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Locomotive wheel arrangement From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, 2-6-2+2-6-2 is an articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-6-2 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-6-2 wheel arrangement has a single pair of leading wheels in a leading truck, followed by three coupled pairs of driving wheels and a pair of trailing wheels in a trailing truck.
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The 2-6-2+2-6-2 wheel arrangement was used on Garratt, Modified Fairlie and Union Garratt locomotives.
The 2-6-2+2-6-2 was the second most numerous Garratt wheel arrangement to be built, with altogether 238 examples constructed by Beyer, Peacock and Company (BP) and its licensees. Most of them were built to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge and the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) or 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauges. None were built to the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, but several were built to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) and 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauges.[1][2]
The first examples of the type were two 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) 2-6-2+2-6-2 L class Garratts built for the Tasmanian Government Railways in 1912. This wheel arrangement also included the final Garratts to be built by BP, seven 2 ft (610 mm) South African Class NG G16 locomotives in 1958.[1]
Gauge | Railway | Class | Works no. | Units | Year | Builder |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G16 | 6919-6926 | 8 | 1939 | Beyer, Peacock |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G16 | 7426-7432 | 7 | 1951 | Beyer, Peacock |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G16 | 7862-7868 | 7 | 1958 | Beyer, Peacock |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G12 | 2506-2507 | 2 | 1927 | Franco-Belge, Belgium |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G14 | 10747 | 1 | 1930 | Hanomag |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G13 | 10549-10551 | 3 | 1927 | Hanomag |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G13 | 10598-10599 | 2 | 1928 | Hanomag |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G13 | 10629-10635 | 7 | 1928 | Hanomag |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G16 | 3894-3901 | 8 | 1967-68 | Hunslet-Taylor |
2 ft | South African Railways | NG G16 | 3265-3268 | 4 | 1936 | John Cockerill |
2 ft 6 in | Nepal Government Railway | 6736 | 1 | 1932 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Nepal Government Railway | 7243 | 1 | 1947 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Sierra Leone Government Railway | 6297-6299 | 3 | 1926 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Sierra Leone Government Railway | 6497-6498 | 2 | 1928 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Sierra Leone Government Railway | 6578-6579 | 2 | 1929 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Sierra Leone Government Railway | 7045-7048 | 4 | 1942 | Beyer, Peacock | |
2 ft 6 in | Sierra Leone Government Railway | 7049-7050 | 2 | 1943 | Beyer, Peacock | |
1,000 mm | Great Western of Brazil | 1024-1025 | 2 | 1929 | Armstrong Whitworth | |
1,000 mm | La Robla Railway, Spain | 421-422 | 2 | 1931 | Babcock & Wilcox, Spain | |
1,000 mm | Assam-Bengal Railway, India | T | 6385-6389 | 5 | 1927 | Beyer, Peacock |
1,000 mm | Transandine Railway, Argentina | E12 | 6543-6546 | 4 | 1930 | Beyer, Peacock |
1,000 mm | Minera de Sierra Minera, Spain | 189-190 | 2 | 1930 | Euskalduna, Spain | |
1,000 mm | La Robla Railway, Spain | 10646-10647 | 2 | 1929 | Hanomag | |
1,000 mm | C.G. de F. Catalanes, Spain | 1960-1963 | 4 | 1922 | St. Leonard, Belgium | |
1,000 mm | C.G. de F. Catalanes, Spain | 2035-2038 | 4 | 1925 | St. Leonard, Belgium | |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GB | 5942 | 1 | 1921 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Natal Navigation Collieries, South Africa | 6206 | 1 | 1925 | Beyer, Peacock | |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GG | 6232 | 1 | 1925 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Dundee Coal & Coke Ltd, South Africa | 6353 | 1 | 1927 | Beyer, Peacock | |
3 ft 6 in | Trans Zambezia, Moçambique/Nyasaland | E | 6380 | 1 | 1930 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Consolidated Main Reef Mine, South Africa | 6780 | 1 | 1935 | Beyer, Peacock | |
3 ft 6 in | Tasmanian Government Railways | L | 5525-5526 | 2 | 1912 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | New Cape Central Railway, South Africa | G | 6135-6136 | 2 | 1923 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Trans Zambezia, Moçambique/Nyasaland | E | 6178-6179 | 2 | 1924 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GB | 6181-6186 | 6 | 1924 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GC | 6187-6192 | 6 | 1924 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GD | 6263-6266 | 4 | 1925 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Rhodesia Railways | 13 | 6269-6280 | 12 | 1926 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GD | 6281-6287 | 7 | 1925 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GD | 6288-6290 | 3 | 1926 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Rhodesia Railways | 14 | 6510-6515 | 6 | 1929 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Guayaquil & Quito Railway, Ecuador | 6527-6529 | 3 | 1929 | Beyer, Peacock | |
3 ft 6 in | Rio Tinto Railway, Spain | 6560-6561 | 2 | 1928 | Beyer, Peacock | |
3 ft 6 in | Rhodesia Railways | 14 | 6616-6625 | 10 | 1930 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Rhodesia Railways | 14A | 7581-7592 | 12 | 1952 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | Rhodesia Railways | 14A | 7599-7604 | 6 | 1953 | Beyer, Peacock |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GCA | 1043-1068 | 26 | 1928 | Krupp |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GCA | 970-982 | 13 | 1927 | Krupp |
