60cm and its part in ending the Great War

Armistice comes from two words – arms and stasis – ie the cessation of armed conflict.

The beginning of the end came for the Central Powers in September 1918. On the western front, they were being pushed back mile by mile, kilometre by kilometre but the retreat was in good order. They had carved themselves out an empire in Rumania and the western wheat-lands of what had been the Russian empire. The Allies, even backed by the AEF, could not knock the Germans out on the Western Front. It was on the forgotten south-eastern front that the greatest break-through of the war occurred.

A Bulgarian prisoner shows French and Serbian officers enemy positions below the beetling massif of Dobropolje on the Front Septmebr 1918. Drawing from Illustration courtesy MD Wright

After the disaster of Gallipolli, the Allies formed a new front in Greece. There was a certain logic. Firstly, there was the Serbian army. It had been crushed by Austria early in the War – the assassination of Franz Ferdinand had been the original cause of war. Their fighting forces had regrouped and would enthusiastically join any attempt to regain Serbian territory.

Secondly, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, enticed by the prospect of new territory in conquered Serbia. The Allies in turn then persuaded Rumania to join them with the incentive of territory in Austria and Bulgaria. The idea of a front in northern Greece was to crush Bulgaria in a pincer movement – Rumania would attack from the north, the Allies with the Greeks from the south. Greece could be supplied from the Mediterranean. Greece had just fought a territorial war with Bulgaria in 1912/13 – it was bound to want to defend its gains. It was sure to join the Allies … wasn’t it?

As it was, the Greeks were reluctant allies. No doubt their stand was highly principled but they must have been influenced by events. At the time, the Allies seemed to be the losing side. In a few months between August 1916 and January 1917, the Germans and Bulgarians pretty well wiped out Rumania. This was an important gain – one of the few oil-fields of Europe and extensive agrarian lands. If the Greeks did not want to become a new Rumania, who could blame them?

That left a French, Serbian and British forces in north-east Greece. The British were to the east, looking across the marshes of the Struma river at the Bulgarians. They made much use of the port of Stavros on the eastern side of the Chalcedon (Khalkedoniki peninsula. The French and Serbians were based at Salonika (modern Thessaloniki) on the western side of this peninsula. Their front ran along the mountainous country between Greece and occupied Serbia (now the-former-Yugoslavian-republic of ?northern Macedonia). The front ran through Albania to the Adriatic. Though the Austrians were in nominal control of Serbia, Bulgarian troops and German advisers were in effect defenders of the whole of this Front.

Portable 60cm track designed by Prosper Pechot and manuafactured by the Decauville Company for the French Army. It could be laid and re-laid quickly. Illustration courtesyJim Hawkesworth

60cm narrow gauge proved vital. Previous entries in this blog have described the importance of the Péchot system/feldbahn/War Department Light Railways for supply duing World War 1. At the time, there was almost no other way to supply an army when it was at a distance from a standard gauge railway or canalised rivers. It was cruelty to use animals, motor transport was just developing and modern air supply a futuristic dream.  Portable narrow gauge track had been developed; an ‘iron road’ could be quickly laid and used by wagons and locomotives.  In 36 days, a 27 km line was constructed between Salonika and the French front.

A number of narrow gauge lines were laid around the military base at Salonica – 40 km (25 miles) at least on the French side alone. The British had to build a light railway right across the Chalcedon Peninsula to connect the two ports. Railways were built for supply, training, hospitals and repair shops.

In the early months, General Sarrail was C-in-C of French forces but he was gradually sidelined by Franchet-d’Esperey, later made Maréchal de France. 

This photo shows a 60cm railway at work behand British lines. It was the only way to take massive shells to the Front. Photo courtesy Roy Link

Once the armies were ascending the mountains, portable railways proved even more useful. Over the next couple of years, the French and Serbs gained ground from the enemy. As the defenders pulled back, they of course destroyed the railways – vital for communication in these mountainous parts. Standard guage track could be re-laid relatively quickly, but the Bulgermans destroyed all bridges and viaducts – of which there were many. It was hard to supply soldiers, let alone the artillery. In the rough country above 2000m (6000+ feet) a mule could carry 2 shells on a two-day journey between railhead and guns.

If the enemy thought that they could stop the French and Serbs, they were mistaken. A railway was pushed through the Krasradere valley, off the Vardar river, in five months. A single train could carry 25 tonnes of ammunition and the guns roared once more. We should note that, under normal conditions, a 60cm gauge train could carry 40 tonnes of supplies. The Péchot system was very versatile.

Monastir (modern Bitola) was an important objective. The standard gauge line had been thoroughly demolished, not least the Ekchisu viaduct – 360m lone and 30m high at the centre (400 yards by nearly 100’). As a quick fix, a 60cm railway was installed. It descended the ravine then climbed painfully up the other side – but it succeded in supplying the army for several months.

The Monastir front was supplied by other 60cm lines, most important of which was the one running westward, towards the beetling massif of Kukuruz (Kozjak). An offensive was planned for the second week of September 1918. The objective was the small town of Rozden and, if all went well, the valley of the Crna river.

French officers inspect a captured Bulgarian strongpoint (casino) September 1918. Magnificent in his kepi, General Franchet d'Esperey stands to the left of the group.From ' Illustration' courtesy MD Wright

The line was still heavily defended. The Bulgarians had the best of German technology and siege-works at their disposal. On the other hand, the Germans had thinned out this Front to shore up the Western Front.

They attacked on 15^th September, and broke the Bulgarian line. Between the 15^th and 21^st September, the French and Serbian army penetrated the line to a depth of 65 km (40 miles). Even better, they had captured a couple of standard gauge railways. Now they were really motoring (so to speak). By September 30^th, they were into the flatlands, with Bulgaria within reach. At this point, the British finally broke out of the lower Struma valley and pushed into the heart of Bulgaria.

