Trench railway

Last updated
Transfer of ammunition from standard-gauge railway to trench railway during the Battle of Passchendaele. C01357-military rail transport Frizeville 1917.jpg
Transfer of ammunition from standard-gauge railway to trench railway during the Battle of Passchendaele.

A trench railway was a type of railway that represented military adaptation of early 20th-century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of World War I. The large concentrations of soldiers and artillery at the front lines required delivery of enormous quantities of food, ammunition and fortification construction materials where transport facilities had been destroyed. Reconstruction of conventional roads (at that time rarely surfaced) and railways was too slow, and fixed facilities were attractive targets for enemy artillery. Trench railways linked the front with standard gauge railway facilities beyond the range of enemy artillery. [1] Empty cars often carried litters returning wounded from the front.

Contents

Overview

France had developed portable Decauville railways for agricultural areas, small-scale mining and temporary construction projects. France had standardized 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) narrow gauge Decauville military equipment and Germany adopted similar feldbahn of the same gauge. British War Department Light Railways and the United States Army Transportation Corps used the French 600 mm narrow gauge system. Russia used Decauville 600 mm narrow gauge and 750 mm (2 ft 5+12 in) narrow gauge systems.

Unskilled labourers and soldiers could quickly assemble prefabricated 5-meter (16 ft 5 in) sections of track weighing about 100 kilograms (220 lb) along roads or over smooth terrain. The track distributed heavy loads to minimize development of muddy ruts through unpaved surfaces. Small locomotives pulled short trains of 10-tonne (9.8-long-ton; 11-short-ton) capacity cars through areas of minimum clearance and small-radius curves. Derailments were common, but the light rolling stock was relatively easy to rerail. [2] Steam locomotives typically carried a short length of flexible pipe (called a water-lifter) to refill water tanks from flooded shell holes.

Steam locomotives produced smoke that revealed their location to enemy artillery and aircraft. They required fog or darkness to operate within visual range of the front. [2] Daylight transport usually required animal power until internal combustion locomotives were developed. Large quantities of hay and grain were carried to the front as horses in warfare remained essential to logistics. Fodder for horses constituted the single biggest commodity exported from Britain to France during the war.

French equipment

French equipment was largely designed on the initiative of Artillery Captain Prosper Péchot beginning in 1888. The 10-tonne (9.8-long-ton; 11-short-ton) Fairlie articulated 0-4-4-0T Péchot-Bourdon locomotive was named for him and engineer Bourdon of the 5th engineer regiment (5e régiment du génie) in Toul. Prior to outbreak of war 150 km (93 mi) of military 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) track were stockpiled at Toul, along with 20 locomotives and 150 wagons.

The French military had 62 Péchot-Bourdon type built between 1888 and 1914. Baldwin Locomotive Works built 280 more during the war. The "Système Péchot" as it is named in French became the dominant system for trench railways with an estimated 7,500 km (4,700 mi) of track built by the 5th engineer regiment.

250 8-tonne (7.9-long-ton; 8.8-short-ton) 0-6-0T of Decauville's Progres design were built for military service. 32 0-6-0T of American design and 600 55 kW (74 hp) gasoline mechanical locomotives were purchased from Baldwin Locomotive Works.

The Maginot Line employed a 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge supply system of petrol-powered armoured locomotives and underground electric locomotives pulling cars of World War I design. Two Péchot-Bourdon locomotives were preserved in the technical museums of Dresden and the railway museum of Požega. A portion of the Somme battlefield railway continued in operation and has been preserved as the heritage Froissy Dompierre Light Railway.

German equipment

A 0-8-0T Brigadelok preserved at Deutsches Dampflokomotiv-Museum. Feldbahn 1757 DDM.jpg
A 0-8-0T Brigadelok preserved at Deutsches Dampflokomotiv-Museum.
German troops loading for transport to the front about 1915. Bundesarchiv Bild 104-0332, Truppentransport zur Front.jpg
German troops loading for transport to the front about 1915.

Orenstein and Koppel GmbH manufactured portable track. Krauss designed a 0-6-0T Zwillinge intended to be operated in pairs with the cabs together. The Zwillinge offered Mallet locomotive performance through tight curves, but damage to one unit would not disable the second. One hundred-eighty-two Zwillinge were manufactured from 1890 to 1903, and shortcomings were evaluated in German South West Africa and China's Boxer Rebellion.

An 11-tonne (24,000 lb) 0-8-0T Brigadelok design with Klien-Lindner articulation of the front and rear axles was adopted as the new military standard in 1901. Approximately 250 were available by 1914, and over two thousand were produced during the war. A Brigadelok typically handled six loaded cars up a 2% grade.

Germany also had approximately five hundred 0-4-0T, three hundred 0-6-0T and forty 0-10-0T locomotives of other designs in military service.

Deutz AG produced two hundred 4-wheel internal combustion locomotives with an evaporative cooling water jacket surrounding the single cylinder oil engine. Fifty similar 6-wheel locomotives were produced by Deutz.

