Steam locomotive Passagers

Class 310 2-6-4 Austria:
Imperial and Royal State Railway (KKStB),

the two engines were as far as Axleload: 32,2001b (14 6t).
possible identical, but the
compound worked at 227psi HPCylinders, (2) 15 4 x 28 3in
(16kg/cm 2 ) and the simple at
171psi(12kg/cm2) (390 x 720mm)

In 1911 the two engines ran Cylinders, LP: (2) 24 4 x 28 3in
comparative trials, and the super-
heated engine developed higher (620 x 720mm)
powers and used 16 per cent
Driving wheels: 82 7in
less coal than the compound A
(2,100mm)
natural step would have been to
try superheating with compound- Heating surface: 2,077sq ft
ing, but at that time it was not
(193m2 )
found possible to build a super- Superheater: 463sq ft (43m2 )

heated compound within the Steam pressure: 213psi
weight restrictions Thus 70 more
simples were ordered in 1911, 15kg cm2 )

but by the following year the (
design problems of the super-
Grate area: 49 7sq ft (4 6m2)
heated compound had been
overcome, and 20 were built, Fuel: 19,0001b (8 5t)

differing from the prototype in Water: 4,620gall (5,550 US)

having all four cylinders in line, (21m 3 )
as in the simple engines Un- Adhesive weight: 98,0001b
certainty still prevailed, and 20
more simples were next built, but (44t)
then in 91 1 3 a careful comparison
Total weight: 322,0001b
was made between the two
(146t)
varieties of superheated design,
Length overall: 69ft 1 lin
and the compound returned a 25 (21,318mm)
per cent lesser coal consumption
and better performance The The railways of the Austrian just turning to the Pacific, Above: Striking view of
issue was finally settled, and the empire were lightly constructed, Golsdorf found that by reversing Golsdorf 2-6-4 No.210.01
PLM built no more simple and in places heavily graded the Pacific into a 2-6-4, he could showing the original member of
Locomotives were thus required support the large firebox which
Pacifies, the existing simple en- to have a low axle load, but to be mthe class as-built condition.
gines were in due course con- capable of developing high the quality of coal required, and
powers at moderate speeds when at the same time make the front of modifications to the valves, the
verted to compounds burning low-grade fuel From the engine lighter in weight than locomotives never achieved the
In 1921 a further 230 Pacifies 1897 to 1916 locomotive design with a leading bogie To mitigate
in the empire was largely in the the disadvantages of his valve power output which the size of
were ordered, and in 1931 55 hands of Karl Golsdorf, a arrangement, he used driving boiler mented Nevertheless they
more, making a total of 462 designer of fertile imagination, hauled the pnncipal expresses
Successive batches incorporated who is credited with some 45 mwheels 82.7in (2, 100mm) dia- on the easier main lines of old
different designs, all branded and new Austria until the appear-
improvements, mainly to the ex- meter.although the maximum ance of 2-8-4 locomotives in
haust arrangements and to the clearly with his ideas speed was only 62 mph 1928
(lOOkm/h) By this means piston
boiler proportions, but the basic After building two-cylinder The first 2-6-4s were saturated
layout remained unchanged Im- speeds were kept low Every and classified "210", but from
provements continued to be compounds he reached the stage possible device was used to 1911 superheaters were fitted
made, and later still Chapelon's in 1908 when four cylinders keep the weight down, so that Austria had a total of 43 of these
ideas on steam passage and became necessary, but as a this large engine had a load on "310" class engines, and in
boiler proportions were incorp- means of reducing weight he the coupled axles of only addition seven were supplied to
orated in an engine which was used a single piston valve to 32,2001b (14 6 tonnes), a remark- Prussia and three to Poland The
serve the high-pressure and low- able achievement At the speeds last of the Austrian engines was
rebuilt with a boiler having 284psi pressure cylinders on each side involved the leading pony truck withdrawn in 1957
proved to be no disadvantage
(20kg/ cm2) pressure A scheme of the engine This involved Whatever their deficiencies in
tortuous steam ports, which The proportions of the cylin- performance, the 2-6-4s were
to apply this boiler widely was would have imposed a severe ders, which are critical in a most imposing engines, and to
limit on power output at high compound, proved to be less build such a large locomotive for
initiated, but the incorporation of piston speeds than ideal, and despite some such a small weight was a master-
piece of design One of them is
the PLM into the SNCF resulted In that year Golsdorf pro- mBelow: A class "210" 2-6-4 preserved at the Vienna Technical
Museum.
in 30 engines only receiving this duced his masterpiece. When Austrian Federal Railways' days
treatment, the last of them in when neanng the end of its hie.
other European railways were
1948, but 284 engines received
a more modest treatment on
Chapelon lines By this time the
sub-divisions of the class were

very complicated

The PLM Pacifies had long

and distinguished lives, and the
quality of their performance re-
sponded directly to the improve-
ments which were made to them,

but they never achieved the
levels of the Chapelon rebuilds
of the Pans-Orleans Pacifies As
electrification displaced them

from the PLM main line from

1952 onwards, they spread to
other regions Withdrawal began
in the 1950s, but many of the
boilers were not worn out, and
there was thus a good supply of
spare boilers, with which some
of the engines were maintained

in service until 1 969
Four engines were retained

for preservation, including
231K22, a rebuild with partial
Chapelon improvements, which
is at Steamtown, Carnforth,

Lancashire

97

1

Remembrance Class 4-6-4 Tank Great Britain:
London, Bnghton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR), 914

Tractive effort: 24 1801b running the "Belle" and other
, fast trains such as the "City
Limited" to an accelerated timing
• I kg) of 45 or 50 minutes instead of the
even hour. In fact, the 60 minute
Axle load: 44,0001b (20t) timing was never improved upon,
Cylinders: 1 2) 22 x28in even by the "Southern Belle's"
successor, the electric "Brighton
,1mm) Belle" which replaced the steam
Driving wheels: 81 in train after 1933, but the addition
of third-class Pullman cars to the
mm) previously all-first formation made
Heating surface: 1 ,8 6sq ft the train an increasingly harder
haulage proposition
7m a )
Conventional practice of the
Superheater: 383sq ft (35 6m2) day was followed in most respects
but the valve gear arrangement
Steam pressure: ! 70psi was interesting. Outside Wal-
schaert's valve gear was used,
Grate area: 26 7sq ft (2 48m 2 )
Below: 4-6-4T No.B333 (later
Fuel: 2333) Remembrance at
Victoria Station, London in
Water: 50 US) 1930. This was the Southern
Hallway's War Memorial
Adhesive weight: 126,0001b locomotive and bore special
plaques on the side tanks to that
Total weight: 222,0001b (10 It) effect for many years.
Length overall:
(15,361mm)

Those great trains of the world
which were hauled throughout

their journeys by tank locomotives

were few and far between One
such was the immortal "Southern

Belle", the all-Pullman express

which ran non-stop several times
a day over the 5 1 miles between
London's Victoria Station and
Bnghton Specially associated
with this tram was a group of

seven 4-6-4 or "Baltic" tank loco-
motives, the most powerful motive
power ever owned by the Lon-
don Brighton and South Coast

Company

Previously, the express trains
between London and the south
coast had been hauled by a fleet
of 4-4-0s, 4-4-2s, and 4-4-2Ts,
supplemented by two 4-6-2Ts
The new 4-6-4s were to some

extent a stretched version of the

latter and were known as class L.
Their designer Colonel L. B
Billinton was instructed to pro-
duce locomotives capable of

Class F 4-6-2 Sweden:
Swedish State Railways (SJ), 1914

Axle load: 35,5001b 1 16t)
Cylinders, HP: (2) 16!^ x 26in

(420 x 660mm).

Cylinders, LP: (2) 24% x 26in
(630 x 660mm)

Driving wheels: 74m

(1,880mm)

Heating surface: 2,038sq ft

(189m 2 )
Superheater: 732sq ft (68m2).
Steam pressure: 185psi

:m 2 )

Grate area: 38 5sq ft (3 6m 2
)

Fuel: 14 S36U I

Water: 500gall (6 600 US)

(25m 3 )
Adhesive weight: 105,0001b

Total weight: 322,0001b ( 146t) locomotive that very small coun- loaded aboard, whereupon the Above: Swedish State Railways'
Length overall: 69ft 9in captain promptly unloaded gold class "F" 4-6-2. All these
(21,265mm). tries (and railway companies) bars to their value on to the engines were sold to Denmark
quayside when the Swedish Railways
Sweden is not a country associ- can build their own designs were electrified. This one was
economically. More often, how- Nydquist and Holm not only returned to Sweden for
ated m many people's minds with ever, the Swedes took orders for built but also designed Sweden's
preservation.
the building of steam locomotives, other people's designs. Nydquist finest ever class of express loco-
yet there was and is a locomotive- and Holm of TroHhattan had an motive, the class "F" 4-6-2s gie had frames outside, partly no
building industry there. More- order in the 1920s for some delivered to the Swedish State doubt for clearance reasons This
0-10-0s for Russia The locomo- Railways in 1914. It will be seen feature also facilitated the em-
over, the country had its own tives were duly completed and that they were very distinctive ployment—it is thought for the
the builders were instructed that and at the same time very hand-
style of locomotive engineering a Soviet ship would call for them some machines. The leading bo- —first time ever of roller bearings
and this was even occasionally
exported. It is a measure of the at the firm's own quay. They were
essential simplicity of the steam

1

Above: "Remembrance" class the 4-6-2Ts plus the need to order to lower the centre of which, unusually in British prac-
No. 329 Stephenson is here provide a well tank between the gravity of the locomotive The tice, were fitted to the earlier ones
frames under the boiler, which modifications were successful and for a time after they were new.
depicted in its original LB&SCH
the existence of valve motion speeds as high as 75mph were After electrification in 1933,
umber livery. These famous tank there would preclude. There had
locomotives handled the in fact been trouble including a quite frequently run without any the Southern Railway converted
legendary "Southern Belle" all- derailment, whose cause had the 4-6-4 tanks into 4-6-0s known
Pullman express which ran been attributed to the swishing further problems.
several times a day between Nas class 1 5X in which guise they
Victoria Station, London, and of water in half-full tanks plus the A second locomotive (No. 328)
had a long and honourable career
mBrighton until 1933 the steam high centre of gravity This occur- was completed just before war on the less exacting longer dis-
red soon after the prototype, broke out that autumn and five
tram was superceded by the further examples (Nos 329-333) tance services of the bigger
CNo.321 Charles Macrae first in 1921-22. Two more received system, lasting well after 1948
all-electric "Brighton Belle". names at that time- No. 329 be-
entered service in April 1914. came Stephenson, while No. 333 into British Railways days That
actuating inside piston valves The solution was on similar lines was chosen to be the War Mem- this was considered worth-while
between the frames via rocking orial for the company's servants doing demonstrates more than
levers, ail this in spite of having to the extra dummy funnels on killed in the war and so was any words the excellent qualities
the cylinders themselves outside named Remembrance. The later of these extremely handsome
some steamships of the day, that examples of the class were never locomotives The last survivor
the frames One reason for this is, adopted so as not to spoil the
unusual arrangement was the appearance It consisted of mak- fitted with the feed-water heaters (LB&SCR No.331, SR No.2331,
ing all but the bottom 1 5 inches BR No.32331) was withdrawn in
wish to have similar cylinders to of the side tanks into dummies in and steam-operated feed pumps
July 1957.

(a Swedish speciality) for full-size A "windcutter" cab was fitted, "F" class handled the principal Left: A Swedish "F" class
expresses on the Stockholm-
locomotive axles. although the permitted speed Gothenburg and Stockholm- 4-6-2 heads a passenger tram
The "F"s also used a system of Malmo main lines near Nyboda in 1927. Note the
was only 62mph (lOOkm/h) re- electrification poles and wires,
compounding, of German origin, An absence of coal deposits which were to spell the end of
flecting, as did the very light axle combined with the presence of
which attempted to get the advan- water power induced the Swedish steam traction on the mam line
load (16 tons) track conditions
tages of a compound locomotive railways to proceed with electrifi- expresses of Sweden.
without the complications. The in Sweden at that time The cation and in 1936 these big
unusual "bath" shaped tender 4-6-2s were declared surplus to
four cylinders all drove the centre also made its contribution to the
coupled axle and were accor- distinctiveness of the design The requirements. A customer was to
dingly fairly steeply inclined at an
angle of 6 lA° to the horizontal hand just across the water and
The two low-pressure cylinders the class "F" 4-6-2s, Nos. 1 201 - 1
were outside and the two high- shortly became Danish Railways
pressure ones inside Each pair class "E" Nos 964 to 974 Their
was served by a single piston- new owners took to their pur-
valve spindle with multiple heads chase readily, so much so that
which controlled the admission during and after World War II the
of steam from the boiler to the
Danish locomotive-building firm
high-pressure cylinders, the re- of Fnchs built another 25 to the
lease of steam from the high- original drawings.
pressure cylinders, its admission
to the low-pressure ones and King Christian of Denmark
finally the exhaust from the low was a lifelong railway enthusiast
pressure cylinders to atmosphere and he asked that his funeral
The complicated feature of this train should be hauled by steam
arrangement was the labyrinth of Two "E"s did the duty, although
passageways inside the cylinder by the time he died diesel traction
had taken over generally Two
castings, but at least these did "E" class are preserved, No 974
(ex SJ 121 1) of 1916 and No 999
Anot involve moving parts single of 1950 A further two locos
(Nos.978 and 996) are also set
set of Walschaert's valve gear
was provided in full view on aside for possible operation
each side of the locomotive

99

,

K4 Class 4-6-2 SStfKK

Tractive effort: 44,4601b

70kg).

Axle load: 72,0001b (330
Cylinders: 1 2) 27 x28in

.711mm)
Driving wheels: 80in

(2,032mm)
Heating surface: 4,040sq ft
(375m 2)
Superheater: 943sq ft (88m2).
Boiler pressure: 205psi

(14 4kg cm 2 )
Grate area: 70sq ft (6 5m 2 )

Fuel: -6,0001b (16t)
Water: lO.OOOgall (12,000 US)
(46m 3 )

Adhesive weight: 210,0001b

Total weight: 533,0001b

(242t)

Overall length: 83ft 6in
(25,451mm)

The Pennsylvania Railroad called was applied to these engines. siderably larger than the "K2" Top: Pennsylvania Railroad
itself the Standard Railroad of In 1913, the company went to class, having 36 per cent more "K4" class 4-6-2 No. 3749 built
the World. This did not mean that tractive effort and 26 per cent at Altoona.
the system was just average or Baldwin of Philadelphia for 30 more grate area at a cost of a 9
"K3" 4-6-2s. These were interest- per cent increase in axle loading Above: The "Broadway Limited"
typical, but rather that the rail- ing in that they were fitted with The design owed as much to that
road's status was one to which Apex of the Atlantics, the "E6" mleaves Chicago 1938. The
the earliest type of practical class 4-4-2 as to the earlier
other lines might aspire, but a streamline locomotive is "K4"
status that it was extremely mechanical stoker, known as the 4-6-2s. class No. 3768, styled by
unlikely that they would reach. "Crawford" after its inventor,
The Pennsy's herald was a Raymond Loewy.
D.F. Crawford, Superintendent
keystone, indicating the position of Motive Power (Lines West).
This had been in use on the
the company felt it occupied in Pennsylvania Railroad since 1 905
the economy of the USA. The and by 1914 nearly 300 were in
famous "K4" 4-6-2s, introduced
in 1914 and the mainstay of —operation but only 64 on 4-6-2s.
steam operations until after World
War II, might well similarly be Later designs of stoker used a
given the title Standard Express screw feed, but the principle
Locomotive of the World. used in the Crawford was to
bnng forward the coal by means
There were 425 of them, built of a series of paddles or vanes,
over a period of 14 years, and oscillated by steam cylinders,
which were feathered on the
they followed a series of classes
return stroke like the oars of a
of earlier 4-6-2s introduced pre- rowing boat. The coal was fed
viously. The Pennsy was normally
exceedingly conservative in its into the firebox at grate level,
locomotive engineering and its unlike later types of stoker, which
Pacific era was ushered in by a feed on to a platform at the rear,
single prototype ordered from for distribution by steam jets

the American Locomotive Com- In addition, there was a further
pany in 1907, later designated
class "K28" By 91 1 the railroad Alco prototype supplied in 1 9 1 1
felt it knew enough to start larger than the "K28" and desig-
building some of its own and in nated "K29" There was also the
a short time 239 "K2"s were put "Kl" class, which was an "in
on the road. In 1912, quite late in house" project, designed but
never built.
the day really, superheating
The prototype "K4" Pacific
appeared in 1914, it was con-

The Pennsylvania Railroad was conservatism, for example, even Above: PBR "K4" class 4-6-2 for a while, a number of others
one of the very few North were partly streamlined and
American lines to approach in the later "K4"s the ratio of No. 5354, built between 1924 specially painted to match certain
self-sufficiency in locomotive and 1928, takes water at a streamlined trains. Many types of
evaporative heating surface to wayside station. tender were used, including a
design and construction It liked superheater size was as low as few which were so big they
to build its own locomotives, 5499 All were built at the PRR's dwarfed the engine, but held 25
designed by its own staff, in its 4.3, instead of the 2.2 to 2 5, more Juanita shops at Altoona, Penn-
own shops. One aid to this typical of the passenger loco- sylvania except Nos.5400 to 5474 tons of coal and 23,500 US
process was a locomotive testing motives which other North of 1927 which came from gallons ( 1 07m3) of water
American railroads were using Baldwin
—plant at a place called Altoona in the 1930s. There was also the Until the coming of the Duplex
modest boiler pressure, three- There were a few "specials" locomotives after World War II,
a hallowed name amongst the quarters or less of what was used the "K4"s handled all Pennsy's
amongst the "K4" fleet. Two express passenger trains outside
world's locomotive engineers elsewhere It is not being sug- engines (Nos.3847 and 5399) the electrified area During the
Altoona was then the only place in gested that such a policy was winter of 1 934 the Detroit Arrow
North America where a loco- wrong, only that it was different were fitted with poppet valve gear, was scheduled to cover the 64
thermic syphons in the firebox, miles (102km) from Plymouth to
motive could be run up to full Low boiler pressures and modest and improved draughting, so Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 51
speed and power on rollers and degrees of superheat had a equipped they could develop minutes, an average speed of
where instrumentation could pick marked and favourable effect on over 4000hp in the cylinders
up exactly what was happening the cost of maintenance and instead of the 3000hp typical of a 75^mph (121km/h) and accord-
inside In this way the designers' repair; perhaps the Pennsy, who
expectations could be checked could buy coal at pit-head pnces, standard "K4" A number of ingly for a short time the fastest
under laboratory conditions and had done its sums in depth,
trading some extra (cheap) coal other engines (designated class steam timing in the world The
corrections applied
The prototype "K4" was put to mfor less (expensive) work the "K4sa")had less drastic treatment cylinder limitations of the stan-
with the same end in view, in this
the question at Altoona soon shops case the firebox and exhaust dard "K4"s did, however, mean
after it was built, but few changes Running numbers were allo- improvements were accom- much double-heading in driving
were needed as a result for the panied by larger piston valves,
production version The oil head- cated at random between 8 and 15m (381mm) diameter instead Pennsy's great "Limiteds" across
light and wooden pilot (cow- these long level stretches of the
catcher) were not, however, re- 8378, although the last batches of 12in (305mm) One engine Lines West. The fact that these
peated By 1923, after more than built during 1924-28 were num- (No.3768) was fully streamlined legendary locomotives were so
200 "K4"s had been built, power bered in sequence from 5350 to economical in other ways more
reverse replaced the hand- than balanced such extrava-
operated screw reversing gear gances as the use of two on one
of earlier engines In due time the
latter were converted, fore- train.
shadowing a date (1937) when
hand reversing gear would In crossing the Alleghany
be illegal for locomotives with mountains, such heroic measures
as three "K4"s (or even, it is said,
over 160,0001b (72.70 adhesive sometimes four) at the head end
weight The same edict applied were needed to take, say, an
unlimited section of the "Broad-
to the fitting of automatic stokers
to locomotives of such size and mway Limited" up the 1 58 ( 1 .72

many (but not all) "K4"s were per cent) of the Horseshoe Curve
fitted with them during the 1930s Nowadays such things are only a
Before then the power output memory, but a single "K4",
had been severely limited by the presented to the City of Altoona,
amount of coal a man could stands in a little park inside the
shovel The last five "K4"s had famous semi-circle curve in re-
membrance of the monumental
cast steel one-piece locomotive labours of one of the world's
frames Another interesting box greatest express locomotives
of tricks that also became general Another (more accessible) is
in the 1 930s, was the continuous under cover in the Strasburg
Railway's excellent museum in
Acab signalling system receiver the town of that name.

picked up coded current flowing Below: One of the famous "K4"
in track circuits and translated
class 4-6-2s of the Pennsylvania
this into the appropriate signal
Railroad. Between 1914 and
aspect on a miniature signal 1 928 425 were built, mostly at
inside the cab the road's own Altoona shops.

