Péchot and Victor the General

The contemporary press found much of interest in the Péchot system.
Writing for 'Le Correspondant' magazine on September 23rd 1916, Emile Eude explained that 'the problem of transport is the greatest one facing an army. In fact a German had explained in an official speech that "The General who wins the most battles is General Railway" '
Below is an abbreviated version of Eude's article. The translation is mine and we have added a few pictures.

'Great War, Small Railways
I was not trying to be rhetorical when I chose this title. Modern warfare requires transport that is both efficient and adaptible, essential characteristics of the right sort of narrow gauge railway. Our side were slow to recognise an uncomfortable truth,but the enemy were not. The great armies of today need to be as nimble as the small ones of yesteryear. Brave soldiers and powerful guns are useless they are in the right place at the right time. Transport has become one of the foremost problems to be solved and the solution is in railways.

Many put their faith in the automobile. The lorry has one supreme advantage - it can change its route as and when required. But for this it needs good, well-metalled roads. Otherwise it quickly spoils a road while at the same time damaging itself.

This picture from a contemporary article in 'Illustration' magazine shows some of the lorries and road-repairers on the N35 Bar-le-duc to Verdun (1916)

It is difficult to assemble, maintain and replace the large number of lorries required to supply a modern army. By a huge effort, just such a supply was made possible in the first few days of the Battle of Verdun. (The staff and material required made a considerable dent in our general War Effort.) In addition, seven regiments were on duty simply maintaining the roads. We salute them for their tremendous work,  constantly resurfacing the (Voie Sacrée). There were further labourers quarrying, sifting and shifting road metal. At the same time, a huge effort was required to keep the convoy of lorries going. The route was lined with 'dead' machines, as lorry drivers remember only too well. And finally, the military lorry could not carry much; an absolute load limit of 15 tonnes applied.  (Translator's note: This was of course 1916. Road and lorry design  moved on tremendously even by 1918. This was a time of great development in many technologies.) 

We must be clear about one thing. Road and narrow-gauge railways should be regarded as complementary. Both have their strengths and both should be used.

Wreckage on road serving the defences of Verdun. To the left can be seen a length of prefabricated Péchot/Artillerie 88 track. 60cm railways were installed in peacetime and were resilient under attack.

This is how they should be used. A standard gauge (or metre gauge) railway should be no more than ... km from the Front. (As it was wartime, he did not specify a distance, but we know that 5miles/8km was the usual distance at the period.) The 60 cm system takes over from there. As the needs of the Front constantly shift, it may be necessary to use automobiles, or even animal transport in places. In short, standard gauge can be seen as the main artery, 60cm as secondary ones and lorries as the capillaries of the body of war. Each have their place.

We have shown that an efficient network can be speedily constructed, as long as it uses narrow gauge fit for purpose. These contour-hugging railways with their deceptively tiny locomotives are capable of heavy traffic. Before the War, they were used to serve our frontier fortresses but have proved equally useful in the field, as good for a war of movement as for a siege.

Our campaign railways solve certain problems. They can be rapidly planned. prepared, laid and put into action within days. They cut out a lot of bureaucracy.  They required a new way of thinking. For years, light agricultural and industrial railways existed for use transporting loads of up to 5 tonnes. Our campaign railways are more carefully designed and in turn can carry much more. I am referring to the Artillerie 88 designs - see below - but here I want to expand on the fact that they cut out bureaucracy. This is a generalisation of course but usually, a narrow gauge railway, requires far less in the way of planning - both engineering and legal - which makes building standard gauge such a protracted matter.

We have to err on the side of caution here, perhaps too much; we aren't experts in military matters. We shall confine ourselves to engineering matters. I have been building railways for at least 40 years, in many countries and on many gauges, regularly coming across military railways. All the same, I shall not charge on to someone else's territory. In addition, we shall try to avoid any military secrets, apart from facts which are already commonly known ie not just in print, but which have been widely read. In a word, your humble author will therefore stick to facts which have already been published and try to avoid an overly personal stamp ie with the following extracts. You will see how it bears out what I have been arguing' {There then follow several pages of extracts from Prosper Péchot's étude of 1905. This was conceived as a two-day lecture course in 1903, then appeared in the official journal of the école des ponts et chaussées/university of civil engineering in 1905 and then in expanded form in his book, the 'étude sur la stabilité des trains'}

'In his own conclusion, Péchot admitted that by the early 1900s, the German army had an excellent narrow gauge system of their own, a 'secret weapon' that was as adaptible as it was deadly. They had introduced important innovations such as the Lubbeke system of prefabricated bridges. By providing themselves with good communications with their rear, they had the secret of true mobility. Even more importantly, German soldiers were trained to take advantage of this secret weapon.

