Rio Tinto Railway Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Spain

Class 145 (Locobase 503)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at [] (6 September 2005), and "Rio Tinto Company-Design 1145", Beyer-Garrrat Patent Articulated Locomotives (Manchester, England: Beyer-Peacock & Company Limited, 1931), archived on flickr's Historical Railway Images at [], pp. 54-55. Works numbers were 6560-6561 in 1928.

Prairie Garratts operating on a narrow-gauge Spanish line.A website focusing on the railroads of Huelva (in the farthest southwestern area of Spain) --- es.geocities.com/trenesdehuelva/clase_garratt.htm (visited 22 July 2005) -- says that the design was based on similar engines then in use in South Africa. When a plan to acquire two K-class locomotives fell through, Rio Tinto bought these two, which were delivered in January 1929.

They proved able to pull easily at least 50 freight waggons over bridges so lightly built that a special platform had to be spliced in between the locomotive and the first freight car to spread the weight over a longer wheelbase. The bridges were later strengthened. Over the first 45 miles (72.5 km) of the line between the Port of Huelva and the mines and, the ruling grade was 1%. But over the final 7 miles(11.3 km), the grade rose at 2 1/2%.

According to the site, these Garratts required a delicacy of touch, so the driver and fireman (maquinista and fogonero) were permanently assigned to one of the two. 145 compiled mileage faster than her sister; as a result, while 145 was retired in 1963, 146 lasted to the end of steam.