4-6-2

Front of the locomotive to the left.
New Zealand’s Q class of 1901, the first true Pacific locomotive

In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading bogie, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. The first South African 4-6-2s were named the Karoo class, but a 4-6-2 locomotive subsequently became almost globally known as a Pacific type.[1][2]:69–71

Other equivalent classifications are:

Overview

The introduction of the 4-6-2 design in 1901 has been described as "a veritable milestone in locomotive progress".[3] On many railways worldwide, Pacific steam locomotives provided the motive power for express passenger trains throughout much of the early to mid-20th century, before either being superseded by larger types in the late 1940s and 1950s, or replaced by electric or diesel-electric locomotives during the 1950s and 1960s. Nevertheless, new Pacific designs continued to be built until the mid-1950s.

The type is generally considered to be an enlargement of the 4-4-2 Atlantic type, although its prototype had a direct relationship to the 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler and Prairie, effectively being a combination of the two types.[4] The success of the type can be attributed to a combination of its four-wheel leading truck which provided better stability at speed than a 2-6-2 Prairie, the six driving wheels which allowed for a larger boiler and the application of more tractive effort than the earlier 4-4-2 Atlantic, and the two-wheel trailing truck, used wisely on the New Zealand 2-6-2 Prairie of 1885, which permitted the firebox to be sited behind the high driving wheels, thereby allowing it to be both wide and deep, unlike the 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler which had either a narrow and deep firebox between the driving wheels or a wide and shallow one above.

The type is well-suited to high speed running. The world speed record for steam traction of 126 miles per hour (203 kilometres per hour) has been held by a British Pacific locomotive, the "Mallard", since 3 July 1938.

Development

The two earliest 4-6-2 locomotives, both created in the United States of America (USA), were experimental designs which were not perpetuated. In 1887 the Lehigh Valley Railroad experimented with a 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler design with a "Strong's patent firebox", a cylindrical device behind the cab which required an extension of the frame and the addition of two trailing wheels to support it. In 1889 the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway rebuilt a conventional 4-6-0 with trailing wheels as a means of reducing its axle load.[5]

In 1896 six Q class 4-6-2T tank locomotives were introduced on the Western Australian Government Railways.

The first true Pacific, designed as such with a large firebox, was ordered in 1901 by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NZR Chief Mechanical Engineer, A.L. Beattie, ordered thirteen new Q class locomotives with a sufficiently large firebox that would be able to efficiently burn poor grade lignite coal from eastern South Island mines. Even before Baldwin had completed the order from New Zealand, their engineers realised the advantages of the new type and incorporated it into their standard designs for other customers. The design was soon widely adopted by designers throughout the world.[3]

Origin of the name

There are different opinions concerning the origin of the name Pacific. The design was a natural enlargement of the existing Baldwin 4-4-2 Atlantic type, but the type name may also be in recognition of the fact that a New Zealand designer had first proposed it.[3] Another suggestion attributes it to the widespread use of the type on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the USA during the 1920s.[4]

In the Cape Colony in South Africa the first 4-6-2 locomotives, delivered from Kitson and Company in 1903, were designated the Karoo Class, from the region of the Cape Western System of the Cape Government Railways that they were designed to work in.[2]:69–71

Global popularity

The Pacific type was used on mainline railways around the world. The railways of New Zealand and Australia were the first in the world to run large numbers of Pacific locomotives, having introduced 4-6-2 types in 1901 and 1902 respectively and operating them until the 1960s.[3]

Builder's photograph of Altoona-built K5, #5698 (1929).

During the first half of the 20th century the Pacific rapidly became the predominant passenger steam power in North America. Between 1902 and 1930 about 6,800 locomotives of the type were built by North American manufacturers for service in the USA and Canada. With exported locomotives included, about 7,300 were built in total. About 45% of these were built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) which became the main builder of the type, and 28% by Baldwin. Large numbers were also used in South America, most of which were supplied by manufacturers in the United Kingdom (UK), the USA and Germany.[4]

Cape Government Railways "Enlarged Karoo" Class, SAR Class 5

Africa was the third continent upon which the Pacific was regularly used, following the introduction of the Karoo class on the Cape Government Railways in the Cape Colony in 1903. The earliest African examples were built in the UK by Kitson and Company.

The earliest examples of the Pacific in Europe were two French prototypes, introduced in 1907 and designed by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO) to overcome the insufficient power of their 4-4-2 Atlantics. Within a few weeks these were followed by a German Pacific type that, although already designed in 1905, only entered service in late 1907. The next was a British type, introduced in January 1908. By the outbreak of the First World War the type was being widely used on the railways of Continental Europe.

The Pacific type was introduced into Asia in 1907, the same year that it was first used in Europe. By the 1920s Pacifics were being used by many railways throughout the Asian continent.

In 1926, the Pacific gave its name to Arthur Honegger's orchestral work, Pacific 231 which successfully reflectively interprets the emotive sounds of a steam locomotive. (2-3-1 after the French system of counting axles rather than wheels.)

Tank locomotives

During the first two decades of the 20th century the Pacific wheel arrangement enjoyed limited popularity on tank locomotives. On a 4-6-2T locomotive the trailing wheels support the coal bunker rather than an enlarged firebox, and such a locomotive is therefore actually a tank engine version of the 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler tender locomotive. Indeed, many of the earliest examples were either rebuilt from tender locomotives or shared their basic design.

Around 1920 it became apparent to designers that the 4-6-2T wheel arrangement allowed a too limited bunker size for most purposes, with the result that most later designs of large suburban tank classes were of the 4-6-4T Hudson or 2-6-4T Adriatic wheel arrangement.

Lifespan

The LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado, built in 2008

The Pacific became the major express passenger locomotive type on many railways throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Examples were also built for fast freight and mixed traffic duties. However, due to the increasing weight of trains during the 1940s, larger developments of the type became necessary in the USA and elsewhere. The most notable of these was the 4-6-4 Hudson or Baltic type, which had a four-wheel trailing bogie that permitted an even larger firebox, albeit at a loss of some adhesive weight, and the 4-8-2 Mountain type which used an extra pair of driving wheels to deliver more tractive effort to the rails. Nevertheless, the Pacific type remained widely used on express passenger trains until the end of steam traction. The last examples were built in the UK and Japan in the mid-1950s. British Railways introduced its Standard class 6 and class 7 designs in 1951 and 1952, and the final UK design, the Standard Class 8, in 1954.[6]

However, the story of the 4-6-2 type did not end in the 1960s. One further main-line example of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1, 60163 Tornado, was completed at Darlington by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust in 2008. Designed to meet modern safety and certification standards, Tornado runs on the UK rail network and on mainline-connected heritage railways.[7]

Usage

Argentina

The Vulcan Foundry built twenty Pacific locomotives for the former Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGSR) in 1926, two of which still survive. A further single 12B class locomotive was built in 1930, and the 12K class of twelve Pacific locomotives was built for the BAGSR by Vulcan in 1938.[8]

Central Argentine Railway (Ferrocarril Central Argentino) PS11 class

In 1930 the Central Argentine Railway (Ferrocarril Central Argentino or FCCA) ordered twenty large three-cylinder PS11 class Pacific locomotives with Caprotti valve gear, which were at the time the most powerful locomotives on the FCCA. In 1939 one of these set up a South American speed record, averaging 65.7 miles per hour (105.7 kilometres per hour) on the "El Cordobes" express across the 188 miles (303 kilometres) non-stop run from Rosario to Buenos Aires, hauling a 500-ton train and at times attaining a maximum speed of nearly 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour).[9][10]

The Vulcan Foundry built a further fifty locomotives of a modernised PS12 class version of this design for the nationalised Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FCA) between 1950 and 1953.[10]

Australia

In Australia the first known example of the wheel arrangement was the Q class tank locomotive of the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR). The six 4-6-2T tank locomotives were introduced in 1896, but four of them were soon converted to a 4-6-4T Hudson configuration.

The WAGR was the largest user of Pacific tender types in Australia. In total, the WAGR operated at least 223 4-6-2 locomotives, acquired between 1902 and 1950, making it by far its most numerous wheel arrangement.

