Beyer-Garratt Steam Locomotives in Argentina

Midland of Buenos Aires


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class H (Locobase 529)

BP# 6570-6571. Some data from Carlos Alberto Fernandez Priotti in Bryan Attewell ([] Steam Locomotive simulator program (April 2000) confirmed and supplemented by data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at []

(6 September 2005); and Data from Wiener, Articulated Locomotives (1930); and "Buenos Aires Midland Railway

-Design 1147", Beyer-Garrrat Patent Articulated Locomotives (Manchester, England: Beyer-Peacock & Company Limited, 1931), archived on flickr's Historical Railway Images at [], p. 32. Information about the class supplied in Coronel Gustavo Adolfo Tama'o, "Las Locomotoras Garratt en Argentina," in PDF.

BP's 1931 Survey claimed that the "4-6-2 type [of Garratt] is especially sweet running and permits a larger quantity of coal and water being carried." The Survey conceded that "[o]f course its draw-bar efficiency is slightly lower than the 2-6-2+2-6-2 type."

Fernandez commented that the pair's light axle loads led the Midland to lend these Pacific Garratts to the FC Santa Fe for its Santa Fe-Rosario main line. Indeed, says Tamano, on metre-gauge lines like these, the Garratts "...demonstrated a great superiority over those [engines with rigid wheelbase through their power, the steam-generating capacity of the boiler and [Belpaire] firebox suspended [between the bogies], low axle-loading, and aptitude for [negotiating] small-radius curves." Each one could trail 1,600 tons on a 0.4% grade combined with curves of 500 metres radius at 25 mph (40 kph).

Later Ferrocarril General Belgrano 9101-9102; retired by 1950.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassH
Locobase ID529
RailroadMidland of Buenos Aires
CountryArgentina
Whyte4-6-2+2-6-4
Number in Class2
Road Numbers101-102
GaugeMetre
Number Built2
BuilderBeyer, Peacock
Year1929
Valve GearWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)19 / 5.79
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)46 / 14.02
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.41
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)67.08 / 20.45
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)23,520 / 10,669
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)141,120 / 64,011
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)253,792 / 115,118
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)4320 / 16.36
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) 5.50 / 5
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)39 / 19.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)48 / 1219
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)188.50 / 1300
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)15.5" x 22" / 394x559 (4)
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)35,286 / 16005.48
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.00
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)12 / 3.66
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)152 / 14.12
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)34 / 3.16
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1698 / 157.75
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)335 / 31.12
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)2033 / 188.87
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume176.70
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation6409
Same as above plus superheater percentage7434
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area33,236
Power L18589
Power MT805.08

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