Approximately 20% of the Brigadeloks saw post-war use. Government railways of (Yugoslavia), North Macedonia, Serbia and Poland made extensive use of the military locomotives. Significant numbers were used in Hungary, France, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania while smaller numbers went overseas to Africa, Indonesia, Japan and North America. Much of the trench railway equipment remaining in Belgium at the end of hostilities was shipped to the Belgian Congo to build the Vicicongo line.

British equipment

Britain selected a Hunslet Engine Company 4-6-0T design as their standard for the French Decauville 600mm rail gauge; but Hunslet's production of 75 locomotives was insufficient. Baldwin Locomotive Works produced 495 15-tonne (33,000 lb) 4-6-0T of a less satisfactory American design while Hudswell Clarke and Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. built 83 0-6-0T locomotives. One hundred 15-tonne (33,000 lb) 2-6-2T of the American standard military design were later purchased from Alco's Cooke Locomotive Works for British use.

Britain pioneered the use of petrol-powered, 4-wheel synchromesh mechanical drive locomotives (known as tractors) for daylight use within visual range of the front. In 1916 the War Office required "Petrol Trench Tractors" of 600-mm gauge that were capable of drawing 10 to 15 tons at 5 mi (8.0 km) per hour. [3] Early tractors weighed 2 tons. Total production was 102 7 kW (9.4 hp) Ernest E. Baguley tractors, 580 15 kW (20 hp) Motor Rail tractors and 220 30 kW (40 hp) Motor Rail tractors. An additional two hundred 30 kW (40 hp) petrol-electric tractors were produced by British Westinghouse and Dick, Kerr & Co.

Former British trench railway equipment was put to civilian use rebuilding Vis-en-Artois between Arras and Cambrai. Twenty Hudswell-Clarke and Barclay 0-6-0T, seven Alco 2-6-2T and 26 Baldwin 4-6-0T engines saw service until 1957.

American equipment

Baldwin Locomotive Works produced 15-tonne (16.5-short-ton; 14.8-long-ton) 2-6-2T numbered 5001-5195. Number 5195 was sent to Davenport Locomotive Works as a pattern for their production of the design, while another was sent to the Magor Car Corporation [4] to test operation of their military railway car production. Two were lost at sea, and the remaining 191 saw service with the U.S. Army in France. Locomotives were initially painted grey with black smoke boxes. White lettering was applied to early production, but black lettering was used in France. Baldwin also built 5-tonne (5.5-short-ton; 4.9-long-ton)26 kW (35 hp) and 7-tonne (7.7-short-ton; 6.9-long-ton)37 kW (50 hp) 4-wheel gasoline mechanical locomotives for the U.S. Army. The lighter locomotives were numbered 8001-8063. The heavier locomotives were numbered 7001-7126 and operated at 2 metres per second or 6.56 feet per second (7.2 km/h or 4.5 mph), roughly the speed of a slow jogger. [5]

The standard American military railway car was 170 centimetres (5 ft 7 in) wide and 7 m (23 ft) long riding on two 4-wheel archbar bogies. 1,695 of these cars were built by the Magor Car, American Car and Foundry and Ralston Steel Car Company. Most were flatcars, but some had gondola sides, others had roofs (either with open sides or like conventional boxcars) and others carried shallow rectangular tanks with a capacity of 10,000 litres (2,600 US gal; 2,200 imp gal) of drinking water. The boxcars and tank cars were regarded as top-heavy and prone to derailment; so most loads were carried on flatcars and gondolas. Approximately 1,600 4-wheel side dump cars were produced in several versions for construction earthmoving. The total number of cars shipped to Europe was 2,385. [1]

Davenport Locomotive Works built one hundred 15-tonne (16.5-short-ton; 14.8-long-ton) 2-6-2T and Vulcan Iron Works built thirty more. Whitcomb Locomotive Works built 74 7-tonne (7.7-short-ton; 6.9-long-ton) 4-wheel gasoline mechanical locomotives. None of the Davenport, Vulcan and Whitcomb production saw overseas service, but some survived to World War II on United States military bases including Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, Fort Dix, New Jersey and an arsenal in Alabama.

Russian equipment

During the First World War Russia used both French 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) Decauville and 750 mm (2 ft 5+12 in) gauge systems. More than 2,000 km (1,243 mi) of narrow gauge trench railways were built during the war. Kolomna Locomotive Works built 0-6-0T locomotives (I, N, R, T series). 70 locomotives were purchased from ALCO. Baldwin Locomotive Works built 350 seven-tonne 6-wheel gasoline mechanical locomotives for Russia's 750 mm (2 ft 5+12 in) gauge in 1916. [6] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairlie locomotive</span> Type of articulated locomotive

A Fairlie locomotive is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended. Fairlies are most famously associated with the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davenport Locomotive Works</span>

The Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, Iowa, USA was formed as the W W Whitehead Company in 1901. In 1902 the company commenced building light locomotives. The Company was renamed the Davenport Locomotive Works in 1904.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4-4-0</span> Locomotive wheel arrangement

4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and a lack of trailing wheels. Due to the large number of the type that were produced and used in the United States, the 4-4-0 is most commonly known as the "American" or "Eight-Wheeler" type, but the type subsequently also became popular in the United Kingdom, where large numbers were produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2-8-2</span> Locomotive wheel arrangement

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. This configuration of steam locomotive is most often referred to as a Mikado, frequently shortened to Mike.