There were exciting and heart-breaking scenes. Overhead, the young French airforce flew sorties. Bulgarian troops were caught in the narrow valleys. Excited Serbs raced at last towards Belgrade and home. The British caught an army at the Rupel pass. German advisers, well aware of the dangers of breaking rank, could be seen urgig the Bulgarians back to defensible positions.

Even more important were the politics. On September 25^th, a representative of Bulgarian commander-in-chief appeared before the parliament in Sofia to put the case for an armistice. It took until the 29^th for a ‘field’ armistice to be signed between the Bulgarians and General Franchet d’Esperey and rather longer for him to rein in his over-enthusiastic allies. On October 4^th, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicated in favour of his son Boris who was left with the task of official peace-making. A few days later, Allied forces occupied strategic points within Bulgaria.

Crown Prince Boris of Bulgaria was given the delicate task of concluding peace with the Allies. He preferred to approach Franchet d'Esperey rather than the British or Serbs. Photo courtesy MD Wright

A huge gap had been made in the Central Power enclave. Turkey was virtually cut off. Allied forces could strike up the Danube valley. Germany and Austria had lost their Ukrainian and Russian breadbaskets. The war was unwinnable.

Until events in Bulgaria, German High Command continued to maintain that ‘there is no ground for doubting our victory.’ As before mentioned, German troops were gradually retreating on the Western Front, but they were far from defeated, even by the might of the AEF. On the afternoon of 28^th September, a grey-faced General Ludendorff made his way to the office of Marshal Hindenburg where he informed him that an armistice should be concluded immediately. (Edmond Taylor, quoting from contemporary diaries The Fossil Monarchies pp 426/7)

On September  29^th, they informed the Kaiser. His reply was reputed to be ‘You could have told me all this a fortnight ago’. Like Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, their aim was to conclude the war a/ by manoeuvring to make someone else to take the blame b/ by appealing to the friendliest person available. The objective of reining in the senseless slaughter seemed to be a distant third.

Prince Max of Baden was therefore summoned and more or less ordered to ‘make no difficulty’ for the German High Command. With commendable haste, he and his new government (which included Socialist leaders) got together a message by 4^th October. This was delivered to President Wilson of the USA, bypassing the other Allies. Wilson’s reply was not delivered until 14^th October and this was more about destruction of arbitrary power than about an armistice. In the end, it was not until November 8^th that a German armistice commission met with Marshal Foch – French – in a railway carriage at Compiègne. There an armistice was signed and 11^th November agreed for the cessation of hostilities.

A series of events triggered by the fall of Bulgaria led to the general armistice. Bulgaria was lost because of a small breach in its defences. This breach was made possible through good communications among the Allies. 

The Pechot-Bourdon locomotive was an emblem of French military 60cm railways. It was under a Pechot Bourdon  badge that Franchet d'Esperey made his 1932 speech. Illustration courtesy Raymond Duton

16mm portable railways were vital to these communications. General Franchet d’Esperey was well aware of this: ‘in a pathless country, we relied on Narrow Gauge for our victuals, munitions, evacuation of the wounded and for all our general needs.’ (Speech given at Toul in 1932)

Portable and prefabricated railways of 1918

Soon after the First World War ended, thoughtful engineers took stock of the  railways used on the battlefields of the Western Front. Though there seemed a gulf between the Central Powers and the Allies, their trench supply railways were directly comparable, designed to be quickly installed, to take massive traffic and all to 60cm gauge.  Frank G. Jonah, lately in France in the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) wrote a paper for the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, March 3^rd 1920. ‘They (German Railways) were extremely well built and had a greater mileage than the French or American armies.’

Friend and foe but compatible. A German D-Lok with tender shares the track with British War Department bogie wagons on this fine 16mm scale model of a World War 1 railway. Photo Jim Hawkesworth

The history of the design went back many years. From about 1870, France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA had portable track available. When Paul Decauville introduced his porteur Decauville, in 1875, it became popular. It could be used in fields, factories and quarries, even archaeological excavations. His jonction hybride was devised to make track-laying, even in the dark, safe and relatively simple. Whichever end of prefabricated track was offered up to existing track, the jonction hybride ensured a fit. Soon, Decauville systems were being sold around the world.

Sections of Decauville portable track ended with one end with fishplates

Between the late 1870s and 1888, Prosper Péchot regularly visited the Decauville factory. He devised the Péchot prefabricated track and new bogies and wagons which could take hitherto unimaginable loads. This Péchot system was formally adopted by the French Army in 1888  

The German Army adopted 60 cm gauge very soon after the French Army did. and started using bogie wagons, just as had the French. Unlike the French Army, they spent the years between 1888 and 1914 improving their Feldbahn system.

By 1918, 60cm railways were widely used on the Werstern Front by all participants, including the British, Canadians, ANZAC troops and the AEF. Prefabricated track was used, especially for rapid, initial lay. This was replaced with rail laid on sleepers as many photographs attest.

The German prefabricated track was as well designed as anyone’s. No doubt after careful examination of the Péchot prefabricated track, they understood that the sleepers (railway ties) performed much better if they enclosed the soil/ballast rather than letting it shoot out under the weight of a train. The manufacturer Paul Decauville refused to cooperate with the Germans and so they designed their own sleeper. It was rather simpler than the elegant box-shape that required the latest in Decauville steam-presses, but it did the job.

In the same way, they did not use the jonction hybride as devised by Decauville. The Germans came up with a rough-and-ready solution which attracted the admiration of Mr Jonah.

