Indian State Railways 2-6-4 Locomotives in India

Class IGR/WM (Locobase 4289)

Data from Vulcan Magazine, Winter 1951 ([].); and "WM Class Passenger Tank Engine for the (ISR) East Indian Railway and (ISR) Great Indian Peninsula Railway", Vulcan Foundry Locomotive Catalogue, No. 69, found on Flicker's Historical Locomotive Images website at []; and "Indian Railways" 1952 2-6-4T (WM) brochure on the Vulcan Foundry website at [], last accessed 10 August 2021. (Many thanks to Jorge Cerezo Toledo for his 26 June 2021 email containing links to several sites including the Vulcan Catalogue referred to above.)

Vulcan delivered ten in 1942 (works numbers 4795-4804 in 1942) and followed ten years later with 30 more slightly modified sisters (works numbers were 6096-6125 in 1951. This latter group was specifically designated for "heavy suburban work of the Eastern Railway from Calcutta." Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns produced another 30 in 1953-1954. The four WV class 2-6-2Ts were modified to WM configuration

Part of the series of standard designs from the post World War II era, this is the WV Prairie Tank with an additional trailing axle, making it a Baltic Tank. As with virtually all of the standard Indian locomotive designs, these tanks had Belpaire fireboxes, the firebox heating surface including two arch tubes. Steam admission came through 8" (203 mm) piston valves.

All three coupled axles and the front truck were compensated. The radial arm front truck's axle turned in Timken cannon type roller-bearing axleboxes. The trailing bogie also used Timken roller bearings.