Central do Brasil 2-8-0 Locomotives in Brazil

Class 1/272/1272 (Locobase 21174)

Data from "'Consolidation' Locomotive, Central Railway of Brazil", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXXIV [34], No. 431 (14 July 1928), pp. 206-207.Works numbers were 20684-20686

The Locomotive's author noted the construction details and noted that, "like many other modern engines built by European manufacturers for South Ameriica", the design combined such North American features as the bar frame, suspension, brake rigging, and other accessories, "while the design of the motion and general finish is characteristic of the builders' high standard in these matters."( See Locobase 14511 for Baldwin's 1919 engines and Locobase 21117 for those of Alco-Cooke delivered in 1920.)

Grate area in the 1928 2-8-0s was significantly greater; the report speculated that the increase accommodated fuel of a relatively low caloric value. Its size also complicated the ashpan layout, which was broken into three hoppers side-by-side.

Class 123 (Locobase 11629)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1888, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 15, p. 105. Works numbers were 10058, 10061, 10063, and 10069 in June 1889.

See Locobase 11630 for metre-gauge counterparts built at exactly the same time by the same builder.

A note in the specifications for these broad-gauge Consolidations describes Baldwin's guarantee that these engines would handle 745-ton trains up a 1% grade "...except resistance curves."

Class 151 (Locobase 13777)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 36, p. 295. Works numbers were 35967-35970 in January 1911.

At the same time the EFCB ordered large Mallets from Baldwin for their broad-gauge lines (Locobase 13776), they also purchased this quartet of Consolidations for the metre gauge. They were fitted with the Le Chatelier water brake, which used a double valve to admit either water or steam. John White (p. 548) explains that the usual name is inaccurate: "It was a locomotive compression brake that overcame the usual problem of braking the train by reversing the locomotive and allowing the cylinders to work as an air pump. Le Chatelier closed off the exhaust passages so that cylinders were not drawn into the cylinders. He also introduced a spray of water to lubricate the cylinders."

See also the discussion in Locobase 3458.

Class 159 (Locobase 14512)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 66 pp. 223+. Works numbers were 48580-48581 in July 1918.

Superheating the smaller of the two Consolidation designs that had entered service on the C do B in the early 1910s (Locobase 13777) yielded a considerable increase in power because the roominess of the original boiler permitted the use of a relatively large superheater.

Class 170 (Locobase 21116)

Data from Alco class 260 S94 Order J-102 builder's card supplied in February 2023 by Teemu Koivumaki. Works numbers were 52333-52342 in November 1912.

Baldwin had already delivered several Consolidations to the EFCB in 1911-1912 (Locobase 13777 and 14510), but neither batch came with superheaters. Compared to the earlier 151-154 quartet from Eddystone, these Paterson-built engines were larger and benefited from being equipped with a superheater. (Baldwin would later produce a very similar pair of 2-8-0s in 1918.

Firebox heating surface area included both an arch tube (9.9 sq ft) and grate tubes (15.1 sq ft).

Class 180 (Locobase 21117)

Data from Alco class 260 S94 Order C587 builder's card supplied in February 2023 by Teemu Koivumaki. Works numbers were 61540-61544 in February 1920 and 61102-61111 in August.

This set of Consolidationa from one Paterson, NJ builder duplicated the specifications of the 1912 Alco-Rogers works engines (shown in Locobase 21116). also from Paterson. Like the 170s, their firebox heating surface areas included 10 sq ft (0.93 sq m) in an arch tube and 15 sq ft (1.39 sq m) in grate tubes.

Ten years after their arrival, the class gained an extra one for each road number as 1180-1194.

Class 203 (Locobase 14510)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 54, pp. 354. Works numbers were 38275-38280 in September 1912 and 45246-45247 in February 1917.

This design was a duplicate of the one used in the trio of Bresilien Consolidations delivered a year earlier and described in Locobase 13774. One significant difference was the switch from wood to coal for fuel, which led to small changes in the firebox. All of them were among the biggest Consolidations on the metre gauge in Brazil.

The 1917 batch, which was originally numbered 159-160, was heavier, coming in at 108,000 lb (48,988 kg) on the drivers, 117,000 lb (53,070 kg) overall.

