Garratt
Encyclopedia
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
that is articulated
Articulated locomotive
Articulated locomotive usually means a steam locomotive with one or more engine units which can move independent of the main frame. This is done to allow a longer locomotive to negotiate tighter curves...
in three parts. Its boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might restrict large rigid-framed locomotives. Many Garratt designs aimed to double the power of the largest conventional locomotives operating on their railways, thus reducing the need for multiple locomotives and crews.
Locomotive development
Herbert William Garratt
Herbert William Garratt was an English mechanical engineer and the inventor of the Garratt system of articulated locomotives....
, a British locomotive engineer who, after a career with British colonial railways, was the New South Wales Railways' Inspecting Engineer in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He first applied for a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
on the idea in 1907, after observing articulated gun carriages. Garratt first approached Kitson & Co.
Kitson & Co.
Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-Early history:The company started as James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet in 1835 with Charles Todd as a partner...
, but his idea was rejected, perhaps because that company were already committed to the Kitson-Meyer
Meyer locomotive
A Meyer locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive. The design was never as popular as the Garratt or Mallet locomotives. It can be best regarded as 19th Century competition for the early compound Mallet and also the Fairlie articulated designs....
. He then approached Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...
, who were only marginally more interested.
The first Garratts
In 1907 Beyer, Peacock & Co. submitted a proposal for a gauge 0-4-0+0-4-00-4-0+0-4-0
A 0-4-0+0-4-0, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive, usually of the Garratt type. It features no leading or trailing wheels at either end, having only two sets of four driving wheels...
Garratt to the New South Wales Government Railways, which was not proceeded with. The following year a design for a gauge Mallet locomotive
Mallet locomotive
The Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatole Mallet ....
was submitted in reply to an enquiry from the Government of Tasmania
Government of Tasmania
The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
. This was followed with a submission for a Garratt based on, but a little heavier than, the New South Wales proposal. This proposal was accepted, and two locomotives were built in 1909, which became the K class
TGR K Class
-Further reading:* Belibin, Bruce and McKillop, Bob - K1 steams again Light Railways, Number 193 February 2007 pp. 3-7- External links :* http://www.whrsoc.org.uk/Projects/K1Loco.html* http://www.railtasmania.com/loco/garratts.htm...
. The K class had to cope with 99' radius curves and 1 in 25 gradients.
Unlike in Garratt's patent, Tasmanian Railways insisted on a compound
Compound locomotive
A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...
arrangement with cylinders
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
facing inwards, in order to reduce the distances between both the main steam pipe and the high-pressure cylinders, and between the high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders. This made the locomotive unnecessarily complicated and placed the high-pressure cylinders directly underneath the cab, making it uncomfortably hot, especially in summer. The pattern was not repeated on later Garratt designs. Only one more Garratt locomotive, again built by Beyer, Peacock & Co., was produced with compound propulsion.
Early design and construction difficulties involved the steam-tight flexible connections between the boiler unit and the power units. These were solved by Beyer, Peacock's designers after studying a description of the spherical steam joints used on a Fairlie
Fairlie
A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended...
locomotive built for the Ffestiniog Railway
Ffestiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
followed by a visit to the FR to observe these locomotives at work.
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The third Garratt (another 0-4-0+0-4-0, like the first two) was a class "D" built in 1910 for the Darjeeling Himalayan RailwayDarjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow gauge railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways....
. As with many early Garratt classes, this engine's dimensions and power were designed to be roughly equivalent to those of two of the line's existing 0-4-0T engines, although in practice it achieved only a 65% increase in loading. The "D" class was true to Garratt's patent, without compounding of the cylinders and with the cylinders facing outwards. It also incorporated Beyer, Peacock's first improvement to the design, placing the engine unit pivot above the rear axle rather than between the two axles, as Garratt specified.
First main-line class
In 1911 Beyer, Peacock and CompanyBeyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...
built six 2-6-0+0-6-2
2-6-0+0-6-2
In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 2-6-0+0-6-2 is a Garratt articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-6-0 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them...
Garratts for the Western Australian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways was most common name of the Western Australian government rail transport authority from 1890 to 1976. It is, in its current form, known as the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia....