Western Australian Government Railways P class no. 508

The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Midland Railway of Western Australia, one of the longest-lived privately owned railways in Australia, followed the WAGR’s example by introducing five Pacific locomotives, built by Kitson and Company who used the Karoo design of the Cape Government Railways as basis.[13]:13

In the 1920s heavy Pacific locomotives were introduced by both South Australian Railways (SAR) and Victorian Railways (VR), in response to increasingly heavy passenger trains and the demand for faster services. Although similar in size, power and top speed, the designs reflected different approaches.

Victorian Railways S class
Victorian Railways Dde class, circa 1910

The VR also built a 4-6-2T tank locomotive class, the Dde class that was developed from a successful Dd class 4-6-0T design in 1908, intended for outer suburban passenger services in Melbourne.

The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Queensland Railways (QR) had two Pacific locomotive classes. Between 1926 and 1947 eighty-three B18¼ class 4-6-2s were introduced to haul mail trains. The prototype, built by QR’s Ipswich Workshops, began trial runs on 16 July 1926 and was followed by two batches of eight locomotives in 1927 and 1929. The last locomotive of this class was delivered in 1947.[15] In 1950 QR ordered thirty-five BB18¼ class locomotives from Vulcan Foundry, developed from the successful B18¼ class.[8] Another twenty were built by Walkers Limited of Maryborough between 1955 and 1958. Of these no. 1089 was the last main-line steam locomotive to be built in Australia.[16]

New South Wales Government Railways C38 class no. 3801

The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) introduced its C38 class for express passenger service in 1943. These two-cylinder Pacifics had a free-steaming 245 pounds per square inch (1,690 kilopascals) boiler and were renowned for their performance. Retired class leader no. 3801 has achieved considerable fame in preservation, with notable feats such as a transcontinental journey from Sydney to Perth in 1970.

The Tasmanian Government Railways owned fourteen Pacific locomotives. Four locomotives of class R (R1 to R4) were built for passenger trains by Perry Engineering in Adelaide. The final batch of ten Pacific locomotives of class M (M1 to M10) arrived in Tasmania in 1952, built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns in 1951, and were used on all trains on major lines in northern Tasmania.

Austria

ČSD no. 354.195, a Czechoslovakian version of the Austrian class 629

The only Pacific type to be built in Austria was the class 629 4-6-2T tank locomotive of the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways (kkStB), later the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB), of which ninety-five were built between 1913 and 1927.[17] This highly successful locomotive remained in service until 1975.[18]

The class 629 was later also produced and developed in Czechoslovakia as the class 354.1 of the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD). Between 1921 and 1941 219 of these locomotives were built there and, in addition, seventeen of the original Austrian class 629 locomotives were used there. They survived in service until 1978. Three examples have been preserved.[17] (Also see Czechoslovakia)

The Pacific tender locomotives that worked passenger services in Austria between 1938 and 1945 all belonged to the railways of other countries, such as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the Czechoslovak State Railways and the Yugoslav State Railways.

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) bought its first four-cylinder simple expansion Pacific type locomotive from John Cockerill of Belgium in 1912. It hauled express trains from Sofia to Svilengrad and was rebuilt in 1933.

In 1938 BDZ improved its express service between Sofia and Burgas and placed an order with Krupp in Germany for five three-cylinder Pacific type locomotives. Because of the disruption caused by the Second World War, the locomotives were only delivered to Bulgaria in 1941. They had 470 by 660 millimetres (19 by 26 inches) cylinders, 1,850 millimetres (73 inches) driving wheels and were capable of a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour). They were initially designated class 07.01 to 07.05, but in 1942 their classification was changed to 05.01 to 05.05. They all survived until the end of steam traction in Bulgaria in the 1980s. Unit 05.01 has since been restored and as of 2015 is in working order.[19][20][21][22]

Burma

Burma was administered as a province of British India from 1886 until 1937. In 1932 the Vulcan Foundry built three 4-6-2 locomotives of the YC class for the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge Burma Railways. Since most of Burma’s locomotive stock was destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II, Vulcan Foundry delivered sixty Pacific locomotives of the YB class in 1947, after the war.[8]

Canada

Canadian Pacific G3c class No. 2317

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) employed several Pacific classes, beginning with thirty-nine G1 class locomotives, built between 1906 and 1914 by the CPR at its Angus Workshops and by the Montreal Locomotive Works. After 1921, 166 examples of a new G2 class locomotive with a superheater were built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at Schenectady, Angus and Montreal. The last of these remained in service until 1961.

After the First World War the CPR needed heavier mixed traffic locomotives since steel passenger cars replaced the older wooden ones on its main lines. This resulted in the introduction in 1919 of twenty-three G3a class 4-6-2s with 75 inches (1,905 millimetres) driving wheels, built by Angus for service over flat terrain, and five G4 class locomotives with smaller 70 inches (1,778 millimetres) drivers, built by Montreal for hilly terrain. A further 152 G3 class locomotives were built in batches between 1926 and 1948. These locomotives were withdrawn from service between 1954 and 1965.

One hundred and two examples of the G5 class locomotive were built after 1944. The first two were built by Angus and the rest by Montreal and the Canadian Locomotive Company. They were considered fast, efficient and handsome locomotives and remained in service on many secondary lines of the CPR until the end of steam.[23]

Canadian National’s Pacific no. 593

The Reid-Newfoundland Company Limited, which operated the railways in Newfoundland, took delivery of ten Pacific locomotives with 42 inches (1,067 millimetres) drivers between 1920 and 1929, built by Baldwin, Montreal and ALCO Schenectady. Numbered 190 to 199, they had two 18 by 24 inches (457 by 610 millimetres) cylinders and weighed 56.3 tons. They all passed to the Government-owned Newfoundland Railway, and then to Canadian National Railways (CN) when Newfoundland joined the Confederation of Canada. CN renumbered them 591 to 599 and classified them as J-8-a (BLW 54398–54401 and 54466–54467 of 1920), J-8-b (BLW 59531 and MLW 67129, both of 1926) and J-8-c (ALCO-S 67941–67942 of 1929).[24]

They were the only Pacific type locomotives built to operate on 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) in North America. The only surviving Newfoundland steam locomotive, the Newfoundland Railway no. 193, later CN no. 593, is preserved and on display at the Humbermouth Historic Train Site in Newfoundland. (Also see Mexico)

China

The Japanese introduced several classes of Pacific locomotive during their occupation of Manchuria, but the "Pashiro" became the standard and was China's most numerous class of steam passenger locomotive. Between 1933 and 1944 around 272 were built for the South Manchuria Railway (SMR), the Manchurian National Railway and the railways of occupied North China. They were built by various Japanese builders, including Dalian and Sifang, while the SMR’s own workshops were also involved in the construction.

The Japanese-built "Pashina" locomotives were used on the Asia Express train between 1934 and 1943, during Japanese control of the SMR. These were built by Kawasaki and Dalian.

Chinese National Railway RM Class No. 1163 at Central Park, Aioi, Hyogo

The name "Shengli" (Victory) was used for all classes of Pacific inherited by the new China in 1951. The "Pashiro" became the Shengli 6 (SL6 class), while the "Pashina" locomotives were designated Shengli 7 (SL7 class) under Chinese ownership.

The Sifang works resumed production of SL6 class locomotives in 1956 and completed 151 locomotives before moving on to RM class construction in 1958. The inability of the class to haul the heavier passenger trains that were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s saw them progressively being re-allocated to secondary duties. By 1990, most of the survivors were concentrated in Manchuria at the Dashiqiao, Jilin and Baicheng depots.[25]

The RM class was China's last steam passenger design. It was a late 1950s development of the successful pre-war SL6 class Pacific and became the standard passenger class. The class, numbered RM 1001 to 1258, entered service in 1958 and a total of 258 were built before production ceased in 1966. In the 1970s they were gradually displaced from premier services by locomotives more suited to handling heavier trains, and they ended their service lives on secondary passenger duties.[26]

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakian 387.043 at the Lužná u Rakovníka Museum

Between 1926 and 1967 two Pacific tender locomotives classes were built in Czechoslovakia and operated by the Czechoslovak State Railways (Československé státní dráhy or ČSD). These were the ČSD Class 387.0 and Class 399.0 express passenger locomotives.