3 ft 6 in | South African Railways | GDA | 3115-3119 | 5 | 1929 | Linke-Hofmann |
5 ft 6 in | North Western Railway, India | GAS | 6203 | 1 | 1925 | Beyer, Peacock |
5 ft 6 in | Ceylon Government Railway | C1 | 6410 | 1 | 1927 | Beyer, Peacock |
5 ft 6 in | São Paulo Railway, Brazil | R1 | 6367-6372 | 6 | 1927 | Beyer, Peacock |
5 ft 6 in | Ceylon Government Railway | C1A | 7160-7167 | 8 | 1945 | Beyer, Peacock |
The Modified Fairlie was first introduced in South Africa, when the South African Railways (SAR) experimented with a modified type of Fairlie locomotive in order to compare the concept to that of the Garratt locomotive in terms of actual performance and maintenance requirements. In essence, the Modified Fairlie was an adaptation of the Kitson-Meyer concept. It was similar in appearance to a Garratt, but with the boiler, cab, coal and water bunkers all mounted on a single rigid frame which pivoted on the engine units, with the pivot centers located approximately at the centre of the rigid wheelbase of each engine unit. In the Garratt design, by comparison, the coal and water bunkers are mounted directly on the engine units and swivel with them, while the boiler, firebox and cab are mounted on a rigid frame which is suspended between the two engine units.[3][4][5][6]
The Union Garratt was a hybrid locomotive, part Garratt and part Modified Fairlie, designed and built for the SAR by Maffei in Munich, Germany. The front end of the locomotive was of a typical Garratt arrangement, with a water tank mounted on the front engine unit’s frame, while the rear end was constructed in the Modified Fairlie fashion, with the coal bunker mounted on a rigid extension of the locomotive’s main frame and with the pivoting rear engine unit positioned beneath the coal bunker.[3][4]
The Sierra Leone Government Railway acquired altogether 27 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt locomotives from BP between 1926 and 1956. Seven were delivered in 1926, 1928 and 1929. Six more followed in 1942 and 1943 and fourteen more in 1955 and 1956.[1]
Another two were delivered to the Sierra Leone Development Corporation in 1937, also from BP.[1]
The largest user of the type was the South African Railways (SAR) who operated 132 locomotives of this wheel arrangement, spread over fifteen classes. Of these, ten classes were Cape gauge (83 locomotives) and five classes were 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge (49 locomotives). Two of the narrow gauge locomotives were later rebuilt to improve coal combustion and reclassified.[1][2]
The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2 locomotives of the SAR entered service between 1921 and 1929.
The South African 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2 locomotives entered service between 1927 and 1968. Two were rebuilt in 1989 and 1990 and reclassified.
With altogether 46 locomotives of this wheel arrangement, all built by BP, the second largest user of the 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt was the Rhodesia Railways (RR) of Southern Rhodesia, which also operated in Northern Rhodesia and Mozambique.[1]
In 1926, twelve 13th Class 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratts were ordered by the Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesia Railways (BMR). They were based at Umtali in Southern Rhodesia to work the difficult section of the Beira line into Mozambique between Umtali and Vila Machado. In 1930, these locomotives were replaced on this duty by 14th Class Garratts, after which they were mainly based at Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia until their withdrawal from service.[13][14]
The 13th class also operated in Northern Rhodesia, with a couple being allocated for short periods to Livingstone. Two locomotives were also hired out to the Rhokana Corporation copper mine at Nkana in Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia. These two locomotives were eventually purchased by the mine, one coming to a tragic end in 1950 when it struck a lorry loaded with explosives at a level crossing, causing many deaths since the train carried miners going on shift in an open wagon.[13][14]
In 1929, the success of the 13th Class led to an improved version being ordered by RR, which the BMR had now become. While of the same wheel arrangement and similar power output as the 13th class locomotives, these sixteen had, amongst other improvements, bar instead of plate frames and round-topped instead of Belpaire fireboxes. These were designated the 14th Class and all of them were initially allocated to Umtali to replace the 13th class Garratts on the line to Vila Machado in Mozambique. From 1939, some of the class were transferred for branchline work in Southern Rhodesia at the Salisbury, Bulawayo and Gwelo depots.[13][14]
In October 1949, the Beira line in Mozambique was taken over by the state-owned Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM). At the same time, the CFM purchased a number of locomotives from RR, including eight 14th Class Garratts, which continued to work on the Beira line from the new depot at Gondola in Mozambique.[13][14]
In 1950, RR ordered a modernised version of the 14th Class for branchline work in Southern Rhodesia. There were eighteen of them and they were designated the 14A Class. From 1979, they were refurbished for shunting work, receiving roller bearings on the driving and coupled axles and, in many cases, larger water tanks and coal bunkers. By 2012 this class, now on the roster of the National Railways of Zimbabwe, still saw occasional service on Bulawayo shunt duties.[13][14]
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