Banner
Navigation
loco-info.com
The reference for locomotives and railcars

Ferrocarriles Nacionales No. 57 and 58

Colombia 1935 2 produced
works photo Robert Stephenson & Co.

The location of the Colombian capital Bogotá in the middle of the Andes meant that the 132 km Girardot-Tolima-Huila line started at Girardot at an altitude of 330 meters (1,083 ft), followed the Rio Bogotá and reached the capital's suburbs at 2,620 meters (8,596 ft). This led to gradients of 4.5 percent with curve radii of up to 72 meters (236 ft). Since the Kitson-Meyer locomotives already in use there with six driving axles were soon no longer sufficient, the now nationalized railway tendered the development of even more powerful locomotives in 1934.

The need to accommodate extremely powerful locomotives on the three foot gauge again led to articulated locomotives, this time with eight driving axles. In addition to the Baldwin-supplied No. 72 simple Mallet, Kitson-Meyer developed the No. 57 of their design. As the size of the locomotive was beyond the factory's capacity, it was manufactured by Robert Stephenson & Co. in Darlington.

Number 57 therefore had the wheel arrangement 2-8-0+0-8-2T and, in accordance with the Kitson-Meyer design, had the firebox between the bogies. The water supplies consisted of a total of 11,340 liters on the two sides of the boiler and 6,804 liters on the rear bogie. This ensured an even weight distribution that hardly changed even as the amount of water dwindled. Since there was an oil refinery in their working area, it was fired with oil. 5,000 liters of it were also stored on the rear bogie. 

Since the locomotive apparently performed well in the first tests, a second one was promptly ordered. The number of the Baldwin machine originally intended as number 58 was rewritten to 72 and the second locomotive was given the number 58. Both were in service until 1959.

Schematic drawing with dimensions Die Lokomotive, April 1944

Technical data

General

Built
1935
Manufacturers
Robert Stephenson & Co.
Wheel arrangement
2-8-0+0-8-2T (Kitson-Meyer)
Gauge
914 mm (Three feet)

Dimensions and weights

Service mass
132.3 t
Adhesion mass
117.9 t
Rigid wheelbase
3.09 m
Axle load
14.7 t
Water capacity
18,143 l
Fuel capacity
5,001 l (oil)

Boiler

Grate area
4.738 m²
Evaporative heating surface
238.482 m²
Superheater surface
59.458 m²
Total heating surface
297.9 m²

Power plant

Driver diameter
952 mm
Boiler pressure
14.5 bar
Expansion type
simple expansion
Cylinders
four, 451 x 508 mm

Power

Power source
steam
Estimated power
1,491 kW (2,027 PS)
Starting effort
266.8 kN

Calculated values

Factor of adhesion
1 : 4.33
Optimal speed
34 km/h
Power-to-weight ratio
11.3 kW/t
Adhesive weight/Total
1 : 1.12
Tractive force/Heating surface
1 : 18.71
Grate area/Heating surface
1 : 62.88
Total/Superheater
1 : 4.01
Auf Deutsch umschalten

Settings

Your settings are retained for this browser session only.

Consent to cookies

We use cookies to save your display settings. If you decline, the settings are retained only for the current browser session.