Kerr Stuart "Joffre" locomotive arrives at Apedale.

The Moseley Railway Trust is delighted to announce the arrival of Kerr Stuart steam locomotive no.3014 of 1916 at the Apedale Valley Light Railway, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. This locomotive is known as a "Joffre" type; it arrived at Apedale on the morning of 13 August 2011.

The locomotive was built locally – Kerr Stuart’s works were just a few miles away in Stoke on Trent. This loco was ordered by the French Commission for their artillery railways, and was delivered new to Nantes, France. After the war, it was sold from Verdun to a dealer, Brunner & Marchand of Borray, Seine & Oise. In October 1930, it was sold on to Societe Anonyme des Carrieres de la Valee Heureuse et du Haut Banc, Marquise Rinxent in the Pas de Calais area of northern France. This was a stone quarry, and had at least four other similar locos. By August 1956, the locos on this site were derelict. It was repatriated to the UK onboard the ferry "Free Enterprise VII" on 11/10/74.

It was moved to the abortive museum project at Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry, North Wales, and then on to the Gloddfa Ganol slate quarry museum complex, near Blaneau Ffestiniog. Here, it was mounted on a plinth by the museum operator's house, and became a familar site to passing motorists as they struggled up the lengendary Crimea Pass road out of Blaneau to the north. Following closure of the Gloddfa Ganol museum, the loco joined the MRT collection in 1998. It has been subjected to a long and thorough restoration over the last thirteen years.

The locomotive is owned by a small consortium of MRT members. Although a number of finishing-off jobs are still to be completed, the locomotive has been test-steamed and has moved under its own power.

The "Joffre" joins “Stanhope” (Kerr Stuart 2395) on site; together, these locally-built locomotives will form the centrepiece of the “Made in Staffordshire” gala to be held at Apedale on September 10 and 11. Further details are available at www.mrt.org.uk.

Phil Robinson, MRT Chairman, said "We are delighted to welcome a second Kerr Stuart locomotive to Apedale. We hope that many people will come to our event at Apedale in September to see the locomotive in steam in the UK for the first time in more than ninety years".

Photos of the "Joffre" on its first day at Apedale will be posted on the news page at www.mrt.org.uk in the next few days.

Regards,

Simon Lomax
Publicity Officer, Moseley Railway Trust

 

A couple of photos of said loco soon after delivery have just appeared in the news section on the www.mrt.org.uk website. Should be quite a sight at the 10/11th September Gala!

Cheers,
Gareth

 

looks very nice hope to see it at other railways in the near future, hope leighton buzzard will be high up the list.
Does anyone know what the final colour will be as all the french ww1 loco's i have seen have been finished in maroon, which i can only assume was the french trench railway colour.

peter

 

I'm sure the loco will start to visit other places over time (there are no plans yet), the place to see it for a while is Apedale. It will need to be run-in & trialled properly at Apedale first.
The dark grey gloss on the side tanks is original French Artilliery railways colours - there was no lining or fancy number plates carried. I have seen some simple stenciled number painted on the cab sides.

Cheers,

 

Unknown KS joffre's in France during WW1 (probably 1917), with a French crewman.


Cheers.

 

Is it staining on the print or are they in camouflage livery?

 

Yes, it's almost certainly marks on the print (or dirt on the locos!) - I have other prints that show uniform colour on the side tanks.

Not much WW1 equipment had camouflage paint work in general - camouflage painting itself was in its infancy (tanks, lorries etc mostly just had block green or grey colours). I have only seen a few British Class H water tanks (not many) carrying any form of camouflage so far - probably because the galvanised tank bodies stood out so well & made easy targets.... We'll have the only UK surviving class H watertank wagon (in use) at the September 10/11th Apedale gala too! Photo of said tank - [

 

Well, the Joffre loco passed its final boiler test today. Further finishing work is continuing. How finished will the loco be & will it be on passenger turns at the Sept 10/11th Gala? Watch this space!
Or watch this one...