Pacific (locomotive)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Flying Scotsman of the London and North Eastern Railway
Bavarian S 3/6

Pacific (German and Pacific ) is the common in Europe old American type designation for fast train - steam locomotives the wheel arrangement 2'C1 '(or 4-6-2), ie with a preceding one two-axle truck , three driving axles and a movable-side trailing axle .

From the beginning of the 20th century until the end of the steam locomotive era, Pacific locomotives were among the fastest, most powerful and most modern steam locomotives. They carried the big express trains, especially in England, France and Germany, for example the Flying Scotsman , the Train Bleu , the Orient Express or the Rheingold . With their large wheels and their elegant appearance, they still exert a special charm on travelers and observers today, comparable to today's high-speed trains .

The fastest working steam locomotive in the world is the Pacific 18 201 with a speed of 182.5 km / h.

Names

In accordance with American custom at the time , the new type of locomotive was given a name that characterized its area of ​​use. Since the first large series of 2'C1 'locomotives had been put into service by the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1902 and ran on the long, flat routes through the Great Plains towards the Pacific , the name Pacific became common .

Other sources indicate that the name would come from the New Zealand Q series . These locomotives, built by Baldwin in 1901, are considered to be the first new locomotives of the Pacific design - previously only existing 2'C locomotives were provided with a trailing axle in order to either enlarge the firebox or improve the running characteristics. Because the design came from a New Zealand engineer, the name Pacific was chosen in his honor.

Constructive structure

Schematic representation of the wheel arrangement 2'C1 '

The 2'C1 'wheel arrangement represents the optimum in terms of high performance for heavy trains at high speeds, given the restrictions in Europe ( curve radii , inclines and length of the existing turntables ) :

  • The three driving axles are required to achieve a sufficiently high pulling force . At the same time, the large drive wheel diameters required for the high speeds prevent the arrangement of a fourth coupling axle.
  • The leading bogie ensures safe and smooth running at high speeds and is necessary to support the weight of the boiler .
  • The trailing axle also bears part of the total weight of the vehicle and, thanks to the arrangement of the third drive axle in front of the standing cup , makes it possible to keep the fixed axle base low (in contrast to this, with the 2'C axle sequence, for example the Prussian S 10 , one was forced to to arrange the last coupling axle behind the standing boiler in order not to let the overhang become too big). The barrel axis was usually designed as a Bissel axis .

The Pacifics were often technically particularly complex. The state of the art according to almost all Pacific's were hot steam engines , many had bar frame and three- or four-cylinder engines until the 1920s with composite action . For example, the full designation of a four-cylinder compound locomotive is 2'C1 'h4v (h for superheated steam, 4 for the number of cylinders and v for the compound effect).

01 1102 with streamlined cladding

The design also took into account the special importance of the Pacifics as “parade horses” in the vehicle fleet. The LNER class A3 , the Baden IV h or the Bavarian S 3/6 are considered by many railway fans to be among the most beautifully designed steam locomotives in railway history. From the 1930s onwards, some series of Pacific locomotives were provided with streamlined cladding , which gave them a particularly sleek appearance.

Typical technical data

  • Top speed 100 to 160 km / h
    During test drives, significantly more was achieved. The world record for steam locomotives set by the English Pacific Mallard and still valid today is 201.2 km / h. The fastest German Pacific is the 18 201 with 182.5 km / h (the 05 002 with 200.4 km / h is not a Pacific, but has a 2'C2 'wheel arrangement).
  • Driving wheel diameter 1800 mm to 2300 mm
  • Total length of the locomotive and tender about 21 to 26 m
  • Locomotive service weight 85 to 119 t
  • Power about 1700 to 2500  PSi

Pacifics in art

Swiss 20-franc note from 1996

The special charm of the Pacifics as “ high tech ” of their time also inspired artists to deal with them.

music

In his symphonic movement (Mouvement symphonique) Pacific 231 , premiered in 1924 , Arthur Honegger describes the journey with a Pacific locomotive by musical means.

Movie

In the cinema, the Pacifics were a popular item because of their power and dynamism.

  • The dramatic plot of the English silent film The Flying Scotsman from 1929 takes place on the journey with the Flying Scotsman express train , hauled by the 4472 locomotive of the same name .
  • In the German sound film Die Zwei vom Süd-Express from 1932, the Bavarian S 3/6 18 518 is the locomotive of the Süd-Express.
  • The steel animal was shot in 1934 by Willy Zielke as a commissioned production for the 150th anniversary of the railway in 1935, but it was not shown publicly until 1954. A trip with the S 3/6 18 507 takes up a lot of space, during which the engineer Claaßen compares the components of the locomotive with the body parts of an animal.
  • Jean Renoir filmed the novel by Émile Zola in 1938 with La Bete humaine ( Beast Man ) . The film is about the railway environment in Le Havre station. The train driver Lantier (Jean Gabin) does his job on a Pacific on the route to Paris. The recordings at full speed from the driver's cab and the engine of the locomotive underline the drama of the plot.
  • Jean Mitry's short film Pacific 231 from 1949 uses Honegger's tone poem to film.