The 2100 horsepower Pacific Class 387.0 was the most successful of these, nicknamed "Mikádo" because of its short chimney. Between 1926 and 1937 forty-three were built in five series by the Škoda Works in Plzeň, intended for the heaviest long-distance express trains. This class is considered to have been among the most successful locomotives in Europe. The locomotives began to be withdrawn in 1967, with the last one being retired in 1974. One locomotive, no. 387.043, has been preserved.[27] (Also see Austria)

Egypt

Prior to 1954, the Egyptian State Railways used 4-4-2 Atlantic or 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler types on express passenger trains. However, in 1953 a requirement arose for a locomotive capable of hauling 550-tonne trains over the 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Cairo to Alexandria in two hours. These were originally going to be 4-6-4 Hudson locomotives, but the specification was eased to suit a 500-tonne train load, allowing a 4-6-2 type to be used.

They were ordered from Société Alsacienne (SACM) at Grafenstaden in France. The class was unusual in being designed for oil burning, with a long narrow firebox and combustion chamber fitted between the plate frames. They had a short lifespan in express train service, since the 1956 war put an end to fast train running in Egypt. The Pacifics were then transferred to haul slower night express trains to Luxor and Aswan. Some remained in service up to 1967.[28][29]

Ethiopia

The French-owned Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia, with 784 kilometres (487 miles) of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge trackage, had four Pacific type locomotives on its roster.

The first one was bought from Forges, Usines et Fonderies de Haine-Saint-Pierre in Belgium in 1923. This locomotive had been ordered by the Spanish railway Ferrocarril Madrid-Aragon in 1914, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, but it was never delivered for reasons unknown. The locomotive used saturated steam and had 1,250 millimetres (49 inches) driving wheels, which made it well suited to run the 473 kilometres (294 miles) between Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa in Ethiopia. (Also see Spain)

Three more similar Pacific locomotives, but superheated, were ordered in 1936. They arrived after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia and were allocated to the Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa sheds. They continued to haul passenger trains until the mainline diesels arrived in 1956, after which all were soon withdrawn from service and scrapped in the early 1960s.[30][31]

Finland

Twenty-two Pacific locomotives of the Class Hr1, numbers 1000 to 1021 and named "Ukko-Pekka" after the nickname of Finnish President Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, were constructed in Finland by Tampella and Lokomo between 1937 and 1957. They were the largest passenger locomotives to be built and used in Finland and remained the primary locomotives on express trains for Southern Finland until 1963, when the class Hr12 diesel locomotives took over.

A Finnish "Ukko-Pekka" class Hr1

The last two Class Hr1 locomotives to be built in 1957, numbers 1020 and 1021, Lokomo works numbers 474 and 475, were equipped throughout with SKF C-type roller bearings, even on the coupled rod big ends, and represented a fine combination of American and German locomotive building practices. They were, along with the Deutsche Bundesbahn class 10, the last new built Pacific type locomotives in Europe.

When tested after delivery from Lokomo or Tampella, each locomotive reached 140 kilometres per hour (87 miles per hour), but in everyday service their speed was limited to 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour). All the locomotives were initially located at Pasila depot in Helsinki, but in 1959 the last seven to be built were transferred to Kouvola depot.

By European standards, Class Hr1 locomotives ran high annual kilometre figures, between 125,000 and 140,000 kilometres (78,000 and 87,000 miles) per locomotive per year between 1937 and 1963. The two fully roller bearing equipped locomotives even exceeded the 150,000 kilometres (93,000 miles) mark in 1961, the highest annual kilometre figure to be obtained by a steam locomotive in Northern Europe. The only similar annual kilometres by European Pacific type locomotives were run in Germany, and by the roller-bearing equipped Peppercorn Class A1 locomotives of the London and North Eastern Railway in the UK.

At least twelve class Hr1 locomotives were preserved as at April 2008, of which two were in operational condition. These were number 1021, owned by the VR Group, and the privately owned number 1009. Number 1001 was reserved for the Railway Museum in Hyvinkää and number 1002 was reserved for the city of Helsinki, for a possible static monument.[32]

France

France was a major user of the 4-6-2 Pacific type. Following the introduction of two successful Paris à Orléans prototypes in 1907, a further 1362 Pacific locomotives were built for or acquired by the major French railway companies, including those acquired from Germany following the terms of the Armistice in 1918.[33]

Paris à Orléans 4546 at the Cité du train at Mulhouse

The Paris à Orléans ordered a further ninety-eight Pacific locomotives that were delivered between 1908 and 1910, and another eighty-nine in 1909 and 1910. Another fifty were ordered from the American Locomotive Company in 1921 and forty of the type TP-État were bought in 1923. The company was particularly famous for the "Chapelon Pacifics" of 1929 to 1932.

The L'Ouest followed with two prototype 4-6-2 locomotives in 1908, but did not continue with the Pacific type.

The Alsace-Lorraine built eight Pacific locomotives in 1909, at the time when the railway was still under German control. These became French locomotives in 1920.

The Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) was the largest French user of Pacific locomotives, owning 462, built between 1909 and 1932. These were both compound and simplex locomotives and were built with and without superheaters. Large numbers were later rebuilt to compounds or else to incorporate superheaters, by both the PLM and the state-owned Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF).

Nord E 41 at St-Pierre-des-Corps

The Nord built 139 Pacific locomotives from 1912, including the various so-called "Superpacific" types of 1923 to 1931. The company also ordered "Chapelon" type rebuilds from the Paris à Orléans in 1934, and new-built locomotives between 1936 and 1938.

L'État 231 G Ouest no. 558, preserved by the Pacific Vapeur Club

The L'État owned 352 Pacific locomotives, some of which were transferred from the Bavarian Railways and Württemberg Railways as Armistice reparations in 1918.

The Midi likewise owned altogether forty Pacific locomotives, acquired in three batches.

The eastern L'Est never built a 4-6-2, preferring its 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler types until it progressed straight to the much larger 4-8-2 Mountain type. The L'Est nevertheless bought Pacific locomotives to the designs of other companies, including forty TP-État type class 11 s locomotives between 1921 and 1923, and twelve class 12 s "Chapelon" rebuilds in 1934.

After nationalisation in 1938, the SNCF built no more Pacifics, although it continued to rebuild some of the existing stock running on lines already established by the private railway companies, particularly by continuing to apply the great improvements brought about by the work of André Chapelon.

Germany

Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways Class IVf

The first Pacific locomotive for a German railway was the Badische IVf class for the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen), designed by Maffei in 1905. However, due to manufacturing delays, the first three locomotives were not introduced until 1907, shortly after the first French Pacifics. They were four-cylinder compound locomotives of the Von Borries type. After the Maffei locomotives, a further thirty-two were built under license by Karlsruhe Engineering Works and delivered between 1907 and 1913.

Bavarian S 3/6 class, later Class 18.4-5 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn

However, the most successful early German Pacific class was the Bavarian S 3/6 class of the Royal Bavarian State Railways (Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen), designed by Anton Hammel and Heinrich Leppla of Maffei. This was a larger development of the Baden IVf class, with a four-cylinder compound arrangement. Altogether 159 of them were built between 1908 and 1931, with the last one being retired from ordinary service in 1969.

When the various pre-World War I Pacific locomotives from the different German state railway companies were grouped together by the Deutsche Reichsbahn as the Class 18 with seven sub-classes, the Baden Class IVf became the DRG 18.2 class while the Bavarian S 3/6 class became the DRG 18.4-5 class.[34]

Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 01, rebuilt in the early 1960s, at Schifferstadt

During the 1920s and 1930s the Deutsche Reichsbahn continued to build new Pacific designs, such as the Class 01.10 to Class 03.10 subclasses.[34]

In 1957 only two prototypes of the streamlined Class 10 were built by Krupp for the Deutsche Bundesbahn. They were nicknamed "Schwarze Schwäne" (Black Swans) and survived until 1968.[35]

Hungary

Hungarian 4-6-2 301.016

The Hungarian locomotive builder MÁVAG (Magyar Királyi Államvasutak Gépgyára) built several classes of 4-6-2 locomotives after 1914, both for the Hungarian State Railways (Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV) and for export elsewhere in Europe. MÁV Pacific number 301.016 has been preserved at the Hungarian Railway Heritage Park Museum in Budapest.

India

The earliest Indian 4-6-2 locomotives were two Class C locomotives, built for the narrow gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway by the North British Locomotive Company in 1914. Both were retired in 1976. From the mid-1920s until the 1970s the Pacific type became very common on both the broad gauge and narrow gauge lines in India.

