Eastern Counties / Eastern Union 2-2-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 12" (Locobase 9642)

Data from Francis Whishaw, Railways of Great Britain and Ireland (London: John Weale, 1842), p. 93. Boiler pressure is an estimate.

Whishaw said of these locomotives and those shown in Locobase 9643: "In principle they much resemble Mr Bury's engines; but there is an appearance of much greater weight and solidity ..."


Class 13" (Locobase 9643)

Data from Francis Whishaw, Railways of Great Britain and Ireland (London: John Weale, 1842), p. 93. Boiler pressure is an estimate.

These were very similar to the 12"-cylinder engines shown in Locobase 9642, but with larger-diameter boilers and thus more heating surface area in the tubes. Whishaw noted : "In principle they much resemble Mr Bury's engines; but there is an appearance of much greater weight and solidity ..."


Class Ariel's Girdle (Locobase 10536)

Data from "The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XI (15 November 1905), pp. 6, 189. Boiler pressure is an estimate. Works number was 270.

This unusual engine was displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace by the company then known as Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson. It was intended to pull a single composite carriage, thus representing, according to the LM history, "...an early example of the rail motor which has found considerable favour just recently [sic]." The long wheelbase consisted of a carrying axle under the smokebox and the single driving axle just ahead of the firebox. The steam dome straddled the boiler between the two axles and the locomotive used coke as a fuel.

On the EUR, which soon was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway, the little engine operated in light duty, but its scant adhesive weight led the shops to add a driving axle and reduce all four drivers to 48" diameter in a tightly spaced 4 ft 3 1/2" spread. As a 2-4-0T, the 28 weighed 24,080 lb (10 tons 15 cwt) empty, 29,680 lb (13 tons 5 cwt) loaded. It ran until 1879.


Class Express (Locobase 10327)

Data from "The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VIII (30 May 1903), p. 369

Often dubbed the "Lilliputian" for its small dimensions, this 4-wheel carriage designed by the ECR's James Samuel amounted to a rail-borne omnibus and represented the earliest days of the unending search for economical light passenger railroading. It resembled most a buckboard with a vertical boiler placed over the front wheels and open seating for 7 passengers in the latter two-thirds of its 12 1/2-foot length. .

The dimensions tell just how small and low-powered the vehicle was, but the machine received a full trial. Its 23 October 1847 trip from London to Cambridge covered 57 1/2 miles in a net time of 1 3/4 hours (about 33 mph) and speeds of 43 mph were reported. The LM author quotes the Artisan reporter, who effused: "The engine behaved splendidly on crossing points and rounding curves, and there appeared less rocking than is usually experienced in first-class carriages traveling at the same speed." One contemporary account noted that the ratio of dead load (i.e., tare) to payload was about 2 to 1, roughly equivalent to a London horse-drawn stage coach, but traveling at 4 times the average speed.

Certainly the fuel economy couldn't be faulted. In 6 months covering 5,526 miles, Express consumed an average of 3.02 lbs of coke per mile.

It's likely that the tiny capacity of the engine was too easily overmatched even by the payloads that could be placed on board the carriage. Moreover, building up the Express's passenger accommodation would have instigated an upward spiral in weight and size. Samuel continued his efforts at developing such vehicles and produced the Enfield; see Locobase 9646.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class12"13"Ariel's GirdleExpress
Locobase ID9642 9643 10536 10327
RailroadEastern Counties (GER)Eastern Counties (GER)Eastern Union (GER)Eastern Counties (GER)
CountryGreat BritainGreat BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain
Whyte2-2-02-2-02-2-0T2-2-0T
Number in Class4811
Road Numbers28
GaugeStdStdStdStd
Number Built4811
BuilderBraithwaite, Milner & CoBraithwaite, Milner & CoKitson & CoW B Adams
Year1839183918511847
Valve GearStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) 5.33 / 1.62
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) 7.0810.17 / 3.1011.58 / 3.53
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.46
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)10.17 / 3.10
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)2800 / 1270
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)2800 / 1270
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)365 / 1.3848 / 0.18
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) 0.30
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)72 / 182972 / 182960 / 152440 / 1016
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)50 / 34050 / 340110 / 76075 / 520
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)12" x 18" / 305x45713" x 18" / 330x4579" x 15" / 229x3813.5" x 6" / 89x152
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)1530 / 694.001796 / 814.651893 / 858.65117 / 53.07
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort)
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)84 - 1.875" / 4894 - 1.875" / 4883 - 1.75" / 4435 - 1.5" / 38
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m) 8.89 / 2.71 8.89 / 2.7110.42 / 3.18 3.25 / 0.99
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)62.16 / 5.7864.47 / 5.9938 / 3.53 5.50 / 0.51
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)9 / 0.849 / 0.84 1.40 / 0.13
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)428 / 39.78474 / 44.05434 / 40.3244 / 4.09
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)428 / 39.78474 / 44.05434 / 40.3244 / 4.09
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume181.65171.41392.95658.55
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation450450105
Same as above plus superheater percentage450450105
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area310832244180413
Power L11881172862155351
Power MT

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