Let me now now explain how the Péchot system came about. In 1882, after careful studies in the theory and practice of narrow gauge railways, a young French officer in the Artillery, Captain, later on Colonel, Péchot, proposd his novel transport system. It could be used both for defence and for supplying armies on the attack. He was not the first to propose 60cm. A successful railway already existed in Wales which ran from Festiniog to Port Madoc. Paul Decauville {a wealthy entrepreneur of the time} had studied this railway and described it as the prototype for the Decauville Exhibition Railway of 1889 which carried an average of 34,000 passengers daily. A report appeared in The Correspondant {in 1889}. What was new about the Péchot system was the transformation of the gauge into a powerful military application, exemplified by the Péchot Bourdon locomotive.

The system underwent its first official trials in 1884. At that point, all that it could demonstrate was ease and rapidity in track-laying. Horses provided the only motive power. Three years later, in 1887, there were serious trials, ordered by M. de Freycinet, Minister of Defence, and witnessed by journalists.These led to 60cm being adopted as the official material for the Gunnery Service. {Translator's Note: This happened in 1888} Charles Bourdon, well known consulting engineer, joined Péchot in designing the Péchot-Bourdon locomotive with its distinctive outline.

The Péchot-Bourdon locomotive. A limited number were built in the late 1880s. Hundreds more were constructed during World War 1

In the meantime, the Germans, who had since the outset been keeping an eye on the French trials, organised its own trials team tasked with experimenting with narrow gauge and commissioning the required stock from manufacturers. My claim can be backed by references to the appropriate German technical literature. We should have paid more attention. In 1885, there was a small experimental 60cm system, the Haarmann, which relied on horse traction. By early 1892, the Reichstag were invited to vote for funds to purchase a suite of 60cm locomotives. Prototypes, they were told, had been successfully tried and it was time to roll them out in bulk. By July that year, serious trials began near Hanover. 67 kilometres of track were laid in 7 days ie at an average rate of 10 km daily. When it came to truly portable railways, the Germans were now ahead of the French. The law of 24th July 1892 made 60cm an official railway gauge. In 1893, the equivalent of 6 million francs was made available for a system totalling 400 kilometres of track, with locomotives and roilling stock to match. This move flew in the teeth of the German Inspector General of military railways. 

{There follow more quotations from Péchot's writing, describing his System. Eude has to add some words of his own praising the Péchot Bourdon} This locomotive was a real triumph of engineering, answering many, conflicting, requirements:
 It had to be able to follow the tight turns of any route: when the track was laid on a local right of way, the path would often have bends as tight as 20m radius; when the road took a detour to avoid existing constructions; when following a contour or if, as sometimes would happen, the railway had to leave the local right of way and run through a field. It had to tackle the steep gradients that it might encounter on these local rights of way, indeed anything up to 100mm per metre - 10%! Such gradients were once considered impossible - even German technology never tackled them. To make it possible to rerail such a locomotive, it had to weigh less than 15 tonnes when in steam. It had to be capable of running in either direction without problems because there might not be any special equipment for turning it. It had to lend itself to 'double-header' working when conditions require. It had to be able to cope with very roughly laid track, especially on provisional lines laid on earth

M.Charles Bourdon recalled that in 1886, he was ready to drop the project because of all these conflicting requirements. Fortunately for us, he thought better of it and tackled the many difficulties to such good effect that since 1886, we haven't had to deviate by as much as a nut or bolt from the prototype design' {Translator's note: this was a slight exaggeration. Péchot submitted a good many patents in respect of this locomotive after 1886, and improvements were discussed into the 20th century.} 'In brief, the Péchot Bourdon locomotive was created. Its official description was: articulated locomotive, 1888 model, Fairlie type. Unlike a Fairlie, it had a single boiler with one central chimney. Her dry weight was 10 tonnes, in steam 14 tonnes. {Eude then details the track and rolling stock, using exerpts from Pechot's writing.} The entire system can be described as a remarkable piece of military hardware, at the same time flexible yet capable of transporting huge volumes of freight. In use, it just requires capable organisation and management, qualities which we French exhibit in abundance.  Up to now, we haven't fully availed ourselves of this weapon.