A short section of Feldbahn prefabricated track. The standard length was 10m. Picture taken at Apedale Railway, Staffs, by MD Wright

 ‘One end of the 5m section of  built-up (prefabricated) track had a pair of bars with a hooked projection while the other end had the flange of the bars bent up. In laying track, the hooked bar engaged the bent-up flange of the last section.’ 

Link between sections of German prefabricated track. Illustration adapted from Frank  Jonah's illustration. Courtesy Jim Hawkesworth

I do not mean to say that German track was inferior to French. It was different.

These railways, whether French, German, American or British War Department, could be laid with amazing rapidity on unpromising ground, quickly repaired and quickly lifted. Frank Jonah commented:

 ‘The speed with which tracks could be constructed by the different Allied armies was practically the same… A mile of track, including ballasting, required 2,100 man-days of labour.’ All the same, it was much easier to lay short lines over virgin ground than to build long supply lines over ravaged terrain. As we shall see below, some track required even more labour.

In his words, these 60 cm railways were among the chief agencies of transport:

‘The transportation of supplies necessary for the dense concentration of men at the Front could not be accomplished satisfactorily on the highways … therefore orders were given for the development of a comprehensive system of Light Railways for the following primary reasons –

1. To relieve the highways of traffic. In addition to the wear and tear on motor vehicles and the excessive use of gasoline, the wear on the roads was leading to a heavy traffic in road material so that a large part of the traffic hauled …. was to repair the damage which their own traffic was creating. And there was a saving of labour.
2.  To assist in rapid advance over shell-torn area
3.  To convey road material.
4.  To reduce manual labour at the Front.

These lines were developed so completely that eventually nearly all heavy material was transported by Light Railways leaving the highways clear for light fast-moving automobiles, trucks and ambulances.’

In the view of Jonah, the finest section of track built by the AEF was the connection between AEF central at Abainville and the American Front at Sorcy. I mention it, because it took the idea of prefabrication to a whole new level. This was not just lengths of track, it was whole bridges!

A 60cm railway bridge was made from repeats of a section of prefabricated design

Trestles were prefabricated from 5” by 10” road plank. These were used for smaller bridges. For a long span, the approaches were supported on trestles. The central section, two-deck Howe trusses fitted the conditions.  Units were normally of the order of 4 ½ tons. They were lifted into position with a 5 ton locomotive crane.

Bridges were used, not only to cross streams and canals but also standard gauge railways. A completed bridge was kept in reserve at Abainville.Such was the enthusiasm of Frank Jonah, that he designed a counter-weighted lift bridge (think Tower Bridge in London) all in timber.

You may be wondering why the AEF had their main depot so far from the Front. Abainville was chosen because it had ‘ample space for a large yard, with standard gauge rail and canal connections … It was directly behind the St Mihiel and Argonne fronts on which the greater part of the American operations were conducted. Abainville was 35 km (22 miles) back of the line. … Material coming up from the ports was unloaded at the yards and taken to the front as required’

Several interesting engineering problems were presented in its construction. To be sheltered from German long-range guns, it was in rough terrain. As it was near canal and railway connections, these had to be carefully crossed. The light railway had to be reliable. An average speed of construction was 2,460 man-days of labour.

The Germans also had timber bridges. They could be single-deck as one pictured in in the Verdun sector on the German side of the Western Front. My illustration is a detail from a postcard entitled Argonnenwaldbahn (Argonne Forest Railway). These were sold to help the War Effort. It comes from the collection of Raymond Duton.

Detail of a German timber bridge in the Argonne 1917. Photo by Sanwald and Esslingen. Courtesy of Raymond Duton

Timber bridges could be double height as in one near Tilsit (now in the Russian territory of Kaliningrad).

German bridges provided slightly different solutions to the same engineering problem – how to use the triangle as much as possible, without wasting too much timber. They too had repeating units but unlike the AEF, their bridges did not consist of milled 5” by 10” plank. They used timber 'in the round', sometimes not even straight timber.

The Allies gradually learned more about the German railway systems so that, by 1920, Frank G. Jonah was quite an authority about them.

As the summer of 1918 progressed, the Allies captured an increasing share of the territories once behind German lines. With the territories came material, including rail, rolling stock and locomotives of their 60cm Feldbahn system. Once the AEF finally swung into action they fairly hammered the Germans.

The AEF in training 1917-18. Photo from Illustration magazine. Courtesy MD Wright

In the AEF, the Germans were facing a numerous, well-resourced and determined foe. When railways were captured, the Allies put them to work on their own trench systems. They were simply repaying the compliment that the Germans had paid them, using captured equipment.

See more in Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the Trenches – Sarah Wright

Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review no 66

Heeresfeldbahn der Keiserzeit - Fach and Krall

Narrow Gauge To No Man's Land - Richard Dunn

Recreating the guns of 1918

Several friends attended the Tracks To The Trenches event at the Apedale Light Railway, 13^th to 15^th July 2018. Jim Hawkesworth took excellent photographs of the 60cm gauge gun carrier which was on show and we’d like to celebrate this extraordinary piece of history.

100 years on, a replica eighteen pounder British gun sits on a 60cm gauge carriage at th eApedale Tracks to the Trenches Event September 2018. Photo Jim Hawkesworth

There was a long and intimate relationship between field railways and guns; the extensive 60cm networks of the Western Front were much used by artillery. This link went back many years. After the Franco-Prussian was of 1870-1, the French and German armies both devised railways to get guns into the field. No campaign could wait until a standard gauge railway was built; road vehicles were inadequate at the time. Everyone realised that temporary railways could provide a solution..

The Decauville Company of France had light portable track which they thought could be used for military purposes. Though portable, it proved to be too light. French military engineers proposed metre gauge railways. The Germans, rather more realistically, proposed track of around 70cm gauge.