The War Department Light Railways were a system of narrow gauge trench railways run by the British War Department in World War I. Light railways made an important contribution to the Allied war effort in the First World War, and were used for the supply of ammunition and stores, the transport of troops and the evacuation of the wounded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2-6-2</span> Locomotive wheel arrangement

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie.

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 2-6-6-2 is a locomotive with one pair of unpowered leading wheels, followed by two sets of three pairs of powered driving wheels and one pair of trailing wheels. The wheel arrangement was principally used on Mallet-type articulated locomotives, although some tank locomotive examples were also built. A Garratt locomotive or Golwé locomotive with the same wheel arrangement is designated 2-6-0+0-6-2 since both engine units are pivoting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">0-4-2</span> Locomotive wheel arrangement

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. While the first locomotives of this wheel arrangement were tender engines, the configuration was later often used for tank engines, which is noted by adding letter suffixes to the configuration, such as 0-4-2T for a conventional side-tank locomotive, 0-4-2ST for a saddle-tank locomotive, 0-4-2WT for a well-tank locomotive and 0-4-2RT for a rack-equipped tank locomotive.

Indian Railways operates India's railway system and comes under the purview of the Ministry of Railways of Government of India. As of 2023, it maintains over 108,706 km (67,547 mi) of tracks and operates over 13,000 trains daily with a fleet of 14,800 locomotives. The railways primarily operates a fleet of electric and diesel locomotives along with a few compressed natural gas (CNG) locomotives. Steam locomotives are operated on mountain railways and on heritage trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemins de fer du Calvados</span>

The Chemins de Fer du Calvados was a 600 mm narrow gauge railway in the département of Calvados.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decauville</span> French automobile and light railway manufacturer

Decauville was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow gauge track fastened to steel sleepers; this track was portable and could be disassembled and transported very easily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Leone Government Railway</span>

The Sierra Leone Government Railway operated in Sierra Leone from 1897 to 1974. It was unusual in that it formed a national railway system constructed solely to a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge, whereas in other countries, gauge of such a narrow width was usually confined to feeder railways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin Class 10-12-D</span>

The Baldwin Class 10-12-D was a class of narrow gauge 4-6-0PT steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (USA) for the British War Department Light Railways for service in France during World War I. They were built in 1916–1917 to 600 mm gauge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Froissy Dompierre Light Railway</span> French heritage railway; last World War I trench railway

The Froissy Dompierre Light Railway is a 600 mm narrow gauge light railway running from Froissy to Dompierre-Becquincourt, through Cappy, in the Somme department, France. It is run as a heritage railway by APPEVA and is also known as P'tit Train de la Haute Somme. It is the last survivor of the 600 mm narrow gauge trench railways of the World War I battlefields.

The Otavi Mining and Railway Company was a railway and mining company in German South West Africa. It was founded on 6 April 1900 in Berlin with the Disconto-Gesellschaft and the South West Africa Company as major shareholders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tramway de Pithiviers à Toury</span>

The Tramway de Pithiviers à Toury (TPT) was a 600 mm gauge railway in the Loiret department of France. It was built to carry sugar beet and was 80 kilometres (50 mi) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class NG1 0-4-0T</span>

The South African Railways Class NG1 0-4-0T of 1900 was a narrow-gauge steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in Transvaal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrow-gauge railways in former French Morocco</span>

French Morocco had from 1912 to 1935 one of the largest 600 mm gauge network in Africa with a total length of more than 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi). After the treaty of Algeciras where the representatives of Great Powers agreed not to build any 1,435 mm standard-gauge railway in Morocco until the standard-gauge Tangier–Fes railway being completed, the French begun to build military 600 mm gauge lines in their part of Morocco French Morocco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemin de fer du Val de Passey</span>

The Chemin de fer du Val de Passey is a 0.8 km (0.5 mi) long heritage railway with 600 mm gauge near Choloy-Ménillot southwest of Toul in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donon Light Railway</span>

The Donon Light Railway was a 44.3 km (27.5 mi) long narrow-gauge 700 mm gauge forest railway in the Donon mountains. It ran from Schirmeck in the Alsatian-speaking Alsace to Allarmont, Colas and Moussey in the French-speaking Vosges.

References

  1. 1 2 Ayres, Leonard P. (1919). The War with Germany (Second ed.). Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. p.  54.
  2. 1 2 "Light Rail Operators, Company D, 21st Engineers". The Great War Society. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  3. "Motor Rail & Tramcar Co. Ltd., Bedford, England". Old Kiln Light Railway. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  4. Magor Car Company
  5. War Activities of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Baldwin Locomotive Works Record, No. 93, 1919; pages 3-21.
  6. Small 1982 p.55
  7. Westing 1966 p.76

Bibliography