ASt HG 2/3

ASt HG 2/3 1–4
Numbering:	1-4
Manufacturer:	SLM
Year of construction (s):	1889-1890
Retirement:	1909-1931
Axis formula :	B1'z
Length over coupling:	9230 mm
Service mass:	1–3: 33.0 t 4: 34.6 t
Friction mass:	22 t 4: 23 t
Indexed performance :	approx. 350 hp
Driving wheel diameter:	815 mm
Gear system :	Riggenbach-Klose
Size gears:	860 mm
Cylinder diameter:	360 mm
Piston stroke:	400 mm
Boiler overpressure:	12 atm
Grate area:	1.4 m²
Evaporation heating surface:	88.0 m²

The HG 2/3 1 to 4 were meter-gauge steam locomotives for combined adhesion and gear drive of the Appenzeller tram (ASt). The locomotives with radially adjustable axles, designed by Adolf Klose and delivered in 1889 and 1890 by the Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik (SLM), were the world's first four-cylinder composite gear locomotives .

history

Until the opening of operations on October 1, 1889, the HG 2/3 No. 1 was used as a construction locomotive, here just before the Lustmühle.

In 1889, the Appenzell tram started operating on the St. Gallen – Gais route . It contained four rack sections with a gradient of up to 92 per thousand and curve radii of 30 meters. For the operation of the railway, three locomotives were ordered, which had to move trains with a trailer load of 40 tons. The maximum speed was 30 km / h on the adhesion sections and 12 km / h in gear operation. The entry into the rack sections had to take place without stopping.

The first locomotive, which arrived at Christmas 1888 instead of April because of many changes, failed during test drives. After eliminating the assembly error that Klose found himself, the machine far exceeded the required performance. After the colludation trips on 17./18. On January 1st, 1899, the Klose Railway Department gave its construction special recognition.

construction

Machine no. 3 "Bühler" in the St. Gallen freight yard .

The inaugural train of the Appenzell tram (ASt) on the rack section in Strahlholz between Bühler and Gais

The ride with the ASt was considered an attraction for the public, so that a fourth locomotive had to be reordered. Ruckhalde curve, in the background Vonwil near St. Gallen

For the narrow-gauge adhesion railway from St. Gallen to Gais with several rack sections, a powerful locomotive with separate engines was necessary in order to achieve the maximum permissible speed of 30 km / h on the adhesion sections and, on the other hand, to develop a sufficiently high pulling force on the rack sections.

To accommodate the internal engines, the locomotives were provided with external frames. The machines had a single-axis Klose support tender which , similar to the Engerth support tender, was rotatably connected to the locomotive frame with a cross arm in front of the fire box . The two adhesion axes were designed as Klose steering axes and were adjusted radially by the cross arm of the support tender, which resulted in good cornering ability. The very long boiler with its raised fire box carried a large steam dome on which two lateral spring balance safety valves were mounted.

The frame was supported on leaf springs over the axle bearings . The rear overhanging part of the locomotive was supported by a strong transverse spring on the tender drawbars, which found their front support in the locomotive frame in front of the fire box. The tender axle was firmly mounted in the outer frame of the tender.

The two outer cylinders served to drive the two adhesion axes. The adhesion engine was outside the frame and was equipped with Hall cranks and Heusinger controls modified according to Belpaire . The scenes were not driven by eccentrics , but with transverse shafts running under the boiler from the engine on the other side of the machine, each offset by 90 °. The drive was complicated because of the Klose steering axles. The triangular drive rod was guided straight in the extended guide of the piston rod . It was connected to the coupling rod by means of a vertical double lever , which set the cranks in rotation. In curves, the axis was adjusted radially from the cross connection of the tender frame and at the same time the length of the axle coupling was corrected using a lever mechanism and the double lever in the drive rod.

The inner cylinders drove the drive gear mounted in a subframe via a countershaft with an intermediate transmission . Because of the tight bends, the gear axle had side play . The slide valves arranged under the cylinders were driven by a Heusinger control system, which derived its gate drive from the engines opposite in the same way as the adhesion engines. All four cylinders had the same diameter and the same piston stroke . The cylinder space ratio of 1: 2 necessary for the composite effect was achieved by doubling the number of revolutions of the gear drive due to the translation. The composite effect on the rack sections was remarkable at a time when only a composite locomotive was running in Switzerland with the test machine D 3/3 No. 503 of the Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale . The Klose construction idea was only taken up again in 1904 when the ASt HG 2/4 was built .

The counter-pressure brake was also used as a normal service brake on adhesion sections to relieve the train brakes . In emergencies, a brake gear was available that sat loosely on the tender axle. Because of the radial adjustability of the axles, no drive wheel brakes could be installed. The trains were equipped with the Klose spring brake, which was triggered with compressed air. It didn't affect the locomotive. The locomotives were initially equipped with Klose and later Hasler speedometers, a signal bell and a device for steam heating .

The first three locomotives cost 83,700 instead of the budgeted 55,000 francs. They were given the names Gais , Teufen and Bühler . The straggler No. 4, which was delivered in 1890 at a price of 80,000 francs because of the good frequency, was named St. Gallen .

business

HG 2/3 No. 4 “St. Gallen ”on the station square in St. Gallen ready for departure to Gais.

In 1904 the ASt was extended to Appenzell and the Klose locomotives HGe 2/3 (left) received support from the new HG 2/4 (center).

The locomotives and the route they traveled were so attractive to passengers that a fourth locomotive had to be reordered. The four machines handled all traffic on the St. Gallen – Gais route until 1904 - when the first HG 2/4 were delivered .

The complicated locomotives only partially proved their worth. The multi-part Klose steering mechanism caused many malfunctions and was maintenance-intensive, which made operation more expensive. Many parts of the heavily used machines had to be reinforced and renewed. However, given the state of the art at the time, the Appenzell tram could not have been operated with conventional locomotives.

Machine no. 1 was scrapped as early as 1909 because it could be replaced by an HG 2/4 that was delivered in the same year.

The HG 2/3 received a Westinghouse brake in 1912 , the ASt trains were not equipped with the double Westinghouse brake until 1921 .

number	Surname	Construction year	Discarded
1	Gais	1888	1909
2	Depth		1915
3	Buhler		1930
4th	St. Gallen	1890	1930

swell

• Alfred Moser: The steam operation of the Swiss railways 1847-1966 . 4th updated edition, Birkhäuser, Stuttgart 1967.
• Josef Hardegger: 100 years of the Gaiserbahn . A chapter of eventful railway history in Appenzellerland. Schläpfer + Co., Herisau 1989, ISBN 3-85882-063-6 .