Luanda Railway Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Angola

Class 501 (Locobase 525)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at [] (6 September 2005); and A[rthur] E[dward] Durrant, Garratt Locomotives of the World (revised edition) (Newton Abbott, UK: David & Charles, 1981), p. 170 Works numbers were 7308-7313 in 1949.

Double Mountain Garratts that began as metre-gauge engines and were based on the wartime light Garratt that served several railways (Locobase 511). The railway and the locomotives were later converted to the Cape gauge.

Althuogh retired in the early 70s, the entire class survived the Angolan War of Independence in storage . Five of the class were scrapped in October 2019.

Class 551 (Locobase 526)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at []

(6 September 2005). See also Dr Dirk Forschner, "The contribution of the German locomotive industry to the progress of traction

for the Portuguese railways from 1855 - 1931, an observation from

contemporary sources at [], last accessed on 12 December 2022. Works numbers were 2493-2498 in 1954.

"In 1954, Krupp received a Portuguese order in Essen to build a series of six Garratt

type double mountain locomotives for the Luanda Railway in meter gauge", wrote Forschner. They were "not only among the largest locomotives for Krupp AG in Essen, but also among the largest locomotives supplied to Portugal ...The locomotive frame was designed as a cast steel bar frame ...This state-of-the-art engine was equipped with electric lighting and a feed water preheating system."

They remained in service into the early 70s, then were placed on sidings..After gradually rusting away, 553 and 555-556 went to the scrapyard in October 2010.