ts were built by Baldwin from common parts for the Brittish ROD, their equivalent to an American ROB. I believe all of these designs came from a Baldwin French 4-6-0T design from before the war; the Yank locos, built later, were made as 2-6-2T's so they would back up better. This is a relative term, as due to the narrow gauge (60 cm.) and the height of the water tanks' C/G, they were somewhat top-heavy.

After Rich Dunn's book, the next best guide is Dr. Christian Cenac's The 60cm Military Railways of the WWI in France.http://www.cenac-france.com/en/index.php. It is a self published, and expensive book, but it has drawings of everything that ran on the trench railways in WW I.

Steve

One of the Alco 2-6-2T locos (Mountaineer) has operated on the Ffestiniog, with a slightly cut down cab to clear their tunnel & bridges. It has been stored since 2006 pending a rebuild.

The attached link shows the Mountaineeer recreated in its wartime paint scheme:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28184326@N ... hotostream

I heard about Mountaineer a few years ago. Talk about just a great little engine.

Thanks for the info. I had no idea that Vulcan and Davenport build WD locomotives for use in Europe and in use as trainers here in the US. To me, there is some symbolism to the 10-12-Ds; Like any soldier, after their service in the military is done, they adapt to use in civilian life. Working on the Welsh Highland, Ashover Light Railway, and on sugar plantations in India are all perfect examples of such symbolism. They're truly veteran locomotives. But a question comes up; what have they done with it? There's no mention of it in the exhibits.

778, the Baldwin 4-6-0T on the Leighton Buzzard Railway, in Bedfordshire, England (where I volunteer) has spent the last two weeks back in France, for the first time, since the the First World War.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBK4NxBuP9o.

Well, to bad we can't pull something like that off here in the states...