The Réseau Breton 4-6-0 tank locomotives were a class of

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

locomotives. The twelve class members were built in two batches by Franco-Belge and Fives-Lille for the

Réseau Breton The Réseau Breton (RB) is a , standard gauge, and former , metre gauge, railway in Finistère, France, with a few kilometres of line in Côtes d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. The hub of the system was Carhaix. The metre gauge lines were ...

(RB) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Introduced in 1904, they were to be found all over the Réseau Breton system, lasting in traffic until the closure of the metre gauge lines in 1967.

Background

The Réseau Breton originally employed a number of 2-6-0T locomotives and also a number of 0-6-6-0T Mallet locomotives. The

4-6-0T A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

locomotives were intended to combine the lightness of the 2-6-0Ts with the power of the Mallets. The locomotives were built to operate on the

Loudéac Loudéac (; ; Gallo: ''Loudia'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department, Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Climate Loudéac has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Loudéa ...

to La Brohinière and Carhaix to Châteaulin lines.

Locomotives

Franco-Belge locomotives

Société Franco-Belge of Raismes built the initial batch of five locomotives. They were numbered E 321–E 325 on the Réseau Breton. The locomotives carried works numbers 1443–1447 respectively.

Fives-Lille locomotives

As the initial design was a success, a further seven locomotives were built by Compagnie de Fives-Lille pour constructions mécaniques et entreprises at Fives (

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

). These locomotives were numbered E 326–E 332 on the Réseau Breton. They carried works numbers 3581–3587Reinhard Scholz: ''Eine französiche Schmalspurlokomotive in der Schweiz'' in: Eisenbahn Amateur (Zeitschrift) Nr. 7, 1969, Seiten 260+261 respectively.

History

The locomotives were utilised across the whole of the Réseau Breton system. They were capable of hauling trains of at on the flat. Some of the locomotives lasted in service on the Réseau Breton until the closure of the metre gauge lines in 1967.

Specifications

The locomotives were long, with a width of and a height of . They were non-superheated locomotives, with two cylinders of diameter by stroke. The firebox grate had an area of , with a total heating area of Weight was empty, in working order.

Preservation

Two locomotives have been preserved.

E 327

E 327 was saved by Fédération de Amis des Chemins de Fer Secondaires (FACS). It was originally preserved on the

Chemin de fer du Vivarais The Chemin de fer du Vivarais (CFV) - often called ''Le Mastrou'' or ''Train de l'Ardèche'' - is a tourist railway in the Ardèche region of the South of France. The metre gauge line is long. The railway is renowned for its historical steam locom ...

(CFV), but was too heavy for that line, which had an axle limit of . In 1979, the locomotive was transferred to the Chemins de Fer de Provence (CP), where it is based at

Annot Annot (; oc, Anòt) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Annotains'' or ''Annotaines'' The commune has been awar ...

E 332

E 332 was initially preserved on the

Blonay–Chamby Museum Railway The Blonay–Chamby Museum Railway (french: Chemin de fer-musée Blonay-Chamby, BC) is a short steep but adhesion worked metre gauge heritage railway operated as part of the Blonay–Chamby Railway Museum using vintage steam and electric loco ...

(BC) in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where it spent a period on static display. In 2009, it was moved to the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (CFBS) and has since been restored to working order.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reseau Breton 4-6-0 Tank Locomotives Franco-Belge locomotives Fives-Lille locomotives 4-6-0T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1904 Steam locomotives of France Metre gauge steam locomotives