Lombardo-Veneto 2-4-0 Locomotives in Italy

Class 101/51/421/251/1401 (Locobase 20629)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T38. Koechlin works numbers were 378-383 in 1857 and 416-437 in 1858. Parent & Schaken works numbers were 150-159 in 1859. (For roster details, see Josef Pospichal's lokstatistic website at [], last accessed 14 August 2019.

Squeezing the firebox between the two frames limited grate area in this design, which otherwise was well-endowed with boiler heating surface area. A tall, drum-shaped dome sat over the first driven axle with a sand box immediately in front. Sixteen of the class were fitted with new boilers that allowed an increase in boiler pressure to 8 bar (116 psi). The engines mentioned in the 1876 book were 431, 433, 435, 438-440, 445-449, 452-453, 457-458.

In 1885, the concentration of railways into only a few major systems meant that the Alta Italia sent this large class to the Rete Adriatica. But only two survived to be taken on the Ferro dello Stato roster in 1905.

The Album data show the fireside evaporative heating surface area- 100 sq m--which was approximately 15% too low when compared to the sum of firebox heating surface area and the calculated tube heating surface area including the tubes' external (water side) diameter.. Locobase's specifications adjust the EHS to reflect the higher value.

Class 151/131/226/401/2401/1501 (Locobase 20628)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T40. Works numbers were 346-354 in 1853 and 512-514 in 1860. (For roster details, see Josef Pospichal's lokstatistic website at [], last accessed 14 August 2019. Works numbers were 305-314 in 1858 and 371, 375-378, 394-398 in 1859.

Like most other small late-1850s passenger locomotives, the chief limitation on performance was probably the small firebox when compared to the boiler it was trying to heat. Although the heating surface to cylinder volume was relatively generous, its steam supply may have been of relatively short duration. Even so, the class remained in service into the 1900s, when eighteen were given a Ferro Stato Gruppo ID in 1905.

Locobase understands the notes in the SFAI album (written in Italian with a graceful hand) to say that at least four of the twenty were upgraded with a new boiler made of 1/2" plate that allowed the 401-402, 405, and 417 to operate at 8 bar (116 psi). The 411-420 batch trailed four-wheel tenders with smaller (1,135 mm/44.7") wheels.

The Album data show the fireside evaporative heating surface area--91.2-- sq m--which was approximately 15% too low when compared to the sum of firebox heating surface area and the calculated tube heating surface area including the tubes' external (water side) diameter.. Locobase's specifications adjust the EHS to reflect the higher value.

Class 351 (Locobase 20615)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T30. NB: Locomotive supplied to one of the predecessors to the SFAI, which consolidated them into a network in 1865.

Haystack firebox and boiler was typical of the age, but the builder is little known. It appears that the builder may have simply removed the lead adhesion axle to create this passenger engine. The equalization mechanism for the two driven axles--driven outside the frames by external cylinders--was both quite visible and apparently of uncommon layout.

The class remained in service when their original owner was absorbed by the SFAI in 1865. All of the trio were scrapped in 1872.

Locobase found an inconsistencies between the given values for the tube diameters, tube lengths, and for the evaporative heating surface area given as 69.2 sq m. The EHS value shown in Locobase's specs is composed of the firebox heating surface area given in the diagram and the tube heating surface area calculated from the stated tube length, external tube diameter, and count.

All six were scrapped in 1873-1875.

Class 379 (Locobase 20625)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T34. Works numbers were 216-217 in 1859.

This pair of six-wheelers carried one of the biggest boilers of any 2-4-0s of the late 1850s, but their grates and fireboxes seem undersized. Many others provided more area in both. Locobase hasn't identified the railway to which these two were originally delivered, so he can't say whether that company could obtain high-calorie coal for more heating power.

Both were taken into the Strade Ferrate d' Alta Italia (SFAI) in 1865, Rete Mediterraneo in 1885, and the Ferro dello Stato in 1905.

Locobase found an inconsistencies between the given values for the tube diameters, tube lengths, and for the evaporative heating surface area given as 106.5 sq m. The EHS value shown in Locobase's specs is composed of the firebox heating surface area given in the diagram and the tube heating surface area calculated from the stated tube length, external tube diameter, and count.

Class 80/201/381/2019/FS 118 (Locobase 20626)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T35. Works numbers were 439, 442 in 1859 and 962-967 in 1865.

Locobase found an inconsistencies between the given values for the tube diameters, tube lengths, and for the evaporative heating surface area given as 98.2 sq m. The EHS value shown in Locobase's specs is composed of the firebox heating surface area given in the diagram and the tube heating surface area calculated from the stated tube length, external tube diameter, and count.

Class 84/205 (Locobase 20596)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T17. Works numbers were 285-287 in 1854.

This Austrian design had a kind of racy appearance due largely to its widely spaced drivers and no protection whatever for the footplate crew. The only protuberances above the line of the boiler was a small dome on the firebox and another just behind the capped stack.

The Album data show the fireside evaporative heating surface area--96.0 sq m--which was approximately 9.9% too low when compared to the sum of firebox heating surface area and the calculated tube heating surface area including the tubes' external (water side) diameter. Locobase's specifications adjust the EHS to reflect the higher value.

Not long after its original railway merged into the Alta Italia, the SFAI scrapped the quartet in 1872-1874.

Class 87/208/2774/1811 (Locobase 20597)

Data from Ferrovie Dell' Alta Italia, Album Delle Locomotive (Torino, 1o Luglio 1876), T17.

This four-coupled mixed-traffic locomotive showed an interesting mix of old and new. The old included a continuing use of low pressure setting, low weights, and closely spaced drivers in front of the firebox. The "new" features a small, relatively plain steam dome just behind the stack, a drum-shaped sandbox with external pipe sending sand to the leading edge of the first drivers, and, for a wonder, both wind and precipitation protection for the footplate too. Grate and firebox area also increased.

The Album data show the fireside evaporative heating surface area--88.0 sq m, which was approximately 10.3% too low when compared to the sum of firebox heating surface area and the calculated tube heating surface area including the tubes' external (water side) diameter. Locobase's specifications adjust the EHS to reflect the higher value.