Broad gauge

Indian XB class of 1927

In 1924 the Locomotive Standards Committee of the Indian Government recommended eight basic types of locomotive for use on the sub-continent, three of which were 4-6-2s. These were the XA class for branch line passenger working, the XB class for light passenger trains and the XC class for heavy passenger trains.[36] The Vulcan Foundry built large numbers of all these classes for the different Indian railways between the late 1920s and early 1930s, beginning with fourteen each for the East Indian Railway Company (EIR) and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) in 1927.[8]

In 1937 two XP class locomotives were built for the GIPR by Vulcan Foundry. These were experimental locomotives that formed the basis for India's renowned WP class, designed by Railway Board designers in India specifically to use low-calorie, high-ash Indian coal. The WP class was introduced after World War II and remained the most prestigious locomotive of the Indian Railways (IR) until the 1980s. A few reconditioned WP class locomotives were later sold to countries in the Middle East.[37]

There were also two WL classes. The first four locomotives, built in 1939 by Vulcan Foundry for the North Western Railway, went to Pakistan upon the India-Pakistan partition. A second Indian WL class was introduced in 1955 and ten of these locomotives were built by Vulcan Foundry.

Narrow gauge

The Bengal Nagpur Railway had a saturated C class, a superheated CS class, and a CC class comprising C class locomotives that had been converted from saturated to superheated steam.

SIR class YB 4-6-2 of 1928

The South India Railway (SIR) ordered six YB class and two XB class Pacific locomotives from the Vulcan Foundry in 1928.

The Mysore State Railway had the E, ES and ES/1 4-6-2 classes.

The Scindia State Railway had a class of eight NM class locomotives, built by W. G. Bagnall in 1931.

The only post-World War II 4-6-2s on narrow gauge Indian Railways were the five ZP class locomotives with six-wheel tenders, built by Nippon Sharyo in Japan in 1954.[38][39]

Indonesia

The earliest Pacific classes in Indonesia were the NISM 371 of the Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NISM), the private railway company that had opened the first railway line in Central Java in 1873, and the class C51 of the Staatsspoorwegen (State Railway). Both were built in 1910 by the North British Locomotive Company and Beyer, Peacock and Company respectively.

Four-cylinder Pacific of the Staatsspoorwegen on Java, circa 1922

Twenty class C53 locomotives were delivered to the Staatsspoorwegen in 1917 and 1922. They were designed by Dutch engineers and were manufactured in the Netherlands by the Nederlandse Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel (Werkspoor). The combination of a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement with four cylinders was expected to provide the stability required to haul express trains, but this was not achieved. There were complaints that the C53 locomotives oscillated when driven at high speed, while excessive wear on the rear driving wheels and the inaccessibility of the inside cylinders led to maintenance difficulties.

The majority of the class were scrapped by the Indonesian Railway soon after Indonesia’s independence. The last survivor was number C5317, which lasted until the final days of steam locomotives in Indonesia. During its last days in service before retirement, it was used to haul local passenger trains between Bangil and Surabaya Kota.

Iraq

When the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Baghdad Railway was nearing completion between Mosul and the town of Tel Kotchek on the border with Syria, the Iraqi State Railways ordered four streamlined Pacific locomotives from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns in the United Kingdom, to haul the international Taurus Express between Istanbul in Turkey and Baghdad in Iraq on the Iraqi stage of its journey.[40]

Three were delivered in 1941 and designated the PC class, but the fourth was lost en route. When the Iraqi standard gauge railways were dieselised in the 1960s, the class was withdrawn from service.[28]

Italy

Italian Class 691 no. 022 at Milan

Between 1911 and 1914 thirty-three Pacific locomotives of the 690 class were built for the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railways), twenty by Breda in Milan, ten by Ansaldo in Genoa and three by Officine Meccaniche in Milan.

Between 1928 and 1931 these locomotives were rebuilt with larger boilers and reclassified as Class 691. One of them, no. 691.011, established the Italian speed record for steam locomotives at 150 kilometres per hour (93 miles per hour).

The whole class was withdrawn between 1962 and 1963. One locomotive, no. 691.022, has been preserved at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia di Milano (National Museum of Science and Technology of Milan).

Japan

Japanese Government Railways C51 class C51201 on 7 June 1940

The Japanese Government Railways built a number of 4-6-2 designs between 1920 and the 1950s. The most notable was possibly the C51 class, the first Japanese-built high-speed passenger locomotive, used for express services on the Tōkaidō main line and later on regional trunk lines. Five of these locomotives were built in 1920.[41]

Other Japanese Pacific designs included the C52 class, built from 1926 to 1929, the C53 and C54 classes that were both built in 1935, the C55 class, the C57 class, built from 1937 to 1953, and the C59 class.

The C57 Class, of which 135 were built by Kawasaki, Kisha Seizō, Mitsubishi and Hitachi, was the JNR's last steam locomotive and was used until 1975 to work passenger trains on the Muroran main Line between Iwamizawa and Muroran in Hokkaido.

Malawi

The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Nyasaland Railways (the Malawi Railways after independence) obtained six Class F Pacific type locomotives from the British War Department in 1946, to work on the Trans-Zambesi Railway (TZR). The locomotives had been built by the North British Locomotive Company in 1942 and were numbered TZR 25 to 30. All six were still in service on the Malawi Railways in 1973.[30]

Malaya

The 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge Malayan Railway was amongst the earliest railways in Asia to adopt Pacific type locomotives. Sixty locomotives of the Federated Malay States Railways (FMSR) Class H were built between 1907 and 1914. With a small volume of highly rated freight traffic, it was possible to adopt standard engines for both passenger and freight services. Three coupled axles were sufficient to move the trains at moderate speeds over the whole Malayan rail network.

As a result of experience gained with the first batch of 4-6-2 locomotives, the design of Malayan Pacific locomotives was finalised and sixty-eight engines of this design were eventually built. They had bar frames, steel fireboxes and three cylinders, each of 13 by 24 inches (330 by 610 millimetres). The driving wheels were 54 inches (1,372 millimetres) in diameter. The heating surface of the boiler was 1,109 square feet (103 square metres), of which 218 square feet (20.3 square metres) was superheating surface, while the grate area was 27 square feet (2.5 square metres). The total weight in working order was 60.5 tons, with a maximum axle load of 12.9 tons. Its maximum speed in ordinary service was 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres per hour). The three cylinders were provided with rotary cam poppet valves with the camshaft divided into two parts, independently driven from each side of the engine, which avoided complete immobilisation in case of a breakdown on a long stretch of single track. These locomotives were all later converted to burn oil fuel.

During World War II, after the fall of Singapore, the Japanese Southern Army’s Railway Engineering Troops transferred a number of older Malayan Pacific locomotives to operate their 471 kilometres (293 miles) Taimen Rensetsu Tetsudo, the Thailand-Burma Railway. Some Pacifics were not returned to Malaya after the war but remained in Thailand. When the rail connection was established between the Malayan and Thai railways, the Pacifics were a common sight at the head of the "Singapore" and "Bangkok" expresses as well as on the other passenger trains in domestic Malayan service.

After the arrival of the mainline diesel-electric locomotives in the latter part of the 1950s, the Pacifics were transferred to less important trains. Many survived up the end of Malayan steam traction in the 1970s.

Mexico

The Canadian National Railway (CN) sold a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Pacific locomotive, the former CN number 591, to Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, where it was numbered 139. (Also see Canada)

Mozambique

The Caminhos de Ferro de Lourenço Marques in Portuguese Mozambique ordered its first three class 300 Pacific locomotives from Baldwin in 1919. They hauled passenger trains on the 88 kilometres (55 miles) line between Lourenço Marques (Maputo) and Ressano Garcia, and also crossed the South African border at Komatipoort in South Africa, 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Lourenço Marques, where South African Railways locomotives took over for the rest of the way to Pretoria. Two more locomotives were added in 1923, and a further order for four additional Pacific locomotives was placed with Henschel in 1955, for use on the Beira-Machipanda line.[30][42][43]

Henschel also supplied three more modern Pacific type locomotives to Mozambique in 1955. These Henschel Pacifics weighed 73.75 tons in working order while its total weight, tender included, was 128 tons. The firegrate area was 3.8 square metres (40.9 square feet) and it had 480 by 660 millimetres (18.90 by 25.98 inches) cylinders and 1,524 millimetres (60.0 inches) diameter driving wheels. These locomotives were good examples of Pacific type 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) passenger locomotives in Southern Africa.[44]

When they arrived, their older American-built counterparts were relieved of mainline duty to haul the Lourenço Marques local suburban services. All the Pacifics were allocated to the Lourenço Marques shed for the whole of their service lives and all were still in service in 1971.

