Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at []; supplemented by "Beyer-Garratt Simple for Ghats/Class GD" diagram from Burma Railway Locomotive Diagram book supplied in July 2021 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange collection.. See also the "Railways in Myanmar/Burma" web page at [], last accessed 24 January 2023.Works numbers were 7158-7159 in 1945. (6 September 2005).
The British War Department ordered 20 of the Light Mountain Garratts design in 1943. Eighteen went to India's Bengal & Assam railway (Locobase 512), but soon joined several earlier Garratt classes in Burma as class GD. The other two (WD 74242-74243) went to this East African railway, arriving in 1945.
According to the Florian Gruppe's page, the immediate post-war state of Burma's railways rendered their GD class surplus to requirements. So the BR sold four to Tanganyika Railways in 1946 as their 750-753. Merging the KUR and the TR in 1949 created the East Aftrican Railways, at which time the six engines fell together in class 55 and took numbers 5501-5506. Burma sold another five more to East African Railways in 1952, where they were numbered 5507-5511.
| Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
|---|---|
| Class | EC-5/EAR 55 |
| Locobase ID | 21110 |
| Railroad | Kenya-Uganda |
| Country | Kenya |
| Whyte | 4-8-2+2-8-4 |
| Number in Class | 11 |
| Road Numbers | 120-121/5501-5511 |
| Gauge | Metre |
| Number Built | 2 |
| Builder | Beyer, Peacock |
| Year | 1945 |
| Valve Gear | Walschaert |
| Locomotive Length and Weight | |
| Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 26.76 / 8.16 |
| Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 79.08 / 24.10 |
| Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.34 |
| Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 79.08 / 24.10 |
| Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | 22,400 / 10,160 |
| Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 179,200 / 81,284 |
| Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 306,180 / 138,881 |
| Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | |
| Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 5040 / 19.09 |
| Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 7.70 / 7 |
| Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | 37 / 18.50 |
| Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
| Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 48 / 1219 |
| Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 200 / 1380 |
| High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 16" x 24" / 406x610 (4) |
| Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 43,520 / 19740.36 |
| Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 4.12 |
| Heating Ability | |
| Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 185 - 2" / 51 |
| Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | 32 - 5.25" / 133 |
| Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 12.95 / 3.95 |
| Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 183 / 17 |
| Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 48.75 / 4.53 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 1996 / 185.43 |
| Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 399 / 37.07 |
| Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 2395 / 222.50 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 178.69 |
| Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
| Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 9750 |
| Same as above plus superheater percentage | 11,408 |
| Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 42,822 |
| Power L1 | 9313 |
| Power MT | 916.59 |