Pampanga Sugar Mills 2-8-2 Locomotives in Philippines

Class Gumain (Locobase 14750)

Data from DeGolyer, Vol 63, pp. 225. See also a listing of Sugar Centrals in the Philippines in the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Journal (January 1922), p. 30. Works number was 55088 in September 1921.

This Luzon Island sugar central needed more power on a light rail system (40 lb/yard; 20 kg/metre) that bent around curves with radii as tight as 150 feet (45.7 m). When the company bought this logging Mikado tank, it handled the curves with a lead truck that swung 4" (102 mm) each way and a rear truck that had 3 3/4" (95 mm) play to each side. Other concessions to the tight, light right of way were the short stroke for 14" (356 mm) cylinders and the flangeless second and third drivers on each side. Although a coal-burner, the 7 was fitted with a Rushton Improved cabbage stack.

[] contains a account -- Views from the Pampang by Alex Castro -- that describes this region of Luzon's railroad net. The PASUDECO, the sugar company that opened a large mill in 1921 and owned the locomotive in this entry, was served by branch lines that radiated from several main stations, particularly San Fernando. The peak years were the 1920s, when the development was processing 1,660 tons of sugar cane a day.