Eastern Bengal 2-6-4 Locomotives in India

Class 300 (Locobase 10683)

Data from "Railway Notes - Eastern Bengal Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XV (15 January 1909), p. 3. Works numbers 4583-4587.

Can't say much more about this locomotive at the present. It seems likely to have been derived from the BESA's Passenger Tank design, down to the Belpaire firebox. The adhesion weight is an estimate based on its likely provenance.

Class 308 (Locobase 16119)

Data from "Railway Notes - Eastern Bengal Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XVII (15 April 1911), p. 74.

This was a follow-on order of similar tank engines to those described in Locobase 10276. They had the same power dimensions and the grate area was the same, but the firebox had more heating surface area and the boiler now held fewer, larger-diameter tubes. Engine wheelbase increased by 13" (330 mm).

Class 323 (Locobase 20418)

Data from "2-6-4 Tank Locomotive, Eastern Bengal State Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXI [21] (15 June 1915), p. 124. Works numbers were 3089-3094.

The Eastern Bengal maintained their interest in the 2-6-4T layout beyond those described in Locobase 10683 and Locobase 6119.

The 1914 quartet manifested a big change by adding a superheater that replaced some of the small tubes, which increased the effective power of the boiler's steam. The Belpaire firebox was shallower, but the grate was only slightly smaller.

Class 637 (Locobase 21189)

Data from "Tank Locomotives for India, Eastern Bengal State and Madras & Southern Mahratta Rys," The Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXXII [32], No 404 (15 April 1926), p. 124. Works numbers were 4305-4310 in 1925.

The Eastern Bengal's previous 2-6-4T locomotive order prescribed a superheater for the first time. This next sextet arrived a decade later; the engines repeated some of the principal power numbers, the Belpaire firebox, and the 8" (203 mm) piston valves. Although the driver's maximum axle loading remained essentially unchanged, the rear bogie carried 26.4 long tons (59,136 lb /26,824 kg).