Friends of the Baldwin Gas Mechanical

As we are on the subject of friends, we were sorry to learn of the deaths of Jim Wild and John Turner, great characters within the small world of 16mm. Derek Wiggins features a tribute to Jim in the e-magazine, Throwback Modeller (TBM) issue 13. I contributed a word or two as Jim and Colin Binnie, also sadly missed, had managed to rescue a locomotive, Hohenzollern 447, from utter obscurity. This tiny loco of German design had a conical boiler.

Do get TBM issues 13 and 14 if you can. As well as information about Jim Wild’s models, it features Colin Binnie’s unique General Arrangement of the Hz447, and the story behind this extraordinary military locomotive.

16mm scale  Baldwin Gas Mechanical, 50hp version, as used by both the French and the AEF 1916-18. Wrightscale model

The last blog explained a little of Malcolm’s fascination with another tiny giant of Military Narrow Gauge, the Baldwin Gas Mechanical locotractor. It would be good to provide a little context, by featuring two other petrol powered locomotives of the period. These were the Dick Kerr 40-45hp petrol electric tractor and the Simplex. Both were British made.

In theory, the Baldwin Gas Mechanical was developed later than both of these. 

The story of the Simplex goes right back to 1914. Although the BGM order date of 1917 is definitely after the time that the Dick Kerr was commissioned, November 1916, the story is a little more complicated. Certain aspects of the BGM date back, possibly, to the 19^th century.

16mm model of the Pechot Bourdon 0-4-4-0,. The lines of the central chassis are angled in a way that is reminscent of the BGM. Model built by Henry Holdworth, photo courtesy J. Hawkesworth.

The mighty Baldwin Loco works of Philadelphia had been involved in the 14-18 War since 1915. Although the USA was not at the time a combatant, many of its businesses were arms suppliers. As the Central Powers were blockaded, most of the goods were purchased by the Allies. The French took a 19^th century blueprint, the Péchot-Bourdon locomotive, to the USA. Among the first Baldwin locomotives to cross the Atlantic were these Péchot-Bourdon steam locomotives, no less than 280!

As mentioned earlier, it soon became clear that steam engines near the Front were a liability. For a start, they were far too visible to enemy artillery. Both the Germans and the Allies looked to the new Internal Combustion technology to provide smoke-free (well, relatively), spark free transport. This class of locomotive has been given various names but for convenience I’ll use the general term locotractors.

The role of the Russian Army is being reassessed; in 1916, they commissioned locotractors from Baldwin. Soon after, the French ordered 600. In my personal view, Baldwin drew both on the Péchot-Bourdon and the Russian designs for the glorious beast that is the Baldwin Gas Mechanical. The Russian locomotive is an obvious ancestor. Even an amateur can see how the coupling arrangement, large bonnet and louvred sides passed from one to the other.

Blueprint of the Pechot Bourdon chassis. It was carried by two steam bogies, each linked to the chassis by a revolutionary flexible joint and steam lines. Courtesy of the CAA, Chatellereult

It can be argued that, to reassure the French, the Baldwin works offered something that was also reminiscent of the Péchot-Bourdon. The nature of the design required a very strong chassis frame. It was supported by twin independent, sprung steam bogies. It in turn had to support the firebox and boiler arrangement while also transmitting the tractive effort of the locomotive to the train. This thinking, I feel, helped to give the Baldwin Gas Mechanical its wonderful and distinctive frames.

16mm models of a Baldwin Gas Mechanical and three forms of the Simplex. BGM by Wrightscale, Simplex models by David Smith as is the front of a Dick Kerr, just visible at left. Photo J. Hawkesworth.

Meanwhile, the British War Department were approaching the petrol locomotive from a different viewpoint. The Simplex design goes back to 1914 when the Motor Rail and Tramcar Co of Bedford offeredthe design to General Kitchener. At that time it was refused. In 1916, British High Command finally caught up with the folk on the ground and placed an order.

The main advantage of the Simplex was simplicity – the clue was in the name. The original had a channel-steel underframe and overall length was just under 9’. A 20 hp petrol engine was mounted in the middle, powering a three-speed gearbox which could run equally well in forward and reverse. Chain drives powered both axles. The driver faced sideways at the end opposite the radiator – good visibility in both directions.

The 40hp Simplex followed. The design was distinctive. The underframe was now sheet steel rather than channel, overall length was just under 12’ the driver sat in the middle rather than at one end, the ends of the frame were ballasted to improve track adhesion, the motor was more powerful and there was armour.

A 20 hp Simplex (David Smith) hauls a Pechot artillery wagon (Wrightscale) while an armoured Simplex looks on. The radiator is at one end while the driver sits sideways at the other.

This varied in degree. In the Open type, the flammable engine parts were covered with sheet metal and the driver had a canopy to keep off the worst of the weather. The Protected tractor had all this plus steel doors to the driver’s cab. The Armoured design was almost completely enclosed in sheet metal. Its beetle shape has evoked much fondness.

In number and in ‘character’, various versions of the Simplex almost rivalled the Baldwin locotractor.  A total of 590 in the four designs were supplied to the Front. It is possible that the famous confusion that hovered over the Baldwin Gas Mechanical may have been caused by the Simplex which was supplied as 20hp and 40hp. The BGM was supplied as 50 hp to the French and, slightly later, in 35 and 50hp forms to the American Expeditionary Force. A number of early histories assigned to BGMs the horse-powers 20 and 40. Could the cheeky little Simplex have caused the confusion? 

The Dick Kerr petrol-electric was another British answer to the BGM. The BGM was 23’ long, the Dick Kerr around 15’ At roughly 7 tonnes, the two designs were comparable in mass. Power was 40 hp compared to 50. Loco drivers had similar complaints about both – their agonising slowness. Both were also top heavy. Although the model does not show them, the Dick Kerr prototypes were equipped with massive re-railing bars – no doubt for good reason. The Dick Kerr had distinctive louvred side panels, just like the BGM.

16mm model of the Dick Kerr petrol tractor, built by David Smith, showing the characteristic louvred panels. Electric pick-ups can be seen on the bonnet top. someone has nicked the rerailing bar! Photo courtesy J. Hawkesworth

But the two were the products of parallel evolution. The BGM was the product of US ingenuity applied to French engineering. Only the British could have come up with the Dick Kerr. When the War Department Light Railways Programme B was put forward in the autumn of 1916, electric locomotives with overhead pickups were suggested. They would not generate steam and sparks and thus would stay out of sight of enemy artillery. The electric pick-ups proved to be an issue! Although the plan was quickly abandoned, the design specified electric pickups on locomotives. Effectively, electric power was generated from by a petrol engine; when stationary, the loco had a second use as a generator. Wherever there was aworkshop, a Dick Kerr or its sister, the Westinghouse, would be in attendance.

The specifications were put out to two companies, British Westinghouse Ltd and, slightly later, Dick Kerr Ltd. Both produced 50 pairs of locomotives. Though both designs featured detachable armour-plating, contemporary photos suggest that Dick Kerr Ltd put more thought into protecting the cab. This fact, and the delicious louvred panels have made the Dick Kerr the favourite between the two designs.

16mm Dick Kerr (David Smith) and BGM (Wrightscale). They are comparable in dimensions and power. Photo courtesy Jim Hawkesworth

There are some lovely proprietory 16mm models of both the armoured Simplex and the Dick Kerr. David Smith has done much in this field. The late Henry Holdsworth painted and weathered the models in these pohotos, to superb effect. All three of these characterful locomotives have a place on a layout, whether in war-time or post-war guise.