Prosper Péchot of the French Artillery realised that 60 cm gauge was the ideal compromise between the various existing tracks. He came to this conclusion using mathematics, physics and experiments at the factory of Paul Decauville. Whatever their differences later, the two men united in a profound desire to win the next war against the Germans! Péchot also designed a sleeper for portable track.

The Péchot well-wagon was supported by two heavily sprung bogies. Thus, though over 6m long, it could  ride on rough and highly curved track. The WD F-class wagon mentioned below was heavily influenced by this design. Courtesy Péchot family

Unfortunately, no-one likes to be told that their existing efforts have been wasted and the French military were no exception. There was mess-room warfare between the Engineers and the advocates of the Péchot system. In 1888, Péchot triumphed and within a year 560 kilometres of track was being manufactured. The Germans were watching. Their flirtation with 70 and 75 gauge was rapidly ended; bogie wagons similar in length soon appeared on 60cm track. (Noted: German bogie wagons were lighter in designand, though fit for purpose, few survive today)

Between 1888 and 1918, there were developments. General Peigné devised the affut-truck. This consisted of an adapted and reinforced Péchot well-wagon, with turntable fitted in the well. A gun was mounted on this, either 120 or 155mm, which thus had a field of fire of 360 degrees. For operation, the train had to stop and an apron and stabilisers were swung out. It had an obvious disadvantage. Enemy guns could soon get its range; even if the train went off to safety, the track would suffer from hostile fire. There is more information in Dr Christian Cénac’s excellent book ‘60 centimètres pour ravitailler le Front’  and websites such as:

insomniacque.e-monsite.com or forum.pages14-18.com or Passion et Compassion 1914-19

We fast-forward to 1914-18. Soon after the Western Front was established, both sides were being supplied by 60cm systems.

The French took their guns into the field. They were very proud of the range and accuracy of their 75mm and 155mm (Long) guns, fitted with hydraulic recoil. These could be part-dismantled and taken on Péchot bogies. The Péchot bogie was an engineering wonder, durable and reliable. Quite a few survive today. By 1915, it was clear that the French could never produce enough Péchot bogies and wagons. They went for the lighter and simpler Plate-forme Decauville which was produced in thousands (3000 wagons, 6,500 bogies). There is more information in my book Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches.

When the British created their War Department Light Railways, they were clearly inspired by Péchot designs. They adopted the bogie wagon running on 60cm gauge rail. A range of wagons were created. There is more information in Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches, Light Railways of the First World War by WJK Davies and in a series of articles by Peter Foley running from issue 39 to 60 of Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review.

Indistinguishable from the real thing! Apart from a few early examples most WD wagons, including the gun wagon,  ran on these standardised bogies. These 16mm scale models are produced by Wrightscale 

War Department Light Railways were used to carry guns. Photos such as CO 3807 survive in the Imperial War Museum Collection to prove the point. There are other photographs in the NGIRM Review collection, as seen in Issue 71, page 292, and 79, page 286. Enthusiasts will also like Appendix 1 of Narrow Gauge at War (2) by Keith Taylorson. He makes an important point. Once WDLR railways were up and running, ie from late 1916 onwards, there were field experiments on various ways to carry guns. The photographs in the Appendix show an adaptation of the WDLR F-class wagon being used to transport an Eighteen Pounder and a 6” 26-cwt howitzer. (An 18 pound shell is roughly 8kg. A 6” shell is roughly 150mm in diameter – 26 cwt is very roughly 1.2 tonnes.)

Replica gun wagon seen at Tracks To The Trenches. It is not an adaptation of a standard WD wagon. Photograph courtesy Jim Hawkesworth

A group decided to celebrate these gun wagons by building a replica, designed to take an Eighteen Pounder. This appeared at the Apedale Centenary Event 13-15 July 2018.

The  Imperial War Museum photographs show a complete F-class wagon with stanchions removed and steel troughs slung either side, supported by girders across the body. The Apedale replica consists of two WD bogies supporting channel steel troughs bolted to a custom framework.

End view of replica gun wagon. Photo Jim Hawkesworth

WOT! No authentic wagon butchered for their experiment! To this, there are two answers. Firstly, in 1917-18, as in 2017-18, various experimental gun carriages were built. The ingenious workshop staff used anything to hand. To my mind the gun carriage is very much in the spirit of 100 years ago. Secondly, Tom Porteous, in his article in Review 71, remarks ‘what appears to be shown (in a contemporary photo) is a wagon .. consisting of a purpose-built frame straddling WD bogies.

End detail of replica gun wagon. Photo Jim Hawkesworth

The Apedale wagon design echoes the Porteous research. Cross members in steel channel are supported by the bogie pivots. They are fitted at their ends with hangers which support the gun-wheel troughs. This gives a low centre of gravity, a great advantage. In addition, the wheel channels are the right spacing for the gun. If they had been fitted to the side of an F-class, gun wheel spacing and the wheel-troughs would have been incompatible.

Detail, replica gun wagon. Photo Jim Hawkeswoth

The motive power for the wagon (and water tank) in the picture is a restored ‘Joffre’ 0-6-0 built by Kerr Stuart for the French Army. There was a rush to provide enough motive power for the vast new trench railways. A similar 0-6-0 tank locomotive was built by Decauville in the period. Unfortunately, though similar in design, there were too many differences to ensure that parts were interchangeable. If you haven’t got your metric/Imperial callipers, a quick way to spot the KS Joffre is the ‘American-style’ spark arresting chimney. In addition, unlike the Decauville, the platework of the cab side is level with the driver’s step.