. The M class locos were followed by the Ms and the Msa class. These were the first Garratts built for main line use, the first built in large numbers, and the first design to be repeated and developed. They also formed the pattern for locos for the Victorian Railways narrow gauge
Narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia built a number of experimental narrow gauge railway lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.- Background :A...
G class
Victorian Railways G class
The G class Garratt locomotives were built for the Victorian Railways 2' 6" gauge branch lines. These locomotives were introduced in 1926 to increase train sizes and thus reduce losses on these lines...
, and for Australian Portland Cement.
Beyer-Garratt
Garratt licensed the British firm of Beyer, Peacock and Company to build locomotives to his patent design. As well as producing locomotives, Beyer, Peacock developed and marketed the design, licensing it to other builders. After the original Garratt patents expired in 1928, Beyer, Peacock continued to market Garratts under its own brand, Beyer-Garratt. With continuing development and patent improvements, Beyer, Peacock maintained its leadership with the Garratt, and just under two-thirds of all Garratt locomotives (1023 of 1651) were built at Beyer, Peacock's Gorton Foundry. The remainder were constructed by a number of licensees and a small number by non-licensed builders. Garratts were built in BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Final Garratts constructed
The final Garratts were built in 1967-1968 — eight gauge South African Railways SAR NGG 16 Class. The order was placed with Beyer, Peacock and Company, but as the firm was in the process of closing down it subcontracted the order to the Hunslet Engine CompanyHunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...
. Hunslet's South African subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
built most of these locomotives in South Africa.
The gauge Southern Fuegian Railway (F.C.A.F.) in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
procured a new Garratt in 1994. Through Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta
Livio Dante Porta was an Argentine steam locomotive engineer. He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain higher performance, energy efficiency and reduced pollution. He developed the Kylpor and Lempor exhaust systems...
's efforts, including larger cross section for tubing, insulation of the boiler and improved front end, the economy of this modern steam engine were vastly improved, more than doubling train length. Accordingly, a second Garratt for the same railway was built to similar specification in South Africa and shipped to Argentina in 2006.
Garratts around the world
Garratts were used in AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. No Garratts were used on North American railroads, the most likely explanation being that American rail companies considered the Garratt's coal and water capacities insufficient for their requirements.
Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
with large numbers in South Africa, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Algeria and smaller numbers in Angola, Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda and Zaïre.
Algeria
In Algeria 30 French-built 4-6-2+2-6-44-6-2+2-6-4
A 4-6-2+2-6-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive.Other equivalent classifications are:...
Garratts with Cossart motion gear operated until the Algerian independence war caused their withdrawal in 1951. These engines were streamlined fast runners and performed well in mountainous regions.
Kenya
The largest and most powerful locomotives to run on the metre gauge were the East African Railways, 59 classEAR 59 class
The East African Railways 59 Class Garratt was the largest, heaviest and most powerful steam locomotive to operate on any metre gauge railway in the world ....
Garratt, 4-8-2+2-8-4
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
s that delivered a tractive effort of 83350 lbf (370.76 kN). These thirty-four oil-fired East African Garratts had a large 70 sq ft (6.5 m²) grate and were among the largest and most powerful steam locomotives in the world, remaining in regular service until 1980. Two survive 5918 and 5930. Both have worked since 1980 on tourist excursion trains but are now both out of service and today belong to the Nairobi Railway Museum.
South Africa
The most powerful of all Garratts irrespective of gauge were the South African RailwaySpoornet
Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of 'South African Railways and Harbours', a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely...
s' eight GL class
South African Railways GL class Garratt
During 1929 and 1930 the South African Railways placed eight Class GL Garratt articulated steam locomotives with a 4-8-2+2-8-4 "Double Mountain" wheel arrangement in service. Constructed at Beyer, Peacock and Company's Gorton Foundry, they were originally designed to work on the Durban to Cato...
locomotives of 1929-30, which delivered 89130 lbf (396.47 kN) of tractive effort
Tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force is the pulling or pushing force exerted by a vehicle on another vehicle or object. The term tractive effort is synonymous with tractive force, and is often used in railway engineering to describe the pulling or pushing capability of a...