Class 211 (Locobase 14511)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 66 pp. 227+. Works numbers were 51392-51394 in February 1919.

When Baldwin built superheated versions of the class 203 Consolidations that are described in Locobase 14510, the installation replaced the 2 1/4" tubes with 2" tubes and substituted eighteen flues for about 1/3 of the original tube count. The result suggests a substantial increase in power as the evaporative heating surface area remained essentially unchanged (rather than decreasing as often happened) while the superheater contributed a relatively high one-fifth of the combined heating surface area.

Class 240 (Locobase 12244)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 21, p. 83 and Volume 30, p. 274. Works numbers 15599-15602 in November 1897, 15604-15607 and 15613-15620 in December; 31706-31708 in September 1907; 32589-32592, 32620-32621 in January 1908; 33160-33163, 33167-33170 in January 1909.

Class 33 / 368 / 568 / 671 (Locobase 10976)

Data from Record of Recent Construction #64 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1908), p. 26; and DeGolyer, Volume 26, p. 287.. Works numbers were 24967, 24979-24980, 24993 in January 1905; 28143-28144, 28156, 28178-28182 in May 1906; 30290 in February 1907; and 30341-30342, 30376 in March.

A dozen Consolidations from Baldwin headed to an operating environment featuring 2% ruling grades combined with 750 ft curve radii. On the road, the minimum curve radii was 180 metres (590 ft).

The firebox grate burned Cardiff coal and used water tubes and intermediate bars, which contributed 27.2 sq ft (2.53 sq m) to the total direct heating surface area shown in Locobase's specs. A specification note advised that the bars "should be heavier" and the tube collar's thickness should be greater than 1/2" (12.7 mm).

Extended piston rods were to have polished brass covers and a stop at the back the pilot "to prevent men from standing on covers to clean. Belpaire valve gear actuated the balanced slide valves.

Two more of the 1907 batch were completed with Baldwin superheaters; see Locobase 4766.

Class 384 (Locobase 4766)

Data from Record of Recent Construction #66 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1909), p. 10. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 30, p 208. See also "An Interesting Order of Locomotives - Central Railroad of Brazil," Railway Master Mechanic, Volume 31, No. 5 (May 1907), pp. 166-169. Works numbers were 30253-30254 in February 1907, 33171-33172 in January 1909 and 37823-37826 in June 1912.

The Central do Brazil engaged in a determined pursuit of variety in superheater designs and chose the Baldwin smokebox system for this class of Consolidations. Samuel Vauclain continued his advocacy of moderate superheat, although evidence that the hotter the better accumulated almost daily and would soon force Baldwin to recant.

Class 553 (Locobase 13317)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 32, p. 32. Works numbers were 33160-33163, 33167-33170 in January 1909.

At the same time the C do Brasil was buying several classes of superheated locomotives from Baldwin, including Consolidations (Locobase 4766), the railway also was procuring more saturated-boiler engines. They were considerably smaller and had a lower axle loading.

Class 9 (Locobase 11630)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1888, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 15, p. 106. Works numbers were 10057, 10059-10060, 10063 in June 1889.

These narrow-gauge Consolidations were ordered by the Estrada de Ferro Dom Segundo II, but delivered to its successor, the Central do Brazil.

A note in the specifications describes Baldwin's guarantee that these engines would handle 395-ton trains up a 1% grade "...except resistance curves." Although the heating surface areas aren't supplied, Locobase notes that entry 8792 (a single Consolidation for the Baturite Extension built in 1908) had the same count of tubes with the same diameter, and length very nearly equal. A conversion puts the tube heating surface for this nonet at 943 sq ft.

Locobase invites the reader to compare these engines with the broad-gauge quartet supplied to the same railroad by the same builder at the same time. (Their builder's numbers are intermingled, e.g.).

These were 2/3-scale versions of the other locomotives in most respects, although the wheelbase in the metre gauge was inescapably longer than a simple reduction would suggest. The boiler, grate, driver and engine weight, cylinder dimensions all mirrored the broad-gauge engines, but in the smaller scale.