4-6-0 Steam Locomotives in Portugal

Class 201 (Locobase 9703)

Data from "Locomotivas de Vapor de Via Larga"p. 10 , posted Posted by Guarda Freio at 18:01, 23 September 2018, at [], last accessed 25 January 2026; and [], last accessed 30 November 2008. Works numbers were 12195-12200 in 1913.

Originally delivered to the S e S for passenger service, these engines remained in service until the end of steam on the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses.

Class 261 (Locobase 21299)

"Locomotivas de Vapor de Via Larga"p. 29 , posted Posted by Guarda Freio at 18:01, 23 September 2018, at [], last accessed 25 January 2026; and "Série 261 a 272 da CP" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 8 February 2026.. Works numbers were 3052-3055 in 1898, 3186-3188 in 1901, and 3224-3228 in 1902.

The 1898 quartet of Ten-wheelers introduced the Du Bousquet-De Glehn divided-drive compound working to the Portuguese railways. Like the Nord 3.121 class, the 260s, as they were also known, had the square-shouldered Belpaire firebox. Wikipedia notes they were based on similar locomotives then in service on France's CF du Nord (Locobase 3890).

Put on the Galicia Express, the engines ran between Lisbon and Porto, thence to Vigo. The seven-hour running time over the 335 km (209 miles) meant an average speed of 48 kph (30 mph).

NB: If using the inside (fire side) diameter of 44 mm (1.73") in each tube, the tube heating surface measured 121.80 sq m (1,219 sq ft), which together with the firebox area, came to 1,311 sq ft of evaporative heating surface area. . Locobase uses the external diameters.

Class 351 (Locobase 21322)

"Locomotivas de Vapor de Via Larga"p. 30 , posted Posted by Guarda Freio at 18:01, 23 September 2018, at [], last accessed 25 January 2026; and "Série 351 a 370 da CP" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 8 February 2026.. Hemschel works numbers were 10248-10257 in 1911 and 11652-11656 in 1912.

SACM

Satisfied with the Du Bousquet-De Glehn divided-drive compound system, the CP followed the continental trend and superheated the boiler in this set of 20 express passenger Ten-wheelers. Like many of the other designs, this class used a Belpaire firebox. Weight and cylinder volume placed the class in the middle of the type, although its boiler ranked a bit lower.

Produced to handle the fastest expresses on the Northern Line, the class soon served the traffic exclusively. In a special run bringing French general Joffre from Lisbon to Entroncamanto, the engine hauled its train at an average speed of 110 kph (68 mph).

351s handled passenger trains on a variety of runs well into their fifth decade. Wikipedia (in Google translation) summarizes some of the named trains they handled: "Among the various services towed by this series were the Sud Expresso, and the fast trains on the Northern Line, such as the Flecha de Prata. They were also responsible for passenger trains on the Alentejo Line, and the Lusitânia Expresso to Valencia de Alcântara."

NB: If using the inside (fire side) diameter of 44 mm (1.73") in each tube, the tube heating surface measured 108.20 sq m (1,165 sq ft), which together with the firebox area, came to 122.4 sq m (1,318 sq ft) of evaporative heating surface area. Locobase uses the external diameters.

Class 401 (Locobase 21302)

Data from "Portuguese Express Locomotive", Railway Age Gazette-Mechanical Edition, Volume , No 3 (March 1915), pp. 117-118, and skeptical editorial comment on that issue's editorial page 106.. Works numbers were 2747-2752 in 1908.

According to Ferropedia's Spanish-language site, this sextet was a Bavarian attempt to come up with an express compound locomotive for the Portuguese Railways. As such, they strongly resembled the Bavarian Railways S 3/5 Ten-wheeler (Locobase 5991) and S 3/6 designs. A 1930 photo shows an unusual shield under the smokebox that wrapped around to embrace the cylinders. The steam dome sat well forward, ahead of the sand dome, and the cab had a "wind-splitter" wedge-shaped face.

RAG's detailed report described the details and performance of this design. All four cylinders lay en banc and drove on the leading coupled axle, the HP cylinders inside the 4" (102 mm) deep bar frames and LPs outside. Like the Vauclain compound designs, the two cylinders on each side used a single piston valve to alternately supply the HP and LP cylinders. Each valve used a small-diameter valve in the center to feed and exhaust the HP cylinder. Both ends were devoted to the LP cylinder, each one timed to supply steam at opposite ends of the piston stroke.

RAG reported "It is said that these completely fulfilled all the required conditionis, their performance having proved highly satisfactory in every way." The journal highlighted the contention that the design developed "exceptionally high power per unit of weight."

Maffei and CP claimed that the engine generated a maximum of 2,214 horsepower in actual service, RAG reported. Five sample indicator cards "taken in service on a level line at various speeds and cutoffs" showed the following values:

Speed (mph) BP (psi) Cutoff % Train weight (tons) IHP

40 213 40 341 830

56 213 38 341 1,234

62 203 35 355 2,054

63 227.5 50 388 2,214

67 227.5 40 314 1,799

RAG Mechanical Edition's editorial comment agreed that a balanced compound passenger locomotive developing 2,000 IHP "is a performance rarely, if ever, equalled in American practice." RAG's skeptically assessed the claim by giving examples of high-performing American engines of equal or greater capacity that measured 1,600-1,700 hp in roughly similar conditions. Their verdict: "Comparing the Portuguese lcoomotive with these engines the possibilities of such a performance on its part are not evident."

After 30 years in Portuguese service, the Lisbon shops added superheaters to the boilers (see Locobase 9704).

The first of the class - 403 - retired on 20 February 1952. The others left service over the next 9 years with 406 making the final exit on 21 July 1961.

Class 401-supetheated (Locobase 9704)

Data from [], last accessed 30 November 2008; and "Locomotivas de Vapor de Via Larga"p. 31 , posted Posted by Guarda Freio at 18:01, 23 September 2018, at [], last accessed 25 January 2026. See also "Portuguese Express Locomotive", Railway Age Gazette-Mechanical Edition, Volume , No 3 (March 1915), pp. 117-118, and skeptical editorial comment on that issue's editorial page. Works numbers were 2747-2752 in 1908.

NB: Tube & Flue heating surface areas calculated from the external (water) diameter. Inside (fire) diameter measured 174.97 sq m (1,883 sq ft)..

Locobase 21302 supplies the details for the original saturated-boiler version of this sextet.

After 30 years in Portuguese service, the Lisbon shops added superheaters to the boilers. The first of the class - 403 - retired on 20 February 1952. The others left service over the next 9 years with 406 making the final exit on 21 July 1961.

Class 61 (Locobase 9190)

Maurice Demoulin, Locomotive Actuelle ... (Paris: Librairie Polytechnique Ch.Beranger, 1906), p 287-288. Also see "Compound Passenger Engine, Portuguese State Rys", The Locomotive Magazine, Volume X (15 July 1904), p. 115; and "Passenger Locomotive for the Portuguese State Railway", Engineering, Volume 78 (29 July 1904), p. 150.. Works numbers were 5359-5364 in November 1904, 5649-5652 in October 1905.

A four-cylinder compound with Belpaire firebox and Serve tubes and a mixture of Walschaert gear on the external LP cylinders and Joy valve gear on the inside, HP cylinders. The colored illustration found in the LM showed a long line with a high-mounted boiler, and wide-set bogies. The class was intended to haul the Sul e Sueste's heavy passenger traffic on a route that included long grades of 1 in 55 (1.8 %).