. However, they were all out of service by the late 1960s There was also a proposal for a quadruplex super Garratt locomotive with a 2-6-6-2+2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement for South African Railways, but this was never built.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe imported 246 Garratts of four different wheel arrangements: 2-6-2+2-6-2s of the 13th, 14th and 14A classes; 4-6-4+4-6-4s of the 15th class, 2-8-2+2-8-2s of the 16th, 16A, and 18th classes; and 4-8-2+2-8-4s of the 20th and 20A classes. Zimbabwe's economic and political situation has extended the life of its Garratts. 5 Garratts, including some from the Zimbabwe National Railway Museum, were returned to service in 2004–05 to haul commuter trains. They also perform shunting duties around the city of Bulawayo to this day (December 2011).Burma
Burma had 43 metre gaugeMetre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
Garratts. Five B class 2-8-0+0-8-2
2-8-0+0-8-2
A 2-8-0+0-8-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt Articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 2-8-0 locomotives operating back-to-back...
Garratts went to the Burma Railway Company between 1924 and 1927, with seven more built by Krupp of Germany in 1929. They were followed by 31 locomotives transferred from India for War Department service: ten 2-8-0+0-8-2 locomotives, class GB (ex-Indian class MWGL); twelve 2-8-2+2-8-2 locomotives of class GC (ex-Indian class MWGH); and nine 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotives of class GD (ex-Indian class MWGX). A class of four 4-8-2+2-8-4
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
locomotives, the GE class, was built for Burma Railways in 1949, but was diverted to the Assam Railway in India.
Ceylon
Ceylon had 10 Garrats: an H1 class 2-4-0+0-4-22-4-0+0-4-2
A 2-4-0+0-4-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 2-4-0 locomotives operating back to back, with a boiler and cab articulated between them.-Equivalent...
in 1924, a C1 class 2-6-2+2-6-2 in 1927 and eight more C1 class gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2s in 1945.
India
The metre gauge Assam-Bengal Railway had six T class 2-6-2+2-6-2
2-6-2+2-6-2
A 2-6-2+2-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive type used on Garratt and Fairlie locomotives...
locomotives built in 1927. They later became the GT class on the Bengal Assam Railway
Bengal Assam Railway
The origin of the Bengal Assam Railway, a railway system operated in India between 1942-47, lies in the Assam Bengal Railway, which was conceived in the late eighties of the nineteenth century, when railways had come to expand in different parts of the subcontinent, with the objective of developing...
. Three types of Garratt were supplied for war service on the BAR: ten MWGL class 2-8-0+0-8-2 locomotives; twelve MWGH 2-8-2+2-8-2
2-8-2+2-8-2
A 2-8-2+2-8-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive type used on Garratt and Fairlie locomotives. It features two leading wheels and two trailing wheels at either end, with two sets of eight driving wheels. The wheel...
locomotives; and 18 MWGX class 4-8-2+2-8-4 War Department
War Department
War Department may refer to:* War Department * United States Department of War - See also :* War Office , a former department of the British Government...
standard light Garratts. Of these, only nine MWGX stayed in India, with the remainder transferred to Burma. After the war, the four Burma Railways GE class 4-8-2+2-8-4s were diverted to the Assam Railway.
Iran
The Trans-Iranian Railway had 10 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratts (class 86) built in 1936.Mauritius
MauritiusRail transport in Mauritius
The history of rail transport in Mauritius began in the 1860s. The Mauritian rail network was quickly built and it soon provided service to most of the island. It was a key factor in the socio-economic development of Mauritius during its period of operation...
had three standard gauge 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratts that were built in 1927.
Turkey
Ottoman Railways had just one standard gauge 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt that was built in 1927.New Zealand
NZR G class (1928)
The NZR G class was a type of Garratt steam locomotive used in New Zealand, the only such Garratt type steam locomotives ever used by New Zealand Government Railways. They were ordered to deal with traffic growth over the heavy gradients of the North Island Main Trunk and to do away with the use of...
locomotives in 1928, which were too powerful for the system and had complicated valve mechanisms. Unusually, these engines had three cylinders (24×16.5 in) each, on two sets of engine frames, thus creating a six-cylinder Garratt; they were the second and final Garratts to employ this arrangement, the other being the aforementioned LNER U1. They entered service in 1929. Walschaerts valve gear operated the outside cylinders with the inner third cylinder linked by a Gresley conjugated valve gear
Gresley conjugated valve gear
The Gresley conjugated valve gear is a valve gear for steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, chief mechanical engineer of the LNER, assisted by Harold Holcroft...