Visual arts

Pacifics appear on numerous advertising posters for the rail and tourism industries. The posters by AM Cassandre ("Nord Express", "LMS Best Way" and others) are famous .

The Swiss 20-franc banknote from 1996 shows , matching the front with the portrait of Artur Honegger, on the back the drive wheel of a Pacific with notes from Pacific 231 .

Pacific locomotives in Europe

The PO 4500 series was the first European Pacific series (locomotive PO 4546 in the Mulhouse Railway Museum)

In Europe, the first Pacific locomotives were purchased in 1907 by the French railway company Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO). The first two prototypes of the PO 4500 series were delivered a few months before the Badische IVf , which thus became the second European and first German Pacific series. From around 1920 the wheel arrangement was established as the standard for most new express train locomotives. In the years before the Second World War, almost all of the major European state and private railways used Pacific locomotives in express train service. Only a few railways, such as those in the Netherlands or Austria , did not purchase Pacific locomotives.

In Europe, Pacific locomotives were preferably used in express train services on lowland routes, but were also used on routes in the hilly and low mountain ranges. On the latter, however, they often reached their limits in front of heavy express trains. In many countries, Mikado or Mountain locomotives were therefore often used on such routes .

No Pacifics were built in Austria or Switzerland. After the end of the First World War, when many European railways procured Pacific locomotives for their express trains, the Swiss Federal Railways were already using electric locomotives and electrifying their main lines. On the Austrian mountain routes, more than three coupled axles were required for heavy express trains, for example the BBÖ series 214 with the 1'D2 'wheel arrangement. The Austrian 310 series is similar to the Pacifics, but has a 1'C2 'wheel arrangement (one leading axle and one rear bogie). This was better suited for the comparatively light superstructure of most of the Austrian routes, as the load of the fire box could be distributed over two axles.

Germany

In Germany, with the sharp increase in rail traffic in the period before the First World War, the previous express locomotives with two coupling axles had to be replaced by more powerful locomotives with three coupling axles. While the Prussian State Railways preferred the 2'C wheel arrangement, the southern German railways and later the Reichsbahn and the Federal Railroad chose the 2'C1 'wheel arrangement.

In the course of time, the following series were developed in Germany, all of which, with the exception of the Badische IV f, were in use until after the Second World War:

Regional railways :

01 1066 of the DR series 01.10 (converted version of the Deutsche Bundesbahn)

Deutsche Reichsbahn :

  • 01 (built from 1925),
  • 02 (from 1925, later converted to 01),
  • 03 (from 1930),
  • 01.10 (from 1937),
  • 03.10 (from 1939)

Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR :

  • 01.5 (converted from 01 from 1961),
  • 03.10 Reko (converted from 03.10 between 1956 and 1958),
  • 18 201 ( converted from 61 002 in 1961 ),
  • 18 314 (rebuilt in 1960)

German Federal Railways :

Further:

Czechoslovakia

Between 1926 and 1937, Skoda in Pilsen built 43 Pacific locomotives of the ČSD class 387.0 for the Czechoslovak State Railways . Popularly they have the name Mikado , which actually means the 1'D1 'wheel arrangement internationally . There was also the prototype ČSD 386.001 and six locomotives built by Skoda for Lithuania, which came to Czechoslovakia after the war as the ČSD class 399.0 .

France

French Pacific 231K8

In France there were Pacific types of the various private railways and the SNCF founded in 1937 . In the SNCF numbering scheme, the wheel order 231 appears in the series designation, see list of SNCF locomotives and railcars . The area of ​​operation were the long flat land routes from Paris to the large provincial cities. A total of 1,364 Pacific locomotives were in service in France, the largest number of any European country. These included some formerly German locomotives that were delivered to France after the Compiègne armistice .

Great Britain

Also in the UK were Pacific's the ideal locomotive for heavy express trains on the long, from London outgoing trunk routes . The private railway companies faced tough competition for passengers. Especially in the north, the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) competed with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) for the shortest travel time from London to Edinburgh . The LNER traveled with the Flying Scotsman from London to Edinburgh in 8 hours without stopping. This is how the famous LNER Classes A1 and A3 Pacifics (including the Flying Scotsman ) and A4 (with the world record locomotive Mallard ) emerged, but the LMS and Southern Railway also developed their own, successful Pacific types, such as the LMS Coronation Class and the SR Merchant Navy Class . Only the Great Western Railway waived - apart from a prototype - on Pacific locomotives and, like the Prussian State Railways, limited itself to 2'C locomotives for their express trains. In the 1950s, British Rail put 66 new locomotives into service , including most recently the class 8P , which was only acquired in one copy .