Replica gun wagon sandwiched between a water tank (just seen) and its prime mover, a restored  Kerr Stuart 0-6-0 Joffre tank. Thelocomotive was made for the French Army  but the Allies helped each other out. Photo Jim Hawkesworth

The Germans did not have much use for these gun carriages. They did, however develop almost legendary ‘big guns’

The small but deadly Minenwerfer (trench mortars) could be moved by horse or human power; the field railway was invaluable for keeping them supplied. I say ‘small’ but these trench mortars, at 170mm, were of greater calibre than the French 150mm Long or the British 6” howitzer. These German guns were not as accurate at long range but they were very suitable for lobbing shrapnel and high explosive over no-man’s-land and down into enemy trenches. They had successfully traded volume for accuracy

The Germans tended to keep large guns back from the Front. The greatest were of such a range that they could be parked somewhere convenient, supplied by standard gauge railway. They could then bombard French cities such as Meaux from a safe distance of 50 kilometres or more. The fear was that they might get in range of Paris.

'Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Jubilant French and AEF troops gloat over the colossal wreck of a large German gun, possibly 240mm. It has been removed and the emplacement partly destroyed. Photo from Illustration magazine courtesy of MD Wright

In late July 1918, US troops recaptured la Fère en Tardenois, Aisne, dangerously close to Meaux. Hidden in a nearby wood, they found the mountings of one such giant gun. As the AEF advanced, the gun itself had been removed by rail; it could have been a long range 240mm design or 380mm. The 380mm gun had a shorter range than the 240mm but even so this was 50 km.

In the photograph, French and US troops admire the ruins of the huge emplacement. The gun had been mounted on a huge turntable supplied by standard gauge rail. This has been partially destroyed by retreating Germans.

The guns of August 1918

One hundred year ago, the Germans were still on the offensive on the Western Front. I understood why they were confident of victory in spring 1918, but always felt that the summer offensives were a bloody waste. 

Early in 1918, the German Army attacked the Western Front with vigour. Tremendous gains were made; in late March, early April, the were almost able to break the Front in two. British and French soldiers managed, just, to hold the line east of Amiens. This was a tribute to the soldiers involved.

In March 1918, nearly 300 WD locomotives and 2000 wagons had to be destroyed as the Germans advanced. These  models, Baldwin WD tank 4-6-0 loco, WD D-class wagon and WD covered bogie wagon, show the sort of stock destroyed. 16mm scale built by Wrightscale

There was another factor. The Allies were better supplied. The Germans had to bring everything – ammunition, food, even water - and evacuate their wounded over many kilometres of trampled, rutted and bloodstained ground. The Allied defenders were bringing their supplies over a few kilometres of fresh fields.

Both side depended on 60 cm gauge field railways using portable or highly versatile track. In the case of the French, this was a development of artillerie 88, the system that was first adopted in 1888, and was informally known as the système Péchot in honour of Prosper Péchot its original designer.  The Germans had their Feldbahn system, the British, Canadians and ANZACs had developed the War Department Light Railways (WDLR). The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) had their Department of Light Railways. When they retreated towards Amiens, WDLR operators destroyed the material they could not take to stop it from falling into enemy hands. 

Although such railways were versatile, they were more easily laid over fresh ground – undisturbed fields and quiet country lanes.

German prefabricated track came in a range of  lengths. As can be sen, it could be laid quickly, but not on extremely rough ground. Track photographed at Apedale, Staffs. Courtesy MD Wright

The Germans continued their offensives into the summer, trying one section of the Front after another until what had been a relatively smooth frontier became a bulging line of excrescences where territory had been gained at terrible cost.  Yet in July 1918, General Ludendorf planned yet another attack. In German this was known as Friedensturm which we might translate as ‘auspicious storm’.

There was logic to the plan. The French still depended on places fortes – strategic towns which were heavily defended.  One of these, Reims, was almost surrounded. The Germans would smash the enclave, cross the Marne and encircle Paris. The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) building up south-east of Verdun - most celebrated of the places fortes - would threaten the German flank. They would therefore have to be neutralised.

It was a good plan with similarities to the offensive of 1914. The Germans had developed new arms. As well as artillery and Storm Troopers, armed with flame-throwers, the Germans had started to deploy tanks. Therefore the optimists in German High Command thought that this time would be more successful than the last.

Posed propaganda painting by Felix Schwormstadt shows the seated figures of Hindenburg (left), Ludendorf and Kaiser Wilhelm 11. The Kaiser's finger shows the spot where the French Army will be destroyed in July 1918. Picture from 'Illustration' magazine courtesy MD Wright

At dawn on August 15^th, the people of Paris heard the enemy guns. The threat was not far off.

Unfortunately for the Germans, they had lost the element of surprise. A week earlier, rumours of such an attack, emanating from Alsace, reached the French General Staff. More specific information was to reach them on the night of the 14^th. That very  evening, some prisoners gave away the time and place of the German attack. This was not much notice, but the French had just enough time to prepare their own surprise. Most of the Front was evacuated and troops moved back to the second and third line of trenches so that the initial bombardment hurt no-one. A few sturdy volunteers had dug themselves in. Equipped with machine-guns, they gave the Germans the impression that the line of trenches was manned. As the Storm-troopers moved forward towards the second line, they were hit by a terrific bombardment. They took shelter in refuges – old farm buildings – many of which had been booby trapped. The second and third line of trenches had become the new Front and it was almost impossible to break through. The total death toll for both sides was 45,000.

The Germans had slightly more success on their left flank and actually crossed the Marne having gained 75 square kilometres of territory. All they had really gained was a new salient, pressed on three sides by the Allies, broken ground, and hard to supply – all they had was one railway. By July 19^th, they retreated beyond the Marne, leaving valuable equipment, and Paris was safe.