. Photos verify the coal bunker was carried on an extension to the boiler frame rather than on the rear engine frame, as with most Garratts. The engines delivered 51580 lbf (229.44 kN) of tractive effort, which was too powerful for the drawbars on the rolling stock. After a few years they were rebuilt as six Pacifics, also unsuccessful, but which saw nearly twenty years of service.
New South Wales
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...
introduced the 4-8-4+4-8-4
4-8-4+4-8-4
A 4-8-4+4-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 4-8-4 locomotives operating back to back....
AD60 Garratt in 1952, built by Beyer, Peacock. The AD60 weighed 265 tonnes, with a 16-tonne axle loading. As delivered, it developed a tractive effort
Tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force is the pulling or pushing force exerted by a vehicle on another vehicle or object. The term tractive effort is synonymous with tractive force, and is often used in railway engineering to describe the pulling or pushing capability of a...
of 60000 lbf (266.9 kN)), not as powerful as the South African Railways GMA/M 4-8-2+2-8-4
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
Garratts of 1954, which developed a tractive effort of 60700 lbf (270 kN). Following modifications in 1958 to thirty AD60s, their tractive effort was increased to 63016 lbf (280.3 kN). These locomotives remained in service until the early 1970s with a replacement "6042" (The original was scrapped in 1968) the last withdrawn in February 1973. Oberg wrote he witnessed an AD60 clear a dead 1220-tonne double-headed diesel freight (total weight 1450 tonnes) from a 1 in 55 grade without wheel slip.
Queensland
Queensland Railways operated thirty Beyer Garratt locomotives. These were mainly based in the RockhamptonRockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
area.
Tasmania
Following the success of the K classTGR K Class
-Further reading:* Belibin, Bruce and McKillop, Bob - K1 steams again Light Railways, Number 193 February 2007 pp. 3-7- External links :* http://www.whrsoc.org.uk/Projects/K1Loco.html* http://www.railtasmania.com/loco/garratts.htm...
Garratts on the North East Dundas Tramway
North East Dundas Tramway
The North East Dundas Tramway was a gauge tramway on West Coast Tasmania that ran between Zeehan and Deep Lead . It was part of Tasmanian Government Railways...
, the Tasmanian Government Railways
Tasmanian Government Railways
The Tasmanian Government Railways was the former Government of Tasmania managed operator of mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia...
imported Beyer, Peacock Garratts for their main lines, in particular the 4-4-2+2-4-4
4-4-2+2-4-4
A 4-4-2+2-4-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 4-4-2 "Atlantic" locomotives operating back to back...
M class
TGR M class
The M class locomotive was an articulated Garratt locomotive with the wheel arrangement 4-4-2+2-4-4 that ran on the Tasmanian Government Railways system .It was designed for relatively high speed on the narrow gauge lines, for passenger use....
for express passenger work. These were the only eight-cylinder Garratts. The M1 achieved a world speed record of 55 miles per hour (88.5 km/h) on 30 November 1912. Their 5-foot (1.5 m) diameter driving wheels were at the time the largest on any narrow-gauge locomotive in Australia. Their eight cylinders proved a nightmare to maintain, and after several fatal and disastrous derailments in the late 1920s, mainly due to inadequate trackwork, they were withdrawn and scrapped.
Victoria
Victorian RailwaysVictorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...
operated two Beyer Garratts, used on the Crowes and Walhalla narrow gauge railway lines. The two engines were classified as G class
Victorian Railways G class
The G class Garratt locomotives were built for the Victorian Railways 2' 6" gauge branch lines. These locomotives were introduced in 1926 to increase train sizes and thus reduce losses on these lines...
, numbered G41 and G42; the latter engine has been restored. It is currently in use at the Puffing Billy Railway near Melbourne. It was not used in public service on that line prior to the preservation era.
