Colonel Péchot and quarry Hunslets: is there a connection?

We start with a report form the workshop.  After ten days or so lost to winter viruses, the first batch of Quarry Hunslets on the work-bench are once more making progress. Cylinders, slide-bars and crossheads are all erected, the valve-chests finished and covers made.

Where it's at 1: the Hunslet batch one chassis January 12th

I'm eager to get them running but there are one or two jobs yet to go. The slide-valves and valve rods are to be fitted then the valve timing can be adjusted. At that point, they should be ready to run on air. This is the great psychological moment for any builder. Once the model runs on air, it  has theoretically proved itself!

Where it's at 2: Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the Trenches. The books are in stock, with all good booksellers (including us - see the book page on the website if you want to order one!)

Could Prosper Péchot, an officer in the French Army, 1880 to 1917, and the quarry railways of North Wales be connected? For a start, both are remembered because they used 60 cm  gauge railways, or the very close Imperial equivalent, one foot eleven and a half inches. The Péchot system was adopted by the French Army in 1888, and used in their frontier defenses of the time. During the First World War, thousands of kilometres of railway networks based on the Péchot original were used.
 The quarry railways of North Wales numbered perhaps a couple of  hundred miles. They came into use earlier and survived longer than the Péchot system. The Festiniog Railway, linking Blaenau Ffestiniog with Porthmadog, was opened in 1836 and took delivery of its first steam engine in 1863. The first locomotive built to Robert Fairlie's patent appeared in 1869. The Dinorwic Quarry (lying north of Mount Snowdon) ordered its first steam locomotive in 1848, the year of Péchot's birth. This was Fire Queen - their names were quite poetic! The quarry ordered a few locomotives from de Winton but then  moved on to be a faithful customer of the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds. The most celebrated of these Hunslets were the 'Alice' and 'Port' class locomotives.
In the meantime, Prosper Péchot had grown up and joined the Ecole Polytechnique with a view to joining the French Army. In 1870-71, he underwent the most significant experience of his life, the Franco-Prussian War. His proud country, France, was defeated in a matter of months by the upstart Prussians. Their king, Wilhelm. was consecrated Emperor of all Germans on French soil, just to increase the humiliation. Many observers thought that the French defeat had been inevitable, but Péchot learned better. At times, the celebrated victory of the Prussians had hung on the slenderest of margins. They could have been defeated. One of these Prussian weaknesses had been military supply. Péchot determined to concentrate on improving French supply techniques - one way to ensure that they would win the next round! By 1882, he had submitted a Memorandum to his boss of bosses, the Minister in Paris. In it, he showed how portable railways could take war to the doorstep of the enemy. his superiors were not sufficiently impressed and, between 1882 and 1888, Péchot struggled to convince them to adopt his system. Between 1888 and the early 20th century, amazing military networks were built up, in Europe, Namibia and Morocco.
At Dinorwic in 1886, Velinheli was delivered. She was the first 'Alice' class 0-4-0T Hunslet. It is interesting to note that though Péchot freely acknowledged his debt to Festiniog Railway practice (see below,) he doesn't mention other Welsh railways. These Hunslets were in one important respect closer to French railway practice than were the Festiniog locomotives - they had outside frames and consequently better running qualities.
The overall length of Velinheli was 13 foot, and 7'3" above the rail at her highest point, the chimney - 3.9mm and 2.175 respectively. She could almost turn on a sixpence - well 21' radius (6.3m). Regular purchases of Alice class Hunslets went on until 1900. 'Port' class locomotives were also bought from Hunslet, the most obvious difference being the cab. These locomotives carried on until the 1960s, the last being sold off in 1969.
These Welsh railways had dates in common with the Péchot system as well as an equivalent gauge. There were further strong links. Prosper Péchot acknowledged his debts. His first was to Paul Decauville and his second to Wales. His Memorandum to the Ministry (1882) makes a highly significant reference to the Festiniog railway. After a brief introduction, the Memorandum goes on to explain why 60cm was the only gauge which could be quickly laid and yet sustain the traffic.  He arrived at this gauge 'by data from trials' but also from evidence - the performance of the Festiniog Railway. (Memorandum appendix 6.)

Early print of a Péchot-Bourdon locomotive. This has points of resemblance with Little Wonder below, but it has outside frames - photo courtesy Raymond Duton

Péchot had learned about Wales from various sources, through publications, but most significantly through Paul Decauville and other railway engineers,who paid visits between 1875 and 1885. Paul Decauville saw the drawings for the first 'Fairlie' - Little Wonder - probably at Festiniog.

Little Wonder, in some important respects an inspiration for Prosper Péchot

In 1886 Péchot's sceptical superiors were forced to consider the merits of his system.  The French Press, and the media of other countries observed that the defenses of France were highly vulnerable to high explosive. Not only did they authorise trials of railways and wagons, but they also encouraged him to develop a locomotive. This, in the words of Péchot himself (patent application 1887) was to be of the 'Fairlie' type.
He had another inspiration, surely, in the locomotive with the outside frames and a neat wheelbase - in the Alice class locomotives. In 1885-6 some French engineer would have seen these drawings and communicated them to Péchot, who read widely. He must have seen in the 'Alice' class qualities that he wanted for his own locomotive.