One could see signs of Pennsy's

C53 Class 4-6-2 Dutch East Indies:
/ays(SS). 1917

Axle load: 28,0001b (12. 5t)

Cylinders. LP <22.8in

Cylinders, HP: (2) 20.5 x 22 8in

Driving wheels: 63in

Heating surface: 1,324

Superheater: 463sq ft

Steam pressure: .^OOpsi

Grate area: 29sq ft (2.7m2).
Fuel (oil): Notl rded
Water: Not recorded
Adhesive weight: 83,0001b

Total weight:* 147,0001b

Overall length

C Engine only— tender details to run trains at night, not by even enjoyed — but in the end Above: Official works
photograph of "C53" class
not recorded). reason of any possible sabotage, measures were taken, including
the purchase of new locomotive 4-6-2 for Indonesia.
Java, the densely populated main but because the natural hazards power, to improve matters
island of Indonesia, was in pre- of tropical railroading in the dark journey is possible
World War II days provided by were too much for the careful These magnificent Pacifies There were 20 of these 3ft 6in
its Dutch rulers with an excellent were instrumental then in re-
railway system There were such Dutch — mindful of their orderly ducing the time for this journey (1,067mm) gauge four-cylinder
things as 1 2-coupled freight loco- —native Holland to contemplate from 29 hours to 12 hours 20 compounds, built by Werkspoor
motives, colour light signalling, minutes. The overall average in Holland during 1917-21, run-
flying junctions and even Since Java is close to the speed of 4 1 5mph (66 4km/h) ning numbers 1001-20. During
suburban electrification around included 12 stops and there the Japanese regime of occupa-
Djakarta, then known as Batavia equator, sunset occurs there were also intermediate start-to- tion they were designated class
There were also the fastest nar- sensibly at the same time through- "C53" and numbered C5301-20
out the year, so the timetable was stop speeds up to 47 4mph Three survived in use during the
row gauge trains in the world — (75 8km/h) and maxima as high 1970s and one of these is re-
not too complex, but it did also as 75mph ( 120km/h) In contrast, served for the museum
and they were steam mean that trains between Batavia
This perhaps may seem a little and Surabaya, the island's princi- the present administration has Right: Indonesian Hallways'
inhibitions about running its "C53" class 4-6-2 in post-
strange, considering that Indones- pal cities, could not complete Colonial days.
ians are hardly concerned with their journeys of 512 miles diesels at these sort of speeds,
such handicaps to the enjoyment (820km) between dawn and dusk but none about running them at
of life as worrying over time. But unless they got a move on. For
many years an overnight stop on night So a more sedate 1 5-hour
there was a reason, in colonial
days it was not considered safe the way was —tolerated possibly

Class 231D 4-6-2 France:
State Railway (Etat), 1914

Axle load: 40,5001b ( 18 5t) those of the Pans-Orleans line
The principal difference lay in the
HPCylinders: (2) 16& x 251£in use of a round-top firebox instead

(420 x 650mm). of the Belpaire type, this enabled
adequate spectacles to be pro-
Cylinders: LP (2) 2514 x 25H;in vided in the front of the cab, the
top corners of which being
(640 x 650mm) heavily restricted by the tight
loading gauge of this particular
Driving wheels: 76!^in railway During the first war,
some locomotives were even
1 1 ,950mm) supplied by North British of
Glasgow, but after it was over the
Heating surface: 2,1 lOsq ft government adopted the design
as a French standard and ordered
(196m 2 ). 400 of them from French build-
ers. Of these 280 went to the Etat
Superheater: 861sq ft lines. In the end the Alsace-

(80m 2 ) —Lorraine Railway only recently
Steam pressure: 242psi back into the French fold — ended

rm 2 up with 100 of the remainder,
) although the Eastern, Northern
and Pans-Orleans railway com-
Grate area: 46sq ft (4.27m2 ). panies also had some for a time.

Fuel: : 3,5001b (6t). In 1928, the rather ramshackle

Water: 4,400gall (5,280 US) state system began to mend its

(20m 3 ). ways under the direction of Raoul
Dautry The administration took
Adhesive weight: 121,5001b the sensible course of rebuilding
on Chapelon principles no less
(55t). than 269 of their now enormous
fleet of 4-6-2s. All the engines got
Total weight: 300,0001b higher superheat, larger steam

(136t). Right: Ex- Western Railway of
France 4-6-2 No.231.D722
Length overall: 75ft 4)£in
(22,974mm)

The Western Railway of France
was for many years a by-word for
inefficiency and things did not
change very much for the better
when it was taken over by the
State in 1908 However, the one
thing the new administration did
which was sensible was to pro-
vide themselves, from 1914
onwards, with a stud of express

passenger Pacific locomotives
based on and very similar to

102

AfctftJtfe

passageways and double chim-
neys. Thirty only (Class "23 1G")
had the full treatment with oscilla-
ting-cam poppet valves on both
the high-pressure and the low-
pressure sides Then there were
134 (Class "23 ID") with poppet
valves on the LP side only, while
23 (Class "23 1 F") had Willoteaux
double piston valves also only on
the LP side. Finally, 85 (Class
"23 1H") made do with some
modest improvements to the
geometry of their valve gears
The results were excellent and
the engines were just as much at
home on fast expresses as on
22-coach wartime trains carrying,
say, 2,500 passengers, which
were noted as running at up to
62mph ( lOOkph) on level track

A vivid impression of what it

was like to drive and fire one of
these fine machines can be
gained from Jean Renoir's cinema

him La Bete Humaine. A plot

packed with blood and lust to an
extent unheard of for the 1930s
(it was based on Zola's 19th

century novel) quite failed to steal

the show from the chief star, an
Etat Class "23 ID" Pacific

No.231D596 is intended for
the National Railway Museum at
Mulhouse, while No 231G558 is
preserved also

103

Class Al 4-6-2 Great Britain:
Great Northern Railway (GNR), 1922

Tractive efiort: 29,3851b

Axle load: 45,000 (20 5t).
Cylinders: ( 3) 20 x 26in
(508 x 660mm)
Driving wheels: 80in

(2,032mm)
Heating surface: 2,930sq ft

Superheater: 525sq ft (49m 2)
Steam pressure: 180psi

Grate area: 4 1 25sq ft (3 8m 2 )

Fuel: 1 ,8001b (80
Water: OOOgallO .'00 US)

7m(22 3
).

Adhesive weight: ; 34,5001b

(6 It)

Total weight: 332,0001b

(1510
Length overall: 70ft 5in
(2,146mm)

The month of April 1922 was a Gresley recognised that simplicity for the large-ends of inside con- Above: Preserved ex-London
& North Eastern Railway class
milestone in the history of the was the steam locomotive's grea- necting rods to run hot seemed "A3" 4-6-2 Flying Scotsman
leaves York for the south with
railways of Great Britain for that test asset. At the same time he quite endemic— yet those of other an enthusiasts' special
was the month in which the first
realised the importance of having companies' never gave more when an elegant but smaller and
member of the first whole class of
perfect balance of the reciprocat- than occasional trouble There highly decorated 4-6-0 called
Pacific locomotive went into ser- Pendennis Castle from the rival
ing forces. The minimum number were also such unforgiveable Great Western Railway was tried
vice Few designs can match the
record of these engines and their of cylinders to aclneve this was things as lubricator pipes which, out on the LNER She did every-
derivatives Seventy-nine were to
be built between 1921 and 1934 three and, whilst this meant one if they broke, could only be thing the big Pacifies could do
and they were originally class- with easy mastery and burned
cylinder and set of motion be- replaced by lifting the boiler off 10 per cent less coal, as well as
designated with great appropri- creating a profound impression
tween the frames, Gresley adop- the frames. Another problem whilst doing it
ateness "Al"
ted a "derived" valve gear which was drifting steam obscuring the Why the "Castle" was so good
The Great Northern Railway was a bit of a puzzle to the LNER
4-6-2s were the work of a man meant that there was no more view of signals
called Nigel Gresley (later Sir men, but suspicion rested on the
Nigel Gresley) who became Loco- mechanism to crowd out the Certainly one cause of these detailed geometry of the Wal-
motive Superintendent of the schaert's valve gear. Some minor
limited space available there. shortcomings was that Gresley
GNR in 1911. Gresley was very alterations to the Pacific's valve
Gresley was also an artist and in 1923 became Chief Mechan-
much what would now be called ical Engineer of the London & gear were tried but the results
a "systems" engineer— by this his locomotives were aesthetically were inconclusive. After this,
one means that he was more a North Eastern Railway (LNER), rather than lose face by asking
—very pleasing and, as will be for a set of drawings, a cloak-and-
master of concepts than of detail. dagger operation was mounted
The concept represented by related, they went as well as they an amalgamation of the Great while another "Castle" was on
hand at Darlington after taking
these famous 4-6-2s was that, looked. He decked them out in a Northern, Great Eastern, North part in the Stockton & Darlington

overall, a "big engine" (that is, really attractive livery and gave Eastern, Great Central, North Below: Flying Scotsman as
one with ample capacity for the running before conversion from
job in hand) was the most econ- them evocative names, most being British and other smaller com- class "A 1 " to class "A3" but after
the attachment of a corridor
omical type This in spite of the taken from racehorses. They panies He removed himself to tender for long non-stop runs.

fact that it might cost more to rightly hold their place of honour London and became remote from
build. The first ten "A 1 "s cost an
in any locomotive hall of fame. locomotive development at Don-
average of £8,560 as against
In contrast, they were beset caster. Gresley has always been
£6,840 for the first ten Great
Awith bad details stiff "all-or- given the credit for certain chan-
Western Railway "Castle" 4-6-0s
The thinking behind the design nothing" throttle combined with ges to the Pacifies' valve gear
was also difficult to fault in that
the absence of any compensating made in 1926 which greatly

levers between the rear pony improved their coal consumption

truck and the driving wheels at small cost. It has only recently

made them liable to slipping their come to light that Gresley was

wheels at starting Rails needed not only not responsible for initia-

changing because of wheelburn ting the changes but furthermore

every few weeks at places where they were devised in the teeth of

Gresley 's 4-6-2s habitually started his opposition

heavy trains from rest 1 A tendency mThe situation arose 1925

104

Railway Centenary celebrations mph(l 12.5km/h). Coming back, Above: Flying Scotsman lower standards of maintenance
later the same year All the motion 108mph ( 174km/h) was touched wakes the echoes for a tram- emphasized their detail weak-
was secretly measured and at Essendme north of Peter-
borough, a speed believed to be had of admirers. The colour nesses.
through the enterprise of Bert still a world record for an un- change in the smoke from white After the war, during which
Spencer, Gresley's Technical As-
streamlined steam locomotive. to black indicates that a round Gresley had died, efforts were
sistant at Kings Cross, some new made to overcome these troubles
geometry was worked out and The streamlined version of the mof firing is progress Some success was achieved but
applied to No2555 Centenary Gresley Pacific came into service progress was somewhat ham-
The results were amazing — not to run this new high-speed train do so in an emergency. pered by the deaf ear which
This was the event that displaced World War II brought 24-coach the main works were liable to
the 10 per cent saving in coal turn towards suggestions from
which the "Castle" had achieved the non-streamlined 4-6-2s from trains to the East Coast main line the running sheds, however sen-
their prime position on the East and the "A3" as well as the few sible. The "A3"s appearance was
against the other Pacifies, but Coast main line, but they had no remaining "Al"s performances slightly changed when the smoke
problem in keeping time on the on these and on freight trains problem was effortlessly solved
twice as much streamliners when called upon to were a vindication of their bril- (after 25 years of fiddling with it)
After a preliminary penod of liance as a concept, although by the fitting of German pattern
smoke deflectors either side of
disbelief, Gresley took a ride on the smokebox but even in the
Centenary, expressed himself 1960s all were easily recognisable
converted and issued instructions
for all his Pacifies to be altered as as running mates of the original
they went through shops The "Al" class which first saw the
savings in coal amounted to light of day 40 years before
around 1J£ tons on a run from
Kings Cross to Newcastle and in The prototype itself had been
fact enabled runs of this length rebuilt into what was virtually a
to be worked without engine new design and one other had
change. About the same time, been withdrawn in 1959. Other-
boilers designed for a higher wise the class remained intact
working pressure of 225 psi until 1962, still on pnme express
( 1 5.75 kg/cm2 ) were introduced, passenger work, and performing
in some cases combined with a better than ever with the double
reduction of cylinder diameter chimneys which had been fitted
Engine weight rose by some six 1958-60 The last to go was
tons, axle load by two tons British Railways No.60041 Sal-
Locomotives fitted with these mon Trout in December 1965
boilers were designated class
"A3" instead of "Al" and some- In 1934 the running numbers
had been (in chronological order)
times as "Super-Pacifies". 4470-81, 2543-99, 2743-97,
The longest non-stop journey 2500-08. The second of two
post-war renumbenngs had left
m the world was run by these them as 102-1 12, 44-100, 35-43
(4470 no longer belonged to this
locomotives, over the 392% miles class). In 1948 British Railways
(632km) from London to Edin- had added 60,000 to the numbers
burgh each peacetime summer so that they became 60035 to
beginning in 1928 Special cor- 60112
ridor tenders were built and
Happily, a certain Alan Pegler
attached to certain selected loco- purchased the most famous loco-
motives to enable crews to be motive in the class (and perhaps
changed en route Pullman-type
vestibule connections and auto- in the world), the immortal Flying
Scotsman. After adventures which
matic 'buck-eye' couplings to have included purneymgs as far
as the west coast of Amenca, this
match those on standard LNER grand engine is stationed at the
Steamtown Museum, Carnforth,
corridor carnages were provided and performs with great regulanty
and panache on main-line steam-
at the rear of these tenders. hauled special trains on British

In 1935 No.2750 Papyrus made Railways lines.
a high-speed run from London

to Newcastle preparatory to the

introduction of the "Silver jubilee"

express with a 240 minute sched-
ule. The 268 miles (432km) were
run off in an amazing net time of
230 minutes, an average of 69 9

1

Super-Pacific 4-6-2 France:
Northern Railway (Nord), 1923

Axle load: -11.5001b (190
Cylinders, HP: !) 17.6x26in

Cylinders, LP: 2) 24.4 x 27.2in

Omm)

Driving wheels: 74 9in
mm)

Heating surface: 2,680sq ft

Superheater: 6 6sq ft (57m 2
)

Steam pressure: 227psi

Grate area: 37 5sq ft (3 5m 2)

Fuel:
Water: T.OOOgall (8,500 US)

(31 5m 3 )
Adhesive weight: 122,5001b

(56t)

Total weight: 353,0001b

(160t)

Length overall: 70ft lin
(21,350mm)

We have discussed how the 4-6-2s were de Glenn compounds provements in the steam circuits Above: A Nord "Super-Pacific"
and a group of 40 quite standard and a modest increase in the
Pacifies of the Pans-Orleans Rail- for the day, based on some steaming capacity of their boilers awaits departure from the
Gare du Nord at Pans. These
way were suddenly transformed locomotives built for the Alsace- made them into remarkable en-
by Andre Chapelon from run-of- Lorraine Railway in 1908, was gines, equally famous on both locomotives for many years ran
the-mill locomotives into the most delivered in 1912-13 The war sides of the English Channel for
their work on such legendary the boat trains such as the
remarkable 4-6-2s ever to run prevented any further develop- trains as the "Golden Arrow" "Golden Arrow" between Pans
Another French company, the ment until 1 923, when the first 40 and the "Calais-Mediterranean" and the Channel Ports.
Nord, used the same methods "Super- Pacifies" were delivered expresses. It says enough that
and came nearly as far, but in Hornby, the British toy train
easy stages. They began with from Blanc-Misseron of Lille Im- makers, chose a "Super-Pacific"

two strange-looking 4-6-4s built
in 191 1 —which perhaps showed
what not to do rather than what
should be done

All except two of the Nord

ClaSS P10 2-O-Z Royal Prussian Union Railway (KPEV), 1922

Tractive effort: 40,4001b reflected Prussian practice of the

(18,200kg) previous twenty years, one class

Axle load: 43,0001b ( 19 5t). had a particular influence on the
Cylinders: (3) 20.5 x 26.0m "P 10". This was the "G 1 2" three-
(520 x 660mm).
Driving wheels: 68 9in cylinder 2- 1 0-0, which had been

produced in 1917 to meet the

(1,750mm). urgent need for a powerful goods
engine for lines of medium axle
Heating surface: 2,348sq ft

(218 2m2 ) load For speed of design, the
"G 1 2" was based on a locomotive
mSuperheater: 883sq ft (82 2

).

Steam pressure: 200psi designed by Henschel for the

(14kg/cm 2 Ottoman Railway, and it intro-
)

Grate area: 43.8sq ft (4.07m2 duced some striking novelties
)

Fuel: 1 5,4301b (7.0t). for a Prussian design, particularly

Water: 6,930gall (8,320 US) bar frames and a Belpaire firebox

5m(31 3 having a trapezoidal-shaped grate

)

Adhesive weight: 167,0001b set above the driving wheels "

(77t) GThe novel features of the " 12

Total weight: 243,5001b were earned over to the "P10",

(110.5t) which also had three cylinders

Length overall: 75ft 5m With larger driving wheels there

(22,980mm). was insufficient clearance to pos-

ition the firebox above the dnving Above: Class "39" (ex-Prussian large German locomotives until
Union class "P10") 2-8-2
After World War I large numbers wheels, so the grate was con- No. 39.001. These powerful the introduction of a smaller
locomotives were one of a
of Prussian locomotives, particu- structed in three portions. The number of Prussian classes mpattern the 1 950s
larly "P8" 4-6-0s, were distributed adopted for the new system.
throughout Europe as repara- front one was parallel and fitted Under the German State the
tions, and in 1919, as part of a The denved motion for dnving "P10"s were classified as "39",
between the rear driving wheels, the inside valve from the outside and 260 of them were built
programme for making good valves, which had been used on between 1922 and 1927 They
the losses, design work began there was then a taper outwards, previous Prussian three-cylinder became popular throughout the
on a 2-8-2 locomotive, intended and the rear section was parallel engines, was abandoned in favour
particularly for secondary pas- at the greater width. Compared of three separate valve gears, but country, although their sphere of
senger traffic on the more hilly there was a novelty in that the operation was limited by their
with a normal wide firebox behind drive for the inside valve was
routes of the country Post-war taken from a second return crank high axle load. With a maximum
difficulties delayed work on the the driving wheels, the trapez- attached to the return crank of permissible speed of 68mph
( 1 lOkm/h) they were able to haul
new class, which was designated oidal grate brought the firebox the left-hand valve gear. any German express passenger
"P10" and although it was de-
further forward, and gave a better Another new feature were the train until the general increase of
signed as a Prussian engine, the large smoke deflectors, which
weight distribution, with more became standard practice for all speed in the 1930s Although
German State Railway had been
established by the time that the weight on the dnving wheels classified as secondary passenger
first one was completed in 1922 engines, they were true mixed-
by Borsig The resultant shape of the firebox
traffic engines, and they continued
Although much of the design walls, with double curves in both to share their time between pas-
senger and freight work until the
vertical and horizontal directions,

gave trouble with maintenance,

and no more Belpaire fireboxes

or trapezoidal grates were built
for the German railways.