Europe
Garratts were mainly employed in Great Britain, Russia and Spain, where some five railway companies employed seven classes. These included the 1931 order for Central of Aragon Railway for six Double Pacific4-6-2+2-6-4
A 4-6-2+2-6-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive.Other equivalent classifications are:...
Garratts for fast passenger service. In addition a Dutch and a Belgium tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way also operated one or more engines based on and built to the Garratt design.
Netherlands
In 1931 the Dutch LimburgscheLimburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
Tramweg Maatschappij (LTM) 'Limburg tramway company' ordered a single standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
Garratt, numbered LTM 51, from Henschel (Germany) with builder's number 22063. This design was slightly different in that the coal bunker was located on the boiler frame and both machines only holding the watertanks. More importantly, it was the only Garratt with inside cylinders. The wheel arrangement was C+C (0-6-0+0-6-0
0-6-0+0-6-0
An 0-6-0+0-6-0 wheel arrangement, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives was used on both Garratt and Meyer articulated locomotives. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 0-6-0 locomotives operating back to back...
). Due to abandonment of the line in 1938 the loc was sold to a metal merchant, who in turn sold it to an engineers' bureau, that sold it in 1941 to Germany. Further whereabouts of this machine are unknown, but it is presumed scrapped. A picture can be seen here along with an image of a Belgian Garratt of similar size.
Spain
Spain had a varied collection of Garratts from most builders; Beyer, Peacock themselves only building a pair of 2-6-2+2-6-2s for Rio Tinto in 1929. The first Garretts in Spain however were four metre gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2s built for the Ferrocarriles Catalanes in 1922 by Sociéte Anonyme St. Leonard of Liége, Belgium. Four more followed in 1925. Also on the metre gauge, the Ferrocarril de la Robla bought two pairs of 2-6-2+2-6-2s, the first from HanomagHanomag
Hanomag was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering a large number of steam locomotives to Romania and Bulgaria before World War I....
of Germany in 1929, the second from Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
of Bilbao in 1931. The Compania Minera de Sierra Minera also bought a pair of metre gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2s in 1930.
On the broad gauge, the Central of Aragon Railway bought six 2-8-2+2-8-2s from Babcock and Wilcox and six 4-6-2+2-6-4s from Euskalduna of Bilbao, both in 1931. The last Garratts supplied to Spain were ten 2-8-2+2-8-2s for RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
by Babcock and Wilcox in 1960.
United Kingdom
British usage of Garratts was minimal. A single large Garratt (2-8-0+0-8-22-8-0+0-8-2
A 2-8-0+0-8-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt Articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 2-8-0 locomotives operating back-to-back...
, London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
Class U1
LNER Class U1
The London and North Eastern Railway Class U1 was a solitary 2-8-0+0-8-2 Beyer-Garratt locomotive designed for banking coal trains over the Worsborough Bank, a steeply graded line in South Yorkshire and part of the Woodhead Route. It was both the longest and the most powerful steam locomotive ever...
number 2395/9999/69999), was built in 1925 for banking heavy coal trains on the Woodhead
Woodhead Tunnel
The Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans-Pennine 3-mile long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in northern England...
route. Thirty-three 2-6-0+0-6-2 locomotives
LMS Garratt
The London Midland and Scottish Railway Garratt was a class of Garratt 2-6-0+0-6-2 steam locomotive designed for heavy freight. A total of 33 were built from 1927, making them the most numerous class of Garratt in Britain.-Overview:...
were built for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
and several 0-4-0+0-4-0
0-4-0+0-4-0
A 0-4-0+0-4-0, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive, usually of the Garratt type. It features no leading or trailing wheels at either end, having only two sets of four driving wheels...
s for industrial use
Industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics or military site...
, one of which is preserved at Bressingham Steam and Gardens. The Garratt design was not generally used on British railways as most goods trains were short and light, on railways with broad curves and moderate grades compared with elsewhere in the world.
USSR
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
for the USSR, works order number 1176 in 1932. The locomotive had the Russian classification Ya.01 (Я.01). This massive machine was built to the Russian standard gauge and a loading gauge height of 17 feet (5.2 m). It underwent extensive testing and proved to be very able to operate in extremely low temperatures, due to adequate protection of the external plumbing between boiler and engine units. This may have been the lowest temperature operation of a Garratt type. The locomotive was used for a number of years for coal traffic in the Donbass region
Donets Basin
Donbas or Donbass , full rarely-used name Donets Basin , is a historical, economic and cultural region of eastern Ukraine. Originally a coal mining area, it has become a heavily industrialised territory suffering from urban decay and industrial pollution.-Geography:Donbas covers three...
