Crochat was a French railway equipment construction company founded in 1899 by Henry Crochat. It is best known for building locomotives and railcars with petrol-electric transmission.[1]

Crochat petrol electric railcar preserved at Pithiviers

History

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Reference[2]

  • 1899 - Company founded by Henry Crochat
  • 1908 to 1918 - Construction of 420 petrol-electric locomotives for le Ministère de la Guerre (Ministry of War) and a small number for other customers. See table below for details
  • 1924 - Acquisition of patents by Decauville
  • 1926 - Foundation of Société Auxiliaire d'Entreprise (SAE) by Henry Crochat
  • 1928 - Company liquidated

Locomotive types

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Petrol-electric locomotive types[3]

This is not a complete list.

Type Weight Axles Gauge Number
built
Customer
14 L 4 60 14 tonnes 4 600 mm 200
5
10
le Ministère de la Guerre
la Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Maroc Oriental
les chantiers de l'entreprise Collet, Rabat/Maroc
22 L 2 N 22 tonnes 2 1435 mm 130
38
2
le Ministère de la Guerre
la Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Nord
la Compagnie du Gaz de Paris
44 L 4 N 44 tonnes 4 1435 mm 90
40
le Ministère de la Guerre
la Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Nord
? ? 6 500 mm 19 les Salins du Midi

Crochat and Colardeau

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Henry Crochat obtained some patents jointly with Emmanuel Colardeau, e.g. patent US1416611.[4] There is no evidence that Colardeau was involved in Crochat's railway business but he may have been involved, with Crochat, in the design of the Saint-Chamond (tank).

Equipment preserved

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  • Crochat AT1 petrol-electric railcar (1922) from Tramway de Pithiviers à Toury preserved at Musée des transports de Pithiviers
  • Five Crochat 6-axle locomotives of 1918 (ex Salins du Midi) preserved at Chemin de fer touristique du Tarn. One of these is a historical monument
  • Decauville-Crochat AT3 petrol-electric railcar (1926) preserved at Le p'tit train de Saint-Trojan[5]
  • Crochat standard gauge locomotive 44 L 4 N preserved at the Museum of Engineering in Angers (not on public view)

References

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  1. ^ "Locomotives Henry Crochat, Paris".
  2. ^ "Locomotives Henry Crochat, Paris".
  3. ^ "Locomotives Henry Crochat, Paris".
  4. ^ "Espacenet - Original document".
  5. ^ "Le P'tit Train de St Trojan".