Late in July 1917, a French tank tows away a German gun, abandoned as they retreated. PIcture from 'Illustration' magazine courtesy MD Wright

Why did the attack fail?

One good reason was that the French were learning how to deal with storm-troopers, as we have seen above. Another was the AEF on their east flank. As mentioned in previous blogs, the AEThough the AEF started arriving in France in 1917, their generals had, for the most part kept them back from battle until summer 1918. When faced with fresh armies of fine strapping men, full of the wheat and beef of the US prairies, German soldiers felt more than somewhat discouraged. US soldiers were formidable fighters.

Another reason was given by my dear old Granny who experienced the First World War. ‘The spring offensives of 1918’ she would say, ‘were a big mistake. When the Germans advanced, they saw how well supplied we were. This disheartened them’

She had a point. The Germans had been told by their Government and media that submarine warfare had successfully cut off supplies. The British were starving. The French, having lost territory, were in not much better shape. If things were bad for the Central Powers, they were even worse for the Allies.

This detail from the above picture shows the soldiers marching over a 60cm railway. As they were the same gauge, both sides made use of captured rail. From Illustration magazine courtesy MD Wright

The Spring Offensives gave the lie to these optimistic claims. Time and again, when the Germans occupied enemy trenches, they found supplies aplenty. Admittedly, the food was very dull. Dear old Granny could still remember the tins of ‘Maconochie’, containing tasteless stew and staple diet of the British Army. Also part of the ration was plum and apple jam – usually ‘spooned’ out of the tin with a bayonet, tasteless, perhaps, but full of calories.

The ordinary German soldier realised that he was being fed, not with proper food but with propaganda. The Allies were not starving. One comment about the German diet in 1918 says it all. They gave the world the word ersatz which we still use to describe fake and substitute food.

This may explain why the German prisoners started co-operating. Up until 1918, German military intelligence had been, like so much else, superior to that of the Allies. They could obtain information from prisoners without using undue pressure. The Allies, especially the British, were not so successful. By summer 1918, the soldiers who were captured may not have been quite as discreet as they had been earlier in the war. This might explain why vague Intelligence was leaked to the French from the Alsace area, and why the vital Intelligence was gathered on the night of July 14th.

Ordinary Germans knew the game was up. Their superiors, who ought to have known better, were prolonging the agony. What a pity that the slaughter went on until November 1918.

Reflections on the Wrightscale Baldwin 4-6-0 WD Tank Locomotive

Could the Wrightscale Baldwin 4-6-0 WD Tank locomotive enrich your life?  Here are some reflections.

A model can help you appreciate life more. Here is what the Baldwin 4-6-0T has done for us. The first and most important service it performed was putting us in touch with generous friends.

Jim Hawkesworth was one of several who shared with us the knowledge and information he gathered over the years. This included photographs, references and research. Frequently, when we wanted to do a bit of research of our own, he was willing to come with us and point us in the right direction. If it suited us better, he would sit us down with a cup of tea and just listen! Others, such as Eric Fresné and Eric Lloyd have been more than generous. They have given us a chance to exercise our gratitude muscles.

This ex WD Baldwin 4-6-0T is in need of some restoration! This photograph is an example of the information kindly shared with us by Jim Hawkesworth

Gratitude is an under-used resource which yes, honestly, helps you live longer. A grateful person is less likely to be snarling at the world and therefore has a better balance of endorphins and hormones.

The feeling can and should be cultivated. It is all too easy to succumb to the opposite – the negative feeling. Advertisers and other practitioners of the black arts know that. An insider made this comment about social media: 'content that generates the most engagement (media-speak for interest) is whatever creates the negative feelings of sadness, anger or envy'. Advertising empires are built on this insight. This insider is Jaron Lanier, a 58-year-old technology guru who made a fortune as a virtual reality pioneer ie someone who really ought to know.

The positive feeling of gratitude should be nurtured otherwise it will be swamped.   

It is possible to exercise your gratitude muscles.

This is how we do it. Find a regular spot in the day to take stock. Focus on a couple of good things which have happened in the last twenty four hours. The delight may be simple – a ray of sunshine may do it. For the sophisticated 21^st century adventurer, one daily joy should be that ‘Ah hah!’ moment of discovery or of a problem solved. You see, whether simple or clever, we are living out our own stories. When a loose or dissonant thread is caught and tied into a personal story,  that is happiness. Social media protect us from dissonance and discomfort by whisking us into a protective bubble. We see only a carefully filtered version of the world. Along with discomforts, the joy of weaving in a loose strand for ourselves is denied. 

The Wrightscale adventurer faces down (rather than avoiding) difficulty and uncertainty. Without the possibility of being wrong, we deny ourselves the joy of being right. One specific which can be correct or incorrect is historical accuracy. 

 16mm scale Baldwin WD 4-6-0T built by Wrightscale. Photograph by MD Wright

Take, for example, my somewhat elaborate description of what seems a simple locomotive. You can understand why it is a 'Baldwin' - it was made by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia. One look at the wheel arrangement explains why it is a 4-6-0. The water tanks arranged around the boiler explain why it is called a 'tank' rather than a 'tender' loco. The number 854 refers to a specific locomotive that we know worked the War Department Light Railways. 

The abbreviation WD also tells a whole history. 

The War Department Light Railways (WDLR) of the British, Canadian and ANZAC forces of the First World War came late to the fight. The French and their great rivals the Germans had 60cm gauge portable railways from 1888 onwards. The British started World War One with a couple of miles of 2'6" (67cm) gauge railways and tried to manage without. By 1916, they realised their mistake and the WDLR - railway, rolling stock and locomotives - was born. The Canadians were particularly enthusiastic railway engineers and many photos show how Indian and Chinese troops were also involved.