New Zealand

The first true Pacifics, the original thirteen Q class 4-6-2 locomotives built by Baldwin for the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) in 1901, worked until withdrawal in 1957. None has been preserved.[3]

These were followed by fifty-eight Pacific locomotives of the A class, built in 1906 by the NZR’s Addington Railway Workshops and by A & G Price Limited. Two of these have been preserved. A further ten locomotives of the AA class were built by Baldwin in 1914.

AB class no. 778 on the Kingston Flyer

The most notable 4-6-2 class in New Zealand was the AB class, built between 1915 and 1927 by Addington, Price and the North British Locomotive Company in Scotland. These were reputed to be the first locomotives to generate one horsepower for every 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of weight and eventually became the most numerous class of steam locomotives in New Zealand, with a total of 143 built, and a further 12 rebuilt from WAB class Hudson tanks. When they were superseded by new locomotives on the principal express and heaviest freight trains during the 1930s, they were utilised on secondary duties. The AB class locomotives remained in service until 1969, two years before the end of steam locomotive operations in New Zealand. As a result, seven of them have been preserved.

One further 4-6-2 type was the G class. These were six three-cylinder Pacific locomotives that were rebuilt from three unsuccessful G class 4-6-2+2-6-4 Garratt locomotives by NZR’s Hillside Workshops in 1937. They were equipped with AB class boilers, new roller bearing trailing trucks, new cabs and Vanderbilt type tenders of similar design to that of the AB class. Like the Garratts they were created from, the rebuilds were not considered successful.[45]

In 1960 Ted Blomfield, locomotive fitter at Rotorua, New Zealand, built a "Super Q" Pacific for the 1 foot gauge "Toot and Whistle Railway". The engine operated at Toot and Whistle's Kuirau park railway for six years before officialdom demanded the locomotive be retired. It was replaced by a Black Five replica. Another "Super Q" exists as a 5 inch-gauge engine.

Nigeria

Between 1926 and 1928 the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Nigerian Railways ordered ten Class 405 Pacifics from Nasmyth, Wilson & Company in Manchester, for express services on the 1,126 kilometres (700 miles) line between Lagos and Kano. They used saturated steam and had 18 by 26 inches (457 by 660 millimetres) outside cylinders and 60 inches (1,524 millimetres) diameter driving wheels. All ten were named and they hauled named trains like the "North Mail" and "Boat Express", both averaging only 35 kilometres per hour (22 miles per hour) between stops. They were ousted from principal passenger trains when the first mainline diesel locomotives arrived, but continued working less important secondary train services well into the 1970s.[46][47]

Philippines

The Manila Railroad Company (MRR) operated ten three-cylinder simple expansion Pacific locomotives, built in the United States of America by Baldwin in 1926, 1927 and 1929. They were numbered 141 to 150 and worked the main express trains out of Manila. These were amongst the finest looking modern 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) locomotives to appear in Asia. All were presumably destroyed during the 1944 and 1945 battles on Luzon during the Second World War.[48]

Poland

In the Polish State Railways (Polskie Koleje Państwowe or PKP) locomotive classification system, locomotives with a 2C1 (4-6-2 ) axle arrangement were identified with the letter "m" in the class prefix. Express locomotives therefore had a "Pm" prefix, passenger locomotives an "Om" prefix and tank passenger locomotives an "OKm" prefix.

Pm36-2 Beautiful Helene in Poznań

The PKP class Pm36 consisted of two experimental Polish prototype express locomotives, built by Fablok of Chrzanów in 1937. One of them, no. Pm36-1, was streamlined, while the other had a standard appearance in order to compare their respective performances in terms of top speed, acceleration, coal and water consumption.

The Pm36-1 won a gold medal at the International Exposition of Modern Art and Technology in Paris in 1937. It was damaged and later scrapped during World War II, but Pm36-2 survived and worked on the PKP until 1965, when it was given to the Warsaw Railway Museum. In 1995 it was rebuilt and restored to mainline specifications and nicknamed Beautiful Helene. As of 2011, while still remaining museum property, the locomotive was in regular service at Wolsztyn.

Besides these two Polish-built locomotives, several German DRG class 03, class 0310 and class 181 (ex Württemberg Class C) locomotives and Austrian class 629 tank locomotives saw service in Poland as the classes Pm2, Pm3, Om101 and OKm11 respectively.[49] (Also see Germany) and (Austria)

One 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow gauge Pacific locomotive, the Belgijka, built in 1935 by Ateliers Métallurgiques in Nivelles and Tubize in Belgium, was also used in Poland and is preserved at the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja, Poland.[50]

Portugal

The Portuguese Railways (Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses or CP) had two batches of Pacific 2C1-h2 class locomotives running on its 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in) broad gauge lines, built by Henschel & Son in 1924 and 1925. The first batch of ten locomotives, numbered 551 to 560, were used on lines south of the river Tagus, while the second batch of eight, numbered 501 to 508, were built for the Porto line north of the Tagus. Both Pacific classes had deep and narrow fireboxes and the same cylinders, driving wheels, and motion as the 4-6-0 Ten-wheelers of the class CP 351 to 370.[43][51]

The Pacifics were capable of very fast running. Before World War II the CP was renowned for the speed of its trains. The track was carefully maintained, laid with 45 kilograms per metre (91 pounds per yard) rails, and the speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour) was frequently reached with steam locomotives.

In normal service, these engines could haul 400 tons behind the tender at 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour) on level track. In 1939 a four-coach train weighing 170 tons, hauled by a Pacific locomotive of the class 501-508, covered the 343 kilometres (213 miles) from Porto to Lisbon-Campolide in 189 minutes, at an average speed of 107.8 kilometres per hour (67 miles per hour), with stops at Papilhosa and Entroncamento. A distance of 100 kilometres (62 miles) of slightly falling, level or slightly rising gradient could be covered at speeds of 140 to 145 kilometres per hour (87 to 90 miles per hour), while station stops lasting less than a minute were frequent.

These locomotives began to be replaced by diesels in the 1960s and disappeared from the scene in the early 1970s. One of the Pacific locomotives, no. 553, is preserved at the Santarém depot museum.[52]

Russia/Soviet Union

Pacifics were not common in Russia. The only known examples were the four-cylinder L class express passenger locomotives, built by the Putilov Works at Saint Petersburg for the Vladikavkaz private railroad in 1914. The chief designer was Vazlav Lopushinskii, who later emigrated from Soviet Russia. These locomotives were the most powerful passenger locomotives in Tsarist Russia. Eighteen locomotives were built between 1914 and 1919, allocated to the Rostov-on-Don, Tihoretskaya, Kavkazkaya, Armavir and Mineralnye Vody depots. They hauled principal express and heavy passenger trains between Rostov-on-Don and Vladikavkaz, a distance of 698 kilometres (434 miles). All were oil fired.

After the October Revolution, a further forty-eight L class locomotives were built at Putilov Works between 1922 and 1926. At first these coal fired locomotives were allocated to the October Railway to haul principal passenger trains over a distance of 650 kilometres (400 miles) of double track line between the two largest cities in Soviet Russia, Moscow and Leningrad. At the time train speeds in Soviet Russia were slow and the fastest train took fourteen hours and thirty minutes between the two cities. The trains, which were running four return workings daily, were rather heavy with train loads often exceeding 700 metric tons behind the tender. In 1936 the express trains were running at an average speed of 65 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) with four intermediate stops between these cities. Locomotives were usually changed at Tver.

A Russian Lp class 4-6-2 of 1914

When the production of the heavier 2-8-4 Berkshire class IS "Joseph Stalin" got under way in 1937, the Pacifics were modified from coal to oil firing and transferred to join other older locomotives on the North Caucasus lines, from where they worked as far south as to Baku. In 1941 seventeen locomotives were allocated to the North Caucasus Railway, twenty-nine to the Transcaucasus Railway and six to the Orenburg Railway. In 1942, during the German summer invasion into North Caucasus, all the class L Pacifics were evacuated from there to the Transcaucasus Railway. After World War II, in 1947, they were designated Lp class and were relieved from heavier duties. A number were withdrawn from service between 1956 and 1959. The last one, Lp class no. 151, was retired from Grozny depot in 1967.

