Data from No. 63, "Mixed Traffic Engine and Tender for the Chinese National Railway", Vulcan Foundry Locomotive Catalogue found on Flicker's Historical Locomotive Images website at [], last accessed 26 June 2021. See also Vulcan Foundry brochure preserved at [
]. (Many thanks to Jorge Cerezo Toledo for his 26 June 2021 email containing links to several sites including the Vulcan Catalogue referred to above.); and Yang Ling, "Chinese Railway Museum", Japanese Railway & Transport Review No. 58 (October 2011), pp. 42-45. Works numbers were 4668-4683 and 4696-4703.
Boasting large, 12 1/2" (318 mm) piston valves with 9" (279 mm) travel, a 2:1 doubling lever to permit finer tuning of the valve gear, electric lights, mechanical stoker, multiple valve header, and a tender booster, these engines were thoroughly modern for their day. According to Vulcan Foundry, their designer was Colonel Kenneth Cantile in his capacity as mechanical engineering advisor. The Chinese Railway Museum claims that Chinese engineer Ying Shangcai "and others" originally designed the Kf in 1933. Payment came from a fund set aside in China to pay for damages to foreign property during the 1900 Boxer rebellion.
Although the dates of their final departure from service are a bit clouded, it is known that most survived World War II and the Chinese Civil War and carried on well into the 1960s.
Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
---|---|
Class | KF |
Locobase ID | 2593 |
Railroad | China |
Country | China |
Whyte | 4-8-4 |
Number in Class | 24 |
Road Numbers | 600-623 |
Gauge | Std |
Number Built | 24 |
Builder | Vulcan Foundry |
Year | 1935 |
Valve Gear | Walschaert |
Locomotive Length and Weight | |
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 18.70 / 5.70 |
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 43.93 / 13.39 |
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.43 |
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 84.06 / 25.62 |
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | 38,001 / 17,237 |
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 149,852 / 67,972 |
Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 222,704 / 101,017 |
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | 172,481 / 78,236 |
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | 395,185 / 179,253 |
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 7999 / 30.30 |
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 13.10 / 11.90 |
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | 62 / 31 |
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 68.90 / 1750 |
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 224.80 / 1550 |
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 21.26" x 29.53" / 540x750 |
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 37,016 / 16790.20 |
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 4.05 |
Heating Ability | |
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 50 - 2.244" / 57 |
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | 120 - 3.504" / 89 |
Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 19.03 / 5.80 |
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 312.16 / 29 |
Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 66.95 / 6.22 |
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 2988 / 277.59 |
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 1076 / 99.96 |
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 4064 / 377.55 |
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 246.27 |
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 15,050 |
Same as above plus superheater percentage | 18,963 |
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 88,419 |
Power L1 | 30,282 |
Power MT | 1782.03 |