The Réseau Breton 4-6-0 tank locomotives were a class of metre gauge locomotives. The twelve class members were built in two batches by Franco-Belge and Fives-Lille for the Réseau Breton (RB) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. 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 locomotive The Mallet locomotive is a type of articulated steam railway locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919). The front of the locomotive articulated on a bogie. The compound steam system fed steam at boiler pressur ...

s. The 4-6-0T 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 to La Brohinière and

Carhaix Carhaix-Plouguer (; br, Karaez-Plougêr ), commonly known as just Carhaix (), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, France.Châteaulin Châteaulin (; br, Kastellin) is a commune in the Finistère department and administrative region of Brittany in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Châteaulin is located in a valley towards the center of ...

lines.

Locomotives

Franco-Belge locomotives

Société Franco-Belge The Société Franco-Belge was a Franco-Belgian engineering firm that specialised in the construction of railway vehicles and their components and accessories. The company originated in 1859 as the Belgian firm Compagnie Belge pour la Constructio ...

Raismes Raismes () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The flutist Gaston Blanquart (1877–1962) was born in Raismes. Raismes is known for hosting the annual rock music festival Raismes Fest. Population Notable residents * Pier ...

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 Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a 3- or 4-sided special court, using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similar to ...

(

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 region, the prefecture of the N ...

). 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 (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 awa ...

E 332

E 332 was initially preserved on the Blonay–Chamby Museum Railway (BC) in Switzerland, 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