Entre Rios Railway Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Argentina

Class 101 (Locobase 568)

Data from Wiener (1930) and Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at [] (6 September 2005). Wiener gives the grate area as 30 sq ft. Information about the class supplied in Coronel Gustavo Adolfo Tama'o, "Las Locomotoras Garratt en Argentina," in PDF. Works numbers were 6360-6364 in 1927

These Double Atlantic Garratts (BP#6360-6364) had fireboxes whose heating surface included 20 sq ft of arch tubes. Tama'o set the scene for this set of surprising passenger Garratts by noting that the FCER at that time used locomotives that were considerably lighter and less powerful. "The delivery of these powerful articulateds," he noted, " signifified a substantial increase in [the line's] capacity for transport, in an era when railways were at the peak of their glory."

The engines served the ports and the paddle-wheel ferries with trains that were so roomy and comfortable that many times the local hotels didn't have the capacity to emulate, or so the Coronel says.

The FCER later was absorbed by the Ferrocarril General Urquiza. See Locobase 528 for the 2-6-0+0-6-2s that used the same boiler and Belpaire firebox.

Class 401 (Locobase 562)

Data is from Wiener (1930) and from Gavin Hamilton's compilation of Garratt data posted at [] . (6 September 2005); and "Entre Riosl Railway-Design 1121", Beyer-Garrrat Patent Articulated Locomotives (Manchester, England: Beyer-Peacock & Company Limited, 1931), archived on flickr's Historical Railway Images at [], et seq, p. 65. Works numbers were 6355-6359 in 1927.

Based on the Argentine North Eastern Railway Beyer-Garratts, these had 20 sq ft (1.86 sq m) of arch tubes added to the Belpaire firebox's evaporative heating surface and less superheater area. BP's 1931 guide proudly proclaimed that the quintet had "undoubtedly put up a very excellent performance hauling heavy trains on the [429 km (266 km)] run between Ibicuy and Concordia."

The guide gladly quotes from F D Southgate's paper read before the Institution of Locomotive Engineers at Ibicuy in September 1928. Southgate described a design achieving the usual fuel, water, and staff economies over previous locomotives. He compliments the boiler on being "economical and excellent steam producers." They also rode well.

He also noted a key feature characteristic of many Garratts, which was the large, short grate, "which makes for easy firing and the maintenance of an even fire. The soft draft over the the fire preventing tearing apart the fire on the grate even when hard-worked.

He also focused on a phenomenon that he couldn't explain, but was noticed by many Garratt operators. Upon starting, "the exhausts from the two [engine] units are irregular, but after a few revolutions, a casual listener would imagine he was listening to the exhausts from a simple two-cylinder engine." Souhthgate supposed this was due to "a balancing effect in the two exhaust pipes at their juntion with the common blast pipe."