FC del Sud de Buenos Aires Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Argentina


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class Class 14 (Locobase 531)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at [link] (6 September 2005); and "Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway -Design 1131", Beyer-Garrrat Patent Articulated Locomotives (Manchester, England: Beyer-Peacock & Company Limited, 1931), archived on flickr's Historical Railway Images at [link], pp. 74-75. 30.Wiener gives the grate area as 30 sq ft. And from Coronel Gustavo Adolfo Tama'o, "Las Locomotoras Garratt en Argentina," in PDF. Works numbers were 6417-6428 in 1928.

Small, Belpaire-boilered, oil-burning Double Mountain Garratts that operated from Bahia Blanca to Zapala, which offered a combination of relatively level ground and a 1 1/4% ruling grade over 40 miles.

Railroad was later part of Ferrocarril General Roca.

The Spanish-language website members.es.tripod.de/rielsud/locoayer.html (Dec 2001) says that their low axle weight destined them for those lines that were in poor condition. Increased grain traffic in the Bahia Blanca y Noroeste (BBNO), especially up the Toay branch, couldn't be hauled by the 11C class because of their high axle weight, so the Class 14s took over the work. The highly abrasive sand and grit in the region demanded extensive maintenance, but overall the engines were quite satisfactory.

The Sud's only Garratts carried on only into the late 1940s when a rapid decline in freight traffic and competition from trucks led to their redundancy.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassClass 14
Locobase ID531
RailroadFC del Sud de Buenos Aires (FCS)
CountryArgentina
Whyte4-8-2+2-8-4
Number in Class12
Road Numbers4851-4862
Gauge5'6"
Number Built12
BuilderBeyer, Peacock
Year1928
Valve GearWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)20.50 / 6.25
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)61 / 18.59
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.34
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)28,448 / 12,904
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)226,912 / 102,926
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)369,824 / 167,750
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)369,824 / 167,750
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)5520 / 20.91
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)2590 / 2354.50
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)47 / 23.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)55.50 / 1410
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)204.50 / 1410
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)17.5" x 25" / 445x635 (4)
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)47,958 / 21753.41
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.73
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)223 - 1.875" / 48
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)36 - 5.25" / 133
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)13 / 3.96
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)204 / 18.95
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)44.20 / 4.11
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)2207 / 205.04
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)442 / 41.06
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)2649 / 246.10
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume158.56
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation9039
Same as above plus superheater percentage10,576
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area48,810
Power L19791
Power MT761.02

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