Steam & Excursion > WW1 Narrow gauge train lines in France

A friend of mine just sent me a link to a fantastic movie showing 60 centimeter (2-foot gauge) lines in France during WW1.

I you have not already seen it, type WW1 Narrow Gauge train lines in France - World War One into YouTube for nine minutes of professionally shot B&W footage.

Cheers,
Jack

Thanks for the information Jack-- just so happens that my late grandfather (Victor Shattock, of SP and Live Steam hobby fame) served with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces as a C.S.M. (Company Sergeant Major) in the 8th Railway Troops sent to Rouen, France to build those very same 2-foot gauge railway lines.

He was living in Calgary, Alberta at the time and even with several children, decided to help with the War effort. Here is his info I found:

The battalion embarked at Halifax on 20 December 1916 aboard OLYMPIC, disembarking in England on 26 December 1916. Its strength was 25 officers and 662 other ranks. It was absorbed by the 26th Canadian Reserve Battalion on 20 January 1917 and then by the Canadian Railway Troops Depot on 16 February 1917. The battalion amalgamated with the 218th Battalion on 21 March 1917 to form the 8th Battalion CRT. The authorization establishing the 8th Battalion CRT was published in General Order 63 of 15 June 1917. The battalion demobilized at Edmonton and was disbanded by General Order 196 of 1 November 1920. The CRT Depot was at Purfleet, England.
His embarkation date of 20 December 1916 just happened to be his 30th birthday!

Upon his return to Canada, he settled in Nanton, Alberta running his own plumbing and tinsmithing business until 1923, when he got the calling to move to California and start a new life. He hired on with the Southern Pacific Railroad and at that point, I think most of you already are familiar with his life from there on!!

Thanks, Jack..

Ken Shattock

What great footage. Wow!

KeyRouteKen and I have a lot in common. My late grandfarther was assigned to working the railroads in France in 1917. He was in the Army's Eighteenth Engineers Railway,Company E. He arrived in France on August 20, 1917 on the British transport "SAXTONIA". His first assignment as a surveyor was working on American Docks and Terminals as Basses, France. His company next went work at 'D'Ambres, build a third track on the Paris & Orleans Line. This was followed by surveying for a proposed dock and warehouses on Dordogne River, below St. Loubes.

This was followed by more railroad work until he got his wish to be trasferred to Battery E, 146th Field Artillery, which was at The Front. He was good with trig and that comes in handy with artillery. There they were assigned to the Marines at Belleau Wood. For a while he was hospitalized and was left behind by his unit. For quite a while he was searching to join his unit, only to find the unit moved again, or he was given the incorrect information.

On trying to get back to his unit there is this entry in his WWI Field Book from August 15, 1918. "The troop train for St. Menehould wasn't due until 9:00 P.M., so I decided to hike in. I did, and beat the train which didn't arrive until after midnight. It was a good hike or I couldn't have made my connections. My train left about 11:00 P.M."

Here finally caught up with his batallion a few days later.

There is an excellent book on the WWI 60cm lines from the U.S. point of view called "Narrow Gauge To No Man's Land" by Mr. Richard Dunn published in 1990. It's getting a bit pricy going for $60+ to over $100 on Amazon. There were four U.S. Engineer Regiments created for WWI, the 12th and 14th were to operate standard gauge railroads in France and the 21st and 22nd Regiments were to operate the 60 cm (23 5/8 inch) gauge logistic railroads although all four regiments were often pooled for attacks. The 21st Regiment had a great deal of unit cohesiveness and had reunions right up to 1972. It was quite mind blowing to see how many thousands of miles of 60 cm rail was laid by the Allies to support the trench warfare. Not only that, the Germans also used a 60 cm logistic railroad and as the front changed, the opponents rail lines were pressed into service by the captors. 195 engines were built by BLW, almost all shipped to France, 80 were built by Davenport and additional 30 were built by Vulcan. None of the Davenports or Vulcans were shipped to Europe because the war had ended. But many of the Davenports and Vulcans were used by the Army at various posts right up through WWII. There were also a large number of "critters" built for the war effort, BLW built 189 of two HP sizes, Whitcomb built 70 with armored cabs and 34 without. It is really surprising how little is remembered of this significant RR building program for WWI. Each of the other allies had their own programs and designs, Baldwin and ALCO built many engines for France and England as designed in the customer country. Dunn only mentioned the other Allies programs and didn't provided any data although many of the maps includes their trackage.

Ken, Tony - that is an amazing coincidence and some great family history. I'm glad I decided to mention the video!

Cheers,
Jack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/13 08:34 by africansteam.

Some of those US Army narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock ended up being used on an extensive intra-post narrow gauge railroad at Fort Benning, Ga., where they operated until after World War II.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.

Here are photos of a 3 3/4" scale WW1 train that I used to own. I kept the crane and dump cars as they are "too cute".
The models were made by Roll Models



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/13 07:53 by skidroe.

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skidroe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here are photos of a 3 3/4" scale WW1 train that I
> used to own. I kept the crane and dump cars as
> they are "too cute".
> The models were made by Roll Models


I love it. Great looking models!

I think this book is back in print.They advertise it in the Narrow Gauge Gazette from time to time.
Regards,dK



SR-RL_Nr_10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is an excellent book on the WWI 60cm lines
> from the U.S. point of view called "Narrow Gauge
> To No Man's Land" by Mr. Richard Dunn published in
> 1990. It's getting a bit pricy going for $60+ to
> over $100 on Amazon. There were four U.S.
> Engineer Regiments created for WWI, the 12th and
> 14th were to operate standard gauge railroads in
> France and the 21st and 22nd Regiments were to
> operate the 60 cm (23 5/8 inch) gauge logistic
> railroads although all four regiments were often
> pooled for attacks. The 21st Regiment had a great
> deal of unit cohesiveness and had reunions right
> up to 1972. It was quite mind blowing to see how
> many thousands of miles of 60 cm rail was laid by
> the Allies to support the trench warfare. Not
> only that, the Germans also used a 60 cm logistic
> railroad and as the front changed, the opponents
> rail lines were pressed into service by the
> captors. 195 engines were built by BLW, almost
> all shipped to France, 80 were built by Davenport
> and additional 30 were built by Vulcan. None of
> the Davenports or Vulcans were shipped to Europe
> because the war had ended. But many of the
> Davenports and Vulcans were used by the Army at
> various posts right up through WWII. There were
> also a large number of "critters" built for the
> war effort, BLW built 189 of two HP sizes,
> Whitcomb built 70 with armored cabs and 34
> without. It is really surprising how little is
> remembered of this significant RR building program
> for WWI. Each of the other allies had their own
> programs and designs, Baldwin and ALCO built many
> engines for France and England as designed in the
> customer country. Dunn only mentioned the other
> Allies programs and didn't provided any data
> although many of the maps includes their trackage.