Bwana M'Kubwa Copper Mining Co 2-6-2 Locomotives in Rhodesia


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class 101 (Locobase 20969)

Data from Roy V Wright, Fig. 2172, Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice, Tenth Edition (New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 1938), p. 976. See also "Bwana Mkubwa" in Wikipedia at [link], last accessed 2 January 2022; and "Polish World War II Memorial Site - Ndola" on the "Copperbelt - Where to go and what to see"website at [link], last accessed 2 January 2022. Works numbers were 66751 in April 1926 and 67541 in November 1927.

According to Wikipedia, Bwana M'kubwa means "big chief" or "great master" and in 1902, the name was bestowed to a settlement and a mine in Copperbelt Province, Zambia. Immediately after World War One, the company began exploring a flotation process to extract copper from low grade ores. The "Perkins Process" could handle 1,000 tons of ore per day and promised to liberate copper from an estimated reserve of 3.7 million tons.

As BMCMC sought to reach profitability, it added these two Prairie tanks to move the ore to a railhead. But the company suffered from a misguided method for assessing copper percentage and regularly lost so much money per year that the company closed the mines in 1931.

Perhaps the most profitable venture, from a humanitarian perspective, was the sheltering of thousands of Polish refugees at Bwana Mkumbwa in World War Two. At war's end in 1945, refugees could remain in Rhodesia or move along. A Polish World War II Memorial commemorates this life-saving effort.

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
Class101
Locobase ID20969
RailroadBwana M'Kubwa Copper Mining Co
CountryRhodesia
Whyte2-6-2T
Number in Class2
Road Numbers101-102
Gauge3'6"
Number Built2
BuilderAlco-Schenectady
Year1926
Valve GearWalschaert
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m)8 / 2.44
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)22.50 / 6.86
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.36
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)22.50 / 6.86
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)80,000 / 36,287
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)103,000 / 46,720
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)44 / 22
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)37 / 940
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)180 / 1240
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)15" x 20" / 381x508
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)18,608 / 8440.46
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.30
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)68 / 6.32
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)20 / 1.86
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1014 / 94.20
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1014 / 94.20
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume247.88
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation3600
Same as above plus superheater percentage3600
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area12,240
Power L13674
Power MT303.74

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