106

El/Dl Class 4-4-0 Great Britain:
South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR), 919

plus some blue "Wagon-Lits"

cars as the basis for their first
train set which had any pre-

tensions to realism The "Super-
Pacifics" had no difficulty in run-
ning the 184 miles (296km) from

—Calais to Pans with 550 tons and

sometimes more— in 184 minutes.
This included the 1 in 250 (0.4

per cent) climb to Caffiers as well
as other long inclines, yet kept
within the legal speed limit of

75mph ( 120km/h). A handsome

brown livery ensured that these
magnificent engines looked as

well as they ran

More "Super-Pacifies" were
built in 1925 (10) and 1931 (40)
and these differed in detail, but
all 90 were regarded as inter-
changeable. A narrow firebox
lift 9in (3,580mm) long seemed
to present no problems to the
French chauffeurs and the boiler
provided ample steam for the

two high-pressure cylinders

Some of the early engines had

balanced slide-valves for the low-
pressure cylinders in place of

piston- valves Two others had
poppet valves and two more

were rebuilt as two-cylinder sim-
ples with Cossart valve gear.
One (No.3. 1 280) was streamlined
for a time and this locomotive can
be seen in the National Railway
Museum at Mulhouse The others
were all withdrawn by 1962

87

Castle Class 4-6-0 Great Britain:
Great Western Railway (GWR), 1923

Tractive effort: 3 1 ,6251b guides which transmitted the frames, but there was a problem Above: The Great Western
(14,182kg) piston force to the wheels would Railway honoured its builder
Axle load: 44,5001b (20.25t). only be half those in the two- Mwith R Deeley of the Midland
Cylinders: (4) 16 x26in cylinder machine. The disadvan- with this "Castle" class
tages, of course, were the extra Railway over patent rights
(406 x 660mm) costs involved in making nearly mlocomotive 1935 livery.
Driving wheels: 80!^in Two more French compounds
twice as much mechanism and had to be obtained before the 18J£ to 20 tons It had been
(2,045mm). also that the moving parts inside simple versus compound issue hoped that the Swindon No.
the frames would be difficult to was finally determined, but con- boiler, recently introduced for
Heating surface: 2,049sq ft the big "47xx" class mixed
reach. struction of "Star" locomotives traffic 2-8-0s, would suit but the
m(190 2 design incorporating it became
This was compounded in the proceeded to the quantity of too heavy In the end a new No.
) case of Churchward because, boiler was designed especially
having decided very sensibly to eleven in 1907 A batch of ten for the "Castle" class, with very
Superheater: 263sq ft use the same set of Walschaert's happy results indeed The rest of
called Knights followed in 1908, the locomotive was pure "Star"
m(24 4 2 valve gear for both the cylinders ten Kings (not to be confused with an extra inch on the diameter
on one side of the locomotive, he
) displayed a strange reluctance to with the "King" class of 1927) in of the cylinders, visually, the
expose this gear to the vulgar 1909 and ten Queens in 1910 slightly larger (but still exiguous)
Steam pressure: 225psi gaze Hence the mechanism be- and 1911 The year 1913 brought
tween the frames became very five Princes, 1914 fifteen Prin- cab with its side windows made
(15 8 kg. cm 2 complex indeed North Star her- cesses and finally there came
) self in fact had a peculiar "scis- twelve Abbeys in 1922-23. But all Below: "Castle" class 4-6-0 No.
sors" valve gear, whereby the 5094 Tretower Castle at speed
mGrate area: 30.3sq ft (2.81 2 drive on each side was taken were known generally by the with a Bristol to Paddmgton
). from the cylinder crosshead on class name of "Star" express. These superb
the other This slightly mitigated locomotives were the mainstay
Fuel: 1 3,5001b (6t). the complexity between the By now Churchward had re-
tired and his successor as Chief G WRof express services.
Water: 4,000gaU (4,800 US)
Mechanical Engineer, Charles
(18m 3 ). Collett ordered his staff to work

Adhesive weight: 133,5001b out the details of a "Star" enlarged

(60t) to take advantage of an increase
in the permitted axle load from
Total weight: 283,5001b

(129t)

Length overall: 65ft 2in
(19,863mm)

When Churchward of the GWR

produced his first "Saint" largely
based on rugged American prac-
tice, he also obtained from France
a four-cylinder de Glehn com-
pound, later named La France.
This elegant French lady was put
through her paces and compared

with the two-cylinder design
Whilst there was not sufficient
advantage to justify the compli-
cation of compounding, it did
seem that the easier running of
the compounds' sophisticated
mechanical layout was something
worth examining further. Hence
the building in 1906 of a four-

cylinder simple 4-4-2, with the

same "No. 1 " boiler as the "Saint"
class, to make direct comparison
between a two-cylinder and a
four-cylinder mechanism This
4-4-2 was No.40 (later 4-6-0
No 4000) North Star.

The advantages of four-

cylinders were, first, that the

reciprocating parts could in prin-
ciple be arranged to be perfectly
in balance, whereas the balancing
of a two-cylinder locomotive was
always a compromise. Second,

.." the various rods and

108

1

an impact on those who wor- true that carnages were slipped

shipped each separate Great at three points en route but on

Western rivet The first "Castle", the last stretch gradients of up to
No 4073 Caerphilly Castle ap-
1 in 37 (27 per cent) were

peared in August 1 923 numbered encountered.

consecutively after the last "Star" The last and 171st "Castle"

No 4072 Tresco Abbey. No.7037 Swindon appeared in
The second "Castle" No 4074
1 950, by which time a few of the

Caldicot Castle, was put through earliest had already been with-

a series of coal consumption drawn. The 171 included those

tests Afterwards Collett presen- fifteen which were converted

ted a paper to the World Power from "Star" and one (No. 1 1

Conference in which he an- Viscount Churchill) which had

nounced that the result was an originally been that odd-man-out
GWRamongst
overall figure of 2 831b of coal locomotives,

per drawbar-horsepower-hour Churchwards 4-6-2 77?e Great

This was received with a certain Bear. These older "Castles" were

scepticism by other locomotive the first to go

engineers who had been apt to During the years 1 957 to 1 960,
GWRsome time after the
give themselves a pat on the had

back if they got down anywhere the then infant (and hated) British Above: Preserved Castle class become part of British Railways
No. 7029 Clun Castle This
GWRnear 41b Certainly the was Railways locomotive is kept at the in 1948, a number of the "Castle"
Birmingham Railway Museum
then far ahead of its rivals, a This time the successive bat- and is used on mainline class were modernised with larger

ma)or factor was the design of ches kept to the same generic enthusiast specials. superheaters and double chim-

the valves and valve gear, which —name for the class fortunately spare— over the hardest sched- neys. The results were excellent,

enabled very short cut-offs to be the stormy past of Great Western ules the LNER or LMS had to but the dieselisation which im-
territory meant that there was
used, hence expansive use of offer, whereas those companies mediately followed prevented the
an adequate supply of fortified were unable to field a candidate
steam gave most of the advan- houses therein Even so, there which could do the same on the improvements having any bene-
were a few exceptions such as
tages of compounding without GWR. The "Castle" class handled ficial effect on train working.
the 1 5 converted "Star's (actually
the complications two Stars, one Knight, two Queens the "Cheltenham Flyer" which Withdrawal began in earnest
and ten Abbeys) and there was a for some years was the fastest
The tenth Castle" No 4082 train in the world with a 65 in 1962 and the last "Castle"
group named after noble Earls, minute schedule for the 77 J4
Windsor Castle, was new when the result of complaints from miles ( 1 24km) from Swindon to mceased running normal service
King George V and Queen Mary some aristocratic gentlemen that
their names had been given to Paddington Station, London A in July 1 965. But this was not to
visited the Swindon Factory in some rather small and old- be the end of their history, and it
fashioned engines In World War run with this train on 6 June 1932
1924, no doubt the name was II twelve were given names of with Tregenna Castle in 5634 is a measure of the esteem and
famous aircraft and three gentle- minutes, an average speed to
held back until then His Maiesty men by the names of Isambard start-to-stop of 8 1 7 3( 1 1 5km/h), affection in which they were held
Kingdom Brunei, Sir Daniel was also a world record for some
personally drove the engine from Gooch and G.J. Churchward time after it was accomplished that seven have been preserved
amonst others also were remem- The Science Museum had room
the station to the works and a The "Castle" class was capable
bered of handling heavy trains The for one only modern steam engine
brass plaque was added to the
At the time of its introduction famous "Cornish Riviera Limited"
cab side commemorating the the "Castle" class was the most to illustrate the best in British
fact No4082 earned this for powerful locomotive design in could load up to 1 5 of the GWR's
locomotive engineering and they
the country, although far from 70ft carriages on the by no
many years but not all her days being the largest Those sceptical means easy road from Padding- chose No 4073 Caerphilly Castle.
of this claim were convinced ton to Plymouth on a schedule
for by an unhappy chance she during exchange trials in 1925 This steam locomotive is also the
was under repair when King and 1926 during which a "Castle" which averaged 55 mph (88
was proved to have an econom- only modern one to appear on a
George V died in 1952 The km/h) for the 225 7 miles For
insignia of No 4082 were quickly ical mastery — with something to many years this was the longest British postage stamp
transferred to No 70 13 Bnstol non-stop run in the country It is
Three preserved "Castles" are

currently in working order. No

Castle, which assumed the identity 7029 Clun Castle at the Birming-

of this Royal engine for the ham Railway Museum, No 5051

funeral train It was perhaps a Drysllwyn Castle at the Great

tnfle naive of the authorities to Western Society's Didcot Steam

think they would not be found Centre, and, so far away and in

GWRout, but the row which such a remote part of Australia

fans raised in the national press— that its best address is latitude

the differences were easily spotted 20°45'S longitude 116°10'E, is

— was a major embarassment to No 4079 Pendenms Castle

109

Class 424 4-8-0

Tractive effort ve the

Axle load: ilay of one
Cylinders:
I itre to
Driving wheels:
harp curves
Heating surface: work

Superheater: pressi •yed on suburban
Steam pressure: to be
ii-and-
Grate area:
Fuel: them
Water
:
Adhesive weight: 129J 001b

Total weight: design was developed
Length overall from an unbuilt 2-8-0 of 1915,
without the Brotan boiler of that
i :cs volumes for the qualities predecessor, and 27 were built
x ellent locomotives
•:tinued to be built , by the State Works in
Budapest During the war years
: period of 32 years and a further 218 were built and
their period of service has now finally in 1955-6 there were
spanned 58 years. As so often, another 120 Numbers ran from
424,00 1 to 424,365, but not all of
iccess stems largely from these ran in Hungary at the same
; eing simple and rugged
machines in the Stephenson he design has been ex-
mould The most unusual feature
is the wheel arrangement, by I
reason of the leading bogie for
guidance plus the high proportion ported to Slovakia (during World
of adhesive weight to engine War II when Czechoslovakia was
partitioned), and to North Korea.
• 3-0 type (in North Some were taken over by the
:a known as "Mastodon") Jugoslav State Railways in 1945,
would seem to be well suited to and from the same date a few ran
heavy express trains, yet cases of in Russia for a time, pending
its use are rare in this instance return to Hungary
the high structure gauge of the
Right: Hungarian State Railways

class "424" 4-8-0 No .424. 075

on a local passenger tram

Z41A ClaSS 4-8-Z Eastern Railway (Est), 925

Axle load: • The de Glehn system of com- Railways, but after nationalisation on the Northern Railway One
pounding was capable of expan- of all the railways in France in test was to haul the Golden
Cylinders HP: 28K. :: 2 in sion not only to the 4-6-2 but also 1 938, they ]oined their 4 1 sisters Arrow express between Paris
to the 4-8-2. The first de Glehn on the Est lines and Calais made up with extra
(450 x 720mm) 4-8-2 entered service in 1925, carnages to 650 tons Both the
this was No.4 1 00 1 of the Eastern In the meantime, during 1933, Eastern and the PLM companies
Cylinders LP: (2) 26x2;- Railway of France, a line which some very severe trials were held
connected Pans with cities such supplied 4-8-2s while the Pans-
Driving wheels: '. as Chalons-sur-Marne, Nancy, Below: Two views of Eastern Orleans-Midi line sent one of
Belfort and Strasbourg The loco Railway of France class "24 1A" their famous rebuilt 4-6-2s The
Heating surface: 2,335sq ft was built at the company's works 4-8-2s. That on the left shows
at Epernay and, after a four year Eastern engines suffered damage
Superheater: 996sq ft (92.6m 2 ). period of testing and some modi- No.24 1A. 68 m French National to the frames and also showed a
Steam pressure: 228psi fication, 41 more were built as higher fuel consumption than the
the top express locomotive fleet Railways livery The other shows P-O 4-6-2 So far as the Eastern
4mGrate 2 of the line. Soon afterwards, a
area: 47 7s :i ft 4 further 49 were constructed for m24 1 -008 as running Est days.
).
1 the State (ex-V/estern Railway)

Adhesive weight: 165,0001b

Length overall: 8Gt:
(26,275mm).
(Tender details not ava

4300 Class 4-8-2

mi United States:

;; ;road(SP). 1923

was concerned, the result of An interesting feature was a Tractive effort: ,'.1001b Above: Southern Pacific
these very searching tests was Railroad "4300" class 4-8-2
that some rebuilt P-0 4-6-2s six-jet blast-pipe, the amount of (25,907kg) No.4330. The number "51",
were acquired and, moreover, carried near the smokestack is
the rebuilding of the 4-8-2s on draught produced by this could Axle load: 61,5001b (28t) the number of the tram which
Chapelon lines was put in hand Cylinders: (2) 28 x30in the locomotive is hauling.
with some success At a cost of be controlled from the cab This (71 1 x 762mm).
Driving wheels: tractive effort is essential, but
only 6 tons extra weight, the (1,867mm)
converted engines could pro- Heating surface: 4,552sq ft high power output only desir-
duce 3,700hp in the cylinders, a able These things were relevant
40 per cent increase. At the same was one further control to add to to the Southern Pacific Railroad,
time coal consumption fell by
some 1 5 per cent the two throttles, two reversing Superheater: l,162sqft for their trains leaving Sacrai

gears and the intercepting valve (108m2 ). for the east had the notorious
Steam pressure: 2 lOpsi climb over the Sierras to face,
of the de Glehn system! from near sea level to 6,885ft
(2,099m) in 80 miles ( 1 28km)
The prototype of the class, (14 8kg, cm 2
) So in 1923 SP went to the
American Locomotive Co. of
Nooriginally .41.001 but latterly Grate area: 75sq ft (7m 2 ) Schenectady for the first batch of
4-8-2 locomotives The design
No.241Al, superbly restored, is Fuel (oil): 4,000gall (4,700 US) was based on standard US prac-
tice, the one feature of note being
displayed in the National Railway (18m 3
) the cylindrical so-called Vander-
Museum at Mulhouse
Water: 13,300gall( 10,000 US) bilt tender A booster engine was

(60m 3 ) fitted, driving on the rear carrying
Adhesive weight: 246,0001b wheels, and this could give an
extra 10,0001b (4,537kg) of trac-
(112t) tive effort, provided the steam

Total weight: 61 1,0001b supply held out

(277 5t) SP impressed their personality
on the "4300"s by having them
Length overall: 97ft 9m oil-burning and by their trade
mark, the headlight mounted
(29,794mm). below centre on the silver-grey
front of the smoke box The 77
The 4-8-2 or "Mountain" type engines of the class were very
was appropriately named, its successful, all the later ones being
built in SP's own shops at Sacra-
origins are a nice illustration of mento. Some of the earlier batches
the difference between tractive had 8-wheel tenders of lower
effort and power. Locomotives capacity, instead of 12- wheel
with a high tractive effort are
often described as powerful, but ! ione of the class has been

this is misleading The 4-8-2 was preserved
developed from the 4-6-2 but,

the extra pair of drivers

meant that a higher tractive effort
could be exerted, the power

output — which depends on the
size of the fire — had to remain

limited because there was still
only one pair of wheels to carry

the firebox
For climbing mountains a high

111

Class 01 4-6-2 Germany: ,926

Tractive effort

Axle load:
Cylinders:

Driving wheels

Heating surface:

Superheater
Steam pressure: V8psi

Grate a:

was a reversion trom recent came into the stock of DB in West

Prussian practice, and. at a time Germany and 70 into the stock

when engineers in many countnes DR in East Germany Of these 55
were building boilers with a of the DB locomotives and 35 of
DRthe locomotives were rebuilt
forward extension of the firebox
(the so-called "combustion cham- The remaining locomotives on

ber"), Wagner made the front of DB received the post-war
his firebox almost straight, as he
smoke deflectors, in place of the
considered that the extra main-
tenance cost of the combustion full-depth deflectors Another
chamber was not justified It was
also unusual for a boiler of this alteration which affected the ap-
size to have a parallel barrel
pearance of many of the engines
The general appearance of the
engines owed much to Prussian was the removal of the sloping
practice, but with various parts
plates which connected the side
attached to the outside of the
running plates to the buffer beam
boiler for accessibility, there was
a distinct North American touch The unrebuilt engines on DR
Of the three apparent domes, the
first housed the feedwater inlet, retained their onginal appearance
the second was the sand box,
and the third housed the regu- The last of the DB engines was

lator Like the final Prussian de- withdrawn in 1973, but several
signs the engines had bar frames
DRof the engines were still at
The long gap between the trailing
coupled axle and the trailing work in 981 1 , after being returned
to regular service because of the
carrying axle resulted in the
carrying axle having a slightly shortage of oil With their rebuilt
greater axle load than any of the
sisters they were the last express
coupled axles
The detailed design of the steam engines at work in Europe
There was one other German
engines was undertaken by Bor-
sig of Berlin, and the first engines Pacific to be mentioned, which
were built by that firm and by
had an unusual history As part
AEG Slow progress with up-
of the experimental work on
grading lines for 20-tonne axle
high-speed steam trains, a stream-
loads inhibited the rapid con-
struction of "01"s, but by 1938 a lined three-cylinder 4-6-6 tank
total of 231 had been built, to
In the meantime, in 1930, a Above: This picture shows was built in 1939. Like the Class
which were added a further 10 one of the smaller German "05" 4-6-4 it had dnving wheels
by the rebuilding of the "02" slightly smaller version of the class "03"4-6-2s, No.032 180-2.
compounds Note the small post-war "Witte" 90 : inn (2,300mm) in diameter,
"01", designated "03", was intro- pattern smoke deflectors and, and was designed for a maximum
Experience with the first en- duced for lines still limited to an again, the computer check digit.
gines resulted in later engines 18-tonne axle load, and 298 of speed of 108mph (175k:-
these were built up to 1937 passenger trains made it neces-
having the cylinder diameter in- sary for them to have a maximum was used between Berlin and
creased from 25 6in (650mm) to Until 1937 the speed limit of speed of 93mph ( 1 50km/h), and
26 Oin (660mm) The boiler tubes most lines in Germany was Dresden This engine came into
were lengthened, with a cor- following experience with the
responding shortening of the 62mph ( 100km h), so it was not DR ownership, and in 1960
smokebox, and later still steel "05" 4-6-4 locomotives, the new
fireboxes were used in place of until the general raising of the parts of it, together with some
copper Improved braking and engines were given full stream-
larger bogie wheels were intro- maximum speed to 120km h m lining and three cylinders These parts of an experimental
engines were classed "01 10 "
duced as part of a programme 1937 that the "01" and "03" had and "03 10 ", and 55 of the former pressure 2-10-2 locomotive, were
for increasing the maximum full scope as express engines and 60 of the latter were built
speed of the class to 80 8mph However, by 1937 there were between 1939 and 1941, but for used to produce a high-speed
already 58 runs daily in Germany the war, the totals would have Pacific for testing new rolling
(130k:: booked at start-to-stop speeds of been 250 and 140 respectively
60mph (97km/h) or more, and Apart from two expenmental stock and making brake tests
the majority of these were worked Pacifies made in West Germany The all-welded boiler was iden-
by the "01 "or "03". in 1 957 these were the last new
steam express locomotives to be tical to that used in rebuilding the
When further express engines built in Germany
former Prussian Class "P10" loco-
were built from 1939 onwards, After the partition of Germany
motives, DR Class "39" The
the continued acceleration of 171 locomotives of class "01"
engine was partially enclosed in
Below: A German Federal
a streamlined casing of distinctive
Railways' class "01 "4-6-2, used
shape, with a shapely chimney
for handling the principal
The designed speed of the engine
msteam express trains Germany.
was lOOmph (160km/h), but it

was operated well above this

speed into the 1970s, being the

last steam engine in the world to

exceed the magic speed of 100

miles per hour

SKing
Arthur Class 4-6-0 n ay (srj, 1925
so"em

Tractive effort: 25,3201b

oAxle load: 0001b (20.50

Cylinders x 28in

1mm)

.

