Belgian State 2-6-0 Locomotives in Belgium

Class 31 (Locobase 12434)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 23, p. 70. Works numbers were 17919-17923, 17942 in July 1900 and 18099-18100, 18108-18111

The first six were shipped to Belgium in early September with the ballance sent off two weeks later. Contemporary accounts credited the Baldwin exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exposition for European interest in American locomotives.

This order came on the heels of the engines produced for Great Britain's Great Northern (Locbase 2656) and Great Central Railways (Locobase 12376) and were essentially identical to those designs. The Great Northern entry contains a long discussion on British reactions to the Baldwin Mogul; see also Locobase 8973 for the similar Midland Railway locomotives of 1899.

In contrast to the extensive and vociferous commentary on the differences between British and American design reaffirmed by the American landings of 1899-1900, Belgian opinion has proved difficult to come by.

Class Type 3 (Locobase 20230)

Data from "Some Types of Belgian Locomotives," Locomotive News and Railway Notes", Volume III [3], No 17 (10 November 1919) , p. 121 Works numbers were 243-252 in 18734.

Locomotive News's report said that only ten locomotives were built to this design. It had a Belpaire firebox and low axle loadings, if the LN&RN figures are accurate. As early as 1889, one of the class had had a trailing axle added and was placed in the Type 4 class (Locobase 6432).

Class Type 6 (Locobase 6433)

Data from G. Brabt "Ordinary Types of Belgium State Railway Locomotives", American Engineer and Railroad Journal, Volume 67, No 6 (June 1893), pp. 288-293.

Locobase estimates the boiler pressure based on other Belgian locomotives described in a later AERJ issue of the same year and calculates the grate area based on the dimensions in the text. (The table of specifications does not, for some reason, include either figure.)

Brabt points out that although the Type 2 six-coupled served for the 80-ton, 50-km/h (30 mph) service up the steeper grades of the system, the railway had 110-ton trains that needed to scale the same inclines at 65 km/h (40.4 mph). To accommodate that need, this unusual Mogul design was produced. Like all of the other Belgian locomotives of the time, this design had the three frames.

The design's profile resembled few other steam locomotives, although the design was in most respects conventional. The firebox was quite shallow, riding as it did above the drivers. It had a small combustion chamber measuring 0.9 sq m (9.7 sq ft). Steam domes over both the long firebox and the boiler were connected by a steam pipe. A rectangular stack then in vogue in Belgium stood proud of the smokebox.

The driver manned an asymmetrical cab located over the first driving axle, while the fireman fed 4 firebox doors from the footplate behind the last axle. Although it was thus a double cab, the engineer's location was considerably lower than that of a camelback. Only the right-hand side of the boiler had a windshield at driver height as there was no left-hand position.

Class Type 6 (Locobase 7411)

Data from Titre Exposition universelle internationale de 1889 a Paris. Rapports du jury internationale. Auteur - Volume France. Ministere du Commerce, de l'industrie. Picard, Alfred, ed. Volume Groupe VI - -Outillage et precedes des industries mecaniques. Electricite (5e partie) Classes 60 a 63. Rapport sur le materiel des chemins de fer.tables beginning on p. 183 ([] (accessed 1 September 2005).

According to the Jury report (151-152), this Mogul was designed for passenger trains that ascended long ruling grades of 1.6%. The design was rated at 100 metric tons under such circumstances. Note the very large grate area in the Belpaire firebox.

Class Type 6bis (Locobase 20246)

Data from "Some Interesting Types of Belgian Locomotives", Locomotive News and Railway Notes, Volume 67, No 6 (June 1893), pp. 32-34

Locobases 6433, 7411 show two variations of the original Type 6 Moguls that entered service beginning in 1884. LN&RN's report concedes that documentation shows a variety of heating surface areas, tube lengths, and weights. Indeed, the article notes experiments with wheel arrangements (one became either a 4-6-0 or a 2-6-2 - information wasn't clear) or tube quantities or type. One variant used 306 50-mm tubes, another had 164 larger, internally finned Serve tubes.

But when it came time to substantially improve the basic design, the Belgian State revised everything. Tube length grew by almost a metre, but firebox and grate area decreased considerably by adopting a shallower design. They were, said the report, "a marked improvement over the original design."