Mick @Newportnobby was kind enough to reduce the offending photos of Le Soudrier for me. Here they are. Thanks Mick.





Next time there will be trains.

Having arrived at the museum we gained free admission with our previously purchased City Passes.
On entering the first hall, we were confronted by various pieces of railway equipment lurking in the gloom and quite a lot of noise including occasional load bangs. We found that some of the rolling stock was adorned with rather unconvincing dummies and that much of the noise was their "conversations".
The grandest of the dummies was this one, apparently intended to represent Napoleon III in the Imperial saloon.



I say apparently because it doesn't look like any portrait I've seen of that gentleman.
The saloon was coupled to this engine which, if I remember correctly, is a Sharp, Stewart product.



Alongside the Sharp, Stewart was this imposing machine (it doesn't really have blue wheels).



All I can tell you is that it is a "mountain type" or 4-8-2. The French call this a 2-4-1 which is entirely rational but somehow doesn't feel right.
 
Here's another interesting-looking engine. It belonged to the PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée) and I only know that because it's written on the bufferbeam.



This signal box was fairly central in the hall. Whether it is genuinely from Mulhouse or not I don't know.



At the far end of the hall was a railway gun, mostly hidden by a tarpaulin, or maybe it was a camouflage net. Clearly this was the source of the loud bangs. Near here was an engine, a 1-4-0 I think, laying on its side as if having been derailed.

The final item in this hall I photographed was this velocipede, complete with red flag.



Had this hall been typical of the whole museum I would have been less than gruntled. It seems to follow a trend to create the atmosphere of the past for children, people who are not particularly interested and those with no imagination. That's understandable up to a point but it could be done just as well, maybe better, with replicas. There's also the question of which past as railway history covers 200 years.
Happily, the rest of the museum was much more to my taste. I hope to tell you about it soon.

Oh dear. Napoleon III doesn't look at all well

For somebody who died in 1873, I think he looks remarkably well.

Looks like one of Jim Henson's Muppets 

Maybe he is contemplating going into exile in England ?

Thank you so much for this wonderful thread, Ali. Good jokes too.

It's a real tonic to read it and and I'm looking forward to more.

Anent the woollen motor-bicycle, we pinched the design for the Bantam from the Germans at the end of the War. DKW, I think. Maybe one of the French manufacturers did something similar.

With all good wishes.

John

Thanks for the kind words, John@ Train Waiting. I'm glad to see you are on the mend.

Between the first hall and the rest of the museum is a corridor from which it is possible to step outside for some fresh air. On doing so we found a number of things including this barmy-looking crane.



The main hall is organised into a number of "quais" (platforms) for different periods of history, which I shall follow.

Platform 1: The 19th Century; The Industrial Revolution

The first thing to catch my eye was another barmy-looking thing:



It's a "hobby horse" bicycle that you scoot along with your feet, but fitted with double-flanged wheels so it can be used on a railway track. Thanks, but I'll give that a miss.


This engine is apparently the oldest preserved engine in Europe.



It's a Buddicom 111 (2-2-2 in White's notation) No.33 'St Pierre' of the Paris-Rouen Company. It dates from 1844. How this can be older than "Rocket" of 1829 I don't know. Whatever the answer to that puzzle it is a fine looking locomotive and that buffer stop is remarkable.


Here's a Crampton type, No. 80 'Le Continent' of the Paris-Strasbourg company; built 1852, withdrawn 1892.




Visiting museums is thirsty work, but here is a little refreshment:



Vintage 1900; clearly a very good year.


Next is No. 701 of the Chemin de Fer du Nord.



It's a de Glehn four-cylinder compound of 1885. At first glance it appears to be a 4-4-0, but in fact it's a 4-2-2-0. It was built by SACM (Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques) at Belfort in 1885.
The design of this very engine was described by John @Train Waiting in his "Coarse Guide to the Steam Locomotive for N Gauge Modellers" at reply #455 and I don't propose to repeat it, but there is a lot more to de Glehn's story than this.

Alfred George von Glehn was one of 12(!) children born to Prussian nobleman Robert von Glehn and his Scottish wife Agnes, née Duncan, at Sydenham. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 (conveniently held at Sydenham), he was fascinated by agricultural machines, even though he was only three. This must have had some influence on his decision to become an engineer.
 
After settling in France, Alfred changed his nobiliary particle* from "von" to "de".
He Joined SACM's locomotive department in 1872 and rose to become Director of that department.
Alsace had been ceded to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War, so de Glehn set up a branch of SACM at Belfort just 36km away but still French and hence was more convenient for maintaining relations with French customers.
Alfred became administrator-director of SACM in 1886.

 Following a study trip in 1902, de Glehn wanted to impose an idea that he held dear: "In a large factory, the care of everything that affects the moral and material well-being (of the worker) constitutes a service just as important as this or that service of manufacturing ". This principle was rejected by the SACM leadership and he resigned in 1904.

Freed from his duties at SACM, de Glehn became more active in improving workers' housing and the struggle against tuberculosis.
He was also actively involved with the Mulhouse Industrial Society and the Mulhouse Natural History Museum.

During the Great War he was interned by the Germans and sent to a camp in Germany. After protests from Siemens and German railway management with whom he had dealings in his SACM days he was released and went to Switzerland.
During the war the rest of the family followed Alfred's example and changed their nobiliary particle to "de".
After the war he returned to Mulhouse and reclaimed his house which had been commandeered as the German district headquarters.

Alfred died in 1936, busy to the end. His was a life well lived.
 
*I only discovered this phrase whilst researching de Glehn, but I like it so much I want to use it often. Sadly, I can't imagine many opportunities presenting themselves.

Wonderful stuff

Yep, awesome.

Thank you, Ali, for a truly excellent post.

Anent that delightful Buddicom, one can only suspect a decision was taken that Europe didn't include the British Isles. Geographical inexactitude being used to claim the 'oldest' for France.

Your work on de Glehn is especially good - do you fancy doing something similar for Crampton? I seem to recall the phrase 'Taking the Crampton' was used in France for a while.

With all good wishes.

John

You are too kind. The de Glehn piece was only cobbled together from a couple of websites I looked at whilst researching for my report from the museum.
I've had a quick look for information on Crampton and his engines and there is definately material of interest there. There would certainly be a French Connection (but still no Popeye Doyle; sorry Mick) but several other nationalities as well.

Could it be the oldest "original" preserved loco? It may be younger than "Rocket" but as I understand it the version in the NRM is a bit of a Trigger's Broom having been mucked about with over the years.

Only a thought!

Keep up the good work, reminds me of our years in France......

Dave

It's certainly true that Rocket has been altered over the years and now bears little resemblance to the yellow leading edge of technology that won the Rainhill Trials, but we don't know how much retrofitting and refurbishment has gone on with the Buddicom. More than a lick of paint, I'll warrant.
As railway enthusiasts tend to be quite insular, maybe nobody considered the possibility that an older foreign engine might exist.
whatever the reason, those who know the truth know the truth, those who don't know but are interested will learn it and those who aren't interested don't care.
All in all it doesn't seem worth getting too worked up about it.