East Indian / East Inian 2-4-0 Locomotives in India


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 101 (Locobase 16103)

Data from tracing archived at [link], last accessed 26 July 2015. Works numbers were 332-336 in 1852.


Class 101 (Locobase 16107)

Data from tracing archived at [link], last accessed 26 July 2015. (Thanks to Abhijit Gore for his 28 November 2024 email correcting the locomotive operator's name.) Works numbers were 332-336 in 1853.

Although the original documentation gave the locomotives' owner as Peto, Brassey & Betts, the class instead went to work on the EIR. BP&B's expertise lay in providing contractor services. According to Abhijit Gore,the firm never operated in India.

Moreover, wrote Gore, the two main sources presented different information describing Vulcan's works 332-336, which seem to be the actual


Class 800 (Locobase 11288)

Data from Ernest Taillard, Exposition Universelle de Paris de 1867-Chemins de Fer-Les Locomotives et le Materiel de Transport, 1ie Volume (Paris: Dunod, 1867), pp.38-39.


Class unknown (Locobase 3509)

Data from D[aniel] K[innear] Clark, "On the Locomotive Engines in the International Exhibition of 1862," Newton's London Journal of Arts, (1 January 1864), p. 34.

A "standard" class of outside-cylinder 2-4-0s built for the railroad over a seven-year period by a variety of British builders. Data are of the WG Armstrong & Co. batch. Avonside, Hawthorn, Canada Works, Kitson's, J Morrison (10 in 1867), Cross & Company. Kessler of Esslingen and Escher Wyss of Zurich also contributed engines. (Thanks to Werner Hardmeier for his 5 January 2022 email asking for more information on the Escher-Wyss contribution to this large class.)

(Hardmeier pointed out that Escher-Wyss built only 35 locomotives before moving on to specialize in "paddle steamers an other technical items.") The 10 sent to East Indian represented slightly less than 1/3 of the total. Works numbers were 51-60 in 1866; EIR road numbers were 366-375.

Clark, a well-known designer and commentator on steam locomotives of the time, commented that the tube diameter of 2 1/4" meant the tubes were laid in the boiler at only a .56" (14.2 mm) spacing.

"These proportions would", in Clark's opinion, "be improved by reducing the tubes to 2 inches diameter, with increased clearance; and the reduction of heating surface would be amply compensated by the increased facility for circulation of the water and steam between the tubes." Such discussions would recur frequently throughout the age of steam.


Class unknown (Locobase 8454)

Data from John Bourne, CE, Recent Improvements in the Steam-Engine (London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1880), p. 243.

Bourne says little specific about this locomotive (which he credits to "Kepler of Wurtemburg [sic]") other than to note that it appeared at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. The official report of the United States Commissioners singled out this locomotive as an example of how new manufacturers were competing successfully for business.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class101101800unknownunknown
Locobase ID16103 16107 11288 3509 8454
RailroadEast IndianEast InianEast IndianEast IndianEast Indian
CountryIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndia
Whyte2-4-02-4-02-4-02-4-02-4-0
Number in Class5528520
Road Numbers101-105101-105366-375
Gauge5'6"5'6"5'6"5'6"5'6"
Number Built5528520
BuilderVulcan FoundryVulcan FoundryKesslerseveralKessler
Year18521852186718611867
Valve GearStephensonStephensonStephensonStephensonStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) 7.50 / 2.29 7.50 / 2.29
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)15.17 / 4.6215.17 / 4.6214.75 / 4.50
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.49 0.49
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)28,112 / 12,75123,296 / 10,567
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)46,517 / 21,10047,544 / 21,56646,592 / 21,134
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)71,650 / 32,50073,248 / 33,22572,576 / 32,920
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)1800 / 6.821800 / 6.82
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)39 / 19.5040 / 2039 / 19.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)60 / 152460 / 152466.90 / 170067 / 170263 / 1600
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)120 / 830120 / 830116 / 800120 / 830120 / 830
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)16" x 22" / 406x55916" x 22" / 406x55915.98" x 22.01" / 406x55916" x 22" / 406x55916" x 22" / 406x559
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)9574 / 4342.709574 / 4342.708284 / 3757.568574 / 3889.119118 / 4135.86
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 5.62 5.55 5.11
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)162 - 1.85" / 47157 - 2.25" / 57162 - 1.928" / 49
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)10.99 / 3.3510.92 / 3.3310.94 / 3.33
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)97.74 / 9.0897 / 9.0196 / 8.92
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)18 / 1.6718 / 1.6718.08 / 1.681718 / 1.67
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1156 / 107.401156 / 107.40948 / 88.081106 / 102.79966 / 89.78
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1156 / 107.401156 / 107.40948 / 88.081106 / 102.79966 / 89.78
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume225.80225.80185.55216.03188.69
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation21602160209720402160
Same as above plus superheater percentage21602160209720402160
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area11,33811,64011,520
Power L1363741643559
Power MT344.74386.17336.81

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