Franco Crosti locomotive
The Franco-Crosti locomotive was a steam locomotive whose special feature was special preheating boilers. The external characteristic was one or two chimneys attached to the side of the long boiler .
The Franco-Crosti principle
In order to achieve the very low efficiency of max. To increase 10% of the steam locomotive, the Italian engineers Attilio Franco (1873–1936) and Piero Crosti developed the principle, named after them, of using flue gases to heat the boiler feed water in additional preheater boilers.
As with all steam locomotives, the smoke gases were generated in the fire box and passed from back to front through the long boiler into the smoke chamber so that steam is generated. In the Franco-Crosti locomotive, they were directed from the smoke chamber into the preheater boiler and not ejected through the chimney after the smoke chamber, as is the case with a normal steam locomotive. In the smoke chamber, the smoke gases were deflected 180 ° backwards towards the driver's cab . Only then did the flue gases enter the chimney, which therefore had to be attached to the side. Depending on the locomotive, there were one or two preheating boilers, which were either next to or, as in the picture, under the long boiler of the vehicle . With their flue gases, these preheated the water with which the boiler was fed.
The serviceability of this principle was demonstrated with the NMBS / SNCB 2036 “Le Mastodont” locomotive , which was built in Belgium in 1932 as the first Franco-Crosti locomotive. Existing locomotives were later converted according to the Franco-Crosti principle, which achieved a coal saving of 15% to 20% compared to the original types.
distribution
No Franco-Crosti locomotive was operated outside of Europe . The largest number of these locomotives was put into service by Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways, abbreviation: FS) with over 200 pieces. This was followed by the Deutsche Bundesbahn with two class 42.90 locomotives and 31 class 50.40 locomotives . The British Rail (national railway company of the United Kingdom , abbreviation: BR) operational ten locomotives. The Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (State Railways Spain, abbreviation: RENFE), National Company of the Belgian Railways (abbreviation: NMBS / SNCB) and Iarnród Éireann (Irish State Railways, abbreviation: IÉ) each put one locomotive into service. Two locomotives built in Belgium during the Second World War for the German Reich came to Poland.
Overview of the Franco Crosti locomotives
| designation | Construction year | Manufacturer | Wheel alignment | comment |
| SNCB 2036 "Le Mastodont" |
1932 | C1 '+ 1'B1B1' + 1'C h8t | Disassembled in 1935 | |
| FS 672 | 1939 | 2'C | Conversion from FS 670 to the Franco-Crosti system; Driver's cab in front | |
| FS 683 | 1940 | 1'D | 5 locomotives converted from FS 685 , in service until 1962 | |
| FS 743 | from 1940 | 1'D | 94 pieces were built | |
| PKP 0601 and 0602 | from 1944 | C 1 '+ 1'C1' | 2 pieces in Belgium rebuilt from parts of the SNCB 2036. They came to Poland after the war and were in operation until 1955. | |
| RENFE 140 2438 | 1'D | A locomotive rebuilt | ||
| CIÉ CC1 356 | Reconstruction in 1951 | 1'C | The locomotive was heated with peat | |
| DB class 42.90 | 1951 | Henschel | 1'E h2 | Originally post-war newbuildings of the 52 series , road numbers 52 893 and 894. Were immediately equipped with Franco-Crosti exhaust gas preheaters; Classification in the trunk number 42 because of the axle load increased to 18 t due to the conversion. Retired in 1959 and 1960. |
| FS 623 | 1952 | 1'C | 35 locomotives converted from FS 625 | |
| FS 741 | from 1954 | 1'D | 81 locomotives built and in service until the mid-1970s | |
| DB class 50.40 | from 1954 |
Henschel , AW Schwerte |
1'E h2 | 31 BR 50 locomotives rebuilt, boilers supplied by Henschel, test locomotive 50 1412 was rebuilt by Henschel in 1954 and only redesignated as 50 4001 in 1958. 50 4011 equipped with main oil firing. Locomotives were in operation until 1967. |
| BR standard class 9F | 1955 | Crewe railway works | 1'E | Ten locomotives (92020-92029) were built as Franco-Crosti locomotives |
literature
- Horst J. Obermayer: Paperback German steam locomotives, standard gauge Frank'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1969
- Railway Courier Topics 29: Steam Locomotive and Technology. The feed water preheating EK Verlag GmbH, Freiburg, 3rd quarter 1998
- Weisbrod / Müller / Petznik: Steam locomotives of German railways. Series 41-59 reviewed licensed edition of the Alba publication Alf Teloeken GmbH + Co KG, Düsseldorf, for the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin (West), Austria and Switzerland; © 1978 by transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin; 3rd revised and supplemented edition
- Wolfgang Messerschmidt: It all began 60 years ago: the beginning and end of the Franco-Crosti locomotives . In: Wolfgang Messerschmidt (Ed.): Locomotive magazine . No. 69 . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, W. Keller & Co. , 1974, ISSN 0458-1822 , p. 429-440 .
