Atami Keiben Light Railway 0-4-0 Locomotives in Japan


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 1 (Locobase 20045)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 27, p. 98. See also "Light Narrow Gauge Locomotive from Japan," Railway Age, Volume 38, No 20 (11 November 1904), p. 683. Works number was 24520 in August 1905.

A 21st-Century reader can only cringe at some of the language used by the writer of this Turn-into-the -20th-Century report on a diminuitive motive power machine. He wrote that the machines were "exactly suited to a lilliputian race like the Japanese." The #1 was "very handy, easy running and easily managed".

Intended as a substitute for horses on industrial railways, the 1 instead was meant to substitute for human-powered carts moved by "armies of coolies." The tramway for which it was intended ran for 16 miles, had curves with a minimum radius of 25 feet and a maximum grade of 4%.

iThe 1's Belpaire boiler was very unusual in a locomotive so small. Relief valves allowed the engine to drift down-grade. It was to "look as much unlike a regular locomotive as possible so as to avoid coming under Government regulations for railways."

The 1 remained in service into the 1920s, running in later years for the Dai Nippon Tramway on its Shizuoka Branch.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class1
Locobase ID20045
RailroadAtami Keiben Light Railway
CountryJapan
Whyte0-4-0T
Number in Class1
Road Numbers1
Gauge2'
Number Built1
BuilderBaldwin
Year1904
Valve GearStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) 3.50 / 1.07
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) 3.50 / 1.07
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase1
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) 3.50 / 1.07
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)5550 / 2517
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)5550 / 2517
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)50 / 0.19
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)5 / 2.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)24 / 610
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)120 / 830
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)4.5" x 10" / 114x254
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)861 / 390.54
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 6.45
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)23 - 1.5" / 38
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m) 4.58 / 1.40
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)11.80 / 1.10
Grate Area (sq ft / m2) 1.91 / 0.18
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)52 / 4.83
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)52 / 4.83
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume282.49
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation229
Same as above plus superheater percentage229
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area1416
Power L12894
Power MT2299.16

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