, but was never replicated. This decision appears to be a combination of unfamiliar maintenance processes and politics. The Russians later experimented with Mallet locomotives, the P34 2-6-6-2
2-6-6-2
In Whyte notation, 2-6-6-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels...
and the P38 2-8-8-4
2-8-8-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-8-8-4 is a steam locomotive with two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck.Other equivalent classifications are:...
.
Argentina
The British-owned gauge Buenos Aires Great Southern RailwayBuenos Aires Great Southern Railway
The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina...
operated twelve Garratt 4-8-2+2-8-4 oil-fired locomotives, numbers 4851-4862, built by Beyer, Peacock in 1929. They were used on the Bahía Blanca North Western section, particularly on the Toay
Toay
Toay is a town in La Pampa Province in Argentina.-References:...
line), on the main Bahía Blanca North Western line to Pico
Pico
Pico- is a prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of 10−12 or .Derived from the Italian piccolo, meaning small, this was one of the original 12 prefixes defined in 1960 when the International System of Units was established....
, and between Tres Arroyos
Tres Arroyos
Tres Arroyos is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the capital of the Tres Arroyos Partido.The city has a sizable population of Dutch and Danish descent.- Archaeological site :...
and Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...
. They were withdrawn in the 1950s due to the rapid decline in freight traffic caused by the increasing competition from road transport. The F.C.A.F in Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....
uses two gauge Garratts to haul tourists into a National Park.
Other British-owned railway companies in Argentina operated Garratt locomotives built by Beyer, Peacock:
- Argentine North Eastern RailwayArgentine North Eastern RailwayThe Argentine North Eastern Railway was a British-owned railway company, founded in 1887, that operated a railway network in the provinces of Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones in Argentina...
( gauge): seven 2-6-0+0-6-2 locomotives built 1925-1927 and three 4-4-2+2-4-4, built 1930. - Argentine Transandine ( gauge): 4 2-6-2+2-6-2, built 1930.
- Buenos Aires and Pacific RailwayBuenos Aires and Pacific RailwayThe Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway was one of the Big Four broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina....
( gauge): four 4-8-2+2-8-4, built 1929-1930. - Buenos Aires Midland RailwayBuenos Aires Midland RailwayThe Buenos Aires Midland Railway was a British-owned railway company which operated in Argentina where it was known as Ferrocarril Midland de Buenos Aires. The company built and operated the line between Estación Puente Alsina and Carhué in Buenos Aires Province...
( gauge): two 4-6-2+2-6-4, 1930. - Cordoba Central RailwayCórdoba Central RailwayThe Córdoba Central Railway was a British-owned railway company, founded in 1887, that operated a 1960 km metre gauge...
( gauge) : ten 4-8-2+2-8-4, built 1929. - Entre Rios RailwayEntre Ríos RailwayThe Entre Ríos Railway was a British-owned railway company that built and operated a railway network in Entre Ríos Province, between the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, in Argentina...
( gauge): five 2-6-0+0-6-2 and five 4-4-2+2-4-4, built 1927.
Brazil
In Brazil, post-1927 the São Paulo RailwaySão Paulo Railway
São Paulo Railway was a privately owned British railway company in Brazil, which operated the gauge railway from the seaport at Santos via São Paulo to Jundiaí...
operated broad-gauge 4-6-2+2-6-4
4-6-2+2-6-4
A 4-6-2+2-6-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a Garratt articulated locomotive.Other equivalent classifications are:...
Garratts that ran passenger trains at 70 m.p.h.
Advantages of the Garratt concept
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
and firebox
Firebox
In a steam engine, the firebox is the area where the fuel is burned, producing heat to boil the water in the boiler. Most are somewhat box-shaped, hence the name.-Railway locomotive firebox :...
unit are slung between the two engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
units. This frees the boiler and firebox from the size constraints imposed where they are placed over the frames and running gear
Valve gear
The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle...