Driving wheels: 79in

nm)

Heating surface: 1 ,878sq ft

Superheater: 33 7sq ft (3 1 3m 2)
Steam pressure: 200psi

Grate area: 30sq ft (2 8m 2 )

Fuel: 1 1,0001b (5t)
Water: 5,000gall (6,000 US)

Adhesive weight: 134,5001b

Total weight: 310,5001b (14 It) No doubt the same applied to made Chief Mechanical Engineer Above: In British Hail days,
Length overall: 66ft 5in of the Southern Railway newly ex-Southern Railway "King
(20,244mm). King Arthur's knights themselves, Arthur" No. 30804 Sir Cador of
but in both cases this was no formed by amalgamating the Cornwall leaves Bromley, Kent,
These Knights of the Turntable detriment to— indeed it would with a London to Ramsgate
got their romantic names from enhance— the service they gave. London & South Western, Lon-
the Arthurian legends and this don, Brighton & South Coast tram.
veiled an extreme ordinariness In 1923 Richard Maunsell was and South Eastern & Chatham

SNelsonLord
Class 4-6-0 ri ay (sr>, 926
souSern

Tractive effort: 33,5001b smallest railway had the strongest main lines because of the better bringing coal forward in the

(15,196kg). locomotive, as well as a publicity balancing implicit in a multi- tender
cylinder locomotive The result
Axle load: 46,0001b (2 It) department which made the most was a magnificent but rather The "Lord Nelson's" one defect
of it. Lord Nelson was the proto- complex four-cylinder 4-6-0, with was that they were hard to fire.
Cylinders: (4) 16H> x 24in a Belpaire firebox and a large The even slope of a "King Arthur"
(419 x610mm). type of a class of 16 noble grate presented little difficulty,
grate. but the "Lord Nelson" one was
Driving wheels: 79m locomotives, named after great
seamen of bygone days. Of the An interesting feature of the not only larger (10ft 6m -3,200
(2,007mm). design was the setting of the
other locomotives, seven ap- mm instead of 9ft— 2,743mm)
Heating surface: 1 ,989sq ft peared in 1928 and eight in cranks successively at 135 de-
1929. Running numbers were grees to one another, instead of but had a level section at the rear
(18.5m 2 ). the more usual 90 degrees The In consequence, shovelfuls had
850 to 865. So when latter-day effect of this was to double the to be placed very accurately and
Superheater: 376sq ft (35m 2 ). number of puffs or beats from the front end had to fed with coal
explorers set off to travel to, say, four to eight for each revolution thrown all the way, instead of
Steam pressure: 220psi Moscow, Istanbul, Bombay, of the wheels; the object was to being placed further back to
Athens, Monte Carlo or even Le give a more even torque, which work itself forward. The whole
(15.5kg/cm 2 ). would be a help in avoiding picture was that of a locomotive
Touquet, up front at Victoria slipping the wheels at starting. that needed very skillful firing if it
mGrate area: 33sq ft (3. 1 2 Station was Sir Francis Drake or was to steam properly If that skill
perhaps Sir Walter Raleigh, to One adverse effect of the con- was present, the "Lord Nelson"
). speed them on their way. class ran superbly, if not, then
sequent smoothness of running time was lost in running and
Fuel: 1 1,0001b (5t) The "Lord Nelson" class was was that coal in the long bogie maybe the final disgrace for an
born out of a need for a more tenders failed to feed itself forward engine crew would occur— an
Water: 5,000gall (6,000 US) powerful locomotive than the
"King Arthur" class in order to — as it did when shaken by a out-of-course stop to raise steam.
(22.7m3). handle the heavy holiday ex-
rough and rugged "King Arthur", The problem was compounded
Adhesive weight: 139,0001b presses, a locomotive with a little so "Lord Nelson" firemen who by the fact that, with only 16 of
had shovelled all day had to the class in existence, many crews
(63t). more in hand to cover out-of- perform near the end of their unfortunately encountered a
course delays. The Southern Rail- stints the additional chore of
Total weight: 3 14,0001b way's Civil Engineer was per-
suaded to allow a 34-ton increase
(142.5t)
m axle load on certain principal
Length overall: 69ft 934in

(21,279mm).

When Southern Railway No.850
Lord Nelson was new in 1926,
she was pronounced the most

powerful locomotive in the coun-

try —on the slightly spunous basis
of tractive effort. So Bntain's

114

Railways. His own SECR loco- SECR More direct steam pas- (ex-LBSCR) section of the SR from Salisbury to Waterloo in
72% minutes an average speed
motive affairs were getting into sages and larger superheaters and had smaller 3,500 gallon start-to-stop of 69.2mph (111
good shape, but he understand- were used «nd the ashpan re- six-wheel tenders So there were km/h) with a load of 345 tons.
ably had doubts about the designed to improve combustion. now, all told, 74 of the "King
It is thus appropriate that the
foreigners The LSWR ran long- A young man called John Elliot, Arthur" class and they handled "King Arthur" allocated to the

distance expresses to the west in charge of Public Relations on most of the principal SR express National Railway Museum and
country and the front runners in
its fleet were twenty 4-6-0s called SR—the a post in which at that passenger assignments until currently being restored to run-
the "N15" class. Simplicity was Maunsell's first "Lord Nelson"
the theme of their design with time there was plenty of scope— ning order was this same No 777
suggested the names and in class arrived in 1927 The "King Arthur" class started
two big 22in x 28in (559 x
February 1925 No.453 Kmg The line on which Kmg Arthur to be withdrawn well before
7 1 1 mm) cylinders, outside valves steam locomotive preservation
and valve gear, and a parallel Arthurleb. the ex-LSWR works at and his knights rode most often became a mama, so none were
Eastleigh, to be followed in March and most nobly into battle was preserved privately. The saying
boiler with a round-top firebox the switchback road beyond Salis- "happy is the land that has no
by Queen Gumevere, Sir Lancelot
Since the LSWR did not have bury to Exeter. No 768 Sir Balm, history" applied to the class,
and eight other knights. Associ- since apart from playing general
water troughs, big bogie tenders ated names like Excahbur, Cam- travelling eastwards one day in post with types of tenders, their
were attached. They ran well but elot and Morgan le Fay were owners found the "King Arthur"
1934 was observed to regain 6
SECRby standards not brilliantly, given to the 20 older locomotives, minutes on a 96-minute schedule locomotives good enough to re-
which also had some of the new with 420 tons, 65 tons more than main virtually as they were built,
and Maunsell set about making the maximum laid down for the right to the end
some improvements to be incor- technical features applied to
timing. On this day the maximum Below: "King Arthur" class No.
porated in a further batch them.
speed reached was 86!£mph m772 Sir Percivale depicted
Cylinders on the new locomo- At the same time 30 more were (139km/h) at Axminster but
tives had valves and valve gear speeds of 90mph ( 1 45km/h) and the livery adopted by the
ordered from the North British over were not uncommon.
which gave events of the kind Locomotive Co. of Glasgow while mSouthern Railway 1 938, when
that had made the "El" class the following year a final 14 were Perhaps the most remarkable
4-4-0s such a success on the built at Eastleigh These latter a brighter green was substituted
run with one of these engines for the olive green of the 1 920s.
were intended for the Central occurred in 1936 when No.777

Sir Lanvel regained 71 'yk minutes

in covering the 83-M miles ( 1 34km)

"Lord Nelson" very infrequently Above: Afo. 850 Lord Nelson, as Coast Express", which earned schedule the test for a quiet
Eventually, in the late 1930s preserved and restored to through portions to six Devon Sunday because the train stret-
and Cornwall resorts, and loaded ched so far out of busy Waterloo
the problem was solved by im- Southern Railway colours, up to 16 coaches, was run on 10 Station that several other plat-
proving the air-flow through the April 1927 It was necessary to forms would be blocked Even
with an enthusiasts' steam so, normal schedule time was
firegrate by fitting a multiple-jet kept to Exeter, the 171% miles
blast pipe arrangement known mSpecial 1980. (275km) being run in 1 97 minutes,
as the Lemaitre Double chimneys including a four minute stop at
were tried at first on two of the Salisbury and a shorter one at
locomotives but did not find Sidmouth Junction There were
favour The tenders were altered also delays due to weekend
so that they were self-trimming,
even when attached behind a engineering works — the leopard
smooth-running "Lord Nelson"
and also, of course, as time went had plenty of spots even in those
on, expertise needed to make high and far off times. In the end,
these shy steamers go became though, so few "Lord Nelson's"
more widespread amongst the were built that it was not possible
to schedule these long trains on a
firemen In other respects the
regular basis
designers certainly knew their
business in that the complex and Lord Nelson has survived to
not too accessible mechanism be taken into the National Railway
with two sets of cylinders, motion Museum collection and is cur-
and the Walschaert's valve gear rently doing great things on
between the frames, gave little various special main line excur-
trouble and was not as costly to sions Once or twice, though, it
maintain as might have been has shown a trace of the old un-
expected forgiving spirit towards firemen
who thought they were the
A test with No 850 intended to
masters.
simulate an enlarged "Atlantic

115

1

Class XC 4-6-2 India:
Indian Railways Standard (IRS), 1927

Tractive effort: 30,6251b anticipation Alas, they were not
satisfactory, being poor steamers,
(13,895kg)
and bad riders to the point not of
Axle load: 43.5001b (19 750 discomfort but of danger The
Cylinders: (2) 23 x28in valve events were good on paper,
(584 x711mm) but for some reason gave sluggish
Driving wheels: 74in performance, while the engines
(1,880mm) were also prone to cracks in the
Heating surface: 2,429sq ft boiler and fractures of the motion
(226m2 ) and frames.
Superheater: 636sq ft
(59m2 ) Although none of the problems
Steam pressure: 180psi were fundamental, nothing was
(12 7kg/cm 2 ). done until in 1937 an "XB"
Grate area: 5 1 sq ft (4 75m 2 ) derailed at Bihta on the East
Fuel: 3 1,5001b (14 30. Indian Railway, this time with the
Water: 6,000gall (7,200 US) loss of many lives; this at last got
(27 25m 3 ) things moving After an investi-
Adhesive weight: 130,0001b gation had been made by en-
(59 50 gineers from France and Britain
Total weight: 392,5001b (1780 some of the quite modest modifi-
Length overall: 76ft 1 in cations required to put the faults
(23,203mm) nght were done If only the
inertia of bureaucracy had not
The story of the Indian Railways prevented these corrections being
Standard (IRS) 4-6-2 locomotives made earlier before 284 loco-
has not been a happy one After motives had been built and 1
World War I, a desire to make years had elapsed since con-
use of cheaper coal of lower struction began'
quality than that used formerly
When British India was par-
led to a specification for loco-
motives for India provided with titioned in 1947, about 60 "IRS"
4-6-2s went to East and West
wide fireboxes The passenger Pakistan, leaving 76 "XA"s, 81
engines were the "XA", "XB", "XB"s and 50 "XC"s in India
and "XC" classes, i.e. light, proper In 1957 they were re-
medium and heavy 4-6-2s They numbered in the all India list
had maximum axle loads of 1 3, Indian Railways' ("XA" 2200 1 -76,
17 and 19^ tons respectively "XB" 22101-81; "XC" 22201-50)
British practice was followed, although by then occupied on
most were built by the Vulcan rather menial passenger duties, a
Foundry of Newton-le-Willows,
Lancashire few (a very few) survived into the
1980s, the last being withdrawn
With ample evidence to hand
in 1981.
of the first-class qualities of the
Right: Indian Railways class
"BESA" 4-6-0s previously de- "XB" 4-6-2 No.22 104.

scribed, the arrival of the first of This was the medium size ol the
these locomotives from Britain three IBS Racihc designs.

was awaited with pleasurable

Class S 4-6-2 Australia:
Victorian Government Railways (VGR), 1928

Tractive effort: 41,1 001b

(18,643kg)

Axle load: 53,0001b (24t).
Cylinders: (3) 20^ x28in
(521x711mm).

Driving wheels: 73in

(1,854mm).

Heating surface: 3,121sq ft

(290m 2 )
Superheater: 631sq ft (59m2).

Steam pressure: 200psi

( 14kg/cm 2 )

Grate area: 50sq ft (4 7m 2
)

Fuel: 18,5001bs(8 5t)

Water: 13,000gall( 15,500 US)

(59m3 ).
Adhesive weight: 158,0001b

(72t)

Total weight: 497,5001b (226t).
Length overall: 85ft 6in
(26,060mm)

These big 4-6-2s were built by They were one of the very few Australian engines had a defi- Above: Victorian Government
the Victonan Railways in 1928 classes of steam locomotives in Railways "S" class 4-6-2 No.
for the principal trains between Australia to have three cylinders. nite resemblence to the LNER S300 before streamlining.
The valves of the outside cylinders
Melbourne and the New South were actuated by Walschaert's 4-6-2s. Out of sight, however, mainly level miles (307km) from
were a set of totally un-Bntish Melbourne to Albury to be run
Wales border at Albury, on the valve gear, while the inside valve non-stop in 220 minutes, an
way to Sydney. Their heavy axle cast-steel bar frames. Streamline
load precluded running else- was driven via a set of Holcroft- shrouds were added in 1 937; in average speed of 52mph (83
Gresley two-to-one denved gear, km/h) Fairly modest as this
where on the VGR and the four as used on the British London & combination with a blue livery
North Eastern Railway. Indeed, the addition matched a set of might seem, diesel traction today
constructed were adequate for with their round-topped boilers has only meant 8 minutes less
the needs of the one line on and double side-windows, the new all-steel coaches for the
which they were permitted to "Spirit of Progress" express. The journey time. Names of people

work. big 12-wheel tenders dated from
this time and enabled the 192

116

Class Hv2 4-6-0

Finland:
State Railways (VR), 1922

Tractive effort: 20,3731b Above: Finnish State Railways
"Hv" class 4-6-0 No. 758 at
(9,244kg). Oulu, Finland. Note spark-
arrestmg smoke-stack.
Axle load: 29,0001b (13t).
Cylinders: (2) 20»4 x 23^in letter "H" The second letter is an
(510 x600mm) indication of the axle-load and it
Driving wheels: 68%in
is indicative of Finnish conditions
Heating surface: 1 , 1 85sq ft that "v" stands for an axle load

Superheater: 333sq ft (31m2). between 1 1 and 1 4 tons and,
moreover, that it is not the lowest
Steam pressure: 1 7 1 psi classification Some lines of this
5ft (1,524mm) gauge system
(12kg/cm2 ) needed more light-footed loco-
Grate area: 20 2sq ft (2m 2 ) motives than that!

Fuel: 11,0001b (50- Interesting features of these

Water: 3,150gall(3,780 US) engines included by-pass valves

—J. - 3 — visible as a bump on the side of

Adhesive weight: 85,0001b each cylinder— as an elegant
way of avoiding pumping action
Total weight: 1 92,0001b (87t) when coasting The class held on
Length overall: 51ft lO&in to cylinder tail-rods long after
they ceased to be fashionable
15,814mm)
elsewhere A neat air-operated
(
bell was earned in front of the
Finland's steam locomotives were cab and Stephensonian simplicity
very tall, very handsome, very was not earned so far that the
distinctive and very few Many blessings of electnc light were
were fired by birch logs and not available on board. The "Hv3"
sported spark-arresting smoke
stacks in the best traditions of an class differed only in that they
American Western film Many
were also built at home had bogie tenders of higher
water capacity instead of six-
These 4-b-0s of classes "Hv2" wheel
and "Hv3" were built in the
1920s and 1930s. Until 4-6-2s The first native-built "Hv2"s
arrived in 1937 they were the appeared in 1 922 from Lokomo
principal express passenger en- of Tampere but a preliminary
gines, as indicated by their class batch of 15 had been supplied
by Schwartzkopff of Germany
Below: Finnish State Railways three years earlier. One (No 680
class "Hv3" 4-6-0 No. 782 supplied by Lokomo in 1940) is
heads a local train. Note the preserved in the Helsinki Tech-
spark arrester formed of wire nical Museum.
mesh at the top of the chimney.

important in the history of Victona Above: "S" class 4-6-2 No.
were given later to these engines, S302 Edward Henty /leads the
air-conditioned 'Spirit of
which then became S300 Mat- Progress" on the Melbourne-
thew Flinders, S301 Sir Thomas Albury run.
Mitchell, S302 Edward Henty
and S303 C.J. Latrobe. They of Progress" train in 1 952; all had
were early victims of diesehsabon, been withdrawn by 1954

being displaced from the "Spirit

Royal SCOt ClaSS 4-6-0 London Midland* Scottish (LMS). 1927

Tractive effort: 33, 1 501b

(15,037kg)

Axle load: 46,0001b (2 It).

Cylinders: (3) 18 x 26m

(457 x 660mm)

Driving wheels: 8 1 in

(2,057mm)

Heating surface: 1 ,85 Isq ft

(172m2 )

Superheater: 367sq ft (34 lm2
. ).

Steam pressure: 250psi

Grate area: 3 1 25sq ft (2,90m 2 ).
Fuel: 20,0001b (9t)
Water: 4,000gall (4,800 US)
(18m 3 ).
Adhesive weight: 137,0001b

(62t)

Total weight: 312,5001b

(142t)

Length overall: 64ft 1 lin
(19,787mm)

The "Royal Scot's were another

notable class of locomotive that

managed more than thirty years
on top express work, although a
rebuilding which left little of the

originals intact halfway through
their lives perhaps detracts a little
from this achievement In the

mid- 1920s the then rather new
LMS Railway had to face the fact
that there was no locomotive

capable singly of hauling the

principal train, the 10a.m. Scottish

Express from London to Edin-
burgh and Glasgow, shortly to
be known as the "Royal Scot"
An ex-LNWR 4-6-0 and 4-4-0
combination would take the train
from Euston to Carnforth, while
two Midland 4-4-0s would take it
on over the hills from there

A Great Western "Castle" class

4-6-0 was borrowed and demon-
strated very effectively in October
1926 that better things were

LMSpossible. It is said that the
made enquiry for 25 "Castles" to
be built for the summer service of

1927 but, more practically, the

biggest locomotive factory in
Britain was given a design-and-

build contract for 50 large 4-6-0
express locomotives The contract

118

partment in the complex steam decade of hard steaming now The first rebuilt "Royal Scot" Although these trials were
began to be felt and in the normal (No 6103 Royal Scots Fusilier) mounted with great attention to
generating system. course of things new boilers appeared in unlined black livery detail by the mechanical side of
would be needed, plus other in 1942, while the last did not the railway, there is much evidence
The locomotive was No 6399 come out until 1955 One altera-
repairs so extensive that the in the voluminous report issued
and named Fury. Steam at 325 costs would approach that of tion, fairly insignificant as far as afterwards that the results were
renewal The decision was taken the locomotives were concerned
Cdegrees is very nasty stuff to rebuild all the class with invalidated by lack of co-operation
but significant to their public, on the part of the operating
indeed, and when a fire tube taper-barrel boilers of a new was the change from the high- authorities and the staff. For
pitched Midland Railway whistle example, comparative coal-
burst while Fury was on test at pattern, thereby bringing the consumption figures based on a
to a low-pitched hooter of Cale- run from Carlisle to Euston of the
Carstairs in February 1 930, one "Royal Scot" class into line with donian Railway origin, which in "Royal Scot" express which in-
all Stanier's designs. The rebuild- cluded 27 signal checks and
man was killed and another Stanier's time was fitted to new stops could be of little use Such
ing included new cylinders, in LMS locomotives things happened on many of the
seriously injured. After this ac- many cases new frames and test runs due to thoughtless
even new wheel centres only the The rebuilding was a great
cident the locomotive was laid tenders, cabs and nameplates success The new engines stood controllers allowing a slower train
remained up to all the abuse of high speed
aside running, heavy loads and wartime to occupy the line in front
Above: No.6129 The Scottish
In 1933 the LMS sent a "Royal neglect better than the originals, One thing that did emerge,
Scot" locomotive — which chan- Horse shown in the LMS post- and then after the war covered however, was that the "Royal
themselves with glory. In the
ged names with Royal Scot for war livery locomotive tnals which took place Scot" 4-6-0s could handle any
Below: No.46103 Royal Scots express train in Bntain with some-
the occasion — to North America, in 1 948, shortly after the national- thing to spare, more economically
mFusilier British Bail colours isation of the main line railways and )ust as ably as the bigger and
complete with rolling stock, for more costly 4-6-2s of nominally
sets out with the "Thames-Clyde "Royal Scot" representatives per-
exhibition at the Chicago World Express". Note the horse box formed particularly well. much greater power. This sur-
coupled next to the tender. pnsed many observers, but it is
Fair The train was also exhibited perhaps an indication of the
at many places, including Mon- point that these tnals were never
intended to be taken seriously,
treal, Denver, San Francisco and and that the one valid conclusion
that could be drawn from them,
Vancouver, on an 11 ,000-mile that 4-6-2s could do no more
when fired by hand than 4-6-0s,
(17,700km) tour which followed.
By this time a new locomotive was totally ignored
The 70 "Royal Scots" disap-
chief had arrived on the LMS
peared in a very short time once
scene William Stanier came from dieselisation was undertaken. The

the Great Western Railway, the first withdrawal was BR No.46139
(ex-LMS No 6 139), The Welch
reputation of which line as the Regiment in October 1 962 The

leader in British locomotive prac- last ceased work in January 1966,

tice was then at its zenith Four when BR No 461 15 Scots
Guardsman was set aside for
things that he did directly affected preservation A Mr Bill acquired

the "Royal Scot" class First, he her and she is at present on show
at the steam centre at Dinting,
finally eliminated axlebox troubles near Manchester, No 61 15 had
been out on the main line on
by initiating a new design of vanous occasions including the
GWRbeanng based on Rocket 1 50 Cavalcade at Rainhill
practice, in May 1980 No 6 100 Royal
Scot is also preserved, and can
which reduced the incidence of be seen at Alan Bloom's steam
centre at Bressingham
"Royal Scot" hot boxes from
119
some 80 to seven annually. Sec-

ond, he had all the class fitted
with new and larger tenders with

high curved sidesheets, as used

on the other types of locomotive

being introduced on the LMS

Third, he took the carcase of
Fury and rebuilt it into a new

locomotive called British Legion.

