Baldwins of North Africa

Has anyone been in North Africa in recent years to see if there is anything left of the Baldwins there? I would guess they are all scrapped by now, but am just curious if any might have been preserved. The endcab roadswitchers with the rotocyclone filters that operated in Morocco were very unique.

I know this is an old post, but there might be interest in this:

http://locopage.fotopic.net/c1148543.html

(scroll down to near the bottom)

Pix of DB405 at Taza. (What can we do, or who can we contact, to see about preserving and/or restoring this locomotive?)

I was frankly delighted to see it! (Bet many of you will be, too...)

BTW, one builder's plate on this unit is intact; it's #73472, built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in November 1947 -- one of the pictures shows the plate quite well...

WOW!

That's an awsome find!! Thanks for sharing it!

That's one of the last of it's type to be delivered. It's full designation is DRS 6-4-660/1 NA105, road number 040-DB-405. It weighed 235,000lbs total, with an axle loading of only 39,000lbs for use on really lightweight track. It is powered by a 606NA engine, and it was one of the first export units to be delivered with the 75 volt control system. It arrived in Cassablanca in January of 1948, along with 5 other identical units. Prior to it's delivery SNCF had ordered 100 similar units for use in France in 1946-1947, one of which I know is preserved in perfect condition.

The Roto Clone equiped units mentioned are modified DRS 6-4-1500 units, and were shipped about the same time. I have no idea if any remain.

That's pretty neat!
Matthew Imbrogno
-Mechanical Volunteer, Arizona Railway Museum
www.azrymuseum.org

An update on the story of DB405 (DRS 6-6-660).

According to some European railfan blogs, this unit still exists. It has been moved into a shed about 200 meters west of the Taza train station where it is being warehoused (along with some other vintage equipment) for inclusion in a proposed national railway museum.

The most recent photo I could find was from 2007: http://www.phantasrail.com/morocco_baldwin.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.