In 1945 thirty-four Pacific locomotives of the Deutsche Reichsbahn’s Class 03 and two streamlined Class 03.10 Pacific locomotives fell into Russian hands in East Prussia. They were regauged to 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge and allocated to the Lithuanian Railways, where they hauled express and passenger trains from Vilnius to Kaliningrad (Königsberg) and to Minsk. The last ones were withdrawn from service in 1957.[53]

South Africa

Cape gauge

Natal Government Railways
Havelock as Hairy Mary, c. 1898

The first use of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement in South Africa was c. 1890. During 1887 designs for a 2-8-2 Mikado type tank-and-tender locomotive was prepared by the Natal Government Railways (NGR). The locomotive was built in the Durban workshops and entered service in 1888, named Havelock, but it was soon rebuilt to a 4-6-2 Pacific configuration. Havelock was the first locomotive to be designed and built in South Africa. During the South African War Havelock saw action in service on armoured trains. Unlike usual practice in such cases, the engine was not equipped with armour plate protection, but was draped in strands of thick hemp rope that earned it the apt nickname Hairy Mary amongst the troops.[2]

Ex NGR Class K&S, SAR Class C1

In 1901 the NGR rebuilt one of its Class K&S 4-6-0T tank locomotives to a 4-6-2T locomotive, in order to extend its range by providing a larger bunker. In 1912, when it was assimilated into the South African Railways (SAR), it was designated Class C1. In that same year four more of these locomotives were built from surplus material in the SAR’s Durban workshops.[2]:88–89[54]:28–29

No more tank locomotives with this wheel arrangement saw use on 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge in South Africa. Two Class 2 variants were introduced on the NGR between 1905 and 1910.

Ex NGR Class Hendrie A, SAR Class 2
Cape Government Railways

The first locomotives with a Pacific wheel arrangement in the Cape were two tank locomotives that entered service in 1896 on the private Metropolitan and Suburban Railway that operated a suburban passenger service between Cape Town and Sea Point. In 1901 both locomotives were sold to the Mashonaland Railway.[2]:76–77

Three Class 5 and one experimental Karoo tender locomotive variants were introduced on the Cape Government Railways (CGR) between 1903 and 1912.

Ex CGR Karoo Class, SAR Class 5A
Central South African Railways
Ex CSAR Class 9 no. 600, SAR no. 727

Five Class 9 Pacific passenger locomotives, designed by P.A. Hyde, the first Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the Central South African Railways (CSAR), were delivered from Vulcan Foundry in 1904. They had bar frames, Stephenson valve gear and used saturated steam, and proved very useful for passenger work with moderate loads, working the mail trains from Johannesburg to Durban as far as Charlestown on the Transvaal-Natal border for many years. On the SAR they retained their Class 9 classification.[2]:128–129[13]:8[54]:51

Five Class 10 variants were introduced between 1904 and 1910.

Ex CSAR Class 10 no. 656, SAR no. 738
South African Railways

Seven Class 16 variants were introduced on the South African Railways (SAR) between 1914 and 1935.

SAR Class 16 no. 800, circa 1930
Class 16B No. 805 restored to its as-delivered appearance
Class 16D no. 860
Class 16E No. 858

Narrow gauge

In 1906 two small 4-6-2T side-tank locomotives, designed by Hendrie and built by Hunslet, entered service on the 2 ft (610 mm) Estcourt – Weenen narrow gauge line of the NGR. They had outside plate frames and used Walschaerts valve gear. They were commonly known as Hunslet Side Tanks since all narrow gauge locomotives on the NGR were designated Class N. Although they came onto the SAR roster in 1912, they were never classified since they were sold to the Moçâmedes Railway in Portuguese West Africa in 1915, long before a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was introduced by the SAR somewhere between 1928 and 1930.[54]:110–111[57]

Ex NGR Hawthorn Leslie, SAR Class NG3

In 1907 the NGR placed another six 4-6-2T tank locomotives in service, designed by Hendrie based on his Hunslet Side Tank. Built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company, they also had outside plate frames and used Walschaerts valve gear. They were commonly known as the Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks and were acquired specifically for the new narrow gauge Donnybrook-Esperanza Railway in Natal. They came onto the SAR roster in 1912 and were later classified as Class NG3.[54]:101–102, 110

In 1908, two Pacific tank locomotives with bar frames and Walschaerts valve gear, built by Bagnall, entered service on the narrow gauge Walmer Branch of the CGR in Port Elizabeth. They came onto the SAR roster in 1912 and remained in service until the Walmer branch was closed in 1929.[54]:113

In 1911, shortly before being amalgamated into the SAR, the NGR placed the first two of seven 4-6-2T narrow gauge tank locomotives in service, built by Kerr, Stuart and Company using the Hawthorn Leslie drawings for the Class NG3. Two more followed in 1913 and another three in 1914, also from Kerr, Stuart. While virtually identical to the Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks, their boiler pitch had been raised 3 inches (76 millimetres) to make a larger firebox possible. They also had higher side tanks and less ornate sand boxes on top of the boiler. Between 1928 and 1930 they were all classified as Class NG4.[54]:101–102, 110

SAR Class NG10 no. NG62, circa 1930

In 1916 the SAR ordered six narrow gauge Pacific tender locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works. They had outside bar frames and Walschaerts valve gear and became popularly known as the "Sixties", based on their running number range. Typically American in appearance, with an ornate chimney cap and steam dome as well as a separate running number on a disk on the front of the smokebox door, they were the only narrow gauge Pacific tender locomotives to see service on the SAR. Later designated Class NG10, they were placed in service on the Langkloof line between Port Elizabeth and Avontuur in the Eastern Cape, where they spent most of their working lives. In 1948 two of them were transferred to South West Africa (SWA). All six were withdrawn from service by 1962 as a direct result of the widening of the narrow gauge lines in SWA to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).[54]:104–105, 110

Spain

A Pacific locomotive was ordered by the Ferrocarril Madrid-Aragon from Forges, Usines et Fonderies de Haine-Saint-Pierre in Belgium in 1914, but was not delivered, presumably due to the disruption to trade caused by the First World War. The locomotive was eventually sold to the French-owned Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia in 1923. (Also see Ethiopia)

In 1958 the Ferrocarril La Robla purchased four vintage 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge Pacific locomotives from the Tunisian Railways. These had been built in 1914 by Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM). They were numbered 181 to 185 and were scrapped in the early 1970s after serving in Spain for more than ten years.[58] (Also see Tunisia)

Sweden

SJ Class F

In 1913 the Swedish State Railways (Statens Järnvägar or SJ) ordered eleven four-cylinder compound Pacific type locomotives from Nydqvist & Holm (NOHAB) for the Stockholm-Malmö heavy express train service. They had 1,880 millimetres (74 inches) driving wheels with two 420 by 660 millimetres (17 by 26 inches) and two 630 by 660 millimetres (25 by 26 inches) cylinders. They were designated the SJ class F, numbered from 1200 to 1209 and 1271.

The locomotives were limited to a maximum speed of 90 kilometres per hour (56 miles per hour). They hauled express trains on this southern mainline until the electrification of the Stockholm-Malmö line in 1933. The SJ then tried them on the Gothenburg non-electrified section, but they were not a success on this line which was also due to be electrified. They were then all sold to the neighbouring Danish State Railways (DSB) in 1937.

After they were withdrawn from service in Denmark, DSB no. 964 (ex SJ no. 1200) was presented to the Swedish Railway Museum at Gävle in 1964, while DSB no. 966 (ex SJ no. 1202) was presented to SJ AB by the Danish Railway Museum in 1999, to haul heritage trains.[59]

Taiwan

The first Pacific type locomotives appeared in Formosa (now Taiwan) in 1912 when ALCO-Rogers delivered three locomotives that were derived from the Japanese Government Railways type 8900. They were numbered from 200 to 202. One more locomotive, number 203, was delivered in 1913. They hauled the most important passenger express trains between Taihoku and Takao.

In 1935 five more locomotives of the Japanese Government Railways Class 55 were added, numbered 551 to 555, and in 1938 four more were delivered, numbered 556 to 559.