The rebuild differed from the

others in having a taper-barrel

boiler, thereby foreshadowing

the shape of things to come The

fourth item was the advent of the

Stanier 4-6-2s, which had the

effect of displacing the "Royal

Scot" class from the very highest

assignments

The effects of well over a

United States:

Class A 4-8-4 Northern Pacific Railroad (NP), 1926

Northern

=L iff If i-'-^i Iff^i i2:^iA? r

-2i
i^j^y^u^yy^ypXLS

Tractive effort: 6 1 ,6001b Northern was adopted The they never ordered another pas- with some success as a salesman
Canadian National Railway, senger locomotive with any other
(27,950kg) whose first 4-8-4 appeared in wheel arrangement, and indeed The NP was particularly
1 927 made an unsuccessful play
Axle load: 65,0001b for the name Confederation contented themselves with order- impressed— not only did they
Delaware, Lackawanna & West- ing modestly stretched and buy the engine in 1933 when its
(29 50. ern put forward Pocono for their modernised versions of the sales campaign was over but
Cylinders (2) 28 x 30in version. Other early members of they also included Timken bear-
the 4-8-4 Club— eventually to be originals— sub-classes "A-2", ings in the specification when
(711 x 762mm) over 40 strong in North America further orders for locomotives
Driving wheels: 73m —"A-3", "A-4" and "A-5" right up
alone — were the Atchison, were placed. On NP No 1111
Imm) Topeka & Sante Fe and South to their last order for steam in
Heating surface: 4,660sq ft was renumbered 2626 and de-
(433m2 ) Australia, the first foreign 1943.
Superheater: l,992sqfl signated "A-l".
(185m 2 ) member The originals were twelve in Baldwin of Philadelphia deliver-
Steam pressure: 225psi The genesis of the 4-8-4 lay in number and came from the
(15.8kg ed the rest of the Northern fleet
Grate area: 1 15sq ft (107m2). the inbalance between possible American Locomotive Co of The ten "A-2"s of 1934 (Nos
Fuel: 48,0001b (220 tractive effort and grate area of 2650-59) had disc drivers and
Water: 1 2,500gall ( 1 5,000 US) its predecessor the 4-8-2. The Schenectady Apart from those bath-tub tenders, and the eight
(58m 3 Northern Pacific Railroad had a enormous grates they were very "A-3"s of 1938 (Nos 2660-67)
were almost identical The final
) special problem in that its local much the standard US loco- two batches of eight and ten
respectively were also very
Adhesive weight: 260,0001b coal supplies — known rather motive of the day, with the rugged similar, these were the "A-4"s of
oddly as Rosebud coal — had a 1941 (Nos. 2670-77) and the
(1180 features evolved after nearly a "A-5"s of 1943 (Nos 2680-89)
Total weight: 739,0001b specially high ash content, hence These last two groups may be
(3350 the need for a big firebox and a century of locomotive building distinguished by their 14- wheel
Overall length: 105ft 4&in Centipede or 4-10-0 tenders of
(32,125mm) four-wheel instead of a two-wheel on a vast scale A booster fitted to the type originally supplied for
Union Pacific
The King of wheel arrangements truck at the rear. the trailing truck gave a further
at last 1 It needed 96 years for the Below: Northern Pacific
0-2-2 to become a 4-8-4, because And when we say a big firebox, 11,4001b (5,172kg) of tractive Railroad class "A-4" 4-8-4 No.
all at once in 1927 4-8-4s quickly we mean a really big one— 2670 was built by Baldwins of
appeared on several railroads. measunng 13H> x 8^ft (4 x effort when required at low
But by a photo-finish the Northern 2j^m)— exceeding that of any mPhiladelphia 1941.
Pacific's class "A" 4-8-4 was the speeds
first and hence the type-name other line's 4-8-4s. Northern The next 4-8-4 to operate on

Pacific themselves found their NP was another Alco product,

first Northerns so satisfactory built in 1930 to the order of the

Timken Roller Bearing Co to

demonstrate the advantages of
having roller bearings on the
axles of a steam locomotive This

"Four Aces" (No. 1111) loco-
motive worked on many railroads

Above: Northern Pacific
Railroad class "A-5" 4-8-4 No.

m2680 built by Baldwin 1 943.

Note the "centipede" fourteen-
wheel tender.

This final batch is the subject of
the art-work above The amount

of stretching that was done may
be judged from the following

particulars

Tractive effort: 69,8001b
(31,660kg)
Axle load: 74,0001b (33.5t)
Driving wheels: 77in
( 1 ,956mm)
Steam pressure: 260psi
(18 3kg/cm )
Fuel: 54,0001b (24 5t)
Water: 21,000gall (25,000 US)
(95m 3 )
Adhesive weight: 295,0001b

(134t)
Total weight: 952,0001b (432t)

Overall length: 112ft 10m
(34,391mm)

Other particulars are sensibly
the same as the "A" class.

Northern Pacific had begun
well by receiving a charter from
President Abraham Lincoln in
1864 to build the first trans-
continental line to serve the wide

north-western territories of the

USA. Through communication
with the Pacific coast was estab-
lished in 1883 By the time the
4-8-4s began to arrive it had
established itself under the slogan
"Main Street of the North West",
and connected the twin cities of
St Paul and Minneapolis with
both Seattle and Portland

The flag train on this run was
the North Coast Limited, and the
4-8-4s assigned to it, after taking
over from Chicago Burlington &
Qumcy Railroad power at St
Paul, ran the 999 miles to Living-
ston, Montana, without change
of engine This is believed to be a
world record as regards through
engine runs with coal-fired loco-
motives No doubt it was made
possible by using normal coal in
a firebox whose ash capacity
was designed for the massive
residues of Rosebud lignite

Right: Front end of Northern
Pacific Railroad 4-8-4 No.2650.
Note the bell and headlight
typical of US railroad practice.

ClaSS 4-^0-^0mm
mmrm.m 0% United States:
mTS mik
Southern Railway (SR). 1926

Tractive effort: 47.5001b illustrate them the first choice
was the earliest proper 4-6-2, of
Axle load: 6 1 ,0001b (27.25t) the Chesapeake & Ohio Second
Cylinders: (2) 27 x 28in
choice was the Pennsylvania RR
Driving wheels: 73in
mm) class "K4", as the 4-6-2 design
built in the largest numbers This
Heating surface: 3,689sq ft
locomotive, our third choice, is
Superheater: 993sq ft (92 3m 2) without any doubt the most
Steam pressure: 200psi beautiful amongst the Pacifies of

(14 lkg America.
Grata ar»a:70.5sq ft (6.55m8). The history of the Southern
Fuel: 32.0001b I I ;
Water: 600gall (14,000 US) Railway's Pacifies began in World
War I, when the United States
II Railroad Administration, which

(53m 3 ) had taken over the railroads for
Adhesive weight: 182,0001b the duration, set out to design a

(8 It) standard set of steam locomotives

Total weight: 562,0001b to cover all types of traffic One of
(255 Ot) these was the so-called USRA
Length overall: 9 1 ft 11 %in "heavy" 4-6-2. Based on this
(28,038mm)
design, the American Locomotive
Hundreds of classes of Pacific
locomotives ran in Amenca, to Company built the first batch of

36 Class "Ps-4" 4-6-2s in 1923
In 1925 President (of Southern

Railway) Fairfax Harrison, visited

King Class 4-6-0 Great Britain:
Great Western Railway (GWR), 1927

Tractive effort: 40,3001b official body known as the Bridge ones— this rather striking feature east of Plymouth A "King" was
Stress Committee, then recently was very much a trademark of
(18,285kg) published, had recommended the newly named "King" class. rated to take 360 tons unaided
that for locomotives which had up here, 45 tons more than a
Axle load: 50,5001b (23t). low "hammer-blow" higher axle Some slight subterfuges were
loads could be allowed All of this "Castle"
Cylinders: (4) 1614 x 28in added up to making it practical indulged in so as to bring the
tractive effort above 40,0001b The prototype, No 6000 King
(413x711mm) to build a f our-cylinder 4-6-0 with Cylinders designed to be 16in George V which appeared from
a 22 H> ton axle load, just as the (406mm) diameter were bored
Driving wheels: 78in "Castle" class had been a stret- the works in June 1927, was sent
out to 16!4 (413) whilst the
(1,981mm) ched "Star" class so the new off to the USA when only a few
locomotives were to be a stret- driving wheel diameter was re-
Heating surface: 2,20 lsq ft ched "Castle". weeks old, to appear at the
GWRduced from the hallowed Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's cen-
(204m2 ) In enlarging the "Castle" class, tenary "Fair of the Iron Horse"
the original principles were fol- standard of 6ft 8^in (2,045mm)
Superheater: 3 1 3sq ft (290m2). to. 6ft 6in (1,981mm). With the held at Baltimore in August.
Steam pressure: 250psi lowed exactly. The domeless
increased boiler pressure the No 6000 led the parade each
(17 6kg/cm2 taper-barrel boiler, with Belpaire required target was reached and day and attracted much attention
)
firebox was there, and so was the the GWR's capable publicity with the famous green livery
Grate area: 34.3sq ft (3 19m2 ). four-cylinder arrangement with lined out with black and orange,
department could once again and with brasswork, name and
Fuel: 1 3,5001b (6t) the insde cylinders driving the copper-capped chimney It must
leading coupled axle. Wal- claim the possession of Britain's be remembered that American
Water: 4,000gall (4,800 US) locomotives of the day were
schaert's valve gear, also inside most powerful express passenger much bigger but relatively drab.
(18m 3) the frames, drove the valves of locomotive. Tractive effort is no
Adhesive weight: 151,0001b the inside cylinders driving the measure of locomotive capability Later, a train was worked
at speed but in the "King" class it between Baltimore and Philadel-
(69t). those of the outside ones through was backed up by adequate
rocking shafts Problems with steam-raising power, lnlcudmg a phia, with 544 tons (representing
Total weight: 304,0001b (138t). clearances at the front end of the firebed 10ft 9in (3,277mm) long. only seven Amencan cars instead
locomotive led to a unique design of 1 6 British ones) a speed of 74
Length overall: 68ft 2m of bogie with outside bearings to But even without that, a high
the leading wheels and normal drawbar pull was an advantage mph ( 1 19km/h) was reached on
(20,777mm). inside bearings to the trailing on those steep South Devon mlevel track and a gradient of 1
inclines, of which the most notori-
In 1926, the Great Western Rail- ous was the long stretch of 1 in 80 (1.25 per cent) was sur-
way decided that more powerful 42 (2.4 per cent) at Hemerdon, mounted satisfactorily during the
locomotives were needed— the 272 miles (438km) return jour-
"Castle" class 4-6-0s were stret-
ched to their limits on some
duties. At the same time a 20
year programme of strengthening
bridges was neanng completion;

furthermore, the report of an

122

his line's namesake in England 8-wheel tenders on the earlier ways, ways in fact that were The CNO&TP engines had a
and was impressed with its green engines, and a different and similar to those of 70 years
engines He determined that his much more obvious type (the earlier Eagles could be mounted device known as a Wimble smoke
next batch of 4-6-2s would make Elesco) of feed water heater above the headlights, themselves duct, by which the exhaust which
an equal if not better showing involving the large transverse otherwise would issue from the
He naturally chose a style very flanked by brass "candlesticks", chimney could be led backwards
cylindrical vessel just in front of stars were fixed to cylinder heads, to level with the sand dome and
similar to the English SR except brass rings to smokestacks. Some
that a much brighter green was the smokestack. Some locomo- locomotives were named after discharged there The CNO&TP
used together with gold — the tives from each batch had the
Walschaert's gear, others had Aand by their regular drivers lot was a line with many timber-lined
small extra cost paid off quickly Baker's A final batch of 5 came tunnels and a direct close-up
from Baldwin in 1 928. These had of this might be considered mere vertical blast would have played
in publicity Coloured locomotives Walschaert's valve gear and 8- nonsense, but the end effect was havoc with the tunnel linings.
were then quite exceptional in that few steam engines anywhere
wheel tenders of large capacity. The "Ps-4" class was the last
ANorth America little later the All were fitted with mechanical were better maintained. steam passenger locomotive type
Of the 64 locomotives built, 44 built for the Southern and they
earlier batch of locomotives ap- stokers.
peared in green and gold also. were allocated to the Southern mremained top-line express work
Southern had what it called an
The 1926 batch of 23 loco- "optional equipment policy" Railway proper, 1 2 to subsidiary until displaced by diesels in the
motives had the enormous 12- whereby drivers were allowed to
wheel tenders illustrated here, in adorn their locomotives in vanous Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas 1940s and 1950s No 1401 is

place of the USRA standard Below: The glorious green and Pacific and 8 to the Alabama preserved and is superbly dis-
gold beauty of the livery applied played in the Smithsonian Mu-
Left: One of the Southern to the Southern Railway (of USA) Great Southern, although "South-
Railway's superb "Ps-4" 4-6-2s "Ps-4 " class Pacific is superbly ern" appeared on the tenders of DCseum, Washington,
all Running numbers were as
m action. This particular loco depicted below. Alas, this involved erecting the
mis the one preserved the follows:
display building around the loco-
Smithsonian Museum. SR proper - Nox 1 366 to 1 409
CNO&TP- Nos.6471 to 6482 motive, thereby preventing its
AGS -Nos 6684 to 6691 use on special trains for raiHans,

a Southern speciality

ney King George V came back ^* As an illustration of the potential Left -.Great Western Railway
that was available and after some "King" class No.6010 King
with medals, a large bell (still maybe 30 per cent greater than Charles I passing Corsham at
the 3,0001b (1,360kg) or so per modifications to increase the
earned) and much honour. hour a man could be expected to superheater heating surface by speed on Brunei's original mam
Five more "King" class ap- shovel. Even so, no attempt was 56 per cent and also to improve
made to fit mechanical stokers. line between Bath and Bristol
peared dunng 1927, then 14
during 1928 and the last ten in the draughting, tests were made
1930 As a result of early experi- using two firemen An enormous
25-coach load was hauled be-
ence, including the derailment of tween Reading and Stoke Gifford
a pair of leading wheels at near Bnstol at an average speed
of over 58 mph (93km/h). Later,
Midgham near Newbury, modifi- further improvements were made
cations were made to the spring-
ing and other details affecting the which involved the fitting of
riding Once these things were double chimneys. It was with the
first locomotive so equipped,
corrected the "King" class per-
formed in accordance with ex- No 60 1 5 King Richard 111 that the
pectation and seven minutes were
cut from the schedule of the highest ever speed with a "King"
Cornish Riviera Limited between class was recorded, 106
(175km/h) near Patney with the
London and Plymouth, the new 4 down Cornish Riviera Limited
hour timing being attained with on 29 September 1955 All the
"King" class had double chim-
heavier loads neys by the end of 1958

One thing that seems to have Time, however, was running
been ignored was the fact that out for the "King" class Their
end began early in 1962 when
the capacity of the locomotive N06OO6 King George I was
was increased but not that of the withdrawn It was complete early
in 1963, when the last was taken
human link in its power cycle,
that is the fireman who shovelled out of service
the coal The "King" class boiler
certainly had the potential of
steaming at rates which corres-
ponded to coal consumption

123

ClaSS 3d 4-6-4J New'York Central Railroad (NYC), 1926

Tractive effort: 4 1 8601b some years later. Subsequent under a large firebox At the Above: "Jl" 4-6-4 No.5280
hauling the Empire State
(19,000kg) designs of 4-6-4s took over the front the air compressors and
Axleload: 67,5001b (30 5t) Express at Dunkirk, New
type-name Hudson applied to boiler feed pump were housed
Cylinders: (2) 22^ x 29in York State, in February 1950.
(572 x 737mm) these engines by the NYC under distinctive curved casings
Driving wheels: 79in "Jle". Amongst detail changes
(2,007mm) Classified "Jla" and numbered at either side of the base of the were the substitution of Baker's
Heating surface: 4,187sq ft
(389 0m 2 ) 5200, the new engine was han- smokebox, with diagonal bracing for Walschaert's valve gear, the
Superheater: l,745sqft Baker's gear has no sliding parts,
ded over to the owners on 14 bars The boiler mountings ahead and was found to require less
.m 2 ) February 1927 By a narrow maintenance. There were also
Steam pressure: 265psi of the cab were clothed in an changes in the valve setting.