Here, let me be suitably grateful. If you have read other entries on my blog or my books eg ‘Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the Trenches’, you will know how much generous help I received from people such as the Péchot family, Jim Hawkesworth, Dr Christian Cénac, Raymond Duton, the Tramways Touristiques du Tarn, Roy Link, Eric Fresné, Rich Dunn, Malcolm Wright and others. They gave their help and information willingly, along with encouraging messages. We have almost always found that if we seek out the owners of copyright, they are modest in their demands (always be willing to pay their expenses) and often very generous.

And yet there are people who do not follow this simple and obvious course. There are two ways in which they can be ‘wrong.’ It seems amazing and depressing.

Wrightscale 16mm Baldwin 4-6-0 pushing a WD D-class wagon and WD covered goods wagon, both built on Wrightscale WD bogies. Photo by MD Wright

There are those who decide to be accurate by lifting the designs off other people. You wouldn’t just take your neighbour’s garden tools without prior arrangement. As I have said above, 'ask and ye shall receive' Why would intellectual property be any different? All too often, people find that their research and creations can be stolen. Alas! We have had this experience several times, as have several of the finest names in the business – Roy Link, Pete Binny, Stuart Baker.   I trust that all readers deplore this evil theft of intellectual property.

Why do the IP thieves want to break the law, bend gentlemen’s agreements and deny themselves the joys of cooperation? They lay themselves open to quarrels and black-listing. Their experience is all aggression and confrontation. This leads to the build-up of cortisols in their bloodstream. Alternatively, they can retreat into a bubble where any negatives are filtered out while they, no doubt, feel safe in vilifying others. It is a brittle existence. One twist in their fortunes and they are lost.

Do you have an example in mind? I hear you ask. A manufacturer, you all know who, bought a Wrightscale locomotive, took it to pieces, paid a factory to reproduce the pieces and assemble the imitation. In the original, certain parts had to be assembled in sequence, something not understood by the plagiarists. They joined them any old how. As they were not under tension, they had the embarrassing tendency to fall apart. The plagiarists weren't the designers therefore they didn’t know why it happened and there was no way to correct the fault.

After 1918, the Glyn Valley Tramway regauged and adapted a Baldwin 4-6-0. Wrightscale 16mm gauge model. Photo MD Wright

On the other hand, there is the right way to be ‘wrong’. Start with a boiler, get it working. Add a system of wheels and motion. You end up with a free-lance model. That is fine. Most folk enter 16mm steam this way. What is sad is the freelance model to which a few castings have been added which is then passed off as a named locomotive. Still, if this floats your boat, enjoy!

Happy steaming, everyone. Feel the joy and be grateful.

The Data Protection Act

Your rights and Wrightscale (a reminder)

 Those of you who have put their names on lists of interest may be wondering about changes to the law on Data Protection. As you probably know, these changes come into effect on May 25^th. We have considered the implications of these changes, and how our information might affect your privacy.

We will be required to put our privacy policy on the website and any sales literature.

We currently store our email address book online. It simply has name and email but no other personal details. All of you who email and expect a reply go into this email address book automatically. Every couple of months, I remove the ‘once onlies’  but everyone who emails us has the right to have their address removed immediately. We shall remind every first contact of this right.

This is our only online data-base.

 Our interest list is held off-line. In it, we try to include date of contact, a full name, postal address and phone number as well as email. This is because email addresses keep changing and we need an alternative way of keeping in touch. We, for example, have been obliged by our providers to change our own email address at least three times. We do not keep other personal details such as partner’s name, date of birth etc.

 We do not hold any bank details online. As you all know, our policy is cash or cheque if at all possible. Where bank transfer is convenient, we do not hold details online though they will show up in our bank statements which are off-line. Privacy during the transaction will be ensured by the systems of the banks involved. Our bank is the Clydesdale. We have used paypal; in this case privacy is guaranteed by paypal and our own system as described above. If you wish any email correspondence deleted after a payment, please inform us. 

How Wrightscale could save you 200 grand

You could change your life by spending £200,000. This sort of money is the entry fee for what we shall call the Extraordinary Adventures Club. A-list celebrities and the very wealthy are willing to spend time and money to belong to an organisation of this kind. They find that the commitment is worthwhile.They may suffer from panic attacks, drug and alcohol abuse or just a grinding lack of self-confidence. The adventures are challenging – a day of sprinting through the heather perhaps followed by a plunge into an ice-cold Scottish burn, or six weeks guiding a sledge pulled by huskies through the Arctic.

This grey lady could restore your inner calm. Wrightscale 16mm scale Wren. Photo MD Wright

Inner insecurities have driven the typical client to panic, alcohol or such-like. The guides provided by the Club encourage them to think of theseinsecurities as the ‘saboteurs.’ The client takes on some tremendous challenge.  The point of the challenge is take club members out of the rut, give them new perspectives, the opportunity to ‘open up’ after a physically gruelling day. This in itself makes 'the saboteur' less threatening. With the right guidance and techniques, it can be cut down to size. Some of these exercises can be quite  simple. If you are fabulously wealthy try to explain your troubles to someone who has nothing.

Often it works.  A celebrity who was used to an adoring public was told after a day of dog-sledding in the Arctic that she was the subject of a critical magazine article. Her only companion was a native American with few possessions and who never read the gossip columns. He was quite worried at her reaction to the news. Only the death of a close family member could, to his mind, produce such grief.

 At this point, the usual health warning; if you need proper medical advice, take it. So what if the doctor is always busy? She will be glad you asked. Your symptoms may be important, especially if a close family member is ill. Your doctor may already have assured you that there’s nothing seriously wrong. You yourself may understand that the usual gremlins are circling or you may be putting off an important decision. In this case, join the Wrightscale adventure club.

