Est 0-6-2 Locomotives in France

Class 613 (Locobase 7421)

Data from Georges Charles Humbert, TraitT complet des chemins de fer: historique et organisation, Vol 3 (Paris: Librairie Polytechnique, Baudry et Cie, Editeurs, 1891), p. 98

This tank engine operated on local branch lines and was designed for mixed-traffic, including fast freight service and passenger trains of up to 24 voitures (300-450 tonnes) at speeds up to 45 km/h (28 mph) on 0.6-0.7% grades. Other requirements included bi-directional running with fuel sufficient for 30-km stages and water for 100 km.

Alignments were tight; the trailing axle had a total travel of 100 mm (ca 4"). The inside cylinders sloped to clear the first axle and drive the second. The design was close-coupled with the firebox behind and the smokebox ahead of the 4 axles.

This entry describes the earlier engines; see Locobase 10374 for the later, larger locomotives.

Class Serie 8 / 031 TA 613 (Locobase 10374)

Data from "Suburban Tank Locomotives, Eastern Railway of France,"The Locomotive Magazine, Vol IX (26 September 1903), pp. 182-183.

This set of locomotives reflect an enlargement of the 613s that went into service in 1889 (and were shown at the Paris Exposition) and that were described in Locobase 7421. The article notes that of the later batches, 702-728 were produced at the Railway's works in 1894 while Societe des Batignolles finished the class when it delivered 729-742 in 1895.

Intended for the short-spurt, rapid-acceleration duty in the banlieue, the design was close-coupled with the firebox behind and the smokebox ahead of the 4 axles. In the earlier batches, the dome sat over the rearmost coupled axle; later engines had the dome moved forward over the middle coupled axle. The water tanks exetended along the boiler from smokebox to footplate.

Two big differences in the design lay in the size of the grate, which increased by about 25% (and the firebox by about 20%), and use of more and smaller-diameter fire tubes.