Bengal Nagpur 4-6-0 Locomotives in India

Class C (Locobase 10283)

Data from "New Locomotives for the Bengal Nagpur Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VIII (7 March 1903), p. 159; and "Ten-Wheel Express Locomotive for India, Built in Scotland", Railway Age, Volume 37 (12 February 1904), p. 227.

A large-boilered passenger class that set the tone for the BNR's motive power for some time. The Belpaire firebox lent it a full-bodied look that "closely resemble[d] the same class as built for the Great Central Railway of England". Other elements that reflected British influence was the use of Stephenson link motion with plain (i.e., not balanced) slide valves, brass fire tubes, and copper firebox.

"In design and finish, these engines are excellent, and great credit is due to the builders, the locomotive superintendent, and to Sir John Wolfe Barry, the consulting engineer in London." Indeed, as RA's 1904 report noted, they were intended to haul "heavy mail trains" over the B-N's main line, "which connects what may be called the two capitals of the Empire, Calcutta and Bombay [later Kolkata and Mumbai, respectively]." Over a 701-mile (1,129 km) run between Calcutta and Nagpur, the company hoped these engines would help reduce running times from 25 hours to 19 hours.

Except for the class leader, all of the engines bore the names of Royal Navy ships-of-the-line or battleships: 204 Winifrid, 205 Colossus, 206 Hercules, 207 Jupiter, 208 Victory, 209 Goliath, 210 Neptune, 211 Trafalgar, 212 Majestic , 213 Monarch , 214 Powerful, 215 Britannia.

Class Dreadnought (Locobase 10748)

Data from "4-6-0 Locomotive, Bengal Nagpur Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XV ((15 December 1909), p. 237

Another class supplied under specifications supplied by Sir John Wolfe Barry, the consulting engineer in London, this batch appears to be a slight modification of the Beyer, Peacock locomotives delivered in 1902 (Locobase 10283). The basic dimensions are the same and the later engines also had a Belpaire firebox, but the boiler is a little smaller as is the cylinder volume and the Stephenson valve gear of the Winifred has been replaced by Walschaert radial valve gear mounted outside.

Class unknown (Locobase 13579)

Data from "New Locomotives for the Indian State Railroads", The Railroad Gazette, Volume XXXIX, No 11 (15 September 1905), p. 255.

Continuing to fulfill the orders from the BNR, these engines were also designed by the railway's Consulting Engineer John Wolfe Barry. Their remit was to haul the heavy mail express (a relative term) trains from Bombay to Calcutta. Like the others shown in Locobases 10283 and 10748, these had Belpaire fireboxes. Their cabs used louvered shutters instead of sliding glass.

Class unknown (Locobase 20527)

Data from "New Express Locomotives for India," Railway Engineer, Volume 42, No 5 (May 1921), pp. 180-181. See also "4-6-0 Locomotive: Bengal-Nagpur Ry", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVI [26], No. 340 (15 December 1920), pp. 261-262.

These engines were the superheated variants of the 1902 Winifrid Ten-wheelers shown in Locobase 10283. They were designed by the BN's chief mechanical engineer A C Carr with unchanged driver diameter and Belpaire firebox and grate dimensions. A superheater took up a good deal of room in the boiler and its greater efficiency apparently encouraged the railway to cut its boiler pressure by 20 psi (1.38 bar).

Outside steam pipes led directly from the superheater header to the top of the piston valve chests. "This arrangement is advantageous," LM's report explained, "by freeing the interior of the smokebox, giving a shorter and more direct steam way from the header to the cylinder, and rendering the structure of the latter more simple and less costly."