Other countries

There were other Pacific series in:

Belgium

Bulgaria

Finland

Italy

Yugoslavia

Lithuania

  • LG series Gp , built in 1939, 6 pieces, manufacturer Škoda (later ČSD series 399.0, see above)

Poland

  • PKP series Pm36 , year of construction 1937 to 1939, 2 pieces, manufacturer Fablok , one of which is still in regular use today

Romania

Russia

Sweden, Denmark

  • SJ series F , year of construction 1914 to 1916, 11 pieces, manufacturer Nydquist & Holm. The composite locomotives with a driving wheel diameter of 1,880 mm reached a top speed of 100 km / h. In 1937 they were sold to the Danish State Railways DSB and used there as the E series.
  • another 30 locomotives

Spain, Portugal

  • together around 40 locomotives

Hungary

  • MÁV series 301 , built in 1911, 20 pieces
  • Series 301.500, 2'C1 'h4v, 2 pieces

Pacific locomotives outside Europe

United States

The 1926 built Ps-4 № 1396 of the Southern Railway

In the USA, Pacific locomotives were used by many railway companies in express and passenger train service for years. In the first half of the 20th century, they provided the majority of the locomotives for express train service for most railway companies . The well-known series include:

Japan

Preserved Japanese class C51 Pacific locomotive

New Zealand

Preserved New Zealand Pacific class A B locomotive
  • NZR class A (58 piece, built from 1906 to 1914) - In New Zealand built further development of the Q-Class, with compound engine was equipped
  • NZR class A A From - (10, built in 1915) Baldwin delivered improved variant of the Q-Class, originally called Q B referred
  • NZR-Class A B (141 pieces, year of construction 1915–1927) - similar to the A-Class but with a two-cylinder engine, numerically the largest series of the New Zealand Railway
  • NZR class G (6 pieces, conversion from three Garratt locomotives with the same designation ), three-cylinder power unit
  • NZR-Class Q (13 pieces, year of construction 1901) first series of Pacific locomotives that was not rebuilt. Because the locomotives built by Baldwin in the USA were transported across the Pacific , it is believed that they gave the designation its name

India

Indian Pacific class WP locomotive

South Africa

Class 16E South African Pacific Locomotive

literature

  • Erhard Born: 2 C 1. Development and history of the Pacific locomotives. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart 1964.
  • Horst J. Obermayer: Paperback German steam locomotives. Franckh-Verlag Stuttgart 1969, ISBN 3-440-03643-X (available reprint 2011 from Heel-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-86852-386-7 ).

Web links

Commons : 4-6-2 locomotives  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Detailed description of the North American Pacifics with a list of all preserved locomotives at www.steamlocomotive.com (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 21 P-69 series machines, see Steamlocomotive.com: Missouri Pacific 4-6-2
  2. ↑ Erhard Born: 2 C 1. Development and history of the Pacific locomotives. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart 1964, page 21
  3. ↑ CLASS Q 4-6-2. In: Train Web. Accessed August 26, 2018 .
  4. ↑ 4-6-2 Pacific . In: American-Rails.com . ( american-rails.com [accessed August 26, 2018]).
  5. ^ Progress: Locomotive development in New Zealand - the "Pacific" type. Its genesis and triumph. In: The New Zealand Railways Magazine . Vol. 9, No. 7 , October 1, 1934 ( victoria.ac.nz ).
  6. ^ Eberhard Urban : The railway as a film star . Transpress Verlag Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-613-71511-0 , page 18f.
  7. ^ Eberhard Urban: The railway as a film star . Transpress Verlag Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-613-71511-0 , page 22f.
  8. ^ Eberhard Urban: The railway as a film star . Transpress Verlag Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-613-71511-0 , page 24f.
  9. ^ Eberhard Urban: The railway as a film star . Transpress Verlag Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-613-71511-0 , page 30f.
  10. ↑ Entry in the IMDb and film on YouTube
  11. ^ Henri Mouron: Cassandre: poster painter, typographer, stage designer. Schirmer / Mosel Munich 1991. ISBN 3-88814-431-0 . Picture 9 and 10
  12. ↑ 20-franc note on the website of the Swiss National Bank, last accessed on July 15, 2017
  13. ^ Andrew Roden: Flying Scotsman. The Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Famous Train. Aurum Press, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-84513-241-5 .
  14. ^ Geoffrey Freeman Allen: Steam locomotives in England. Franckh, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-440-04461-0 .
  15. ↑ Erhard Born: 2 C 1. Development and history of the Pacific locomotives. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart 1964, pages 48 to 50.
  16. ^ Film: "Cruising on rails" by Ulrich Adrian, phoenix
  17. ↑ Luciano Greggio: The picture dictionary of steam locomotives . Südwest Verlag Munich 1979, ISBN 3-517-00667X , page 168.
  18. ↑ Steamlocomotive.com: 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives
  19. ↑ Steamlocomotive.com: Missouri Pacific 4-6-2
  20. ↑ Steamlocomotive.com: Santa Fe 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives