GER Class A55
GER Class A55 | |
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0-10-0WT | |
• UIC | E n3tp |
Gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Driver dia. | 4 ft 6 in (1.372 m) |
Loco weight | 80 long tons 0 cwt (179,200 lb or 81.3 t) |
Fuel capacity | 2 long tons 0 cwt (4,500 lb or 2 t) |
Water cap. | 1,300 imp gal (5,900 L; 1,600 US gal) |
Firebox: | |
• Grate area | 42 sq ft (3.9 m2) |
Boiler | length: 15 ft 6 in (4.724 m) inside dia: 5 ft 3 in (1.600 m) |
Heating surface: | |
• Firebox | 131.7 sq ft (12.24 m2) |
• Tubes | 395 x 1.75 in (44.5 mm) dia |
• Total surface | 2,873.3 sq ft (266.94 m2) |
Cylinders | Three |
Cylinder size | 18.5 in × 24 in (470 mm × 610 mm) |
Performance figures | |
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Tractive effort | 38,788 lbf (172.54 kN) |
Career | |
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Operators | Great Eastern Railway |
Class | A55 |
Number in class | 1 |
Numbers | 20 |
Nicknames | Decapod |
Disposition | Rebuilt in 1906 as 0-8-0 and later scrapped |
The GER Class A55 or Decapod was an experimental
Background
The locomotive was built for purely political purposes in order to block the passage through Parliament of a new rival scheme for an electric railway.
The Decapod was built in 1902 to a design by the GER Chief Draughtsman, Fred Russell
The locomotive was far larger than any locomotive previously built in Britain for home service. It had 10
to achieve the required result.Technical details
The engine was fitted with a large Wootten firebox. There were three separate grates and ash pans, one on each side outside the frames and a third between, giving an aggregate area of 42 sq ft (3.90 m2). The trailing drivers were given a side play of 0.5 in (12.7 mm), the coupling rods being fitted with ball and socket joints. As the cranks of the three cylinders were set at 120 degrees in relation to each other, perfect balancing of the reciprocating parts was secured. In order to minimise the drivers slipping, compressed air sanders were fitted.[citation needed]
Performance
The specification required that the locomotive should accelerate a 315 long tons (320 t) train from a stand to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) in 30 seconds, an acceleration of 1.46 feet per second per second. According to Ahrons, "Holden's engine actually accelerated a new train of eighteen coaches, weighing 335 tons, at a rate of 1.4ft. per second per second in very windy weather."[3]
Axle load at 16.75 tons (17 tonnes) was not excessive, but weight per foot run of wheelbase was very high and using a class of these engines would have necessitated considerable strengthening of bridges. Thus whilst it achieved its design aims, nothing resulted from the experiment.
Rebuilt
GER Class A55R | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As the locomotive was therefore surplus to requirements, it was rebuilt in 1906, and converted into an 0-8-0 freight tender engine. The rebuild included a new boiler with a Belpaire firebox and a standard GE high-sided goods locomotive tender.[4]
Number 20 was then assigned to March district for hauling coal trains, but proved no more capable than the Class G58 locomotives. The design was therefore not repeated, and the locomotive remained the only eight-coupled engine of the GER.
It was scrapped in 1913[5] as nonstandard after a short working life.
0-10-0 developments
The
In Fiction
In the 2017 film,
References
- ^ "James Holden, S.D. Holden, A.J. Hill & F.V. Russell". Frederick Vernon Russell. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
- ISBN 1-85170-103-6.
- ^ Ahrons 1987, p. 337.
- ^ Aldrich 1969, p. 41
- ISBN 0-901115-55-X.
- ^ "Hurricane - Character Profile & Bio | Thomas & Friends". play.thomasandfriends.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
External links
- Mixed Traffic Locomotives Mike's Railway History
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