2-6-0 Steam Locomotives in Brazil

Class 2 (Locobase 13295)

Data fromBaldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 34, pp.308-309. See Locobase 13126 for a full account and bibliography of the construction of this railroad. Works numbers were 34460, 34554 in April 1910.

Originally ordered by the Argentine Quebracho Company, these wood-burning Moguls wound up in Brazil instead.

Class 21 (Locobase 13279)

Data fromBaldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 31, p. 201. See also Lionel Wiener, "The Railways of Brazil - V", Cassier's Magazine, Volume 38 (several installments in 1910) - for the Noroeste, see pp. 456; and Frederic M Halsey, Investments in Latin America and the British West Indies, Special Agents Series - No 169, United States Department of Commerce (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office,1918), p. 158. Works numbers were 32744-32745 in March 1908.

Baldwin's production of some metre-gauge Moguls in 1905 (See Locobase 13126) provided them with handy templates for this pair of Brazilian engines. Weight was limited, however, to 8.8 metric tons and these locomotives lost more than a ton of adhesion.

Wiener noted in 1910 that the Noroeste had reached Itapura and intended to continue on to Corumba on the Bolivian border, a distance of more than 1,200 miles from Santos. According to a Special Agents report in 1918, this venture had not yet begun to pay: Noting that the line amounted to 935 km (581 miles), Special Agent Frederic Halsey characterized it as "...the outgrowth of a rather pretentious scheme, begins at Bauru on the Brazil Railway system and follows the valley of the Tiete River to Itapura. The line crosses the State of Matto Grosso and reaches the Bolivian frontier, opening up a vast tract of virgin country for the immigration that will probably follow the conclusion of the European war. The traffic on this railway has not yet developed large proportions, but its future will doubtless be more successful."

Halsey added: "The railway will eventually develop considerable traffic from the upper portion of the Paraguay River and from eastern Bolivia. The line may eventually connect with a railway projected to run from Puerto Suarez, Bolivia, to connect with the Antofagasta & Bolivia Railway at Cochabamba or Potosi. The construction of the Bolivian enterprise, however, will probably be long delayed."

Class 27 (Locobase 13294)

Data fromBaldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 36, pp. 307-308. See Locobase 13126 for a full account and bibliography of the construction of this railroad. Works numbers were 35799-35802 in December 1910.

These were small Moguls even for the metre gauge, yet they had driving wheelbases longer than the 48"-driver Ten-wheeler shown in Locobase 13293. Like the other December 1910 engines, these were wood-burners.

Class 277 (Locobase 15107)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 66, p.202. Works numbers were 52407-52409 in September 1919.

This trio of Moguls were the superheated duplicates of the saturated-boiler quartet of 1913 described in Locobase 13298. Unlike that set, however, these later engines were delivered as wood-burners. The hotter steam led to the adoption of 8" (203 mm) piston valves for

to supply the cylinders.

At the time the Noroeste still used 40 lb/yard (20 kg/metre) rail. The profile included relatively undemanding 2% and curve radii no less than 427 feet (130 metres).

Used for passenger service, the 277s had straight stacks.

The order for later Consolidations (Locobase 15110) contains specific remarks about the unsatisfactory build quality of this threesome and the Consolidations produced at about the same time (Locobase 15108): A 27 April 1920 letter from C H Crawford led to the chilly command issued from Eddystone: "See that there is no cause for similar complaints on new locomotives now being built."

Class 31 (Locobase 13297)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 44, p. 121. Works numbers were 38809-38810 in November 1912.

Two wood-burning Moguls of somewhat more generous dimensions. These would be followed by 4 more with design changes; see Locobase 13298.

Class 33 (Locobase 13298)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 44, p. 123-124. Works numbers were 39923-39924, 40007-40008 in June 1913.

Essentially identical to the 31-class Moguls of 1912, this quartet substituted outside constant-lead radial valve gear for the hitherto-preferred inside link motion. They also used coal for fuel as opposed to the wood burned in the railway's other 2-6-0s.

Class 87 (Locobase 13296)

Data fromBaldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 44, pp. 119-120. See Locobase 13126 for a full account and bibliography of the construction of this railroad. Works numbers were 33573-33574 in July 1909.

The Noroeste obviously had a need for very small, wood-burning Moguls, possibly for branch-line work. This pair was the smallest of all of them.