Belgian steam tram.

[ianp]

Today I visited the Mid-Suffolk light railway at Brockford station, which is in fact in the village of Wetheringsett. And this is what I saw - a tiny Belgian engine with a vertical boiler. The style is that of a metre gauge, bi-cabine, steam tram engine but this one is standard gauge with only one cabin.

Edited June 2 by ianp

[009 micro modeller]

22 hours ago, ianp said:

Today I visited the Mid-Suffolk light railway at Brockford station, which is in fact in the village of Wetheringsett. And this is what I saw - a tiny Belgian engine with a vertical boiler. The style is that of a metre gauge, bi-cabine, steam tram engine but this one is standard gauge with only one cabin.

It’s a Cockerill isn’t it? Like Lucie on the NYMR (embedded link - not my video):

 

 

I’d never really noticed before but Lucie similarly only seems to have a driving/control position at one end, although there is more of a verandah on the other end (the Mid-Suffolk one seems to have space for this but no handrail). Are any of them actually double-ended and able to be driven from both ends?

[pete_mcfarlane]

There's a good summary of Cockerills (and other similar locos) on the Industrial Railway Society Website:

https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/8/french_vertical_boilered.htm

 

Despite their appearance these were generally industrial shunters rather than double ended tram engines, which is why they'll only have a single driving position. 

[Gordonwis]

1 hour ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

 

 

Despite their appearance these were generally industrial shunters rather than double ended tram engines, which is why they'll only have a single driving position. 

 

 

That's correct. To be fair to Mid Suffolk, their blurb does point out that their loco isn't really a 'tram engine'

 

This type of loco was seen in many places in France. There used to be one at Danne Camiers cement works. It was one of the first things British tourists could spot on a journey south from Boulogne.

 

Ironically, there was also one at a works on one of the routes back to a channel ferry port - between Paris and Rouen. I took a phot of it when on my way by car to Dieppe in 1987

Edited June 3 by Gordonwis

[009 micro modeller]

1 hour ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

Despite their appearance these were generally industrial shunters rather than double ended tram engines, which is why they'll only have a single driving position. 

Exactly - although wasn’t Lucie actually used on a town street tramway? I seem to remember it going back a couple of years ago and running under the wires on the now electrified tram tracks.

[pete_mcfarlane]

10 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Exactly - although wasn’t Lucie actually used on a town street tramway? I seem to remember it going back a couple of years ago and running under the wires on the now electrified tram tracks.

I think I saw a video of that. It certainly looks like it was owned by a tramway, judging by the lettering on the side.

 

(And full marks to the owner for restoring it to original Belgian condition, rather than trying to make it look like a British engine as sometimes seems to happen with imported European steam)

[009 micro modeller]

7 minutes ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

And full marks to the owner for restoring it to original Belgian condition, rather than trying to make it look like a British engine as sometimes seems to happen with imported European steam

Agreed. Though I would have thought with these it would be virtually impossible to make them look like any other locomotive, British or otherwise (except for the Nene Valley one that’s being rebodied with Wisbech and Upwell-style bodywork).