Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 12, p. 33. See also "fuente al pie", "Entre Rios: La historia de "La Solís", la primera locomotora en Entre Ríos", blog post 23 Mayo 2023 in Rieles; and Marcelo Cruchet, "El tren marcó una época de progreso en Gualeguay y el país, posted 13 January 2024 at [], both last accessed 10 January 2025. Works number was 7304 in May 1884.
Baldwin's specification's page instructs the builder that the "minimum distance from the lowest part of engine to rail level (except the pilot) to be 6 1/4" [159 mm]." One environmental plus was "Good water on this road", but "all possible protection from dust" and "window screens over back windows."
Netting and deflection plate arrested sparks in the smoke box, but the netting had "to be arranged so as to open when getting up steam."
Gualeguay (later renamed La Solis) entered service between two towns in the very southern part of Argentina's verdant (and humid) northeast called Mesopotamia, a slender finger between Parana and Uruguay rivers. The Parana flows along the northwestern side as a boundary between Argentina and Paraguay. The Uruguay river establishes the southeastern border between Argentina and Brazil and Uruguay.
In the appropriately named province of Entre Rios [between the Parana and the Uruguay], boosters of the prospects for a port at Gauleguay on the Parana built the first standard-gauge section of track in Argentina, a 9.85 km (6.1 miles) branch line between that town along the Rio Gualeguay west to Puerto Ruiz. It soon became a transfer point to move beef and grain products to Buenos Aires.
Sources don't specify the year so all that can be said about La Solis was that it "ceased to function" and sent to Parana to be stored. Later restoration resulted in its display as the first Entre Rios locomotive.
| Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
|---|---|
| Class | Gualeguay/La Solis |
| Locobase ID | 11823 |
| Railroad | FC Primer Entre Riano / FC Entre Rios |
| Country | Argentina |
| Whyte | 2-4-2ST |
| Number in Class | 1 |
| Road Numbers | 3 |
| Gauge | Std |
| Number Built | 1 |
| Builder | Burnham, Parry, Williams & Co |
| Year | 1884 |
| Valve Gear | Stephenson |
| Locomotive Length and Weight | |
| Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 6.50 / 1.98 |
| Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 20.17 / 6.15 |
| Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.32 |
| Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 20.17 / 6.15 |
| Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | |
| Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | |
| Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 700 / 2.65 |
| Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | |
| Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | |
| Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
| Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 45 / 1143 |
| Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 130 / 900 |
| High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 12" x 20" / 305x508 |
| Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 7072 / 3207.81 |
| Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | |
| Heating Ability | |
| Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 76 - 2" / 51 |
| Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | |
| Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 10.16 / 3.10 |
| Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 51.50 / 4.79 |
| Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 10.30 / 0.96 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 451 / 41.91 |
| Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | |
| Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 451 / 41.91 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 172.27 |
| Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
| Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 1339 |
| Same as above plus superheater percentage | 1339 |
| Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 6695 |
| Power L1 | 2639 |
| Power MT | |