Bridgetown & Saint Andrews Bay 2-8-2 Locomotives in Barbados


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class Alice (Locobase 12303)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 21, p. 280. Works number was 16269-16270 in October 1898. See also Bajan Tour Girl's blog on the railway at [link]

Clearly intended to spread weight and power over more axles, Alice and Beatrice were the first locomotives to serve this perennially cash-strapped railway after its conversion from the narrower gauge. Only 24 miles long, the line was opened in 1873 with a 3-ft, 6-in guage. It snaked over 98 bridges around curves whose minimum radius was 150 ft (46 m or better than 20 degrees) and up 1 in 30 grades (3.3%) that themselves had curves of 250-ft radius (76 m or 15 degrees).

Financial woes were never far from undermining success and the company was reorganized in 1906 as the Barbados Light Railway Company. Bajan Tour Girl notes that it made money for a few years, but "...unfortunately mismanagement again crept in with maintenance having a low priority. Several serious derailments of train carriages and the cry "mind the doors please" assumed real significance as the doors were literally dropping off. The carriages were also infested with "Mahogany Birds" Coca Roaches."

The facts could not be ignored: "In 1937 on the advise of railway expert Mr Bland the Government of Barbados shut the railway down permanently."

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassAlice
Locobase ID12303
RailroadBridgetown & Saint Andrews Bay
CountryBarbados
Whyte2-8-2T
Number in Class2
Road Numbers1-2
Gauge2'6"
Number Built2
BuilderBurnham, Williams & Co
Year1898
Valve GearStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) 8.50 / 2.59
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)21.33 / 6.50
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.40
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)21.33 / 6.50
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)44,000 / 19,958
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)64,000 / 29,030
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)960 / 3.64
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)18 / 9
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)30 / 762
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)160 / 1100
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)13" x 16" / 330x406
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)12,258 / 5560.14
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 3.59
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)96 - 1.75" / 44
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)11.75 / 3.58
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)48.20 / 4.48
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)10 / 0.93
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)538 / 50
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)538 / 50
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume218.88
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation1600
Same as above plus superheater percentage1600
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area7712
Power L12535
Power MT508.06

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