Loco as arrived at “standard gauge” 
taken after standard gauge wheels and buffers removed 
Sitting pretty for Tracks to the Trenches 2018 
just after being moved to the end of Midway siding
This locomotive was an example of how the manufacturing might of the United States came to the aid of Great Britain and France during the First World War. This loco was ordered by the French Government, and delivered in April 1918. Exactly what, if any, part it played in the closing months of the First World War is not known (and probably never will be).
After the war, it appears that a significant number of these 50HP Baldwins were re-gauged from 24 inch gauge to standard gauge. A French company called Val de Maizet (VdM), based near Caen, seem to have been very active in buying such locos and re-gauging them; the VdM process was to leave the frames unaltered, but move the wheelsets outside the frame. By swapping the gearbox output fly crank for a chain sprocket, a chain drive could be provided to the new wheelsets.
No.96 was converted to standard gauge by Val de Maizet. Its history is extremely sketchy at the moment. However, it is known to have been at a quarry -Carrieres de Vongy -between Thonen and Evian. This is in the east of France, on one side of Lake Geneva. It moved to Switzerland, and was initially stored on a siding at Le Bouveret By December 2002, it had moved to the private siding of a scrapyard at Collombey-Muraz, Switzerland. The loco moved to Apedale on 6 May 2016, and serious restoration started in 2018 . A ‘Vialis” diesel engine had been fitted to the loco by the time it arrived at Apedale, the original petrol engine doubtless having discarded many years previously.