Bayonette charge on 27th February 1915 at the start of the Champagne offensive. A small amount of ground was gained, but enough to show the French how efficiently the Germans were using 60cm gauge

Now that we have discovered the vast 60cm network our enemy was using in the Champagne region - thanks to our victories in 1915 - we can appreciate its power.It greatly helped our enemy in his victories in 1914. We have put to use much of the German 60 cm material. Even if we are still relatively undeveloped compared with the Germans, we have made efforts to catch up. We must redouble such efforts, in a rational, proportionate and efficient way. In a word we must look to the future while using what is best from the past. With this thought, we shall stop. I shall be delighted if I have succeeded in sharing my basic idea with you. Modern warfare is not possible without wholesale adoption of 60cm railways which provie a vital supplement to other means of transport. Nothing should be more important to us in this hour of our country's need. As part of the union sacrée, we must serve France, everyone according to their strength and ability.

Roy Link the giant killer

Colonel Péchot (1849-1928) and his work was not known in Britain until the First World War; by 1916, the British had to create their own version of his narrow gauge system, known as the War Department Light Railway. 
The WDLR Album, compiled by Roy Link, appeared a few months ago. Starting with a useful introduction, it provides a snapshot of British narrow gauge military railways in early 1918.   Focussing on a remarkable album of pictures photographed on March 17th 1918, it provides stunning reproductions and background information on  the War Department Light Railways. The photos are reproduced to full-page size. Sceptics might dismiss a sketch or a small photo as 'easily forged'. Here, in large photos which could hardly be faked, there is little doubt that they are faithful views of what actually happened. Here is proof that there really were networks of 60cm railways running between the Western Front and standard gauge stations, staffed by British, ANZAC, Canadian, Indian and Chinese troops. As the Introduction explains, the Album was saved from a rubbish skip by Colonel David Ronald and Major 'Nic' Carter.

WD Baldwin 4-6-0T, laden E-class wagon and friends pose on a timber trestle bridge (detail of photo on page 36 of Album) Courtesy Roy Link

Modellers will grasp the potential of this treasury of images. The late Henry Holdsworth (mentioned in a previous blog) used these contemporary photographs to create scenes such as this in his Pont du Lyn layout. It is very good that Roy has put such photos out into the wider world so that more people can see it. The Henry Holdsworth model shows a WD Hunslet side tank 4-6-0 made by Henry himself crossing a bridge followed by a WD Baldwin 4-6-0T made by Wrightscale.

Pont du Lyn

The text is mostly taken from contemporary documents: an article which appeared in 'The Engineer' October 1918, a 'Short History' dated May 1919, a report by A.L. Stead ex Royal Engineers June 4th 1920, the Railway Gazette feature of 21st September 1920, Heeniker's History of Transport of the War and so on. Supported by re-rendering of diagrams and contemporary drawings, it steers us through the alphabet soup of Programmes and Classes, wagons, bogie wagons, steam locomotives and tractors.  We are able to find out about  the Ds, Es and much else beside.

A Dick Kerr diesel pulls a class F and class E wagon (March 17th 1918) Courtesy Roy Link

Built in the 1890s and pictured in 2004 this standard Péchot wagon was the inspiration for the WD wagons shown above

The sources used by the compilers of the WDLR Album mentions the French somewhat briefly and this can be misleading. For example, anyone reading the introduction of WDLR Album would think that it was the Germans who developed 60cm for military purposes. In fact, they got their best ideas from the French - Decauville in general and Péchot in particular.  Before 1914, there were over 500 km of French fortress railways in France itself, as against 385 km for the German military Swakopmund railway. Though the French started the War with very little portable track, by September 1914 they managed to cobble together 100 kilometres worth of 60cm to defend Paris. This was soon translated into trench supply, thanks to large orders at home and abroad. In September 1915, the freight moved in the Champagne sector varied between 700 and 1400 tonnes per day. In 1916, the British and their allies developed the WD system in reference to the French.

For any reader tantalised by Roy's reference to a Péchot Bourdon locomotive, here is some relief. Between pages 92 and 97, there is a fascinating sequence showing an F Class wagon being loaded with a 6" howitzer. Part of a Péchot Bourdon locomotive can be glimpsed at the extreme left of one of the pictures. Here is a complete Péchot Bourdon.
Why does the title of this blog post mention giant killing? As well as the contemporary album, it includes the archive of the late John Kimber, particularly enlightening in the section on rolling stock. John, like Colonel Ronald, rescued many a precious collection from the bonfire and saved them from posterity.The giant, Death, may have come for John, as it came for all those forgotten railway heroes, but their influence lives on in Roy's book.
In his introduction to the album, Colonel Ronald hints at another sinister giant, that of ignorance. The records, from which the book has been compiled, survived on the goodwill (and sense of history) of employees at various levels within the War Office. The original photo album, he wrote in his Introduction, 'was orphaned by many years of well-intentioned salvage drives, clear-outs and the like. .... The WDLR was not well served'
We all welcome this long overdue tribute to the WDLR system and its workers.