Seoul-Chemulpo 2-6-0 Locomotives in Korea


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 1 (Locobase 2892)

Data from Catalogue Descriptive of Simple and Compound Locomotives built by Brooks Locomotive Works, Dunkirk, NY (Buffalo, NY: Matthew-Northrup Company, 1899). See also Everett Frazar, "Korea", Asia: the journal of the American Asiatic Association, Volume 1, No. 2 (25 August 1898); and "Brooks Locomotives for Corea [sic]", Railroad Gazette, Volume 30, No 9 (4 March 1898), p. 153.

Builder info from B.Rumary, 25 Kingscombe, Gurney Slade, Radstock, BA3 4TH, ENGLAND and Jeremy Lambert as supplied by Allen Stanley in March 2004.

Works numbers were 2868-2871.

The Seoul-Chemulpo Railway was the first steam railway in Korea. Set up using British finances, it opened in 1899 -- fifteen years after the Hermit Nation was opened to foreigners -- and operated by a Japanese syndicate. Consul-General Everett Frazar reflects a sanguine view of the Japanese occupation that began at the end of the Sino-Japanesed War in characterizing the effect of the new railway: "The advent of this first railway in Korea will be an event of great importance, and tend more than anything else yet undertaken, to cause the Koreans to follow in the progressive steps of their enlightened neighbors of Dai Nippon!"

All hopes of such enlightenment on the part of either Korea or Japan would soon flicker and eventually die out. In the meantime, American builders were supplying the new railroad with locomotives. The first to arrive were this quartet of small Moguls.

Standard-gauge tank engine that used very small drivers and a small boiler, even for its modest dimensions.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class1
Locobase ID2892
RailroadSeoul-Chemulpo
CountryKorea
Whyte2-6-0T
Number in Class4
Road Numbers1-4
GaugeStd
Number Built4
BuilderBrooks
Year1897
Valve GearStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)12.25 / 3.73
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)19 / 5.79
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.64
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)19 / 5.79
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)65,000 / 29,484
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)75,000 / 34,019
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)960 / 3.64
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)1 / 1
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)36 / 18
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)42 / 1067
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)140 / 970
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)14" x 22" / 356x559
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)12,217 / 5541.54
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 5.32
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)122 - 2" / 51
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m) 9.08 / 2.77
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)71.20 / 6.61
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)12.66 / 1.18
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)646 / 60.01
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)646 / 60.01
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume164.81
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation1772
Same as above plus superheater percentage1772
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area9968
Power L12505
Power MT254.89

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