Ottoman Railway 0-6-2 Locomotives in Turkey

Class 5/3411/C1 (Locobase 20448)

Data from "The Ottoman (Aidin) Railway", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXI [21] (15 May 1915), p. 101. See also Trains of Turkey website at [], last accessed 27 October 2018. Works numbers were 3419-3421.

Stephenson produced this trio immediately after the large 0-8-2T tanks described in Locobase 20050. They had similar, but smaller Belpaire fireboxesWhile the eight-coupleds served as banking engines, this set worked local suburban traffic from Smyrna. LM had "no doubt" that prewar demand 's growth to "considerable proportions" on this British-owned and operated line was due to the "excellent facilities provided by the OCR in providing good service of up-to-date trains to the residential districts outside the town."

After World War I began and Turkey allied itself with Germany, LM commented that the Ottoman (Aidin) line could be compromised by the remaining local drivers' inexperience. Their success in taking over and successfully operating an "up-to-date railway" was, LM pronounced, "to say the least, doubtful. Unless they have retained a number of native staff of the old British Company, the question is very problematical."

LM also pointed out the likelihood that in-country stocks of British coal would likely not last them very long. Given that the only possible local coal supply from Zongouldak had been cut off by the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, LM concluded that "the plight of the railways generally in Asia Minor must be serious."