Est 4-8-2 Locomotives in France

Class Series 13 / 241A (Locobase 1062)

See Hollingsworth (1986), Gustav Reder (Michael Reynolds, trans), The World of Steam Locomotives (New York: Putnam, 1974), Nock (RWC V, pl 20), Wikipedia's entry [], and the French locomotive website [] for conflicting boiler statistics. The mc.locomotives.free.fr website's data included the firebox area as well. Hollingsworth's are close, but he noted a higher SHS is greater at 996 sq ft (92.57 sq m), which may reflect the rebuild "along Chapelon lines" that he notes came in 1933.

The original design was credited to Duchatel, whose 241.001 was the prototype. A deep Belpaire firebox with combustion chamber trailed its long boiler and was sandwiched between the last driving axle and the trailing truck positioned at the extreme end of the frame.

The production machines (241.002-241.041) had some small differences: the stack was repositioned 320 mm (12.6") farther back (out of line with the bogie's pivot) because of smokebox problems, the wheelbase grew by 200 mm (7.9"), and the sand dome was combined with the rear steam dome. Also, after 1928 tests, the original Nord blastpipe was replaced by a 3-jet PLM design, cylinder diameter was increased to 660 mm (later reduced to 650 mm), and many of the steam passages were redesigned.

The 241a65 website notes that these de Glehn compounds were the largest steam locomotives in Europe at the time of their introduction. They were rated to pull 700-ton passenger trains at 115 km/h (71.4 mph), assisted by their tall drivers.

Reder stated that 40 went to Est, 39 to the State Railway, while Hollingsworth notes that 42 were built for Est, and 49 more went to the State Railway. The latter information is reinforced by the [] website (31 May 2004).

The rebuild, which was not actually supervised by Chapelon, addressed many of the concerns. The Est further improved steam-passage design, introduced feedwater heaters and the TAI water treatment system, changed the low-pressure cylinders' valve motion, installed a welded-steel firebox and cast-steel high-pressure cylinders, and replaced the PLM blastpipe nozzle with a clover-leaf, 6-nozzle Bourges design. 241s were updated over a 15-year period from 1933 to 1948.

Thierry Stora, on his [] (last accessed 27 November 2006), offers a tepid assessment of the result. Indicated horsepower jumped from 1,900 to 2,500 hp, "...but coal consumption stayed considerable, 3.41 pounds (1.55 kg) per H.P. per hour, that is close to half a pound more than Chapelon's PACIFICS."

Stora also notes that they were not steady riders and problems with trackholding led to a "... great crash in the thirties after what their bogie was redesigned, improving things a bit."