Draft:Indian locomotive class HG

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Indian locomotive class HG
Pakistan Railways HGS 2216 on the Khyber Pass Railway.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer British Engineering Standards Association Builder Vulcan Foundry North British Locomotive Co. Robert Stephenson & Co. Kitson & Co. Beyer, Peacock & Co. Build date 1904-1924 Total produced More than 500
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0 Gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Leading dia. 3 ft 7 in (1,090 mm) Driver dia. Variant A: 5 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1,562 mm) Variant B: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Wheelbase: ​  • Coupled Variant A: 17 ft (5.2 m) Variant B: 16 ft (4.9 m)  • incl. tender Variant A with 4000 gallon tender: 51 ft 6+7⁄8 in (15.719 m) Variant B with 4000 gallon tender: 50 ft 4+1⁄2 in (15.354 m) Length: ​  • Over buffers Variant A with 4000 gallon tender: 61 ft 6+1⁄4 in (18.752 m) Variant B with 4000 gallon tender: 60 ft 3+7⁄8 in (18.386 m) Width 9 ft 6 in (2,900 mm) Height 13 ft 6 in (4,110 mm) Axle load Variant A: 16.3 long tons (16.6 t) Variant B: 15.7 long tons (16.0 t) Fuel type Coal, later converted to oil-firing Fuel capacity 7.6t of coal (3000/4000 gal tenders) 10.2t of coal (4500 gal tender) Water cap. 3,000 or 4,000 or 4,500 imp gal (14,000 or 18,000 or 20,000 L; 3,600 or 4,800 or 5,400 US gal) Firebox: ​  • Type Belpaire  • Grate area Variant A: 35 sq ft (3.3 m2) Variant B: 32 sq ft (3.0 m2) Boiler pressure 180 psi (12.4 bar; 12.7 kgf/cm2) Superheater Classes HGS & HGC: Schimdt Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size Variant A: 21 in × 26 in (533 mm × 660 mm) Variant B: 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type Slide (HG class) Piston (HGS/HGC class)
Performance figures Tractive effort Starting at 11.2 bar boiler pressure: * Variant A: 146 kN (33,000 lbf) * Variant B: 134 kN (30,000 lbf)
Career Operators Indian Railways Pakistan Railways Locale British Raj (until 1947) India (from 1947) Pakistan (from 1947) Retired Up until 2006 Preserved 2 (in India) Disposition At least two preserved in India, possibly more in Pakistan.

The Class HG (Heavy Goods) is one of seven standard classes of broad gauge steam locomotives designed by the British Engineering Standards Association (BESA) for use in the British Raj in the mid-1900s.

This design was used by various railway companies of the British Raj, later passing on to Indian Railways and Pakistan Railways after the partition, the latter of which continued using these locomotives into the 21st century to haul the Khyber Steam Safari on the rugged Khyber Pass Railway.

History

NBL builder's photo of an HG class locomotive.

The British Engineering Standards Committee (BESC, later renamed to the British Engineering Standards Association), founded in 1901, envisioned standardised locomotive classes for use in British India, to enable more efficient production and maintenance. In the second edition of the scheme in 1907, the HG class, designed for heavy goods trains, was first mentioned. As with the AP and HP classes of passenger locomotives, the HG was offered with three different tenders: the smaller 3000 gallon and 4000 gallon three-axle tenders, and the larger 4500 gallon bogie tender.

In addition, the 1907 BESA report also catalogued two variants: Variant A with 5 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1,562 mm) diameter driving wheels, which was proposed by the Indian Railways Ministry, and Variant B with 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) diameter driving wheels, in common with several other locomotives already in use on various railways, including the Bengal Nagpur Railway. Variant A, however, never saw production, and was excluded from the third edition of BESA's report in 1910.

From 1912, the HGS class was introduced, fitted with the Schmidt superheater - the S denotes superheated. The saturated HG locomotives that were later retrofitted with a superheater were given the classification of HGC - the C in the designation stands for converted. The superheated locomotives performed better than their saturated counterparts, as the latter were of British designs unsuited for the Indian climate due to their narrower fireboxes.

In 1947, after the British Raj was partitioned, 133 HG series locomotives of the North Western Railway ended up in the hands of Pakistan Railways. Indian Railways, who inherited the remainder, retired their HG series locomotives first in the 1980s, though by this point, most of the remaining saturated HG class had been converted to the HGC class.

Pakistan Railways however, despite steam traction being mostly phased out in Pakistan in the 1990s, retained HGS 2216, 2277, and 2306 for use on the Khyber Pass Railway, where two of them worked top and tail on tourist trains to Landi Kotal, until 2006, when the railway suspended operations owing to the damages caused by monsoon rain. At the time, the Khyber Pass Railway was one of the last remaining locations in the world where broad-gauge steam locomotives were still being used on passenger trains.

Preservation

Two of the Indian HG series locomotives have been preserved:

• HGS 26761 at the Rail Museum, Howrah
• HGC 1598 (converted in 1929 from HG) at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi

See also

• Indian locomotive class HP
• Indian locomotive class AP
• Indian locomotive class SG
• Indian locomotive class SP
• Locomotives of India
• Locomotives of Pakistan
• Khyber Train Safari
• Khyber Pass Railway
• Retirement of steam locomotives by country
• Steam locomotives of the 21st century

References

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• Steam locomotives of India
• Steam locomotives of Pakistan
• 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives
• 2-8-0 locomotives
• Railway locomotives introduced in 1906
• Freight locomotives
• Vulcan Foundry locomotives
• NBL locomotives
• Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives
• Kitson locomotives
• Beyer, Peacock locomotives