Paris-Lyon-Mediterrannee 0-8-0 Locomotives in France

Class 040 4 DM 001 (Locobase 9996)

Data from US Military Railway System's Equipment Data Book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange, supplemented by Wiki PLM at [], last accessed 9 November 2011. Conversions completed by PLM-Arles in 1927-1928 and the Compagnie GTnTrale de Construction et d'Entretien de MatTriel de chemin de fer (CGCEM) in 1928-1932.

Similar in size to the 4 AM/4 BM conversions described in Locobase 6170, this class had a different origin and sported some differences after the makeover as well. The 0-6-2 class shown in Locobase 7597 was an Austrian-built derivation of the 111 series of 2-4-2s described in Locobase 1102, so all of the PLM 0-8-0T conversions had a similar look, which included the Belpaire firebox present on so many PLM designs.

But the AM/BM locomotives retained their saturated boilers, while all of the DMs received superheated boilers. They weighed more and had larger -diameter piston valves (310 mm/12.2 inches).

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Class 2 501/4 001/4 A 001 (Locobase 603)

Reder (1974) and data from US Military Railway System's Equipment Data Book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (March 1900), p.43. See also Wiki PLM at [], last accessed 9 November 2011

Builders included Grafenstaden in 1869-1870 (2 501-2 512) and 1871-1872 (2 513-2 514), PLM-Paris in 1872-1879 (2 525-2 540, 4 071-4 094) and 1884-1885 (4 135-4144), SACM in 1882-1884 (4 095-4 134), and PLM-Oullins (4 145-4 159)

Although based on the Engerth style of supporting part of the locomotive weight on the tender (and even coupling the tender bogies to the drive train through cogs), these engines were built for the PLM with separate tenders. The "bayonet" shape of the frame --in which the main frame stopped short of the firebox and a wider back piece was added-- was distinctive. Like many French locomotives, these had the steam dome perched over the front driver set just behind a flared stack.

These engines could pull a 1,175-ton load at 19 mph on level ground, 307 tons up a 1% grade, and 85 tons up a 3% grade. As reported in the March 1900 LM, the class went where the climbing was hardest. This included passenger trains in Savoy on the Mont Cenis line between St Jean de Maurienne and Modane that often required double-heading. On the Massif Central on the Nimes-to-Clermont-Ferrand section between Alais and Langeac, the profile was "...remarkable for its very long and numerous inclines, for its great engineering works, and for its very frequent tunnels, some of which are very long."

Not only were the tunnels long, said the author, but they had a small cross-section that led to mephitic conditions such that "... the driver and fireman of the rearmost engine have often been nearly asphixiated." To cope with such Hadean conditions, the crew used the Galibert "respiratory apparatus", clenching their teeth around a mouthpiece to breathe through a tube that conveyed fresh air from a reservoir mounted on the cab roof and placing nose clips to prevent inhaling the fumes.

Baden State Railroad operated twelve similar engines delivered by Egerstorff in 1874-1875.

Perhaps the most astonishing revelation from the MRS Guide is that so many of this class were still in service after World War II. The guide also shows that 3 of the class had boilers pressed to 186 psi.

NB: MRS data for tube heating surface used the internal tube diameter, which yielded 189.7 sq m) (2,042 sq ft) and evaporative heatng surface of 199.5 sq m (2,147 sq ft). Locobase uses the external diameter given in the Jury report to simplify comparison with Anglo-American designs.

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Class 3 201 (Locobase 3909)

Data from Titre Exposition universelle internationale de 1889 a Paris. Rapports du jury internationale. Auteur - Volume France. Ministere du Commerce, de l'industrie. Picard, Alfred, ed. Volume Groupe VI - -Outillage et precedes des industries mecaniques. Electricite (5e partie) Classes 60 a 63. Rapport sur le materiel des chemins de fer. tables beginning on p. 183 ([] (accessed 1 September 2005).

Reder (1974, 198-199) explains that Adolph Henry realized his freight engine would have to show a decent turn of speed (38 mph/60 kph) to pull heavy passenger trains through the mountainous sections. Hence he put relatively tall drivers under the boiler. The Jury's report (158) says that these locomotives were intended for service up grades of 2 1/2-3% on alignments that included sharp curves. Both the lead and trailing coupled axles had 25 mm (1") play to each side.

The Belpaire firebox rested low behind the rear axle. The outside, LP cylinders drove the third axle. Inside, the, HP cylinders were inclined to clear the first axle and drive the second.

The design was a success and 112 more were produced in the late 1890s. (See Loocobase 3910)

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Class 3 201 - 1897 w Serve tubes (Locobase 7417)

Data from Wiki PLM at [], last accessed 9 November 2011.

