Full grip locomotives; type Indre

In view of the urgency of the needs, the Management had approached various manufacturers Only Pinguely had responded to this request by offering three units of its type 107, which were on standby and whose buyer was not yet in a position to take delivery. These machines, which corresponded in detail to the specifications of the C.F.D., were immediately purchased and sent to the Cheylard depot.

Description of the locomotive type Indre

They had a boiler whose cylindrical body was composed of 3 ferrules. The steam intake dome located on the first shell supported the safety valves under load. The sandpit was located on the second shell. The distribution was of the Walschaert type. The power take-off located on the third axle and its wheelbase of 2,050 m made it a machine of a fair stability.

Their performance was nevertheless much better than that of the 4-5 series due to the greater length of the tube bundle, giving them a greater vaporization and the larger size of the cylinders, thus significantly increasing their tractive effort, despite a slightly larger diameter of the driving wheels, reaching 0.900 m.

During the tests, they towed a 50-ton convoy on a 30°/°°° ramp at a speed of 15 km/hour.

They were painted in olive green with red threads and were numbered 3 to 5 on delivery. They circulated under these numbers during the construction period, then were fitted with oval brass plates bearing the n° 81 to 83 and the Company's designation, as soon as they were used for the needs of the farm. The front and rear crossmembers were painted in vermilion red and were marked "N°" on the left and the registration on the right of the central stamp in white characters.

These markings underwent several modifications during the various lifts:

• The markings on the front and rear cross members were changed as follows:
• 81 was marked C. F.D. instead of the inscription "N°" in 1930.
• The 82 bore its registration on either side of the central stamp at the same time.

The latter, on the occasion of its re-painting at Le Cheylard in 1930, received a smoke box door painted red and the circular boiler frame was tinted white. This test, which was not generalized, was intended to obtain a better distant vision of the convoys for the crews working on the track as well as for the road users in the vicinity of the P.N.

Delivery and assignments of the Indre type locomotive

Being private property of the Company, these locomotives, with the exception of the 83, were subject to many changes. They were the C.F.D.'s all-purpose locomotives and were used by the C.F.D. for both operations and construction as and when required. These changes are given below:

Locomotive No. 81

Delivered to Le Cheylard on March 3, 1902, it provided service for the construction of the second Vivarais network until April 24, 1902, when it was assigned to regular service trains. Transferred in April 1909 to Florac, took part in the laying of the track and then served as a reserve for the machines of the Lozère line until March 12, 1916. On this date, it was requisitioned by the 10th Section of the Chemins de Fer de Campagne (Country Railways) to be used on the Meusien network. Based in Revigny, it was used to serve the different places on the front. Returned on 13 May 1919 to its original depot, it was restored there, before being sent to Péronne on 5 July of the same year, to be used in the reconstruction of the Somme des Chemins de Fer Economiques (S.E.) network. In April 1923, after the completion of the works, it was returned to Le Cheylard to be overhauled and used as a reserve in the operations department.

Parked in 1927, it was put on hold for R.G., then undertaken in the workshops of Le Cheylard in order to be sent on the line from Vernoux to Saint-Péray of the Tramways de l'Ardèche which had been leased to the C.F.D.. Received at Saint-Péray on 21 March 1928, it provided service on this line until 16 January 1930, when it returned to Le Cheylard, where it was put in reserve.

Sent back to Florac two months later, it was used there to run periodic trains until April 22, 1935 At that time, it was placed on standby for overhaul. This situation lasted until 1942, after having been used sporadically on the line to provide additional freight trains. At the beginning of 1942, after restoration, it was transferred to Périgueux, in order to reinforce the deficient fleet of the Dordogne network. Used on the various lines of this network until June 1949, when it was deferred for repair, it was dismantled there and its chassis sent to the Montmirail workshops for conversion into a locomotive.

Locomotive No. 82

Delivered on March 3, 1902 at Le Cheylard at the same time as 81, it followed this one on the Lozère line to lay the track, but returned immediately afterwards to Le Cheylard where it was used for the traction of periodic trains. On March 4, 1916, it joined 81 at Revigny for the needs of the National Defense. At the end of the hostilities, she was transferred directly from Revigny to Péronne to take part in the reconstruction work of the S.E. network of the Somme, where she found 81 once again. On 6 January 1922, the C.F.D. repatriated her to Toulon-sur-Arroux where the lack of traction engines was being felt. She stayed there for five years, then on 14 May 1927, she was directed to Saint-Péray where she was again joined a few months later by the 81. From this date, the two machines will not leave each other until they are overhauled. Indeed, the 82 reached Le Cheylard for overhaul on 17 June 1930. Remaining on the Vivarais network in reserve, it was parked at the beginning of the 1939-1945 war awaiting repairs. Following the shortage of machines on the Dordogne network, it was sent to Périgueux with number 81 on 15 April 1942. After four years of continuous service, the Dordogne Department ended its lease in September 1946. When it became available, the C.F.D. transferred it to the Egreville depot where it arrived on 27 November 1946, joining the 83. After eight years of service on the Seine-et-Marne line, it was parked awaiting reform. Finally, it was scrapped on 15 August 1956.

Locomotive No. 83

Received on March 3, 1902 at Le Cheylard, it provided, jointly with the two other units, the service of the construction sites of the second network of the Vivarais, then was transferred to the Mortcerf depot on November 14, 1902 in order to replace the Fives-Lille machine n° 4. It proved to be very fragile on this line and suffered numerous damages. It had to be lifted early on August 20, 1906. In view of the extent of the work to be carried out and the modest means of the Mortcerf workshop not being able to cope with it, it was sent to Egreville for refurbishment on 1st February 1907. It was then decided to replace it with a more robust machine in Mortcerf. Refurbished by the workshop in Egreville, it was kept on this line where it provided excellent service until it was overhauled in September 1956.

source : MTVS 1988-4