PROTOTYPES (i.e. the original 12-inches-to-the-foot scale items)

Further to the previous articles in this short series which listed reference books and multimedia, this article adds a list of locations where original prototype Great War military railway and tramway equipment can be seen –  surely the most useful reference material for a modeller.

There are undoubtedly many other ex-WW1 service trains that are not listed here, so this is not claimed to be an exhaustive roster. For example, specifically NOT listed here are industrial locomotives built during the War for use at British armaments and supply factories or at arsenals. Hopefully people will note in the comments at the end of the article any additional reference sources that have been overlooked (please stick to the topic – places where prototype WW1 rolling stock and track materials can be seen).

WW1 60 cm gauge

Leighton Buzzard NGR, Buckinghamshire - https://www.buzzrail.uk/

• WDLR Baldwin 10-12-D 4-6-0 number 788 Locomotive
• WDLR Simplex 40hp Armoured Tractor
• Heeresfeldbahn Brigadelok Locomotive (static display)
• Many Simplex 20hp including a WDLR bow frame
• Various other items

Apedale Valley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs - https://avlr.org.uk/

• Hunslet 4-6-0T number 303 Locomotive
• Simplex 40hp and 20hp tractors
• Joffre 0-6-0 locomotive
• Various other items

Vale of Rheidol Railway Museum, Aberystwyth, Wales - https://www.rheidolrailway.co.uk/

• Dick Kerr Petrol Electric 0-4-0 tractor
• Heeresfeldbahn 0-8-0 Brigadelok Locomotive

FFestiniog / Welsh Highland Railway, Porthmadog, Wales - https://www.festrail.co.uk/

• Mountaineer (modified ALCO-Cooke)
• Simplex 40hp and 20hp tractors

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (WHHR), Porthmadog, Wales - https://www.whr.co.uk/  https://www.welshhighlandheritage.co.uk/

• WDLR Baldwin 10-12-D 4-6-0 number 590 Locomotive (ex-WDLR 794)
• Simplex 20hp bow-frame on display

Petit train d’haute Somme, Froissy, France -                   (** see Leger below)

• The track remains in place used at various times by German, British, French and American troops during the War
• Museum with extensive collection of rolling stock from all nations
• Baldwin 50hp gas-mechanical tractor
• Heeresfeldbahn 0-8-0 Brigadelok Locomotives

Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, Skegness - http://www.lclr.co.uk/

• WDLR Ambulance wagon and various bogie wagons
• Several Simplex 20hp tractors
• The last known P Class wagons
• Many items ex Nocton Estates

Tacot des Lacs, Nemours, France - http://www.tacot-des-lacs.com/

• The only original and running WDLR ALCO-Cooke 2-6-2 loco in Europe
• Static Dick Kerr Petrol Electric
• Heeresfeldbahn Brigadelok Locomotives
• French Army Decauville 0-6-0
• Schneider Tractor

West Lancs Railway, Hesketh Bank, Preston - https://www.westlancsrailway.org/steam-engines

• Joffre 0-6-0

Norgrove Railway, Arroyo Grande, California - https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-norgrove-railway-outside-of-arroyo.html?m=0&template=default

• Baldwin 2-6-2 built by Davenport
• https://youtu.be/SGkMlLqxHTE?si=GLH59h4e-j1VHsXo

Only two original Pechot-Bourdon 0-4-4-0 locomotives remain:

• A 1916 model built on contract by Baldwin is owned by the Dresden Transport Museum but is currently on loan to the Frankfurt Field Railway Museum, Germany
• https://www.feldbahn-ffm.de/dampflokomotiven/
• The second, a 1915 model also made by Baldwin, is at the Serbian Railway Museum at Pozega, Serbia
• https://topoz.org.rs/en/railway-museum/

Pithiviers Transport Museum, France - https://amtp-cfpithiviers.fr/

• 1916 ALCO-Cooke 2-6-2 loco on display
• 1917 0-8-0 Henschel Brigadelok
• 1918 0-8-0 Hartmann Brigadelok
• Pechot and Clayton wagons
• Henschel feldbahn water tender

Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme, Le Crotoy, France - https://www.chemindefer-baiedesomme.fr/en/welcome                 (** see Leger below)

• A metre-gauge line originally developed in the 19th century, but 4-rail dual-gauge (Metre and Standard) for part of its length, enabling interaction with an adkoining SNCF standard gauge line. None of the rolling stock is particularly of military-use origin, but "WW1 era" locomotion is said to be used for some tourist passenger services now.

Ohsabanan, Småland, Sweden - https://www.ohsabanan.se/?lang=en

• 60 cm gauge museum railway operating two Heeresfeldbahn Brigadelok 0-8-0 Locomotives

Amberley Museum, Arundel, West Sussex - https://www.amberleynarrowgauge.co.uk/our-locos.htm

• 1918 Protected 40hp Simplex
• 1918 bow frame 20hp Simplex
• Several other later Simplex tractors and a 1917 Brush tractor

 

WW1 Standard gauge

Chemin de fer à vapeur des 3 vallées (Mariembourg-Treignes), Belgium - http://www.cfv3v.eu/                 (** see Leger below)

(Three Valleys Steam Railway) A 14 kilometre heritage railway with an associated museum. They have a 1916 US Army transportation Baldwin 0-4-0 tank engine in storage awaiting restoration. Very little, if any, of the rest of the rolling stock is of military-use origin, but "WW1 era" locomotion is said to be used for some tourist passenger services now.

GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0 ("Mogul"):

• ROD 5322 is at Didcot Railway Centre - https://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/

J36 Class 0-6-0

• Bo’ness Museum “Maude” - https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/65243-maude-nbr-673-lner-9673-lner-5243-br-65243/ and https://museumofscottishrailways.org.uk/north-british-railway-class-c/

ROD 2-8-0

Two ex-ROD 2-8-0 locomotives are supposedly on display at the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum, New South Wales, Australia, but it seems that the museum never opens to the public.

• ROD 1984, made by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow in 1918
• ROD 2003, built at Gorton Works, Manchester in 1918

A third ROD 2-8-0 is on static display at Richmond Vale Railway Museum, Kurri Kurri, NSW, Australia (https://www.richmondvalerailwaymuseum.org/) but the museum is closed due to safety regulations work and has not admitted the public for some time.

• ROD 1615, built by Kitson & Company, Leeds, was put on static display, disguised as sister locomotive No. 23 (ROD No. 2004)

So, unfortunately, although three ROD 2-8-0 locomotives have been preserved in Australia, none can be viewed at present.

At the Great Central Railway, Loughborough, England is No.63601 Great Central Railway 8K Class 2-8-0 Built at the Gorton, Manchester, works of the Great Central Railway in 1912, which served in WW1 and is effectively a ROD 2-8-0. It has been under restoration for a number of years.

Yeovil Railway Centre - http://www.yeovilrailway.freeservers.com/locomotivesandrollingstock.html

• Andrew Barclay 0-4-0T "Lord Fisher", built 1915 to serve at the RNAS Kingsnorth Airship facility at Hoo, near Rochester.

 

** LEGER - Leger Holidays have a tour available which includes visits to the three locations marked above - https://www.leger.co.uk/tours/war-by-timetable