, as in conventional designs and other articulated designs such as Mallets
Mallet locomotive
The Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatole Mallet ....
. Garratts can have a boiler with a greater diameter, which increases heating area and aids the production of steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
. The boiler can also be shorter than other designs with the same heating area. In some loco designs, the boiler is so long almost no heating of the water occurs at the smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
end of the boiler. A larger firebox promotes more efficient combustion of fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
and also increases the heat available to the boiler.
Garratts enjoy an advantage over the Mallet system, because of the geometry of the design. When swinging around curves the boiler and cab unit move inward like a bowstring in the bow of a curve and this reduces the centrifugal force that would overturn a normal locomotive and which in turn permits faster running. The Mallet's forward articulated unit tends to throw out as the loco rounds curves. While most Garratts were designed for freight or mixed traffic, there were a number of passenger Garratt classes. A Garratt holds the world speed record for an articulated locomotive.
Garratts have several advantages when used on light
Light railway
Light railway refers to a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail". This usually means the railway uses lighter weight track, and is more steeply graded and tightly curved to avoid civil engineering costs...
and narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
railways. They are tank locomotive
Tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
s and can easily be run tender-first, thus eliminating the need for expensive turntables or wyes. They do not need to be run through to terminals, increasing operational flexibility. Because the engine units are separated by the boiler unit, the weight of the locomotive is split over the two units, and they can run over bridges or line sections that might not be able to support conventional or Mallet locomotives of similar weight.
While at the end of the steam locomotive era most conventional steam locomotives had reached their maximum in "critical dimensions", the Garratt still had some way to go, with larger driving wheels, larger boilers and greater output still achievable.
Disadvantages of the Garratt concept
The major disadvantage of a Garratt (shared with all tank engines) is that the adhesive weight decreases as the water is used from the front tank and coal from the rear bunker. As the weight on the wheels decreases slipping occurs. To reduce wheelslip, a wagon containing water was attached behind the Garratt, and this practice also permitted the engine to operate over longer distances. The weight of the water in the locomotive's tank and weight of coal in the bunker (necessary for the factor of adhesion) was predicted in advance, and this problem was not normally an operational issue.Competitors, look-alikes, and variations on the theme
Meyer locomotive
A Meyer locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive. The design was never as popular as the Garratt or Mallet locomotives. It can be best regarded as 19th Century competition for the early compound Mallet and also the Fairlie articulated designs....
types, the Garratt had contemporary and similarly-designed competition in the form of the Union-Garratt, Modified Fairlie and Golwé
Golwé locomotive
The Golwé was a type of articulated steam locomotive manufactured in France for use in its West African colonies.The front engine unit swivelled under the boiler and smokestack, in a similar manner to a Meyer and looking somewhat like a Mallet; in contrast a Garratt had its front bogie in front of...
. Of these, the closest was the Union-Garratt, a type originally conceived owing to the perceived necessity for a rigid connection between a bunker or tender and a firebox fed by a mechanical stoker. Though it could be argued that the NZR G class locomotives were Union-Garratts (having their bunkers mounted on the boiler frames, rather than on the hind engine unit), a more concrete example can be seen in the two South African Railways Union Garratts of classes GH and U.
The Union-Garratt did not enjoy the success of the standard Garratt. It was soon evident that mechanical stokers could function perfectly across the connection between a Garratt's boiler and engine unit, making the rationale for the Union-Garratt obsolete. The Union-Garratts' extended boiler frames and the position of the bunker and hind water tank upon those frames meant that they suffered from many of the problems which beset the Mallet design; the SAR U and GH classes had much heavier axle-loadings than Garratts of comparable size, weight and power, and the movement of water at the extreme ends of the long main frames generated high wear on the hind pivot between the boiler and engine unit. The Union-Garratt, like the Golwe and Modified Fairlie, was not perpetuated on anything like the scale of the Garratt, and no known examples survive.
War locomotives
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, several Garratt designs were built to meet the wartime needs of narrow-gauge railways in Africa, Asia and Australia.
Six 2-6-2+2-6-2
2-6-2+2-6-2
A 2-6-2+2-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive type used on Garratt and Fairlie locomotives...
