Du Bousquet's

My neighbour Bill, who has been reading this mag since 1949 apparently, asked me, a French speaker, why Dr Ron Fitzgerald refers to Du Bousquet's locomotives as 'Les Grands Chocolats'. He uses the term repeatedly, but gives no clue to why the locomotives are so called. I can only surmise it is the colour of the livery. Am I right or wrong?

The late lamented Railway Museum,, Nord compound was a delightful chocolate colour!

Andrew.

I found this:

Pacific Chapelon, la vitesse et la gloire Superbe dans sa livrée chocolat à filets jaunes, la Pacific Chapelon Nord est une des locomotives les plus célèbres de l'histoire des chemins de fer, non seulement en France, mais aussi dans le monde entier.

Something like: Chapelon's pacifics, the speed and glory superb in their chocolate livery with yellow lining, the Chepalon North Pacific is one of the most celebrated locomotives in the history of steam engines, not only in France, but around the World.

I think it's the livery as in this preserved example from the Du Bousquet period:

Image: By B.Zsolt - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20726581

Dave

"Nord" in this case is the name of the railway company and would probably be quoted in English, not translated, just as "Great Western" would be quoted as such in France and not receive a French translation.
DaveD

p.s SoD great picture

I can confirm that it is a refernce to the colour of the machine.

The chocolat colour is said to have been inspired by the colour of the uniforms of the Rothschild family's domestic servants. Rothschild was a major investor in the "Chemin de Fer du Nord".