(18.6kg margin it was the first 4-6-4 in the unusual curved casing. From their first entry into
United States, but others were service the Hudsons established
Grate area: 82sq ft (7 6m 2 ) No. 5200 soon showed its
a reputation for heavy haulage at
Fuel: 92,0001b (41 7t) already on the production line at paces, and further orders fol-
Water: 1 5,000gall ( 1 8,000 US) Alco for other roads. Compared high speeds Their maximum
with the "K5b" it showed an NYClowed, mostly for the itself, drawbar horsepower was 38 per
(68 lm 3) cent more than that of the Pacifies,
Adhesive weight: 201,5001b but 80 of them allocated to three and they attained this at a higher
speed They could haul 18 cars
(91 5t) increase in grate area from 67 8sq of the wholly-owned subsidianes,
weighing 1,270 tonnes at an
Total weight: 780,0001b 3m 6mft (6 2 and whose engines were numbered
82 5sq ft (7 average speed of 55mph (88
(350t). ) ), km/h) on the generally level
to 1 sections One engine worked a
Length overall: 106ft lin
(32,342mm) the maximum diameter of the and lettered separately The latter 2 1-car train of 1 ,500 tonnes over
the 639 miles (1,027km) from
Some locomotive wheel arrange- boiler was increased from 84in included 30 engines for the Windsor (Ontario) to Harmon,
ments had a particular association covenng one section of 7 1 miles
with one railway, such was the (2,134mm) to 87%in (2,226mm) Boston and Albany, which, in ( 1 1 4km) at an average speed of
4-6-4 and the New York Central
The cylinder and driving wheel deference to the heavier gradi- 62 5mph(100 5km/h).
In 1926 the Central built its last The last of the "Jl" and "J2"
Pacific, of Class "K5b," and the sizes were unchanged, so the ents on that line, had driving
road's design staff, under the tractive effort went up on pro- senes were built in 1932, and
wheels three inches smaller than there was then a pause in con-
Wdirection of Paul Kiefer, Chief struction, although the design
portion to the increase in boiler the remainder, a rather academic
Engineer of Motive Power, began staff were already planning for
to plan a larger engine to meet pressure from 200psi (14.1 difference The B&A engines an increase in power In 1937
future requirements The main kg/cm2 ) to 225psi ( 1 5 8kg/cm2). orders were placed for 50 more
requirements were an increase The addition of an extra axle en- were classified "J2a", "J2b" and Hudsons, incorporating certain
in starting tractive effort, greater
cylinder power at higher speeds, "J2c", the suffixes denoting minor
and weight distribution and bal-
ancing which would impose abled the total weight on the differences in successive batches
lower impact loads on the track
coupled axles to be reduced The main NYC series of 145
than did the existing Pacifies
Clearly this would involve a larger from 185,0001b (83 9t) to engines were numbered con-
firebox, and to meet the axle
loading requirement the logical 182,0001b (82.6t), despite an in- secutively from 5200, and here
step was to use a four-wheeled
truck under the cab, as was crease in the total engine weight again successive modifications
advocated by the Lima Loco-
motive Works, which had plug- of 41,0001b (22t). Improved bal- produced sub-classes "Jla" to

ged engines with large fireboxes ancing reduced the impact load- Below: Standard Hudson or
over trailing bogies under the ing on the rails compared with
trade name of Super Power As 4-6-4 of class "J3" design. The
the required tractive effort could the Pacific Railroad had 275 engines of this
be transmitted through three
driving axles, the wheel arrange- The engine had a striking mtype passenger service and
ment came out as 4-6-4 Despite
the Lima influence in the design, appearance, the rear bogie giving they monopolised the road's
it was the American Locomotive it a more balanced rear end than
Company of Schenectady which express trains for twenty years.
received the order for the first a Pacific, with its single axle
locomotive, although Lima did
receive an order for ten of them

improvements and classified "]3" Above: The prototype New York NYCcoal, but as the used water Above: The streamline version

At the time of the introduction of Central class "Jl " No. 5200 troughs to replenish the tanks on of the New York Central's
on test-tram of 1 8 heavyweight
the first Hudson, the NYC, like the move, the water capacity was famous Hudson. The designer
the German engineers of the mcars at Albany 1927. was Henry Dreyfus.
time, were chary of combustion by comparison modest at 18,000
chambers in fireboxes because reach 60mph (96km/h) with a ran 185,000 to 200,000 miles
of constructional and mainten- 1 ,640 tonne train The crack train US gallons (68.1m 3 ) (297,000 to 32 1 ,000km) between
ance problems, but by 1937 heavy repairs, at an annual rate
further experience had been of the NYC was the celebrated Eventually the engines allo- of about 110,000 miles
gained, and the "]3" incorporated (177,000km)
a combustion chamber 43 in 20th Century Limited At the time ated to the subsidiaries were
(1,092mm) long. Other changes After World War II the Niagara
included a tapenng of the boiler of the building of the first brought into the main series of 4-8-4s displaced the Hudson

barrel to give a greater diameter Hudsons this train was allowed numbers, and with the removal from the heaviest workings, but
as that class numbered only 25
at the front of the firebox, raising 20 hours from New York to of the streamlined casings in engines, the Hudsons still worked
many of the 150 trains daily on
of the boiler pressure from 225 Chicago This was cut to 18 post-war years, the NYC had
psi (15 9kg/cmm2) to 275psi hours in 1932 on the introduction the NYC booked at more than
(19 3km/cm 2 ) (later reduced to of the "He" series, and in 1936 275 engines of similar appear-
265psi), and a change in the there was a further cut to 16!^ 60mile/h (96km/h) start-to-stop
cylinder size from 25 x 28in (635 hours. Aided by the elimination ance numbered from 5,200 to Despite rapid dieselisation the
x 71 1mm) to 22^ x 29in (572 x of some severe service slacks, engines lasted until 1953-6, apart
737mm) The most conspicuous and by the "13" engines, the 5,474 It was the largest fleet of from an accident casualty
change was the use of disc schedule came down to 1 6 hours
in 1938, which gave an end- 4-6-4 locomotives on any railway,
driving wheels, half the engines
having Boxpok wheels with oval to-end speed of 59 9mph and constituted 63 per cent of
openings, and the other half the
(96 3km/h) with 900-tonne trains, the total engines of that wheel
Scullin type with circular and with seven intermediate stops
arrangement in the United States
openings. totalling 26 minutes. On a run
The final ten engines were Although the Hudson had their
with a "J3" on the Century, with
clothed in a streamlined casing 940 tonnes, the 133 miles share of troubles, they were
designed by Henry Dreyfus Of (214km) from Toledo to Elkhart
all the streamlined casings so far were covered in a net time of generally reliable, and the "]3"s
applied to American locomotives, 112!£ minutes, and the suc-
this was the first to exploit the ceeding 93 9 miles (151 km) from
natural shape of the locomotive Elkhart to Englewood in 79!£
rather than to conceal it, and the
working parts were left exposed. minutes, both giving averages of

Many observers considered these 70 9mph ( 1 14km/h) A speed of
to be the most handsome of all 85 3mph (137km/h) was main-

streamlined locomotives, espe- tained for 3 1 miles (50km), with a

cially when hauling a train in maximum of 94mph (151km/h)
matching livery Prior to the The engines worked through
from Harmon to Toledo or
building of the streamlined "J3"s, Chicago, 693 and 925 miles
a "Jl" had been clothed in a (1,114 and 1 ,487km) respectively
casing devised at the Case School For this purpose huge tenders
of Science in Cleveland, but it
were built carrying 4 1 tonnes of
was much less attractive than
Dreyfus' design, and the engine
was rebuilt like the "J3"s, while
two further "J3"s were given

Dreyfus casings for special

duties

The "]3"s soon showed an
improvement over the "J 1 "s both
in power output and in efficiency
At 65mph (105km/h) they de-
veloped 20 per cent more power
than a "Jl". They could haul
301 , 1 tonnes trains over the 1 47
miles (236km) from Albany to
Syracuse at scheduled speeds of
59mph (95km/h), and could

125

Great Britain:

Schools Class 4-4-0 Southern Railway (SR), 1933

Tractive effort: 25, 1331b British locomotive engineers com- was found that in many ways caused by the impossibility of
their capability was on a level
Axle load: 47.0001b (2 It) mand respect for their mastery of with the SR's bigger "King counter-balancing all the recipro-

Cylinders: - x 26in the processes involved in pro- Arthur" class as well as with the cating parts in a two-cylinder

0mm) ducing and assembling the many much bigger but rather disap- engine
components that go to make a Three cylinders were chosen
Driving wheels: 79in steam express passenger loco- pointing "Lord Nelson" class.
motive. In some cases, though, therefore for the new locomotives,
'mm) one is more cautious when A shortened "King Arthur" all dnving on the leading coupled
axle Each cylinder had its own
Heating surface: l,766sq ft appraising their theoretical ap- boiler was the basis of the design
and since it was the barrel rather set of Walschaert's valve gear,
Superheater: 283sq ft (26 3m 2 ) proach to design This slight than the firebox which was re- but access to the inside motion is
Steam pressure: 220psi reluctance to do sums often duced in length, it was the big
much easier on a 4-4-0 than on a
Grate area: 28 3sq ft (2 63m2 ) produced surprises, usually un- fire plus the hottest part of the 4-6-0 or 4-6-2 as we have seen
pleasant. But sometimes they heating surface that remained already in the case of the "Amen-
Fuel: 11, 0001b (50.
Water: 4,000gall (4,800 US) were pleasant ones, as witness and so steam raising was hardly . can Standard" 4-4-0
(18m3 ) the excellent "Schools" class first affected. The bigger ashpan pos- The design was a great success
Adhesive weight: 94,0001b put into service by the Southern sible because of the wide space
Railway in 1930. The "Schools" between the coupled axles was from the start and very few
Total weight: 245,500 ( 1 100 locomotives were originally in- also a help. Most 4-4-0s with changes were needed over the
Length overall: 58ft 9 a4in outside cylinders were notorious
(17,926mm) tended as small engines for lesser years. A few locomotives were
—for the "boxing" effect i.e. oscil-
services but the engineering staff —lation about a vertical axis later fitted with multiple-jet blast-

got a pleasant surprise when it pipes and large diameter chim-

neys, but otherwise the mam

Class 500 4-8-4 Australia:
South Australian Government Railways (SAR), 928

Tractive effort: 5 1 ,0001b per cent) climb into the Mount

(23,133kg) Lofty ranges In spite of this their
motive power sixty years ago
Axle load: 49,5001b (22.5t). was on the small side In the early
1920s the latest and largest ex-
Cylinders: (2) 26 x 28in press passenger power was the
class "S" 4-4-0 of 1894, with
(660x711).
12,7001b (5,762kg) of tractive
Driving wheels: 63in
effort and 17^sq ft (1.6m2) of
(1,600mm)
grate area.
Heating surface: 3,648sq ft
The State government was not
(339m 2 happy about the state of its 5ft 3in
) ( 1 ,600mm) gauge railway system
and so adopted the idea of
Superheater: 835sq ft (77 5m2
) inviting a senior executive from a

Steam pressure: 200psi USA raJroad to be the Railway

(14.1 kg/cm 2 Commissioner In due time a
). certain Mr. W.A. Webb, who
hailed from the Missoun-Kansas-
Grate area: 66 5sq ft (6.2m2 ).
Texas —Railroad the famous
Fuel: 2,45001b (lit).
"Katy"— arrived in Australia His
Water: 7,000gall (8,400 US)
plans for SAR were to include
(32m3). some very large locomotives
Adhesive weight: 196,5001b
indeed
(89t). The most notable of Webb's

Total weight: 498,0001b (226t) two passenger designs were the
Length overall: 83ft 1 ^in ten "500" class 4-8-2s, which had
(25,641mm). over four times the tractive effort

South Australia is by no means
easy locomotive country. For
example, when South Australian

Railways' trains leave the capital,
Adelaide, for Melbourne, they

have to face a long 1 in 45 (2.2

126

6

event was the addition of 30,000 running through the below- 1961 and 1962 but three ex- Above: "Schools" class No.
to the numbers upon nationalisa- standard-size tunnels on the Ton- 30934 St Lawrence on an up
bridge to Hastings line and to amples have been preserved. troop special at Folkestone
mtion 1948 this end the sides of both cabs Warren, Kent. England.
and tenders had an upper sloping No 925 Cheltenham belongs to
The names of famous schools portion This certainly added to the National Railway Museum Below: "Schools" Class loco
in SR territory were chosen for the neat and compact appearance
and is currently in main-line run- No.919, Harrow, depicted m the
the locomotives, in spite of the Their greatest work was done
on the Bournemouth line, on ning order No 928 Stowe is with Southern Railways' pre-war
drawback that many of them had which they regularly hauled the
the same names as SR stations crack Bournemouth Limited ex- the Bluebell Railway and No.926 Alivery. superb locomotive, it
press, scheduled to run the 1 1 Repton is in the USA, currently at
and people occasionally confused miles (186km) in 120 minutes Steamtown, Bellows Falls, Ver- supnsed even its designers with
the nameplate with the train's its ethciency and power.
non-stop Cecil J Allen noted an mont, although it is understood a
destination boards No 900 Eton occasion when a 510-ton train move is pending

appeared in March 1930, the was worked by No 932 Blundells

first of a batch of ten built at from Waterloo to Southampton
Eastleigh Works that year Five at an average speed of 61mph
more appeared in 1932, ten in (98km/h) and another when with
1933 (including a senes com- 305 tons No.931 King's Wimble-
don ran from Waterloo to a
mencing with No 919 Harrow,
named after schools away from signal stop outside Salisbury at

the SR), seven in 1934 and eight an average of 66mph (106^
km/h), 90mph (145km/h) being
in 1 935, making 40 in all
One requirement was to permit just touched at one point. Neither
of these feats would disgrace a

Pacific

The class was withdrawn in

of the previous top-line passenger bearing the "Overland" motif
locomotives plus other attributes
in proportion 1 Although typically This reflected the labours of
American in design, these mon-
sters were built in 1926 by the these magnificent locomotives
English armaments firm, Arm-
strong-Whitworth of Newcastle- on "The Overland" express be-
upon-Tyne In 1928 the loco- tween Adelaide and Melbourne
motives, apparently still not The 1 in 45 of the Mount Lofty
regarded as sufficiently strong
pullers, were further enhanced incline could be negotiated at
by a booster giving an additional
8,0001b (3,640kg) of tractive 15mph with 550 —tons this with
effort This was accommodated
in a four-wheel truck, thereby booster in action It must have
giving Australia the honour of
having the world's first 4-8-4 been worth listening to — but then
outside North America, the pony
truck had previously had an axle so would be three of the "500"s
loading of over 22 tons 4-4-0 predecessors on the 350-ton
Melbourne express of a few
Another later addition was a
pair of elegant footplate valances years earlier
The "500"s and the other
Left: Two views of 4-8-4 No.
500 on a special farewell run Webb classes were not multiplied,
from Adelaide to Victor Harbour,
mainly because heavy axle-
mVictoria, March 1962, just loadings precluded their use on
all but the principal main lines
before withdrawal from service.
Diesel-electric locomotives ap-
peared in South Australia from
1951 on and in 1955 the first
"500" was withdrawn By 1962

all had gone, except No504,
which is preserved at the

Australian Railway Historical

Society's museum at Mile End,
near Melbourne

127

China:

KF Type 4-8-4 Chinese Ministry of Railways, 1935

Tractive effort: 36 1001b for damage done in China to Above: Chinese class "KF" certain auxiliaries, and a cut-off
4-8-4 locomotive awaiting control indicator to advise the
'kg) British property in the so-called departure from Nanjing station. driver on the best setting for the
Boxer riots of 1910 Although valve gear. In the case of some of
Axle load: 38,0001b ( 17 5t) British built as well as designed Other equipment included a the locomotives, the leading ten-
Cylinders: by a Briton, Kenneth Cantlie, the supply of superheated steam for der bogie was fitted with a
practice followed was American
>0mm). —except in one respect, that is,
Driving wheels: 69in the limitation of axle load ti

•r.m) tons Twice that would be more

Heating surface: 2,988sq ft typical of United States loco-
(278m 2 )
Superheater: l,076sqft motive.
(100m 2 )
Steam pressure: ,:20psi The typical American loco-
( 1 5 5ko motive was directly in line with
the original simple Stephenson
Grate area: 68 5sq ft (6 4m 2 ) concept of a locomotive having
just two outside cylinders, but it
Fuel: YS,5001b(12t) was very fully equipped in other
Water: c.,600gall (8,000 US) ways. Hence these "KF" loco-
(30m 3 ) motives, destined for what was in
Adhesive weight: 150,0001b those days and in matenal things
a rather backward country had,
Total weight: 432,0001b ( 196t). for example, electric lights, while
Length overall: 93ft 2 Hun crews of the last word in passen-
(28.410mm) ger steam locomotives back in
Britain had to make do with
Twenty-four of these magnificent paraffin oil British firemen had to
locomotives were supplied by
the Vulcan Foundry of Newton- use a shovel to put coal in the
le- Willows, Lancashire, to China firebox, while Chinese ones had
in 1935-6 They were paid for out
of funds set aside as reparations the benefit of automatic stokers

Right: 4-8-4 locomotive (later

class "KF") as built by the

Vulcan Foundry for the Chinese

mMinistry of Railways 1936.

K 4-0-4V/lcISS New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR), 1932

Tractive effort: 32,7401b its own motive power not only in mainder had all axles so fitted use of Baker's valve gear outside
one but in both the main islands Class "Kb" were built at Hillside
(14,852kg). Amongst many fine locomotives workshops, Dunedin, South the USA was minimal but even
designed and built there, the "K" Island, and the remainder at on its home ground it never
Axle load: 30,5001b (14t). class 4-8-4s were outstanding. Hurt, near Wellington, North
Cylinders: (2) 20 x 26in showed signs of superseding
(508 x 660mm). Apart from the cab (which had Island. Walschaert's in any general sense.
Driving wheels: 54in
(1,372mm) to accommodate full size New The "Kb"s, intended for a A number of applications are
Heating surface: l,931sqft transverse line which crosses the
(179m 2 ) Zealanders) the "K"s appeared mountain spine of the South illustrated elsewhere in this
Superheater: 482sq ft (45m2). Island, had boosters which gave
Steam pressure: 200psi as scaled-down versions of typi- an extra 8,0001b (3,640kg) of book— the patent gear did have
(14 1kg/cm2). cal North American 4-8-4s, with tractive effort. Originally the "Ka"s more of an advantage when it
Grate area: 47 7sq ft (4.4m2) their dimensions reduced in pro- and "Kb"s had a boxed-in front came to the long valve-travel
Fuel: 17,5001b (8t) end, looking for all the world like
Water: 5,000gall (6,000 US) portion to the narrower 3ft 6in the front end of a modern "hood- associated with fast-running pas-
(22.7m 3 ). (1,067mm) gauge standard in senger locomotives
Adhesive weight: 122,0001b unit" diesel locomotive, but these
New Zealand. Even so, the de- ugly attachments were removed In the late 1940s the "K"s and
(55t). "Ka"s, all of which were built for
signers certainly had all their immediately after World War II and remained on the North Island
Total weight: 306,0001b ( 1 39t) buttons on to produce a loco- Two "Ka"s Nos.958 and 959 had lines, were converted to oil-
Length overall: 69ft 8in motive of such power within the burning, while the "Kb"s on
(21,233mm). Baker's valve gear in place of the South Island remained coal
limitations of an 1 1ft 6in (3,480 fired This seems to have been
It is always a surprise to think that Walschaert's. the only major modification which
mm) overall height and a 1 4-ton
far-off and remote New Zealand Baker's valve gear was a paten- occurred — and of course it was
axleload.
should have one of the finest ted USA arrangement, very much one which was dictated by ex-
railway systems in the world In all 71 "K"s were built be- ternal circumstances rather than
Furthermore, in steam days this tween 1932 and 1950, all in akin to Walschaert's, which did by any shortcomings of these
sheep-raising country of a mere NZGR's own workshops. There away with the curved link and
1 .6 million population produced were three sub-classes, "K", "Ka" die-block. In its place there was Right: NZGR class "K"
and "Kb" numbenng 30, 35 and an ingenious arrangement of
6 respectively. Running numbers levers and simple pin-joints which 4-8-4 crosses a temporary
were 900 to 970. The first group produced the same effect The bridge of steel girder and
had roller bearings to the guiding
and tender axles, while the re- timber trestle.

128

booster engine; two axles of the of the hands of the Japanese and Above: Class "KF" 4-8-4 No.7 are now non-standard Chinese
six-wheel truck were coupled, so to some extent the efforts were
that the booster drive was on successful. It has been reported at Shanghai m 1981 awaiting types lend support to this sup-
four wheels The booster gave an position The prime position given
that 17 out of the 24 survived shipment back to England for to these engines in the re-
additional 7,6701b (3,480kg) of World War II, which for China the National Railway Museum. numbering is some indication of
lasted over ten years and was the regard in which they were
tractive effort while in operation. characters — and renumbered
These engines were allocated to exceptionally devastating from 1 upwards. The letters KF held.
the Canton-Hankow railway, while
the others were divided between After the communists gained seem to correspond with the Dieselisation of the Chinese
that line and the Shanghai- control, the class was designated English word Confederation, Railways is proceeding slowly,
other class designations of what priority being given to long dis-
Nanking railway One interesting "KF" — in Roman not Chinese tance passenger trains. Trains
feature was that the Walschaert's entrusted to these 4-8-4s were
valve gear was arranged to give early targets for dieselisation and
only half the amount of valve no 4-8-4 has been seen by Wes-
Atravel needed 2-to- 1 multiplying tern visitors since 1966, although
lever was provided to give the it is reported they were in use in
correct amount- The piston valves the Shanghai area as late as
were 1 2!^in (320mm) in diameter,
1974.
an exceptionally large size Run-
ning numbers were 600 to 623. In 1 978, the Chinese Minister
of Railways, while on a visit to
When locomotive-building Britain promised one to the

firms set out to build locomotives National Railway Museum at
bigger than were used in their
native land they were not always York, as a prime example of
a success, but this case was an British exports to the world This
exception, and the class gave was to happen when a "KF" was
excellent service. During the war taken out of use, accordingly in
years exceptional efforts were
1981 No KF7 was shipped from
made to keep these engines out
Shanghai back to the country
from whence it came

wonderful engines An exception
was the replacement of feed-

water heating equipment by ex-
haust steam injectors on the "Ka"
and "Kb" batches.

For many years the whole
class performed with great dis-
tinction on the principal pas-
senger trains and speeds of up to
69mph (HOkm/h) have been
recorded As regards famous
ascents such as the Raunmu

spiral incline, they could maintain

20mph (32km/h) with 300 tons
on the 1 in 50 (2 per cent) grade,
uncompensated for curvature.