Hitachi delivered eight more Japanese Class 57 locomotives, presumably as war reparations, to the Taiwan Railway Administration. These were the last Pacific type locomotives to arrive in Taiwan under the Chiang Kai-shek administration.

Thailand

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) imported 30 Pacific type locomotives from Japan in 1945/46, numbered 821 to 850. Two of them, 824 and 850, are still in service in 2014 for special nostalgic trips.

Tunisia

Standard gauge

In 1914 the Tunisian Chemins de fer Bône-Guelma placed five 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Pacific locomotives in service at Tunis, built by Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM). They were numbered 181 to 185, later to be renumbered to Tunisian Railways (Société Nationale de Chemins de Fer Tunisiens) numbers 231.181 to 231.185. A further four were supplied in 1923 and three more in 1938, also built by SACM. They worked the 211 kilometres (131 miles) line from Tunis to Ghardimaou on the Algerian border, hauling the Tunis-Algiers direct express trains. They also worked some semi-fast passenger trains on the 98 kilometres (61 miles) line between Tunis and Bizerta.

They hauled all principal express and passenger trains between Tunis Ville and Ghardimaou until 1951, when the new mainline diesels relegated them to secondary trains. All were withdrawn from service during 1954 and 1955.

Metre gauge

Also in 1914, the Chemins de fer Bône-Guelma ordered five 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge locomotives from SACM. The engine weight in working order was 56.6 metric tonnes, with driving wheels of 1,500 millimetres (59 inches) diameter and two 465 by 610 millimetres (18.3 by 24.0 inches) cylinders.

They were considered very successful and Tunisian Railways ordered three more in 1928. These were used on the 149 kilometres (93 miles) mainline south from Tunis to Sousse and the 279 kilometres (173 miles) line to Sfax. Between World War I and World War II they were renowned for providing the fastest metre gauge service in the world, and speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour (62 miles per hour) were common in ordinary service.

Metre gauge Pacific No. 231.808

When the Tunisian Railways dieselised between 1951 and 1955, these locomotives were withdrawn from service and placed in staging, even though as late as in 1952 they still regularly achieved speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour). In 1958 numbers 231.801, 231.805, 231.807 and 231.808 were sold to the Ferrocarril La Robla in Spain. Those which remained in Tunisia were scrapped in 1959.[58] (Also see Spain)

United Kingdom

Tender locomotives

GWR 4-6-2 no.111, "The Great Bear"

Prior to the 1923 Grouping only five 4-6-2 locomotives had been built in the United Kingdom (UK). The first of these was no. 111, "The Great Bear", introduced by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1908. This was an experimental locomotive which proved to be more powerful than the railway's requirements and also too heavy for much of its infrastructure. As a result, it was scrapped in 1924 and many of the parts were used to build a GWR 4073 Castle Class 4-6-0 locomotive.

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) each built two Pacific types in 1922, later to become the Classes A1/A3 and A2 on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Further examples of these two classes were built by the LNER after 1923.

LNER Class A3 4472, the "Flying Scotsman"

The GNR Class A1, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and later rebuilt into the improved Class A3, featured three cylinders and an innovative conjugated valve gear. The class eventually consisted of seventy-nine locomotives. After initial teething problems, it proved to be an excellent design and one of them, the "Flying Scotsman", was the first British locomotive to be officially recorded as reaching 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour).

The LNER Class A4 "Mallard", holder of the world speed record for steam traction.

This speed was surpassed by the streamlined LNER Class A4 of 1935, when no. 2509 "Silver Link" reached 112 miles per hour (180 kilometres per hour) on its inaugural run in 1935. Three years later, on 3 July 1938, no. 4468 "Mallard" touched 126 miles per hour (203 kilometres per hour), which is still the world speed record for steam traction. Thirty-five locomotives of the class were built by 1938.

A further eighty-nine Pacific locomotives of the Peppercorn Class A1, Thompson Class A1/1, Peppercorn Class A2, Thompson Class A2/1, Thompson Class A2/2 and Thompson Class A2/3 were either built or rebuilt for the LNER by Edward Thompson and Arthur Peppercorn, although many actually only appeared in the British Railways (BR) era after 1948. In 2008 one further locomotive of the Peppercorn Class A1 design, the 60163 Tornado, was built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.[7]

LMS Princess Royal Class "Princess Elizabeth"

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) introduced its twelve Princess Royal Class Pacific locomotives in 1933 and then enlarged the design with the streamlined Princess Coronation Class of 1937. Thirty-seven locomotives of the Coronation Class were built by 1947, with one more appearing in 1948 in the BR era. Coronation no. 6220, the first of the class, reached 114 miles per hour (183 kilometres per hour) on 29 June 1937 and briefly held the British speed record for steam traction, until it was bettered by the LNER "Mallard" a year later. The LMS Princess Royal Class was also used as the basis for an unusual experimental locomotive, the Turbomotive, which used turbines instead of cylinders.[60]

Battle of Britain class 34072 "257 Squadron"

During World War II the Southern Railway (SR) introduced two classes of Pacific designed by New Zealander Oliver Bulleid. These were the Merchant Navy Class and the West Country and Battle of Britain Class. These two classes continued to be built in the BR era and eventually totaled thirty Merchant Navy Class locomotives and one hundred and ten West Country and Battle of Britain Class locomotives.

The fifty-five BR Standard Class 7 Britannia Pacific locomotives, introduced in 1951, were of a simple expansion two-cylinder design with Walschaerts valve gear. Their conservative design reflected a requirement for a more cost-effective, lower maintenance locomotive. Ten locomotives of a lighter version, the BR Standard Class 6, were introduced in 1952.

BR standard class 8 "Duke of Gloucester"

The final Pacific design in the UK was the BR Standard Class 8 no. 71000 "Duke of Gloucester", of which only one was built in 1954. It had many parts in common with the Britannias, but had three cylinders and Caprotti valve gear. It is at the time of this writing, a test-bed of sorts, still being further developed with improved efficiency and power as the stated goal.[61]

Tank locomotives

Four 4-6-2T tank locomotive designs were introduced in the UK during 1910 and 1911. Charles Bowen-Cooke of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) introduced his Prince of Wales Tank Class in 1910. It was a tank locomotive version of his successful 4-6-0 Prince of Wales Class. Forty-seven were built for suburban services out of Euston station.

In the same year the NER Class Y, designed by Wilson Worsdell and later to become the LNER Class A7, was introduced by Worsdell’s successor for hauling coal trains. It had been developed from the NER Class X 4-8-0T heavy shunters, later the LNER Class T1.

LB&SCR class J1 of 1910

Also in 1910, D. E. Marsh of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) designed an entirely new J1 class 4-6-2T locomotive for London to Brighton express trains. Only one was built before his successor, Lawson Billinton, altered the design to create the J2 class.

The most successful and longest surviving British 4-6-2T class was the 9N class, later the LNER A5 class, of the Great Central Railway (GCR), introduced in 1911. It was designed by John G. Robinson and the last of the class survived until 1961. Four batches were built between 1911 and 1923 and a fifth batch was ordered by the LNER in 1926.

Another 4-6-2T tank class, the Caledonian Railway 944 Class designed by William Pickersgill, appeared in 1917 with twelve locomotives built by North British Locomotive Company. They were nicknamed the "Wemyss Bay Pugs" since several of the class were allocated to do the Glasgow to Wemyss Bay suburban express work. In Scotland all tank locomotives were called "Pugs", even large ones like this Caledonian Pacific class and the large Glasgow and South Western Railway 4-6-4T Baltic class.[62]

In 1921 and 1922 Robert Urie of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) built five H16 class 4-6-2T locomotives for short-distance transfer freight trains in the London area. These survived in service until 1962.

