Whales on wheels: Colossal locomotives of the Indian Railways
A look at three of the largest locomotives in the history of Indian Railways.
One of the heaviest broad gauge locomotives, XG/M-911 weighed a massive 161 ton and was used on the North Western Railway and later Eastern Punjab Railway for hump-yard shunting. It is infact one of the biggest 'Non-Articulated' locomotive of the Indian Railways i.e. the type of locomotive where the engine units are attached to the main frame and are not separate, independently moving units like in the case of the Garatt.
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THe XG/M 911 was manufactured by Beyer Peacock & Co, a company from Manchester, UK, and was imported in 1936 by the North Western Railway, India.
Take a virtual walk around this massive 'XG' class locomotive and get a feel of its mammoth structure.
XG/M 911National Rail Museum
The water column showcased next to the locomotive was meant for delivering a large volume of water into the tank or tender of the steam locomotive in as less time as possible.
Water columns were a vital part of railway station equipment in the old days when the steam locomotives had to refill their tanks with water at regular intervals, during the course of their journey.
These columns were designed to deliver upto ten thousand litres of water per minute!
XG/M 911National Rail Museum
A typical British design, the locomotive is built with inside plate frames i.e. the frames are situated within the wheels.
This locomotive is equipped with two 23.5” x 28” cylinders, ‘Walschaerts’ valve gear and three ‘Rosspop’ type safety valve.
It originally had a 0-8-0 wheel arrangement but was later changed to 2-8-2. The wheel arrangement signifies the number of pilot wheels-driving wheels-trailing wheels respectively.
The locomotive had an axle load of 23 tons; an axle load being the maximum weight borne per axle.
Its maker number was 650 and Indian Railway number was XG/M-911.
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Only three engines were ever built for this XG class design, one of them now stationed at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi.
The biggest wheels to have ever run on the Indian Railways belonged to this giant locomotive numbered EM-922. With a wheel diameter of almost seven feet, this locomotive was the prefered choice for pulling many VIP trains and accordingly changed names from 'Lord Clyde' to 'Roosevelt' to 'Queen Express'. This 90 ton locomotive began service in 1907 and was used for passenger, mail and express trains on the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and later on the North Western Railway.
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It is worth noticing how the entire structure has been assembled through the use of bolts and nothing else. It was an inspiring feat of engineering that such long lasting and complex designs were put together without the use of welding or other techniques of joinery.
EM 922 - close-up of the wheelsNational Rail Museum
The EM 922 is a broad gauge locomotive, built at North British Locomotive Co. Atlas Works, Glasgow in 1907.
EM 922National Rail Museum
The locomotive has the standard two cylinder setup. It has an inside plate frame. So, the connecting rods as well as all the working mechanism, the wheel turning axle, is actually within the plates. Waelsharts walve system has been used in the locomotive.
It has a wheel arrangement of 4-4-0, which was later modified to 4-4-2.
This model was used up till and during the partition, after being rebuilt in 1941.
EM 922National Rail Museum
A small turbine was used in the locomotive for generating electricity, for using lights inside. This new addition was standardised and added to all later models of locomotives.
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EM-922 was converted to a superheated locomotive in 1922 and rebuilt in 1941 at Mughalpura Workshops when its class was changed from E-1 to EM.
A superheater converts steam into dry/superheated steam to decrease the loss of energy due to condensation, leading to an increase in the efficiency of the locomotive.
The HP 31412 was famously known for its trips across the Thar, made possible with its huge 12 wheel tender which carried 10 tons of coal and more than 27000 litres of water. This enabled it to make prolonged runs without stopping for coal or water in the Desert. Overall, the tender weighed 64.5 tons, which was more than the locomotive weight of 57.5 tons.This powerful meter gauge locomotive had the longest tender structure of any locomotive class in India!
The longest tender in IndiaNational Rail Museum
It was imported from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, USA, just a year after India's independence, in 1948 and was manufactured as per BESA (British Engineering Standard Association).
HP-31412 was used to haul passenger trains over Jodhpur Railway and subsequently Northern Railway.
HP 31412National Rail Museum
The wheel arrangement of this locomotive is 4-6-2. It also had a large firebox grate area which enabled it to burn inferior quality coal.
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Take a virtual tour of this enormous structure and zoom in on the details of this beautiful locomotive displayed today at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi.
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