A Narrow Gauge Steam Survivor in Melila

One result of Spain's colonisation of parts of North Africa, the former Spanish Morocco, was the building of a number of narrow gauge railways. The better known were those in and close to enclaves which today survive as (technically) parts of Spain. The best known is Melila (see Safari Steam Africa), but I have recently posted information about a survivor from the metre gauge Ferrocarril Ceuta - Tetuan railway.

As is shown in the first link above, there were two railways in Melila which survived into the 1970s. It seems that all their locomotives have been lost but there is one 600mm locomotive on display here which was photographed by Thomas Kautzor in 2018. It is 0-4-0T Henschel 16051/1918. 

It is one of a fair number of 'Baghdad' locomotives used on the 'Tigris Kriegsbahn' and bought by the Spanish military after World War I; it seems that all bar four were sent here in connection with a 'light railway' used to help suppress an uprising. After that they were later returned to Spain proper and many were again sold off, often to industrial railways in the north of the country. This particular one stayed with the army and was eventually sent here in 2012 as a tourist attraction. A report on this site dating from a 2011 visit includes a picture of it at Zaragoza. As far as I know it is not recorded whether it had previously been a 'visitor' here. 

Double figure numbers of these locomotives survive today, some of which are now outside Spain. This article has more information and a list of known survivors which is both incomplete and out of date, there is a second list and article which may, or may not be more accurate although the main text comes from the well respected Ruediger Fach.