Central do Brasil 2-8-2 Locomotives in Brazil

Class 422 (Locobase 14516)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 79, pp. 202+. Works numbers were 59710-59722 in January 1927.

This set of metre-gauge Mikados were produced in a batch just before the broad-gauge Pacifics shown in Locobase 14513.The designs had many differences, but they shared the use of wide fireboxes to burn low-calorie Brazilian coal. A major source of inspiration seems to have been the single Montreal Locomotive Works engine delivered to the Tubarao a Ararangua in 1923 (Locobase 20499).

But the production version produced at Eddystone ramped up the heating power considerably. The firebox heating surface area achieved its high value through the addition of 21 sq ft (1.95 sq m) of fire brick tubes in addition to the 41 sq ft (3.8 sq m) of combustion chamber. The latter figure suggests a determination to ensure that every last bit of coal had turned to gas before entering the tubes and flues.

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Class 815 (Locobase 14517)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Vol 79, pp. 210+. Works numbers were 59743-59750 in January 1927.

January 1927 was Central do Brasil month at Eddystone, or so the 41 locomotives produced in that month might suggest. The other two--the broad-gauge 360-class Pacifics (Locobase 14513) and the metre-gauge 422-class Mikados (Locobase 14514)--shared the wide-firebox layout that made the best use of low-calorie Brazilian coal, although each differed in detail. Other than a couple of Lehigh Valley camelbacks, the broad-gauge Mikes had quite the largest grates of any 2-8-2s in their weight class.

They also had combustion chambers; the 815-class's version contributed 46 sq ft (4.3 sq m) to the firebox heating surface area. Fire brick tubes added another 31 sq ft (2.9 sq m), making these fireboxes among the biggest among light Mikados..