Norte 4-8-0 Locomotives in Spain

Class 240-3001 (Locobase 3389)

Data from [], the web site of the Spanish National Railway. See also Pere Comas and Alfred Puig, Breve Historia de la Traccion Vapor en Norte, Trensim TS10H001, Noviembre de 2010, pp. 49-50, 53; and "Three-Cylinder Locomotve for Service in Spain", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVIII [28] (15 February 1922), pp. 29-31 and 15 March 1922, pp. 61-64. Works numbers were 101 in 1922 102-116 in 1923.

These first Mastodontes (Mastodons) were produced after Norte contracted with Yorkshire Engine of England to develop a locomotive powerful enough to work the steep grades of Branuelas, Pajares, La Canada and Segovia without double-heading. (Norte had begun an electrification project but found the cost prohibitive.).

Yorkshire responded with a sturdy, even brutish engine that lacked grace, but not power thanks to its three-cylinder layout. Its steel cab sheltered the front end of the tender and had little forward view thanks to the wide, slab-sided Belpaire firebox ahead of it. A low straight running board sharply divided the raised boiler barrel and the small drivers and Walschaert valve gear below. Two sand domes flanked a small steam dome and short stack.

LM reported that the firebox's "Orleans" grate (named for the French Paris-Orleans Railway that developed it, pitched down steeply from back to front. Its grate was wide enough to sit on the frames in the rear, but narrowed to fit between the frames. Such a layout lowered the boiler's centerline. The grates, said LM, proved "very satisfactory for dealing with the low-grade fuel consumed."

The Babcock & Wilcox Patent regulator had two cast-steel headers, one for saturated the other for superheated steam. When closed, steam flowed through the superheater tubes and regulator valve. When open, the valves blocks steam from returning to the boiler. Such a multi-purpose device eliminated the need for "dampers, circulating valves and such-like devices" and prevented the engines from unintended departures.

They were not entirely successful engines, according to Comas and Puig's Breve Historia. The three cylinders demanded more coal and water per km than did the other Mastodontes.

More unpleasantly, the class exhibited some design shortcomings, principally in the regulator, which often seized up when running in the open position, "which was not very appreciated by the persons operating them."

Moved in 1929 to the Monforte line, the class couldn't run between La Coruna and Ponferrada and up the key grade at Branuelas because of its high axle loading.

Still, the class possessed the unquestionably attractive property of having been paid for, so they remained in service until 1964-1966.

Class 240-4001 (Locobase 2526)

See Reder (1974).

Data confirmed and supplemented by [], a website hosting RENFE data and diagram UG Type 149, Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques from locomotive book supplied by Dany Machi up at [] as Diagrammes des machines SACM construites a GRAFENSTADEN (October 2007). See also "New Compound Locomotives, Northern Railway of Spain", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XIX (15 October 1913), pp. 228-229. Produced by Henschel & Sohn (works numbers 18212-18221, 18589-18603 in 1921) and Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques (works numbers 6278-6283 in 1912, 6630-6643 in 1914).

Identical to the Pacifics supplied by SACM in the same year (Locobase 3362), these also had trapeze-shaped firebox grates and used the de Glehn-du Bousquet compounding system. LM reported that their "motions, wheels, bogies, and brake gear were identical for the 4-8-0 and 4-8-4[T] engines [Locobase 3327]."

The profile showed a long boiler with Belpaire firebox the grate for which rode above the last two sets of drivers. As a result, the smokebox end stood on a short pedestal and a lot of daylight showed between the running board and the bottom of the boiler.

In Lineas Del Tren (#290, 5 May 2003) [Por que llegaron a Espana las 1-4-1 Mikados francesas? reproduced on [], accessed 7 Dec 2005], Angel Maestro credits this class with handling 260 tonnes of fast freights over the El Escorial-La Canada line, which featured a ruling grade of 2.1%. 2.1%. On the flatter profile between Venta de Banos and Valladolid, they were rated at 480 tonnes.