How do you become a Wrightscale adventurer?

Ready for your journey? Hop aboard the Wrightscale Wren. Photo MD Wright

The aim is to escape the rut – boredom, negative thoughts and cynicism. Then you can relearn focus. You could do this the expensive way by dislocating from your usual environment. In the real world, this involves travel, time and money. On the other hand, you could add the Focus project to ordinary life.

Try to make certain activities routine - physical challenge, the to-do list with attitude, a regular pause for gratitude and the courage to do less.

Make a habit of planning the day ie creating a to-do list with attitude. Either start the day or end the previous day by running through the important things to be achieved over the next twenty four hours.

If it is more convenient, run through your list the evening before Leave yourself plenty of time. Then switch off before sleep with a pleasurable activity and NO, do not look into a little blue screen until the early hours! Catching up with your emails or exploring the Instasphere do not count as late-night pleasurable activities!  While creating the list, you should briefly imagine that each item has been completed successfully. Try to visualise the success. For example, if you plan to be running a model, see that locomotive pulling away on the track. Hear the satisfying chuff. Smell the lubricant. The ‘internal saboteur’ hates it when you are grounded and specific.

 The physical challenge could be a cold shower, or just taking the stairs instead of the lift. It can be mastering a skill. This is where the Wrightscale Wren can help. It is supposedly one of the trickier 16mm locomotives to run. There are various reasons why it is considered rather delicate.

Here is 'Peter Pan' a 2' gauge Kerr Stuart Wren at Alston in 1992. Photo courtesy R. Bodenschats

It is a very small locomotive. The 16mm Wren is a convincing model of a well-loved prototype. Kerr Stuart produced the first two examples of the Wren design in 1905 - adapted from an existing design. Well did it deserve the name of Wren, one of the smallest British birds. At 3 ton 7 cwt /3.4 tonnes and with a wheelbase of 3’/45cm it was tiny and aimed at the ultra-narrow-gauge market.

In 1915, the ‘new’ type Wren was introduced. The ‘old’ type had Stephenson’s links, the ‘new’ ones Hackworth valve gear. (More about the specifics below). This, seemingly small, change brought a number of others. The reversing shaft had to be fitted above the driving wheels, boiler parts raised and cylinders installed at an angle. In fact typical duties were heading trains of skips to the rubbish dump!

Types old and new have been written in quotation marks because ‘old’ ones were produced as late as 1926, long after the ‘new’ had come into production. In fact, if you want a 2’ gauge prototype, you could still have one. Hunslet took over Kerr Stuart and Statfold Barn Engineering took over Hunslet. As of 2018, Statfold are still going strong.

The Wrightscale model is based on a specific prototype. Kerr Stuart no 3114 was a ‘new’ type supplied in 1918. Faithful to the original, the Wrightscale model has a scaled-down Hackworth Link as well as many other features. There are simpler and cheaper ways to build a model locomotive.

The Hackworth link, die and pin characterise the Kerr Stuart Wren as built after 1915. Simplified diagram courtesy MD Wright

Other manufacturers start with a freelance design of valve gear and everything else – whatever works in that scale. If the customer wants an electrically operated locomotive or a brick on wheels, that is fine. (A ‘freelance’ design’ to which a few cosmetic features have been added is not a faithful model.) A model, whose design priority is ease of operation, should indeed be easy to operate. We extend our good wishes to all those who simply want the experience of clocking up the miniature miles. By comparison, the Wrightscale Wren is a slow-paced little locomotive.

 And yet.

A Wrightscale model can give you a sense of proportion. A thousand miles by modern transport is not necessarily a thousand times better than a miles covered on foot. Stop and think why. Push back at the assumption that more is always better. Too many of us are under pressure to be productive. We end up with unreal expectations on ourselves. It is as though we have to be forever explaining to the inner saboteur ‘Look how MUCH I’ve done!’ Try to be yourself. If a mile matters to you more than a thousand, then go for the small one. Face down the inner demon. Be yourself. This is the lesson that an Extraordinary Adventure or a Wrightscale Adventure can teach.

The Hackworth link is at near vertical, the tipping point. Photo MD Wright

Running a Wrightscale Wren, for example, may well be slower than running an electric or ‘convenience’ model. Built into this little Wren are important aspects of running the real thing. Raising steam involves sight, hearing, touch and smell and also that sixth sense which comes with experience. A Wren seems to know if it is loved. Starting off is more than just pressing an ignition or pushing a lever. It takes patience and knowledge. There is genuine life in the slow initial movement of the Hackworth link.

At the heart of the motion is the valve gear. At the heart of the valve gear is the Hackworth link. This is in three parts – link, die-plate and pin. The link is the largest of the three. During construction, it must be filed just enough so that a bolt can slide up and down, neither wobbling nor binding. The die-plate also fits within the link, snugly but also able to move without binding. The Hackworth pin goes in the die-plate. When fitted, all must move smoothly whether the valve-gear is rotating forwards or back. There are other, no doubt far simpler, ways of linking power to wheels but Hackworth is truly prototypical. It explains why the locomotive looks the way it does and helps to explain the faults, failures and successes of the original Wren.  A model on an electric chassis will not do that for you.

Wrightscale 16mm Wren in green, the commonest prototype colour. Photo MD Wright

At this point, recognise that you have done less, but done well.

The Wrightscale adventurer is also able to be grateful. Admit first of all that there is a bit of control-freakery about us all. We want things done yesterday. Any obstacle is an insult. Yet even this can be turned into an adventure. Try to see an obstacle overcome as a good thing, problem solving as an adventure. Yes, this could make you more grateful. Give yourself time to enjoy the feeling.