The two trial horses that proved the concept of a four-cylinder compound freight locomotive with taller drivers (Locobase 3909) had more to show the PLM. In 1897, the boiler was reworked to hold Serve tubes a ailette (internally finned), which not only had a larger diameter, but also gained heating surface from the eight small internal ribs. The Belpaire firebox remained unchanged. Weight grew by about 6 metric tons (6.6 short tons).

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Class 3 211 / 4-B (Locobase 3910)

Data taken from Edouard Sauvage, "Four-Cylinder Compound Locomotives in France", Railroad Gazette, Volume XXXII [32], No.39 (28 September 1900), pp.629-631 using information compiled through direct communications with the various designers. See also "American and French Four-Cylinder Compound Freight Locomotives," Engineering News, Volume 33 (13 June 1895)),pp. 387-388; and US Military Railway System's Equipment Data Book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

Builders included Creusot in 1892-1894 (3 211-3 235), Fives-Lille in 1892-1893 (3 236-3 260) and 1894-1895 (3 301-3 325), Cail in 1892-1893 (3 261-3 280) and 1893-1894 (3 326-350), Franco-Belge in 1894-1895 (3 351-3 362), and Batignolles in 1892-1893 (3 281-3 300).

Compared to the prototypes 3201-3202 (Locobase 3109), these engines had very different tube layout. Possibly this is because the latter's designer -- Adolph Henry -- had died and his successor Charles Baudry chose to use the Serve firetube. These had internal ribs or fins that were intended to increase the surface area exposed to hot gases as they left the Belpaire firebox. Thus the boilers were considerably shorter and the tubes larger in diameter; they retained the steeply sloped grate and brick arch in a Belpaire firebox and the stack placed at the front of the extended smokebox, "saddle-bag" sand chest, and tall dome over the second axle.

The EN report described the 536 mile (893 km) main line between Paris and Marseilles as having "easy grades and very heavy traffic." The compounding system was a typical French layout in which the inside HP cylinders were inclined 7 3/4 degrees and turned a crank on the third axle while the outside LP cylinders, located in a plane ahead of the smokebox, drove straight back to the second axle.

The class was quite successful.

The EN report compared this locomotive to the Philadelphia & Reading Consolidation design from Baldwin (Locobase 12093). Three obvious difference were the compounding systems, tube diameters, and the use of a carrying axle. The French variations are described here. The Americans used the Vauclain system in which a set of one HP and one LP were supplied by a single piston valve and drove on a common crosshead; smaller-diameter, internally smooth 2 1/4" tubes; and a 2-8-0 layout that included a leading truck with a swing bolster.

40 -- 3 261-3 300 were later modified as 4-6-0s (Locobase 3911).

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Class 4 301 (Locobase 3906)

Data taken from Edouard Sauvage, "Four-Cylinder Compound Locomotives in France", Railroad Gazette, Volume XXXII [32], No.39 (28 September 1900), pp.629-631 using information compiled through direct communications with the various designers; supplemented and amended by Wiki PLM at [], last accessed 9 November 2011.

This freight hauler was built with engjne 4302 (see record #3907) to compare four-cylinder compound operation with that of the 2500 class simple-expansion locomotives. The inside HP cylinders were angled to drive the second axle while the outside LP cylinders drove the third axle.

The two engines differed between in the number and diameter of their firetubes and the resulting heating surface area. Later engines were modelled after 4302.

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Class 4 301- 4 302 (Locobase 3907)

Data taken from Edouard Sauvage, "Four-Cylinder Compound Locomotives in France", Railroad Gazette, Volume XXXII [32], No.39 (28 September 1900), pp.629-631 using information compiled through direct communications with the various designers.

This freight hauler was built with engjne 4 301 (see Locobase 3906) to compare four-cylinder compound operation with that of the 2500 class simple-expansion locomotives. The inside HP cylinders were angled to drive the second axle while the outside LP cylinders drove the third axle.

The two engines differed between in the number and diameter of their firetubes and the resulting heating surface area.

Locobase shows the 4 302 after its 1908 conversion to Serve tubes a ailettes that had 8 internal fins or ribs to increase the tube surfaces exposed to hot gases.

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Class 4 511 / C 11 (Locobase 13353)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/.

See Locobase 9418 for a summary of the changes wrought in the original Bourbonnaise 0-6-0s beginning in the 1890s. This batch had a slightly different Belpaire firebox from the first group.

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Class 4 521 / C 21 (Locobase 13354)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011; and M Vallancien, "Locomotives Compound a Quatre Essieux Couples ..., pp. 184-203 of

See Locobase 9418 for a summary of the changes wrought in the original Bourbonnaise 0-6-0s beginning in the 1890s.

