Sydney & Louisburg 2-8-4 Locomotives in Canada
Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media
Class 15 (Locobase 9521)
Data from "Schenectady Double-Ended Consolidation Engine," Railway and Locomotive Engineering, Volume 12, No 11 (November 1899), page 511. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for his 20 May 2017 email correcting a page cite.) Works numbers 5105 in July 1899, 5569 in April 1900, and 5791 in March 1901.
This powerful, compact tank engine design came in a relatively rare wheel arrangement. Dominion Coal owned and operated the S&L on the Cape Breton peninsula in Nova Scotia, system that had been formed six years earlier as a consolidation of eight smaller railways.
"So far as we are aware," reported R&LE, "this is the largest and most powerful double-ended locomotive ever built." (Larger ones, particularly those operating in southern Africa, would soon eclipse even this impressive design.)
See Colin Churcher's roster -- [
], last accessed 5 June 2009.
There he shows that Dominion Coal #15 was delivered in July 1899 and scrapped in 1930, #10 was produced in 1900, scrapped in 1928; 20 produced in March 1901, scrapped in 1929.
Colin Churcher's roster includes S&L 19 as a fourth 2-8-4T, but compilations of Schenectady builder's numbers assign 5790 either to the second of two 0-4-0s or show no wheel arrangement for the locomotive.
| Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
|---|---|
| Class | 15 |
| Locobase ID | 9521 |
| Railroad | Sydney & Louisburg |
| Country | Canada |
| Whyte | 2-8-4T |
| Number in Class | 3 |
| Road Numbers | 15, 10, 20 |
| Gauge | Std |
| Number Built | 3 |
| Builder | Schenectady |
| Year | 1899 |
| Valve Gear | Stephenson |
| Locomotive Length and Weight | |
| Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 15 / 4.57 |
| Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 36.25 / 11.05 |
| Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.41 |
| Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 36.25 / 11.05 |
| Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | |
| Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 170,000 / 77,111 |
| Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 239,000 / 108,409 |
| Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | 239,000 |
| Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 4200 |
| Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 4 |
| Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | 71 / 35.50 |
| Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
| Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 55 / 1397 |
| Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 200 / 1380 |
| High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 22" x 28" / 559x711 |
| Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 41,888 / 19000.10 |
| Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 4.06 |
| Heating Ability | |
| Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 348 - 2" / 51 |
| Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | |
| Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 13.83 / 4.22 |
| Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 176.92 / 16.44 |
| Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 33.21 / 3.08 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 2689 / 249.91 |
| Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | |
| Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 2689 / 249.91 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 218.26 |
| Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
| Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 6642 |
| Same as above plus superheater percentage | 6642 |
| Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 35,384 |
| Power L1 | 5318 |
| Power MT | 275.86 |