0-4-0+0-4-0

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0-4-0+0-4-0
Diagram of four driving wheels in two pairs, each pair joined by coupling rods
Equivalent classifications
UIC classB+B
French class020+020
Turkish class22+22
Swiss class2/2+2/2, 4/4 from the 1920s
Russian class0-2-0+0-2-0
First known tank engine version
First use1909
CountryAustralia
LocomotiveTGR K class
RailwayTasmanian Government Railways
DesignerBeyer, Peacock & Company
BuilderBeyer, Peacock & Company
Evolved to2-4-0+0-4-2
BenefitsTotal engine mass as adhesive weight
DrawbacksInstability at speed

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, the 0-4-0+0-4-0 is an articulated locomotive of the Garratt type. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 0-4-0 locomotives operating back-to-back or face-to-face, with the boiler and cab suspended between the two power units. Each power unit has no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. A similar arrangement exists for Mallet, Meyer and Fairlie locomotives, but is referred to as 0-4-4-0.

Overview[edit]

The first Garratt locomotive, K1, one of two 2 ft (610 mm) gauge Tasmanian Government Railways K class locomotives built in 1909, has this wheel arrangement and has been restored to operating condition at the Welsh Highland Railway. This arrangement proved one of the less popular Garratt types, since most Garratt locomotives were larger and more powerful, requiring more pairs of driving wheels to operate within the normal axle load limits, and because leading wheels gave more stability and better tracking to allow faster speeds.[1]

In total, 34 Garratts of this type were constructed, seven by Garratt patent holder Beyer, Peacock & Company, mostly for industrial use, and 27 by other builders. The largest user of the type was the C.F. Vicinaux du Mayumbe in the Belgian Congo, with twenty locomotives built to a 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge by St Leonard in Belgium.[1][2]

Use[edit]

Argentina[edit]

The Engineer Porta of the FCAF

The 500 mm (19+34 in) gauge Southern Fuegian Railway (F.C.A.F.) in Argentina procured a new 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt in 1994. Based on Livio Dante Porta's work, it included larger cross section tubing, insulation of the boiler and an improved front end. This vastly improved the economy of this modern steam engine and more than doubled train length.[3][4]

Accordingly, a second Garratt for this railway was built to similar specifications, but with superheating added, in the workshops of Girdlestone Rail in Port Shepstone, South Africa. It was shipped to Argentina in 2006 and entered service in October of that year. These locomotives had their engine units arranged face-to-face.[3][4]

Australia[edit]

Tasmanian Government Railways Garratt K1 on the Welsh Highland Railway

The Tasmanian Government Railways K class was the first class of Garratt locomotive ever produced. They differed from most later Garratts in two respects.

  • They were compound locomotives, with two high-pressure cylinders on the rear engine unit and two larger low-pressure cylinders on the front engine unit.
  • Their engine units were arranged with their cylinders facing each other, rather than back-to-back as on most other Garratts.[5][6][7][8]

United Kingdom[edit]

In addition to K1 at the Welsh Highland Railway, the industrial Beyer-Garratt William Francis, built in 1937, is preserved at the Bressingham Steam Museum. This locomotive had its engine units arranged back-to-back in the usual Garratt fashion.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives produced by Beyer, Peacock, retrieved 10 November 2012
  2. ^ a b Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives from Other Builders, retrieved 10 November 2012
  3. ^ a b c "The End of the World Train - Tierra del Fuego National Park - Engineer Porta". Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  4. ^ a b c "The End of the World Train - Tierra del Fuego National Park - Engineer Zubieta". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  5. ^ Turner, Jim (1997). Australian Steam Locomotives 1896-1958. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 50. ISBN 086417778X.
  6. ^ Oberg, Leon (2010). Locomotives of Australia 1850s-2010. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. pp. 143/144. ISBN 9781921719011.
  7. ^ K1 The World's First Garratt (Accessed on 27 October 2016)
  8. ^ Steam Locomotives of the Tasmanian Government Railways and its Constituents. Australian Railway History, issue 917, March 2014, p. 19.