Netherlands State / SSB 4-6-0 Locomotives in Netherlands

Class 3900 (Locobase 4496)

Data from "Locomotieven nrs. 3901-3932 NS (soortmerk PO4)", pdf supplied from [], last accessed 22 October 2017. See also Google translation of Wikipedia's "NS-Baurehei 3900" at [][], last accessed 22 October 2017; and "Nederlandse stoomlocomotieven" index and photos, online at [], last accessed 22 October 2017. Works numbers were 21342-21363 and 21706-21715.

Edwin Boer, whose drawings can be found on the website [] (14 March 2004) says these were nicknamed "De Beul" (The Brute) and were the last steam locomotives designed by the NSB.

Their nickname suggests power, but actually the ratios suggest an overworked boiler that could supply steam for a relatively short period. Indeed, Wikipedia's entry says that these engines consumed "significantly more coal" than the 3700s. But their four-cylinder system was quiet and smooth-running. Unlike many Belpaire firebox installations, those on Dutch engines had straight up

Class 4000 (Locobase 4837)

Data and details from Dirty Nico's Steamdepot at []

This three-cylinder passenger locomotive design originated in Sweden on the Bergslagernas Jarnvag; see Locobase 4836. When the Dutch government looked forward to rebuilding its devastated railway system after World War II, they ordered 50 locomotives from Nohab. Fifteen were this express passenger class. Changes included a larger smokebox door (to allow better access to the superheater elements)

Although a serviceable design, the pace of dieselization in Holland ran quickly and all were out of service within 10 years.

Class 685/3700 (Locobase 2585)

Data from "New Express Locomotives for Holland," The Locomotive, Volume 17 (15 March 1911), pp. 56-58. See also Wikipedia "NS-Baureihe 3700" at [], last accessed 22 October 2017; and "Four-Cylinder Express Locomotive, Dutch State Railways", Locomotive Magazine, Volume 24 (14 December 1918), pp. 191-192.

Built by Beyer, Peacock; Hanomag; Henschel & Son; Schwartzkopff; and the Dutch firm Werkspoor. BP's works numbers were 5370-5375 in 1910, 5451-5462 in 1912, 5640-5651 in 1912-1913, and 5721-5726 in 1913. Werkspoor produced 48 from 1914 to 1921. After World War I (during which the Netherlands was neutral), Henschel (works numbers 17744-17758 in 1920), Hanomag (works numbers 9343-9352 in 1920, and Schwarzkopff (works numbers 9336-9340 in 1928) competed successfully on price to complete the class in the late 1920s.

Wikipedia commented (in Google's translation) that the four-cylinder arrangement used Walschaert's gear for the inside cylinders with intermediate links to the outside cylinders on each side. The result was a very smooth and quite running locomotive, ableit one with a taste for coal. The last batches came fitted with both cylinders combined in a single casting, a change that also improved the steam flow.

These engines met the requirement to haul 400 ton trains at 90 kph (56 mph) and impressed their crews with their power to the point that the engines were nicknamed "Jumbos". Interesting comment from the Dutch Railway Museum website:"Because the locomotives have four cylinders they are also very well suited for freight trains, very important at that time." 3800-3805 received a bulbous shroud to "streamline" the locomotive 1936-1938; photos confirm that the nickname "Sperm Whale: did not mischaracterize the result. The existing feed water heating system no longer fit, so the railway adopted steam injectors. These remained in the sextet (and were installed in some other 3700s) once the streamlining was removed .

After the Third Reich's invasion and occupation in 1940, the DRG commandeered five locomotives for service in Holland, but eventually seized so many that the NS could only operate 28 by the end of the war. Of the 92 missing, 68 weren't immediately discovered, 14 were under repair. Only 13 did not eventually rejoin the NS, 10 having been sent to the Soviet Union.

Recovery meant an acceleration of passenger-railway electrification and the 3700s served on local passenger runs, special excursions, and freight traffic. By June 1957, the last 3700 took a train from Nijmegen to Kranenburg, Germany for the last time. Their last freight service ended in December 1957 and the last train of any sort arrived in Utrecht on 7 January 1958.