Proportionate to the population,

New Zealanders have a passion

for steam locomotives unmatched
even in Britain, this is reflected in

the preservation of five of these

engines No 900 is with the Pacific
Steel Co of Otahuhu, No 935 at
Seaview, near Wellington and
Nos 942 and 945 are at Paekikan,
all in the North Island. No 968 is
at the Ferrymead Museum of

Science and Industry near Christ-
church in the South Island

129

Great Britain:

Class P2 2-8-2 London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), 934

Tractive effort: 43.4621b beyond Edinburgh to Aberdeen
5kg) This final section was much more

Axle load: 44,8001b (200 severe than the rest of the line
Cylinders: I) 21 x 26in The ruling gradient north of

0mm) Edinburgh was 1 in 74^ ( 1 34
per cent), in place of 1 in 96 ( 1 05
Driving wheels: per cent) on the line south of the

Heating surface: 2,714sq it Scottish capital

Superheater: 777sq ft (72m 2) The standard "Al" and "A3"
Steam pressure: 220psi class 4-6-2s were overtaxed by
trains such as the "Aberdonian"
Grate area: 50sq ft (4.6m2 ). sleeping car express and it was
Fuel: : 8,0001b (8t) decided to build some locomo-
Water: ;i,000gall (6,000 US) tives with some 20 per cent more

Adhesive weight: 177,0001b adhesion weight than the Pacifies.
The result was the first (and only)
Total weight: 370,0001b ( 1680 class of eight-coupled express
Length overall: ?4ft5%in
(22,692mm) locomotives to run in Britain, of
which the prototype was built in
In thinking of the London & 1934, a handsome 2-8-2 called
Cock o'the North and numbered
North Eastern Railway's East 200 1 . To match the high adhesive
Coast main line from London to weight, the tractive effort was the
Scotland, one is liable to forget
that it extends 1 30 miles (208km) highest ever applied to an express
passenger locomotive working

in Britain

Amongst many unusual fea-

Class V 4-4-0 Ireland:
Great Northern Railway (GNR (I)), 1932

Axle load: 47,0001b (21.50. locomotives; but once it was 4-4-0s were supplied by Beyer, Midland Railway of England.
Cylinders: (3) see text stengthened in 1931, the way
Driving wheels: 79in was clear for some really powerful Peacock of Manchester, the ten- The high-pressure inside cylinder
express locomotives to use it, ders were built by the company
Heating surface: !,251sqft and the distinctive Irish Class Vs at their own Dundalk Works was 17 Mm (438mm) diameter,
were among the first. They were three-cylinder com-
Superheater: 276sq ft (25 6m2 whereas the two outside low-
) The five Class 'V compound pounds on the Smith principle — pressure ones were 19in (483

similar to those built for the mm) diameter; all were 26in
(660mm) stroke Three sets of

Steam pressure: 250psi

( 17 6kc;

Grate area: 25sq ft (2 3m2
).

Fuel: :3.2001b (60

Water: 3,500gall (4,200 US)

Adhesive weight: 92,0001b

Total weight: 232,0001b ( 105t).
Length overall: 55ft 3!^in
(16,853mm)

Beginning in 1876, the Great
Northern Railway of Ireland
owned and operated the main
line railway connecting Dublin to
Belfast. For many years the steel
viaduct over the Boyne River 32
miles north of Dublin presented
a severe limitation on the size of

;

Turbomotive 4-6-2

tures of this three-cylinder loco- built in 1936, which externally Great Britain:
looked more like the streamline
motive were the use of poppet "A4" class 4-6-2s of 1935. London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). 1935
valves actuated by a rotating
camshaft and a specially-shaped mAlas, despite the increase the Tractive effort: through a three-stage gear train
front end, whose external con- -nclosed in an oil b al
tours were designed to lift smoke size of the P2 compared with the Axle load:
and steam clear of the cab in Cylinders: reduction ratio was 34: 1, so that
order to improve visibility. The Pacifies, double-heading could Driving wheels: 73in
internal contours of the front end, not be entirely eliminated In- at 70rr
which included a double chim- adequate bearing surfaces and a Heating surface: 2,314sq ft
ney, were also designed to obtain would be doing 10,000 re
adequate draught for the fire lack of guiding force in the Superheater: 653sq ft (61m 2 To control the locomotive
with the minimum of back pres- leading pony truck caused heavy ).
wear on the sharp curves of the r.rottle the steam which
sure A second 2-8-2 (No 2002 Edinburgh-Aberdeen line, and Steam pressure: 150psi would effect the turbine's
the engines proved to be heavy efficiency, any number of the six
Earl Manschal) was built with the in maintenance costs in 1943^4, Grate area: - separate nozzles could be
normal (for the LNER) arrange- therefore, the 2-8-2 s were rebuilt' Fuel:
ment of piston valves driven by Water: 4,000gall (4,800 US) .-.ed in" by being given
two sets of Walschaert's valve as 4-6-2s of class "A2/2", al- steam. It was all an exceedingly
gear and the Gresley-Holcroft though the lack of continuity of Adhesive weight: • simple arrangement and on test
.
motion. This standard ar- LNER locomotive policy at that this No 6202 proved to be more
rangment was preferred for the Total weight: 36
time meant these "P2" conver- efficient than a conventional 4-6-2
final four members of the class. Length overall:
sions also remained non-standard A small turbine was provided on
Left: A handsome-looking So the objective of doing the (22,663rr.rr.
class "P2" 2-8-2 No.2005 conversion remained unattained, the right-hand side to move the
Wolf of Badenoch works an while a group of fine-looking Turbines had been for many locomotive in reverse at low
Aberdeen to Edinburgh tram. locomotives were turned into years the normal motive power speed, engaged through a dog-
some of the ugliest ones ever to for ships and electric generators clutch and a fourth gear train.
Stephenson's link motion filled run on a line renowned for the so why not, reasoned so many
what space remained between good looks of its motive power. engineers, try one on a locomo- This feature was, sadly, not to
the frames. The LP cylinders prove entirely foolproof.
originally had balanced slide uled between the two cities, but it tive In 1932 William Stanier, then
valves but these were soon altered the newly appointed Chief Mech- Unlike most steam locomotive
lasted only a short time, for the anical Engineer of the London experiments which had the te-
to piston valves as on the HP merity to challenge Stephenson's
slump combined with a disastrous Midland & Scottish Railway, saw
cylinder principles, the so-called "Turbo-
strike led in 1933 to drastic a Swedish turbine freight loco-
The new locomotives were motive at work and resolved to motive" gave good service—
used to provide faster train ser- economies which included decel- 300,000 miles of it, in fact. Her
try a turbine loco himself Turbine regular turn was the "Liverpool
vices, including a run over the erations and, in the case of these locomotives had already been Flyer" up to London in the
5454 miles (138km) from Dublin morning and back in the after-
to Dundalk in 54 minutes, the locomotives, to a reduced boiler tried on the LMS experimentally
fastest anywhere in Ireland at noon, for several years the fastest
that time. The timing for the pressure. sometime before, but these were
train on the LMS Inevitably there
miles (286km) between The simple yet handsome lines condensing locomotives of a very
Dublin and Belfast was 148 min- different concept The Swedish were problems but there was
utes but this included five stops of the five compounds were also promise, alas, the war came,
as well as customs examination design avoided the complications then nationalisation
at the border In terms of net time enhanced by the beautiful blue of a condenser and Stanier was
particularly impressed with the People who were not con-
soil the fastest ever sched- livery and the names Eagle, Fal- simplicity achieved. Valves and
valve gear were entirely eliminated cerned with the original ex-
Left: 3reat Northern of Ireland con, Merlin, Peregrine and Kes- and because there were no recip- periment were in charge and,
rocating parts perfect baiance following a failure of the main
mclass "VS" 4-4-0 built 1948 trel Running numbers were 83 turbine in 1947, the locomotive
could easily be achieved. Three was set aside at Crewe In 1 95 1 it
by Beyer Peacock & Co. to 87. Merlin is preserved and is prototype 4-6-2s— the forerun- was rebuilt into a normal recipro-
ners of the "Duchess" class- cating 4-6-2 named Princess Anne
These locomotives differed at present being restored to were in hand at Crewe and so but penshed in the triple collision
from the original batch in promising did the idea seem that at Harrow a very short time after
having Walschaert's valve running condition under the aus- one of these was earmarked to
gear and being non-compound. become a guinea pig for an re-entering service
pices of the Railway Preservation experiment in turbine propulsion,
Below: One of the original which came to fruition in 1935. So ended one of the most
class "V" 4-4-0s built by Society of Ireland. promising attempts to produce a
Beyer Peacock in 1932. A multi-stage Metropolitan- turbine-powered express pas-
A further five similar locomo-
Vickers turbine of about 2,000 Asenger locomotive similar story
tives (Class VS') with three simple horsepower was mounted more
' or less where the left-hand outside could be told about others such
cylinder would have been. It as the Zoelly turbine locomotives
cylinders and Walschaert's valve drove the leading coupled axle tried in Germany, or the enormous
6,000hp one made by Baldwin
gear were built in 1948 These
hia for the Penn-
were numbered 206 to 2 10 and •=USA.
were named Liffey, Boyne, La-
Below: 77ie "Turbomotive",
gam, Foyle and Erne, after Insh LMSNo.6202, works its usual
turn from Euston to Liverpool.
nvers

The last "V" class 4-4-0 was

withdrawn in 1961 and the last

"VS" in 1965; both classes out-

GNRlasted the which was dis-

membered in 1958.

Andes Class 2-8-0 Peru:
Central Railway of Peru (FCC), 935

Tractive efiort: < oOOlb Highest and Hardest" wrote trated in the final 74 miles ( 1 1 8km) British Beyer, Peacock workman-
Brian Fawcett in Radways of the to the top, some of the most ship, which could do the job
Axle load: ^:V:: Andes. He was describing the spectacular engineering in the
Central Railway of Peru— a line satisfacti irily
Cylinders: x 28m in whose service he spent much world takes the trains via six 'Z'
of his life -which climbed from double-reversals up to the summit A short boiler was essential
!mm) sea level near Lima to 15,693ft
(4,783m) altitude at the Galera Oxygen is provided for passen- because of the heavy grades
. Tunnel, a bare 99 miles ( 1 58km) gers, but curiously enough steam which meant quick alterations of
locomotives become more rather slope relative to water at each
Driving wheels: from Lima, en route for the
copper mines high up in the than less efficient as the atmos- zig-zag On the other hand a
ram) mountains For many years it pheric pressure drops Even so,
was said that the necessarily slow the task of lifting traffic up this narrow firebox between the
. passenger service remained in- railway staircase was an horrific wheels was no detriment with oil
firing and on such gradients it
Heating surface: 1 ,717sq ft vulnerable to air competition, one and it was only after many was an advantage that as many

(1 60m 2 ) because none of the airlines years of traumatic experience as four out of the five pairs of
operating on the Pacific coast that a class 2-8-0 was evolved,
Superheater: 34 lsq ft (32m 2). had an aircraft which could go as combining rugged North Ameri- - wheels should be driven. The
existence of ample water supplies
Steam pressure: 200psi high as the trains! can design features with the best over the mountain section meant

(14 lkg Most of the climbing, much of that only a very small quantity
it at between 1 in 22 and 1 in 25
6mGrate area: '8sq ft (2 2
) i id 4 per cent), is concen-

Fuel: oil) l,465gall

'JS) (67m 3 )
Water.-^OgallO.lSOUS)

Adhesive weight: 146,0001b

(660
Total weight: 250,00011 >

Length overall: 6 1 ft 11 .-.in
(18,879mm)

Class 5P5F 4-6-0 Great Britain:
London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS), 934

Tractive effort: 25,4551b motives, on many occasions they
( 1 1 ,550kg) demonstrated that they could
Axle load: 40.7001b (18 5t)
Cylinders: (2) 18H?x28m handle and keep time on any ex-
(470 x711mm). press passenger assignment ever
Driving wheels: 72in
(1,829mm) scheduled on LMS or ex-LMS
Heating surface: l,938sq ft
(180m 2 lines. In its first months of service

) during 1 934, Cecil J. Allen repor-
ted the doings of the prototype
Superheater: 307sq ft (28.5m2 )
Steam pressure: 225psi on the LMS flag train "Royal
(15.8kg/cm 2 ).
Grate area: 28.65sq ft (2.7m2). Scot", loaded to 1 5 coaches and
Fuel: 20,2001b (9t) 495 tons gross. No 5020 was a
Water: 4,000gall (4,800 US) last-minute deputy for a "Prin-
(18m 3 ) cess" 4-6-2 or "Royal Scot" 4-6-0,
Adhesive weight: 119,0001b
the greater complexities of which
(56t). made them that much the more

Total weight: 285,0001b ( 1 29t) liable to fall sick, but the smaller
Length overall: 67ft 7?4in
(20,618mm). engine kept the "Special Limit"
timing to Crewe with the maxi-
The Black Fives! Arguably the
best buy ever made by any mum allowed load Excellent valve
railway anywhere, in respect of
engines capable of handling ex- events and a well-tried boiler lay
press passenger trains These behind the surprising qualities of
legendary locomotives formed these famous locomotives.
not only the most numerous but
also the most versatile such class In later years, with "Black
ever to run in Britain. Fives" on the route of the

In spite of being modestly "Royal Scot" allocated to sheds
dimensioned mixed-traffic loco- at Camden, Willesden, Rugby,
Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Pres-

ton, Carnforth, Carlisle, Carstairs

and Glasgow, it was a great
comfort to the operators to know
that so many understudies of
similar abilities were waiting in
the wings when the prime donne

132

need be carted up the mountain By law, a "counter-pressure" the class gave a satisfactory Alas, no longer does steam
—hence the small tender brake had to be fitted, but was performance on the world's har- rule the mountain section, but the
not normally used because of the dest railway is indicated by the 6-hour timing of the old days has
The arrangements for sanding damage that was caused to piston fact that the company came back not been improved upon. Maybe
were vital because hideous gra- and valve rings when it was used for more, eight times, no less, a 22mph (35km/h) average speed
dients are usually combined with The double-pipe air braking sys- between 1935 and 1951 Finally does not seem much but the
damp rails Since both gravity tem used avoids the necessity of there were 29, numbered 200 to ascent certainly justified the in-
and steam sanding gear had releasing the brakes periodically 228 Neighbouring railways had clusion of the daily train over the
been found wanting, the "Andes" mountain section amongst the
class were fitted with air sanding during the descent to re-charge some too — the Southern of Peru Great Trains of the World No.206
The quantity of sand carried was the reservoirs— something that is preserved at Lima
also important and on later ver- might well lead to a runaway in (under the same ownership) had
sions of the class a vast box on Andean conditions 20 with slightly larger driving Below: One of the world's
wheels, while the Cerro de Pasco
the boiler-top held supplies of As a locomotive that would hardest-working locos, a Central
need to be driven "wide-open" Railroad (which connected with Railway of Peru "Andes" class
this vital element in Andean rail- for hour after hour on the ascent, the Central) had a further five 2-8-0 depicted in the company's
the "Andes" class was very ro- These latter were the last "straight" handsome green livery
roading It also incorporated the bustly constructed indeed That steam locomotives to be built by
steam dome, thereby keeping
the great firm of Beyer, Peacock.
the sand warm and dry

of the route showed signs of the was not normally the practice GWR. Much of the rest seemed found necessary, but earlier en-
temperament for which they were North of Perth on the Highland gines had less superheat orig-
to reflect the choice of the best inally than the later ones
traditionally celebrated. lines, "Black Fives" were the
heaviest and largest locomotives practice from amongst the vanous On the last batches numerous
It is fair to say, though, that the permitted, and here they handled areas of the LMS, Lancashire
most trains of significance from and Yorkshire Railway cylinders, experiments were tried, such as
LMS four-cylinder 4-6-2s did Walschaert's valve-gear and cab,
the 550-ton "Royal Highlander" roller bearings, rocking grates,
ride more smoothly at speed. At for example, Midland boiler fit-
90mph (145km/h) downhill it downwards. A pair of them, tings, and Caledonian hooter- double chimneys, Caprotti pop-
was fairly exciting in the dark (no pet valves, even outside Stephen-
headlight 1 ) on a "Duchess", but driven wide open, took such type whistle. son's link motion on one engine,
on a "Black Five" it could be trains up the 20-mile ascent (32 but the only major modification
called a Total Experience Another km), mostly at 1 in 60 ( 1 .66 per London & North Western think- that "took" was the installation of
advantage of the bigger engines cent), from Inverness to the 1 ,300ft ing showed in the arrangements renewable high-manganese steel
lay in the much larger ash-pan, (400m) summit at Slochd Steam- for repair and maintenance of the liners to the axlebox guides This
whilst No. 5020 mentioned above ing was usually rock-steady, the "Black Five" fleet, which was was successful in increasing con-
did as well as a 4-6-2 was sound magnificent, and the fire- eventually to number 842 engines siderably the mileage between
normally expected to do from and which took eighteen years to
Euston to Crewe, the 4-6-0 could men's task proportionately oner- build. LMS works at Crewe, overhauls.
hardly have continued to Glasgow ous as the tonnage moved over Derby and Horwich all contri-
without the fire becoming choked this and other neighbounng buted with 231, 54 and 130 The "Black Fives" based on
with the end-products of com- respectively. Under a pre-war Preston were the last steam loco-
bustion Of course, the 4-6-2s inclines. Government scheme to provide motives to haul timetabled ex-
also had the potential of higher work for depressed areas, two press passenger trains on British
power output, but in order to William Staruer came to the Railways It was as late in the day
outside firms built the remainder, as January 1967, only 20 months
realise the potential either a LMS from rival Great Western in Vulcan Foundry of Newton-le-
Willows produced 100 and before the end, that No 449 17
super-man or more than one fire- 1932. Under his direction, a
man had to be earned, and this design for this two-cylinder Armstrong-Whitworth & Co of achieved the highest-ever recor-
mixed-traffic 4-6-0 was produced ded speed for the class This was
Left: A Stamer "Black Five" in 1933 as a replacement for Newcastle-upon-Tyne 327 Run-
numerous ageing medium-sized ning numbers went from 4758 to 96mph ( 1 55km/h), reached north
4-6-0 leaves a wayside station 5499, those below 5000 being of Gobowen between Chester
in the Scottish Highlands with a 4-6-0s of the LMS constituent newer than those above One and Shrewsbury Fifteen have
hundred more were built under been preserved and, of these,
mlocal tram tow. North of companies The concept was British Railways, the class then four can currently be seen from
derived directly from the "Hall' being numbered 44658 to 45499
Perth these versatile locomotives Few changes in design were time to time, either individually or
class of Stanier's native line, but in pairs, on main-line steam
had a near-monopoly of service. really only the taper-boilers and
specials.
the axleboxes of the new engine
were based on those of the

133

AClcISS 4-4-2 Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P). 1935 (see fold-out, page 142)

Tractive effort: 3( ) 6851b

Axle load:
Cylinders:

Driving wheels:

Heating surface:

Superheatei
Steam pressure: 300psi

Grate area: I Isqfl (6.4mz)
Fuel (oil): 3 iOOgalls (4,000 US)

Water: . soOgall ( 1 3,000 US)

Adhesive weight: 144,5001b

Total weight: . 0001b (2440
Length overall: B8ft 8in

Class F7 4-6-4 USA:
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), 1937

Tractive effort: 50,2951b

)kg)

Axle load: . :. 2501b (330
Cylinders: 2)23.5x30in
(597x7-
Driving wheels: 84in

Heating surface: 4, 166sq ft

Superheater: 1.695sqft

Steam pressure: 300psi

an2)
Grate area: 96 5sq ft (9.0m2 ).

Fuel: )001b(2.

