2-4-0 Steam Locomotives in Switzerland

Class C 2/3-21 (Locobase 21105)

Data from SBB Locomotive Diagram LN 212487, found on the web at [], last accessed 15 December 2022; and" SO B 2/3" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 1 January 2023. Works numbers were 1085-1087 in 1868 and 1276-1278 in 1870

In 1872, the SO appeared as the consolidation of three western Switzerland railways. Among its motive power roster was this sextet of passenger engines. As constructed, the batch derived its layout from the widely adopted Stephenson long-boiler design in which the firebox sat behind the two driven axles, outside cylinders powered the drivers fed by link motion inside the frame. . The boiler held 177 tubes. The later update shown in the specs deleted 22 tubes and enlarged the firebox.

In 1881 merged with the Simplon to form the SOS and in so doing operated through most of western Switzerland. Nine years later, the SOS merged with the Jura-Bern-Lucerne (JBL) to form the Jura-Simplon Bahn.

Swizterland's nationalization of the system in 1903 brought the JS under the umbrella of the Swiss State Railways. This set remained in service for only a few years before being retired in 1905-1907.

Class C 2/3//B 2/3 (Locobase 21107)

Data from SBB Locomotive Diagram LN 212526 found on the web at [], last accessed 15 December 2022. Works numbers were 806-809 in 1893 and 891-896 in 1894.

Ten cross-compound local passenger tank locomotives entered service on the NWB. The SBB diagram shows long piston rods extending ahead of the cylinders and a complicated geometry of the the outside radial constant-lead valve gear.. (Note: the stated values from the SBB diagram suggest either many more tubes or larger tube diameters than given in the dame diagram. Using the 50 mm diameter shown in the diagram, the heating surface area would measure 858 sq ft/79.71 sq m and when combined with the firebox heating surface area comes to 926 sq ft/86.03 sq m of evaporative heating surface area.)

As most European railways emphasized the fuel-economy advantages of compounding (as opposed to North American railroads), a railway like the SBB kept theirs in service for 30 years or more in most cases.

Of the 1891 four, only 1166 was retired before the mid-1920s while half of the 1894 sextet were off the roster in the mid-19'teens. In 1918, the 1175 served the Tosstalbahn route as their #18. It was withdrawn in 1926.

1177 and 1180 survived into the 1920s.

Class C 2/3//Eb 2/3 (Locobase 21106)

Data from SBB Locomotive Diagram LN 212669 found on the web at [], last accessed 15 December 2022. Works numbers were 673-678 in 1891 and 757-762 in 1892.

Although the SBB diagram supplies a complete set of data about these dozen 2-4-0 tank locomotives, it provides no clue about its provenance, year of service entry, or builder. But Jens Merte, compiler of dozens of European locomotive builder production lists, filled in the blanks.

The design itself was of modest scale, its boiler capacity, cylinder volume, and driver diameter quite suitable for local passenger traffic. The earlier batch came under the SBB in 1902, the later batch being enrolled a year later.

It's not clear why the earlier batch mostly retired by the end of World War I (5173 and 5172 surviving until 1923 and 1928 respectively). The latter six carried on until the late 1920s (5180, 5182) and early 1930s (5177 and 5181 off the roster last in 1932).