This was the replacement with four axles, compound expansion, and a host of internal changes. Designed by Henry as well, the class had a slightly smaller Belpaire firebox, but a little more total evaporative heating surface than the earlier groups. Each Serve tube had eight ailettes (internal "fins"), each 1/2" (11 mm) high, to increase heating surface area. The grate sloped downward toward the front at a 17 deg angle.

Also, the stack's center of diameter over the smokebox moved back 775 mm (30.5 inches) from its location in the first 20 locomotives.

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Class 4 531 / C 31 (Locobase 13355)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/.

See Locobase 9418 for a summary of the changes wrought in the original Bourbonnaise 0-6-0s beginning in the 1890s. With this batch, the boiler and Belpaire firebox grew a little as did the weight.

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Class 4 541 / C 41-C70 (Locobase 13356)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/.

See Locobase 9418 for a summary of the changes wrought in the original Bourbonnaise 0-6-0s beginning in the 1890s. Evaporative capacity increased by about 7% with the 1896 makeovers. Weight increased, but the other dimensions remained unchanged and the Belpaire firebox remained a fixture as well.

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Class 4 571 saturated / C 71 (Locobase 13357)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de F PLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/. Retrofits occurred between 1902 and 1907.

See Locobase 9418 for a summary of the changes wrought in the original Bourbonnaise 0-6-0s beginning in the 1890s. Although the 1902 locomotives were essentially identical to the 1896 C 41 batch shown in Locobase 13356, the axle spacing changed. Overall wheelbase increased by 100 mm, but the spacing was more even. Between 1 and 2, the wheelbase shrank by 200 mm, the 2-3 axle spacing grew 200 mm, and the 3-4 axle spacing increased by 100 mm. The Belpaire firebox and grate remained unchanged.

11 of this class received superheaters, 2 through new construction, 9 through modification; see Locobase 13358. Fifteen other C 4 71s were sent to the PLM's Alegerian service in 1923-1924. They were 4 C 77, 82, 87, 92, 96, 100, 101, 102, 105, 106, 109, 113, 122, 126, and 130.

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Class 4 571 superheated / D 1 (Locobase 13358)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp.76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de F PLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/.

As noted in Locobase 13357, 11 of the last and biggest batch of makeovers using parts from the original Bourbonnais class of 0-6-0s were fitted with superheated boilers. Two were new-construction engines: C 127 tested the Schmidt superheater, C 128 the Notkin. The latter was quickly found to be inferior and was replaced by a Schmidt installation in 1915. The other 9 -- 4 582, 4 589, 4 591, 4 593, 4 594, 4 603, 4 609,4 616, 4 623 -- were converted from already modified C 71-class locomotives. All were then dubbed D 1 to 10.

The rebuild retained the Belpaire firebox and the longer wheelbase, but added boiler tubes and flues that were 400-mm longer.

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Class 7 701/ 4 AM/4 BM (Locobase 6170)

Data from Wiki PLM at [], last accessed 9 November 2011.

The two classes are shown together because they shared all of the major dimensions and areas and because they were derived from the 111-series 2-4-2s (Locobase 1102) of which almost 300 were built in the early 1880s. AM referred to the first 50 locomotives, which were modified by PLM-Paris, PLM-Oullins, and Decauville. BM designated the 84 converted by Creusot in 1924-1925.

The layout offered differently spaced axles (1.85 m/1.75 m/2.0 m) front to back, low mounted cylinders supplied by 280-mm (11-in) piston valves, big steam dome over the gap between the 2nd and 3rd axles and a smaller sand dome forward and a short stack with a smoke-arresting collar at the base.

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Class C 1 / 4 501 (Locobase 9418)

Data from Railway Engineer (March 1905), pp. 76-77 and from "Locomotives of the C de FPLM," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol V (May 1900), p.72. See also Wikipedia's excellent summary of this entire class at [], last accessed 3 November 2011/.

Remarkably, these were makeovers of the very successful Bourbonnaise six-coupled freights (Locobase 6167). The constructors retained the first and third axles and wheels, the wheels of the second axle, much of the drive gear (coupling and connecting rods, piston heads, slide bars, third-axle axle boxes and their guides), springs, splashers, even the smokebox door.

The entire series shared similar design components, although details differed from batch to batch. Locobases 13353- show the later batches.

A new short boiler had a Belpaire firebox, Serve tubes and HP cylinders outside in line with the LP cylinders inside the frame. The LP cylinders had their valve chests below; they were operated by an inverted arrangement of Walschaerts gear. The LP and HP valve gear each had independent reversing wheels in the cab as well as an intercepting valve for live-steam starting.