Caile Ferate Romane 4-6-2 Locomotives in Romania

Class 2201/231.01 (Locobase 1510)

Data from A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The steam loc; "4-6-2 Express Locomotive for the Roumanian [sic] State Railways", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XIX, (15 November 1913), pp. 253-254; and "4-6-2 Oil-Burning Engines, Roumanian [sic] State Railways", Railway Engineer, Volume 36, No 5 (May 1915),p. 119-120. Works numbers were 3365-3384 in 1913, 3462-3466 in 1914, 3467-3472 in 1915, 3473-3476 in 1916, and 3477-3481 in 1917.

Durrant pronounced the front-end design of this dual-fuel express-locomotive class as "extremely curious." The four cylinders were arranged line abreast under the smokebox and inclined slightly to clear the first axle and drive the second. Each of the two piston valves (one for each side of the centerline) was located above and between the pair of cylinders they supplied through crossed ports. The relatively compact wheelbase came from positioning the bogie relatively far back. The cranks driven by the inside valve motions proved troublesome, causing problems serious enough to require replacement in later years.

Locobase has noted such valve arrangements before, but usually as applied to four-cylinder compound locomotives. Of greater novelty was the combination of oil and coal fuel use. LM reported that when the engines stood in a station or ascended long grades, the oil injection into the firebox would be temporarily cut off. Interrupting the flow led to a drop in firebox and tube-end temperature and a greater possibility of leaks. "This can be avoided," said LM, by burning a thin layer of coal on the grate."

Still, these engines had a stylish appearance and were, acknowledges Durrant, a "great advance on previous express power." Their brief was hauling 300 ton trains at 56 mph (90 kph) on the level. Maximum speed was limited to 78 mph (126 kph) by regulation.

They served Romanian passenger trains for decades, being retired in large numbers only after 1970.

See Locobase 8035 for the later 231.040 class that differed in having slightly shorter boiler tubes.

Class 231.041 (Locobase 8035)

See Locobase 1510 for comments on the first 40 locomotives of this interesting design. After World War One, Maffei supplied 20 more engines with slightly shorter tubes. Its works numbers were 5426-5445. Henschel (works 18995-19024) added 30 more in 1922.

[] (14 Jan 2004) says that this class handled most of the major runs after World War I including the Carpati Express (coach and Pullman), Dunarea Pullman Express, Carol I, and Fulgerul Pullman Express. This site also notes that the CFR built bigger tenders in the mid-1930s to eliminate one or more water stops and reduce running times. Water capacity came to 35 cu metres (9,247 US gal).

Phase-out for this class began in earnest only in 1970, when 34 of the 50 still operated.