Bengal Nagpur 2-8-0 Locomotives in India


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 334 (Locobase 20914)

Data from "Goods Engine and Tender for the Bengal Nagpur Railway", Vulcan Foundry Locomotive Catalogue, No. 4, found on Flicker's Historical Locomotive Images website at [link]. (Many thanks to Jorge Cerezo Toledo for his 26 June 2021 email containing links to several sites including the Vulcan Catalogue referred to above.). Works numbers were 2225 - 2239, 2280 - 2289 in 1907)

More than two dozen Consolidations from Newton-le-Willowws joined other builders' 2-8-0 on the BNR's broad-gauge lines. Like many Vulcan products, the design used a Belpaire firebox of good proportions that included a sizable grate.

The 334s inspired a superheated version in 1914; see Locobase 20306.


Class unknown (Locobase 10452)

Data from "Consolidated Goods Engine, Bengal Nagpur Ry", The Locomotive Magazine,Vol X (14 May 1904), p. 79.

Clearly, Indian rail traffic was picking up throughout the Crown Colony in early 1900s if the size of recent locomotives is an indicator. The North British engines produced for the Great Indian Peninsula (Locobase 10450) were matched in basic power by these 2-8-0s supplied to the BNR in the same year. They were the product of specifications drafted by the BNR's consulting engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry, and included a Belpaire firebox notable for its length and width. The design seems to have been nicely balanced in terms of firebox area, heating surface, and cylinder volume.

NB: Tube length is an estimate derived by subtracting the known firebox heating surface from the known evaporative heating surface and calculating the length need to provide the surface area of the given number and diameter of tubes.


Class unknown (Locobase 20306)

Data from "Consolidated Goods Engine, Bengal Nagpur Ry", The Locomotive Magazine,Vol XX [20], No 265 (15 September 1914), p. 79. Builders were North British Locomotive Company and Robert Stephenson and Company.

A decade after the first Consolidations arrived on the BNR (Locobase 20914), the railway's consulting engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry reworked the boiler to make room for a substantial amount of superheater area. The already capacious Belpaire firebox remained the same, but Barry also increased cylinder diameter by an inch (25.4 mm). LM's report does not say how many of the engines were fitted with Schmidt superheaters and how many had Robinsons installed.

NB: Tube length is an estimate derived by subtracting the known firebox heating surface from the known evaporative heating surface and calculating the length need to provide the surface area of the given number and diameter of tubes.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class334unknownunknown
Locobase ID20914 10452 20306
RailroadBengal NagpurBengal NagpurBengal Nagpur
CountryIndiaIndiaIndia
Whyte2-8-02-8-02-8-0
Number in Class251775
Road Numbers334-358
Gauge5'6"5'6"5'6"
Number Built251775
BuilderVulcan FoundryRobert Stephenson & Coseveral
Year190719031914
Valve GearWalschaertStephensonWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)16 / 4.8816 / 4.8816 / 4.88
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)24.17 / 7.3724.17 / 7.3724.17 / 7.37
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.66 0.66 0.66
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)48 / 14.6348 / 14.6348 / 14.63
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)30,352 / 13,76733,936 / 15,39330,352 / 13,767
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)123,760 / 56,137133,168 / 60,404129,584 / 58,778
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)139,440 / 63,249150,304 / 68,177149,856 / 67,974
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)90,160 / 40,89690,272 / 40,94792,064 / 41,760
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)229,600 / 104,145240,576 / 109,124241,920 / 109,734
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)4200 / 15.914200 / 15.914200 / 15.91
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) 6.60 / 6 6.60 / 6 6.60 / 6
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)52 / 2655 / 27.5054 / 27
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)56 / 142256 / 142256 / 1422
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)180 / 1240180 / 1240160 / 1100
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)20" x 26" / 508x66021" x 26" / 533x66021.5" x 26" / 546x660
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)28,414 / 12888.3931,327 / 14209.7129,188 / 13239.47
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.36 4.25 4.44
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)191 - 2.25" / 57303 - 2" / 51102 - 2.25" / 57
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)24 - 5.25" / 13324 - 5.25" / 133
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)12.87 / 3.9213 / 3.9612.75 / 3.81
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)157 / 14.59173 / 16.07156.50 / 14.54
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)32.14 / 2.9932 / 2.9732 / 2.97
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1606 / 149.202235 / 207.641348 / 125.23
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)410 / 38.09
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1606 / 149.202235 / 207.641758 / 163.32
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume169.88214.43123.39
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation578557605120
Same as above plus superheater percentage578557606298
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area28,26031,14030,799
Power L1424949977956
Power MT302.76330.90541.42

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