United States

A Reading & Northern Railroad 4-6-2 locomotive in 1993

With altogether 697 Pacific locomotives, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was the largest user of the type in the United States (US). The railroad bought its first experimental K-28 class 4-6-2 from ALCO in 1907. After testing, a further 257 Pacific locomotives in various versions, designated classes K-2, K-2a, K-2b and K-3, were built by the PRR at its Altoona Works and by ALCO and Baldwin between 1910 and 1913.[63]

A Pennsylvania Railroad K4s

In 1911 the PRR ordered an experimental K-29 class 4-6-2 from ALCO, with a larger boiler, superheater, mechanical stoker and other innovations. A similar K4s class locomotive was built by the PRR in 1914, but no more were built until 1917. Between 1917 and 1928 the PRR built 349 K-4s locomotives and Baldwin a further 75, bringing the total of the K4s class to 425.[63]

The last PRR Pacific locomotives were two large K-5 class locomotives, built in 1929. Number 5698 was built at the PRR Altoona Works and had Walschaerts valve gear, while number 5699 was built by Baldwin and had Caprotti valve gear. Although successful, these locomotives were not replicated since the larger 4-8-2 Mountain types began to be introduced. Number 5698 was dropped from the roster in October 1952 and number 5699 was retired in September 1953.[63]

ALCO-built Soo Line 2719 at Two Harbors, Minnesota, 2009.

As train weights increased, the Pacific type began to be supplanted on top-flight service on many US railroads by larger 4-6-4 Hudson types during the 1930s, and by 4-8-2 Mountain or 4-8-4 Northern locomotives in the 1940s. Still, the type remained in common use until the 1950s.

One notable 4-6-2, the Soo Line no. 2719 which hauled the last of the Soo Line Railroad’s steam-powered trains in 1959, was preserved and was restored to operating condition for excursions. She is now on display at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, Minnesota.[64]

References

  1. ↑ Railway Technical Web Pages (Steam Locomotive Glossary)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Progress: Locomotive Development in New Zealand - The "Pacific" Type. Its Genesis and Triumph. The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 7 (October 1, 1934).
  4. 1 2 3 Steamlocomotive.com - 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives
  5. ↑ Ellis, Hamilton. (1981). The Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Railways. Hamlyn. pp.104-105.
  6. ↑ Bruce, Alfred. (1952). The Steam Locomotive in America: Its Development in the Twentieth Century. W.W. Norton.
  7. 1 2 The Railway Magazine, 50 Great British Locomotives, Autumn/Winter 2008 special, p98, A bonus 51st entry: The 21st century steam miracle
  8. 1 2 3 4 Vulcan Foundry Photographic Loco List
  9. ↑ Vulcan Magazine, Vol. 1, no. 11, 1950. p. 14.
  10. 1 2 Vulcan Locomotives - Argentine Railways – 1950 and 1953
  11. ↑ Gunzberg, A., 'A History of WAGR Steam Locomotives', ARHS (WA Division), Perth, 1984, pp. 102-107
  12. ↑ McNicol, S., WAGR Steam Locomotives in Preservation (1994), Pm and Pmr class entries, pp. 23-27
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Durrant, A E (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. ISBN 0715386387.
  14. ↑ S class locomotive diagram retrieved 30 September 2006
  15. ↑ Queensland Railway’s Interest Group - B18¼ Class
  16. ↑ Queensland Railway’s Interest Group - BB18¼ Class
  17. 1 2 Jindřich Bek, Zdenek Bek (1999). Parní lokomotivy ČSD [2] (ČSD steam locomotives [2]), Prague, ISBN 80-86116-14-X (in Czech), pp. 51-58.
  18. ↑ Lokstatistik - Josef Pospichal, Österreich ÖBB 77 [retrieved 9-6-2012]
  19. ↑ Krupp Works List compiled by Dr. Ing. Bernhard Schmeiser.
  20. ↑ Dimiter Dejanow (1990). Die Lokomotiven der Bulgarischen Staatsbahnen. Verlag Josef Otto Slezak. Wien. ISBN 3-85416-150-6
  21. ↑ A.E.Durrant (1972). The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe. David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4077-8
  22. ↑ Fritz Stöckl (1975). Eisenbahnen in Sudosteuropa. Bohman Verlag K.G. Wien. ISBN 3-7002-0431-X
  23. ↑ Steamlocomotive.com - Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives
  24. ↑ Alco and Baldwin Works List.
  25. ↑ Railography: Chinese Steam Profiles - SL6 Class 4-6-2
  26. ↑ Railography : Chinese Steam Profiles - RM Class 4-6-2
  27. ↑ ČD Muzeum Lužná u Rakovníka - Steam locomotive 387.043
  28. 1 2 Hughes, Hugh (1981). Middle East Railways. Continental Railway Circle. pp. 90, 97, 98. ISBN 0-9503469-7-7.
  29. ↑ Société Alsacienne Works List
  30. 1 2 3 Continental Railway Journal articles
  31. ↑ Haine-Saint-Pierre works list.
  32. ↑ Frank Stenvalls. Die Lokomotiven Finnlands, Part 1. Malmö, Sweden. Förlag. ISBN 91-7266-021-X
  33. ↑ List of French 'Pacific' steam locomotives
  34. 1 2 Horst J. Obermayer, Taschenbuch Deutsche Dampflokomotiven, Regelspur, Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart, 1970, ISBN 3 440 03643 X
  35. ↑ German Wikipedia, DB Baureihe 10 article
  36. ↑ IRFCA – The Indian Railways Fan Club: Steam in History by R.R. Bhandari
  37. ↑ Hughes, Hugh (1996). Indian Locomotives, Part 4 – 1941–1990. Harrow, Middlesex: The Continental Railway Circle. ISBN 0-9521655-1-1.
  38. ↑ IRFCA – The Indian Railways Fan Club: Steam Locomotive Classes
  39. ↑ Hughes, Hugh & Jux, Frank (1980). Steam Locomotives in India, Part 1 – Narrow Gauge. Harrow, Middlesex: Continental Railway Circle. ISBN 0-9503469-5-0.
  40. ↑ R. Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd. Works List, compiled by Dr. (Ing.) Bernhard Schmeiser.
  41. ↑ The Railway Museum – Exhibition Guide
  42. ↑ Baldwin Works List
  43. 1 2 Henschel Works List compiled by Dr. Ing. Bernhard Schmeiser, Wien (unpublished)
  44. ↑ Glasers Annalen
  45. ↑ Heath, Eric, and Stott, Bob; Classic Steam Locomotives of New Zealand, Grantham House, 1993
  46. ↑ Nasmyth, Wilson Works List
  47. ↑ A.E. Durrant, A.A. Jorgensen, C.P. Lewis (1981). Steam In Africa. Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited. ISBN 0-600-34946-2
  48. ↑ Baldwin Locomotive Works List.
  49. ↑ Jan Piwowoński (1978), Parowozy kolei polskich, WKiŁ, Warsaw (in Polish). pp. 150-151, 218, 230
  50. ↑ Pokropiński, Bogdan (2000). Muzealne parowozy wąskotorowe w Polsce (dla toru szerokości 600 i 630 mm) (Museal steam locomotives in Poland - 600 and 630mm gauge), Muzeum Ziemi Pałuckiej, Żnin, ISBN 83-910219-7-1 (Polish)
  51. ↑ Gerard Vuillet (1968). Railway Reminiscences of Three Continents. London and Edinburgh. Thomas Nelson Ltd. ISBN 0-17-148014-7
  52. ↑ Comboios de Portugal: História - Espaço Museológico de Santarém
  53. ↑ V.A.Rakov (1995). Lokomotivy Otechjestvennyh Zhelenznyh Dorog. Transport, Moskva. ISBN 5-277-00821-7
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.
  55. ↑ Compound locomotive
  56. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
  57. ↑ The Railway Report for year ending 31 Dec. 1908, Natal Government Railways, p. 39, par 14.
  58. 1 2 Continental Railway Journal Nr.1 (1969) and 4 (1970) (New Series) Article: Tunisian Railways by P.M. Kalla-Bishop.
  59. ↑ Ulf Diehl, Ulf Fjeld, och Lennart Nilsson (1973). Normalspåriga ånglok vid Statens Järnvägar. Published by Svenska Järnvägsklubben. ISBN 91-85098-13-2
  60. ↑ British Pathe - News in a Nutshell - 1935
  61. ↑ Duke of Gloucester Website - A Concise History of the Locomotive retrieved 9 October 2006
  62. ↑ Rail UK: British Railway History Item - LMS Class Pickersgill Caledonian Class 944 4P 4-6-2 Tank
  63. 1 2 3 Steamlocomotive.com - Vandalia Lines / Pennsylvania 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives
  64. ↑ Gilchinski, Steve (February 1997). "Soo Line 2-8-2 Back in Steam". Trains magazine 57 (2): 24–25.
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