Water: . I . Ogall (20,000 US)

Adhesive weight: 216,0001b

Total weight: 791,0001b
Length overall: lOOftOm
(30,480mm)

"Fleet of foot was Hiawatha" Top: Class "F?" 4-6-4 than unconventional, the tender waukee steam locomotives This
No, 103 towards the end of its with one six-wheel and one four-
wrote Longfellow .. Intensive wheel truck, for instance, or the in its turn necessitated a high-
days; a forlorn sight after drive on to the leading axle
competition for the daytime traffic instead of the rear one, were speed coal hopper and shoots at
some use as a source of spares. examples. Special efforts were
between Chicago and the Twin New Lisbon station, which en-
Above: With boiler lagging made to ensure that the recipro-
Cities of St Paul and Minneapolis and driving wheels removed, a cating parts were as light as pos- abled an "F7" to be coaled
class "F7" 4-6-4 awaits the during the 2-mmute station stop
was the inspiration for the "Hia- ungainly end. sible—the high boiler pressure
was chosen in order to reduce of the "Hiawatha" expresses there.
watha" locomotives and trains, for daily operation at lOOmph The "F7"s were also very suc-
( 1 60km/h) and over. —the size of the pistons and par- cessful engines, capable of 120
the fastest-ever to be run by
The American Locomotive ticular care was taken to get the mph (193km/h) and more on
steam. Three railroads were in- balancing as good as possible
Company of Schenectady, New
volved in the competition, first, with a two-cylinder locomotive.
York, responded with two superb
there was the Chicago & North oil-fired and brightly coloured Another class "A" (No 3) was
streamlined 4-4-2s They were delivered in 1936 and a fourth
Western Railway; this line had a known as class "A" and received (No 4) in 1937
running numbers 1 and 2 In
408J2 mile (657km) route which service they earned this prime Further high-speed locomo-
its "400" expresses traversed in designation by demonstrating tives were ordered in 1938 and
that as runners they had few this time the six 4-6-4s supplied
400 minutes The "400"s were peers They could develop more were both usual and conven-
than 3000 horsepower in the
formed of conventional equip- cylinders and achieve 1 lOmph tional. This time also the class
(177km/h) on the level It says designation "F7" and running
ment of the day, but specially enough about that success of
these locomotives that they were numbers (100 to 105) were just
refurbished and maintained The intended to haul six cars on a run-of-the-mill The 4-4-2s were
Chicago Burlington & Qumcy 6! s -hour schedule, but soon found superb with the streamliners but
themselves handling nine cars not at all suited to the haulage of
Railroad pioneered some stain- satisfactorily on a 6 M -hour one heavy ordinary expresses This,
These schedules included five restricted their utilisation, hence
—less steel lightweight diesel intermediate stops and 15 per- the 4-6-4s which combined heavy
manent speed restrictions below haulage powers with high-speed
propelled "Zephyr" trains— fairly SOrnph (80km/h). capability. The main concession
to speed in the design were the
—noisy in spite of their name over The design was unusual rather big driving wheels, whilst the

a route 19 miles (30km) longer mam concession to general usage

than the North-Western one was a change back to coal-
Lastly —and to us most impor- burning, in line with most Mil-

tantly—there was the Chicago,

Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific

Railroad, whose management de-

cided to enter the lists with

special matching high-speed

steam locomotives and trains

designed to offer a 6'a hour

timing for the 412-mile (663km)

route For the first time in the

history of steam locomotion a

railway ordered engines intended

.34

.

Class F-2a 4-4-4

Canada:

Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), 1936

level track with these trains Above: : . 'loudofcoal Tractive effort: 26,: between Calgary and Edmonton
smoke, and towards the end of (12,000kg) ( 194 miles— 31 Okrr.
Test running showed that such its days, a Milwaukee Road Axle load: utes including 22 st
speeds could be maintained with class "F7" 4-8-4 sets forth Cylinders: international "Royu
(438 x 71 1mm) tween Toronto and Detrc::'
a load of 12 cars, a load of first appearance on the Hia- Driving wheels: miles — 366km — in 335 minutes
watha" trains in 941 1 , while steam 1 2,03?-: with 19 stops) and two others
550 tons, and this makes the did not finally disappear from the Heating surface: 2,£ between Montreal and Quebec
feat an even more remarkable "Twin Cities Hiawatha" until 1946. It was the sort of service for
one There are also reports The 4-4-2s held on two years Superheater: which a home-based British com-
of maximum speeds of 125mph longer on the Mid- West tram. pany might field a 100 to:
(200km/h) and it is a grea The last of both types were Steam pressure: JOOpsi with perhaps 25sq ft (2.3m2 ) of

that these cannot be authenti- withdrawn — after a period on k. : grate area, but these "small"
cated, since if true would be lesser workings or set aside — in
Grate area: 55 6sq ft (5 2m2) 4-4-4s weighed some 90 per
world records. One did occur 1951 It is a matter of considerable cent more than this and had a
in 1940 a speed-up and re- regret that none of these record- Fuel: : 0001b (1 fire-grate 120 per cent bigger
timing produced the historic fas- breaking steam locomotives has Water:
Even if it was a case where the
test start-to-stop run ever sched- been preserved, especially now Adhesive weight: . trans-Atlantic love of bigness
that the whole Milwaukee Road might have been misplaced, the
uled with steam power— 8 from Chicago to the Pacific is Total weight: 46 1,( "F-2a"s were certainly magnifi-
(130km/h) for the 78- 2 miles following them into oblivion. Length overall: 8 1 ft 2 ' cent. They had such sophisticated
(126km) from Sparta to Portage, features as mechanical stokers,
Wisconsin This was on the east- Even so, models and memories (24,762 mm) feed-water heaters and roller
bound "Morning Hiawatha", for keep these wonderful loco- bearings One feature that was
by now a second daily run in motives alive in the minds of those In 1 936 the Canadian Pacific important for operation in Canada
each direction was operated who admired them in their prime Railway introduced four trains was an all-weather insulated cab,
Also in 1940 came the "Mid-West which were announced as a able to provide comfortable con-
Hiawatha" from Chicago to Below: A builder's view o. High-Speed Local Service In ditions for the crew in a country
Omaha and Sioux Falls and it each case the formation consisted where the outside temperature
was to this train that the 4-4-2s the original "F7" class 4-8-4 of a mail/ express (parcels) car, a could easily drop to minus 40°F
gravitated, although one was supplied to the Chicago, baggage-buffet and two passen- ( -40°C), 72 Fahrenheit degrees
ger cars By North American
musually held reserve against a Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific standards they counted as light- of frost
weight, the weight being 200
4-6-4 failure on the Twin Cities mRailroad 1 938 for working tons for the four-coach tram :: ther series of similar and
Most American railroads would slightly smaller 4-4-4s, numbered
trains the "Hiawatha" expresses. have found some hand-me-down from 2901 to 2929, were built in
locomotives discarded from first- 1938, designated class "F-la"
Dieselisahon came gradually, line passenger service to work The second series was easily
diesel locomotives made their recognisable by the drive on to
them, but that was not the CPR the rear coupled axle, instead of
on to the front axle as with the
way. They ordered five new 4-4-4 "F-2a" Nos 2928 and 2929 of
steam locomotives, designated this later senes are preserved at
the "Jubilee" type, from the Mon- the National Railway Museum at
treal Locomotive Works to work Delson, Quebec, and (currently
but with future undecided) at
—these _ trains although spoken Steamtown, Bellows Falls, Ver-
mont, USA, respectively
of as streamlined, they are better
described as having a few corners Below: Class "F2a" 4-4-4 No.
3003 leaves Montreal with a
nicely rounded. Running num- "High-Speed Local Service".
bers were 3000 to 3004

The new services for which
this equipment was ordered com-

theWest

.

A 4 CIcISS 4-6-2 London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), 1935 (see fold-out, page 1 38)

Tractive effort: 4551b

Axle load: 49.5001b (22.5t).
Cylinders:

Driving wheels: 80in

Heating surface: 2,576sq ft

Superheater: 749sq ft (70m 2 )
Steam pressure: !50psi

Gratearea:i-;t:(3 8m2
).

Fuel: 18,001

Water: -S.OOOgall (6,000 US)

(23m 3 )

Adhesive weight: 148,0001b

Total weight: 370,0001b ( 1 70t)
Length overall: 7 1 ft Oin
(21,647mm)

If British railway enthusiasts were Above: Preserved "A4" class
to vote for one express passenger 4-6-2 No. 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley
locomotive that they considered with an enthusiast's tram.
to be the best, there is little doubt
that this one would be elected Right: An "A4" class 4-6-2
For one thing, it would be difficult bursts from Gas Works tunnel

to ignore the claims of the all-time shortly after leaving Kings Cross
holder of the world's speed re- station, London, for Scotland.
cord for steam locomotives.
covered at a speed above 100
The Class "A4" streamlined
4-6-2 came in direct descent mph (160km/h), those aboard
from the Class "Al" or "Flying
being sublimely unconscious of
Scotsman" 4-6-2s. The LNER the terror they were inspiring in

management had taken note of a the lively-sprung articulated car-
two-car German diesel train called
the "Flying Hamburger" which nages behind. Even so, three
in 1933 began running between days later "The Silver Jubilee"
Berlin and Hamburg at an aver- went into public service, achieving
age speed of 77 4mph ( 1 24km/h) an instant and remarkable suc-
for the 178 miles (285km) The cess. In spite of a supplementary
makers were approached with fare, the down run at 5.30 p.m.
from Kings Cross, with a first
the idea of having a similar train stop at Darlington, 2321/2 miles
to run the 268 miles (429km) (374km) in 198 minutes and due
between London and Newcastle, at Newcastle 9.30 p.m., was fully
but after an analysis had been booked night after night.

done and the many speed restric- The new locomotives did not

tions taken into account the best bristle with innovations like the
that could be promised was trains, but those they had were

63mph (102km/h), that is, 4 '4 important. The internal stream-
hours. The train was surprisingly lining and enlargement of the
steam passages from the regu-
expensive for two cars, as well lator valve to the blastpipe made
them particularly free-running,
On 5 March 1935, standard "A3 while extra firebox volume in the
form of a combustion chamber
4-6-2 (No 2750 Papyrus) showed helped steam production. Evoc-
what steam could do by making ative three-chime whistles gave

the run with a six-coach tram in distinction to the voice of the
230 minutes, thus demonstrating
that a four hour timing was "A4"s.

practicable The "A4"s were so good that
31 more were built between
In this way was born the 1936 and 1938, not only for two
more streamline trains ("Coron-
concept of a streamlined match- ation" and "West Riding Limited")
ing locomotive and tram to be
called "The Silver Jubilee". The Abut also for general service.

LNER Board authorised the pro- few were fitted with double blast-
pipes and chimneys and it was
ject on 28 March 1935 and the with one of these (No 4468 Mal-
lard) that on 4 July 1938, the
first of the four streamlined loco- world speed record for steam
motives No. 2509 Silver Link was traction was broken with a sus-
put into steam on 5 September. tained speed of 125mph (201
km/h), attained down the 1 in
The new train, bristling with 200 (0 5 per cent) of Stoke bank
innovations, was shown to the north of Peterborough. Driver
press on 27 September. Unkind Duddington needed full throttle
people might compare this with and 45 per cent cut-off and
the dynamometer car record
the recent gestation period of indicated that 126mph (203
British Railways' celebrated High km/h) was momentarily reached.
Speed Tram, not dissimilar in Equally impressive was an oc-
appearance, concept and in de- casion in 1940 when No.4901
gree to which it extended beyond Capercailhe ran 25 level miles
the bounds of current perform- (40km) north of York with 22
ance. This was six years not six

months.

On this press trip the British

speed record was broken with a
speed of 1 12^mph(180km/h)at
Sandy The locomotive rode su-
perbly and 25 miles (40km) were

136

"

No. 10000 4-6-4

Great Britain:
London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), 1930

Axle load: 47,0001b can make steam at higher pres-

Cylinders. HP: (2) 10 x 26in sures in various types of boiler
(254 x 660mm)
Cylinders, LP: (2) 20 x 26in made entirely of tubes and
(508 x 660mm) drums and Nigel Gresley held
Driving wheels: 80in discussions with Messrs Yarrow
of Glasgow to see if anything on
Heating surface: l,986sqft these lines could be adopted

Superheater: 3m1 40sq ft ( 1 2 A scheme for a four-cylinder
compound was evolved, with a
).
five-drum water-tube boiler
Steam pressure: 450psi
pressed to double the normal
(32kg/ cm2 pressure. There was a long steam
). drum at the top connected to two
pairs of lower water drums, by
Grate area: 35sq ft (3.25m 2 ) 694 small-diameter water tubes.
The two low-pressure outside
Fuel: 20,0001b (9t). cylinders and much of the outside
motion was standard with the
Water: 5,000gall (6,000 US)
"Al" class 4-6-2s. Two high-
(23m 3 ).
Adhesive weight: 140,0001b pressure inside cylinders were

coaches (730 tons) at an average Above: Class "A4" No.2510 (63 5t) close to the centre-line, their
Quicksilver when newm 1935. Total weight: 372,0001b ( 169t). valves were driven by a rocking
speed of 76mph (122km/h).
At first a distinction was made Note the footplate valences Length overall: 74ft 5in shaft from the outside Wal-
which were later removed. schaert's gear sets. The rocking
between the original "silver- (22,682mm) shafts had an arrangement de-
passenger locomotives, they were
painted" locomotives, those in never displaced from prime The tale of LNER No. 10000, the signed so that the valve travel of
workings, such as the London to
LNER green with bird names for "hush-hush" locomotive, is the the HP cylinders could be varied
Edinburgh non-stop "Eliza- story of a promising experiment
general service, and those in bethan", until the diesels came in which failed It was mounted in independently of the LP ones by
garter blue livery with Empire the early 1960s. The reliability a separate control The locomotive
names for the "Coronation" Also great secrecy— hence the name was built at the Darlington shops
in blue were Golden Fleece and problem — one senous weakness of the company
Golden Shuttle for the "West — and executed with consider-
Riding Limited" By 1938, blue was over-heating of the inside Once teething troubles had
had become the standard colour able flair and ability but, like so been overcome, No 10000
—large-end was resolutely tackled many attempts before and some worked from Gateshead shed
—and very nice it looked not only
and to a great extent solved afterwards, the principles laid for several years Alas, any fun-
on the streamlined trains but also Since the last "A4" was with-
down by Stephenson in North- damental saving in coal con-
with the varnished teak of or- drawn in 1966, six have been umbrian proved in the end to be sumption there may have been

dinary stock preserved — No 4498 Sir Nigel the victor. was swamped by extra costs of
It is a fundamental law of maintenance and loss of heat
After the war, dunng which Gresley, No.60009 Union of
the "A4"s had to cope with South Africa and No. 19 Bittern physics that the efficiency of a through small faults in design.
enormous loads and one (No privately; No.4468 Mallard is in
4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood) the National Railway Museum, heat engine is proportional to the Hence it was no surprise when in
was destroyed in an air raid on ratio between the upper and 1937 the "hush-hush" engine
York, they were renumbered 1 No 60010 Dominion of Canada lower temperatures reached by was rebuilt on the lines of an
to 34, later becoming British is in the Canadian Railway Mu- "A4" class streamliner, remaining
Railways Nos 60001 to 60034- In seum at Delson, Quebec, and —the "working fluid" in this case the sole member of Class "W 1
the famous locomotive exchange No 60008 DwightD. Eisenhower and the only 4-6-4 tender engine
trials of 1948, the "A4"s proved is in the USA at the Green Bay steam— during its working cycle
Railroad Museum, Wisconsin The upper temperature depends to run in Britain
to be substantially the most effi- Nos 4498 and 60009 currently on the working pressure as well
as the amount of superheat, if the Below: The London & North
cient of all the express engines perform on special trains, thereby pressure could be substantially "
giving a new generation of rail increased, then there would be a
tested, but their proneness to fans )ust a hint of what these gam in efficiency. Eastern Railways' "Hush-Hush
failure also showed up on three magnificent locomotives were like high-pressure compound 4-6-4
occasions dunng the trials Alas, the conventional locomo-
in their prime No. 10000 on a test run hauling
Although by no means the tive-type boiler is not suitable for the company's dynamometer car.

most recent LNER large express very high pressure — there are

too many flat surfaces, for one
thing Ships and power stations

Below, left: London & North Below: Class "A4"No.60024
Kingfisher. The locomotives of
Eastern Railway class "A4"
this class built ostensibly for
4-6-2 Empire of India one of the
"genera] service " were named
mbatch built 1937 to work the
after birds.
"Coronation " express.

The A4 Pacifies (see page 136)

Right: The A4 Class Dominion
of Canada as built in 1937 for

the "Coronation" express.
Note the Canadian Pacific

Railway whistle. A Canadian

mbell was fitted 1938 in front

of the chimney, but after an
occasion when it rang
throughout the journey it

was made inoperative.

138

141

A4The Pacifies ie 136)

Right: The A4 Class Dominion

mof Canada as built 1937 for

the "Coronation" express.

Note the Canadian Pacific

Railway whistle. A Canadian

m mbell was fitted 1 938 front

of the chimney, but after an
occasion when it rang

throughout the journey it

was made inoperative.

138

141

The Milwaukee Hiawathas (see page 1 34)

Linonopononra

zn

Below: One of the original Hiawatha "A" 1935 m order to power some matching steel sides without stiffening ribs. The

Class 4-4-2 locomotives of the Chicago, streamlined high-speed trains between sets of cars with longitudinal ribs as
Chicago and the two cities of St. Paul
Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. and Minneapolis. The profile of the depicted above came four years later,
original cars exactly corresponded with by which time other "Hiawatha " trains on
These magnificent oil-fired Atlantics the tender of the locomotive, having plain several routes had been introduced. All
of them are now just a memory
were built by the American Locomotive

Company, of Schenectady, New York, m

142

twm

143

c-

HIAWATHA

144

Above: The "Hiawatha" express as

running in 1 940. These expresses

were the fastest scheduled steam

trams ever to run, and the drawing

shows one of the then-new

streamlined "F7" Class 4-6-4s at the

head of a typical consist. Next to the

engine comes an express-tap car

(called a parcels/bar car in Britain),

then a day-coach (which would be

m dmmgpresent multiple), the car,

thepullman parlour car and the

pullman parlour-observation car.

145

Germanj

Class 05 4-6-4 German £ tate Railway (DR), 1935

Tractive effort: 32.7761b

Axle loa~<
Cylinde:

Driving wheels:

Heating surface: 2,750sq ft

Superheater: 976sq ft (90m2)
Steam pressure: 284psi

Grate area: 51 sq rn4 71m 2 )

Fuel: 2,0001b (lOt).
Water: 3.200gall (9,870 US)

Adhesive weight: 127,0001b

Total weight: 475,0641b (213t)
Length overall: 86ft 2in
(26,265mm)

In 1931 the general speed limit modation, and their immediate longer train of conventional Above: Class "05" locomotive
on the German railways was only popularity was a challenge to the coaches. It was calculated that a
62 miles per hour (lOOkm/hr) steam engineers to produce a steam locomotive and train hav- No. 05. 001, as built in streamline
locomotive which could attain ing a seating capacity of 50 per
but in that year the first of the similar speeds when hauling a mform, depicted on a run
high-speed diesel railcars was cent more could be built for half
March 1935 when the speed
introduced, with a maximum
record for steam was broken.
speed of 100 miles per hour
(160km/hr), and suddenly Ger-
many leapt from a backward
position in world rail speed to be
the world leader However, the
twin railcars had limited accom-

Dovregrubben Class 2-8-4 Norway:
Norwegian State Railways (NSB), 1935

Axle load: 34,0001b ( 1 5.5t). The 2-8-4 was a very unusual
Cylinders, HP: (2) 17^ x 25^m wheel arrangement outside the
(440 x 650mm).
Cylinders, LP: (2) 25^ x 27^in USA but the railways of Norway,
(650 x 700mm)
Driving wheels: 6 '4 in a surprisingly small country to be
(1,530mm) a builder of its own locomotives,
Heating surface: 2,742sq ft made it one of their principal
(255m 2 ) express locomotive types. Nor-
Superheater: l,092sqft way is a long thin mountainous
(101m 2 ). country measunng 1,150 miles
Steam pressure: 240psi (1,850km) from north to south
but only an average of 1 10 miles
:m2 ) (177km) wide The building of a
Grate area: 55.55sq ft (5m2). trunk line up the spine of the
country has been in progress for
Fuel: 1 8,0001b (8t) many years, the current terminus
Water: 6,000gall (7,200 US) being Bodo, 797 miles ( 1 ,282km)
(27m3). from Oslo. The southern half of
Adhesive weight: 138,0001b this line, the 345 miles (553km)
(62 5t)
Total weight: 334,0001b Right: Norwegian State
Railways "Dovregrubben"
Length overall: 72ft 2in (Dovre Giant) class 2-8-4
locomotive depicted when new.

146