NMBS / SNCB series 12
| NMBS / SNCB series 12 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Numbering: | 1201–1206 (12.001–12.006) |
| Number: | 6th |
| Manufacturer: | Cockerill , Seraing |
| Year of construction (s): | 1939 |
| Retirement: | 1962 |
| Axis formula : | 2'B1 'h2 |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over buffers: | 21,190 mm |
| Service mass: | 89 t |
| Friction mass: | 46 t |
| Top speed: | 140 km / h |
| Performance indicator: | 2,500 PSi |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 2,100 mm |
| Impeller diameter front: | 900 mm |
| Rear wheel diameter: | 1,262 mm |
| Number of cylinders: | 2 |
| Cylinder diameter: | 480 mm |
| Piston stroke: | 720 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | 18 bar |
| Grate area: | 3.72 m² |
| Superheater area : | 63.0 m² |
| Evaporation heating surface: | 160.6 m² |
| Tender: | 3 |
| Water supply: | 24 m³ |
| Fuel supply: | 8 t |
| Brake: | Westinghouse air brake handbrake |
| Control: | Walschaerts (1205 Caprotti, 1206 Dabeg) |
The steam locomotives of the NMBS / SNCB series 12 were streamlined locomotives with tenders with the wheel arrangement 2'B1 '(type " Atlantic "). They were purchased from the Belgian state railways NMBS / SNCB in 1939 from the Cockerill company . They were intended to speed up the express train service between Brussels and Ostend .
history
Like various European and American railway companies, the Belgian state railway also endeavored in the 1930s to increase the speed of its long-distance trains, especially on the important connection between the capital Brussels and the Ostend ferry port. Although the new, high-performance Series 1 Pacifics were delivered from 1935 , with a top speed of 120 km / h they were not sufficient for the desired acceleration. The French PLM and the American Milwaukee Road had successfully procured light trains with streamlined steam locomotives of the "Atlantic" type. Based on these models, the SNCB / NMBS developed a streamlined steam locomotive of the Atlantic type together with Cockerill under the direction of their chief engineer Raoul Notesse . It was the last locomotive series with this wheel arrangement, at the same time they were the largest and heaviest European Atlantic locomotives ever built.
The locomotives were delivered by Cockerill in 1939 and, after brief trials, were put into scheduled service from May 15, 1939. During one of the test runs, the 1202 locomotive had reached a top speed of 165 km / h. In the summer of 1939 the locomotives of the series 12 hauled trains between Brussels and Ostend, including the two pairs of trains 401/402 and 405/404, which were the fastest steam-hauled trains in the world at the time. The two pairs of trains covered the 114.3-kilometer route between Brussels South Station and Ostend Station in exactly one hour, with a stop in Bruges . Between Brussels and Bruges, the trains even reached a cruising speed of 120.46 km / h, a world record at the time and a European record for steam-hauled trains between two stations to this day. The good acceleration of the 12 series contributed to this, leaving other fast steam trains such as the Henschel-Wegmann train of the Deutsche Reichsbahn between Berlin and Dresden behind. The Milwaukee Road soon followed suit , however, and as early as July 1939 the Morning Hiawatha , which had previously held the world record, drove a little faster between the Sparta and Portage stations and reached a scheduled cruising speed of 121.95 km / h.
The outbreak of World War II led to a significant reduction in train traffic in Belgium, which was initially still neutral. In the winter timetable of 1939/40 only one pair of fast trains ran to Ostend. From March 1940, the 12 series also ran a fast pair of trains between Brussels and Liège . With the beginning of the western campaign , the scheduled express train service had to be completely stopped. During the German occupation of Belgium , high-speed journeys were not possible, the locomotives were used in normal express train service from Brussels.
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After the war, the SNCB / NMBS quickly began electrifying its main lines. From 1955, the contact wire between Ostend and Brussels was also complete and the use of steam locomotives was dispensable. The 12 series was used in front of express trains on the routes from Brussels to Lille , Tournai and Mons . Their maximum permissible speed of 140 km / h was also used on the route to Lille, but the pre-war cruising speeds were not reached again. In 1962 the locomotives retired from scheduled service and were retired.
The 12.004 locomotive was the only one that remained. For the 150th anniversary of the Belgian railways in 1985, it was refurbished and used for several years in front of special trains. After being severely damaged, it was not worked up and is now in the collection of the Belgian railway museum Train World in Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek station .
technology
The 12 series has a bar frame and inner cylinder with external control. This construction, which was unusual for the construction period, was intended to reduce the jerking movements that occurred in two-cylinder locomotives. While the first four locomotives received a conventional Walschaerts control , the 1205 got a Dabeg valve control and the 1206 a Caprotti valve control .
The boiler was of conventional design, the grate designed for coal firing. To increase the steam generation, the fire box was also drawn in three water pipes. The streamlined cladding was based on French models. Access to the smoke chamber was ensured by rounded front parts that could be opened in the middle. The smoke deflectors continued in the form of panels up to the driver's cab, the chimney and cathedral were covered by a continuous panel. In contrast to most German streamlined locomotives, for example, the running gear and drive of the 12 series were easily accessible through wide openings in front of the drive wheels and the cylinders.
The three-axle tenders came from older locomotives and were adapted to the streamlined cladding of the locomotive. Their comparatively small stocks were sufficient for the planned missions on the short routes around Brussels.
Others
In the graphic novel La douce (in German Atlantic 12 ), the Belgian comic artist François Schuiten describes the story of a locomotive driver who kidnaps his class 12 locomotive, which is threatened with decommissioning.
literature
- Heribert Schröpfer: The (too) late masterpiece. From the last soaring flight of the Atlantic locomotive, part 2: series 12 of the SNCB , in: Eisenbahngeschichte 67, December 2014 / January 2015, pp. 64–69
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heribert Schröpfer: Last high-altitude flight of the Atlantic. Part 1: The PLM's 221 B and the Milwaukee Road Class A. in: Eisenbahngeschichte October 66 / November 2014, pp. 44–50
- ↑ a b Ronald Krug: From the train transport service: The fastest steam trains. International comparison of records, top speeds and travel speeds. EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2014, ISBN 978-388255-770-1 , p. 58
- ↑ a b Ronald Krug: From the train transport service: The fastest steam trains. International comparison of records, top speeds and travel speeds. EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2014, ISBN 978-388255-770-1 , p. 112
- ↑ Ronald Krug: From the train transport service: The fastest steam trains. International comparison of records, top speeds and travel speeds. EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2014, ISBN 978-388255-770-1 , p. 114
- ^ Nostalgic Railway Grotesque , review on www.comicradioshow.com , accessed on December 12, 2014