Garratts were built for the gauge Sierra Leone Government Railway
Sierra Leone Government Railway
The Sierra Leone Government Railway operated in the West African country of Sierra Leone from 1897 to 1974. It was unusual in that it formed a national railway system constructed solely to a rail gauge...
in 1942, to a design first supplied to that railway in 1926. Five of the older Garratts were converted to a 2-8-0+0-8-2 wheel arrangement to increase their tractive effort
Tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force is the pulling or pushing force exerted by a vehicle on another vehicle or object. The term tractive effort is synonymous with tractive force, and is often used in railway engineering to describe the pulling or pushing capability of a...
.
Seventy Garratts were constructed by Beyer, Peacock for the War Department
War Department (UK)
The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office...
, to three standard designs. A 2-8-2+2-8-2
2-8-2+2-8-2
A 2-8-2+2-8-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive type used on Garratt and Fairlie locomotives. It features two leading wheels and two trailing wheels at either end, with two sets of eight driving wheels. The wheel...
based on the South African Railways GE class was constructed on gauge for West Africa and Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, while a heavier class of 4-8-2+2-8-4
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
was constructed for East African Railways. A lighter metre-gauge 4-8-2+2-8-4 was constructed for India and Burma. This design was particularly successful, and was the basis for several post-war classes.
The Australian Standard Garratt
Australian Standard Garratt
The Australian Standard Garratt was a Garratt steam locomotive designed in Australia during the Second World War, which was used on narrow gauge railway systems in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.- Overview :...
(ASG) was constructed for Australian gauge railways. It was a 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotive, designed and constructed in Australia in 1943, during the crisis days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
immediately following the bombing of Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
in 1942. The class had several design problems, and encountered resistance from unions, and most were withdrawn at the end of the war.
Preservation
Around 250 Garratts exist today. While many are stored or dumped in various stages of disrepair, more than 100 are preserved in museum collections or on heritage railwayHeritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
s. Operating Garratt locomotives can be found in Europe, Africa, India and Australia. In Spain, a 2-8-2+2-8-2 number 282F-0421, nicknamed "Garrafeta", occasionally runs in the Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
area. An enormous 4-6-2+2-6-4, number 462F-0401, is under restoration. Both locomotives are managed by ARMF, a non-profit organisation which also holds the only main line repair workshop for historical railway vehicles on broad gauge network.
A single Hanomag
Hanomag
Hanomag was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering a large number of steam locomotives to Romania and Bulgaria before World War I....
-built narrow gauge example exists in the USA located in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
TGR K Class
-Further reading:* Belibin, Bruce and McKillop, Bob - K1 steams again Light Railways, Number 193 February 2007 pp. 3-7- External links :* http://www.whrsoc.org.uk/Projects/K1Loco.html* http://www.railtasmania.com/loco/garratts.htm...
of the North-East Dundas Tramway, has been preserved. After the line closed in 1929 the locomotives were put up for sale. K1 was purchased by Beyer, Peacock in 1947 for their museum. The preserved loco has parts from both original engines, including the boiler from K2. When Beyer, Peacock ceased trading, the locomotive was sold to the Ffestiniog Railway
Ffestiniog Railway
The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
, who initially proposed to cut it down to meet their loading gauge. For a number of years it was on loan to the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
and was exhibited in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. In 1995 it was removed from York to commence restoration in Birmingham. It was returned to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 2000 where restoration was continued at the Ffestiniog Railway workshops at Boston Lodge
Boston Lodge
This article is about the locomotive works. For the station see Boston Lodge Halt.Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.It has a station on the Ffestiniog...
. It was fitted with a new boiler and restored to full running order on the Welsh Highland Railway
Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...
in September 2006. The Welsh Highland Railway owns several former South African SAR NGG 16 Class Garratts, and operates both the first and last Garratts constructed by Beyer, Peacock.
Several Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Garratts have been restored to operating condition. G 42
Victorian Railways G class
The G class Garratt locomotives were built for the Victorian Railways 2' 6" gauge branch lines. These locomotives were introduced in 1926 to increase train sizes and thus reduce losses on these lines...
, formerly used on the narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways
Narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia built a number of experimental narrow gauge railway lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.- Background :A...
, used to work regularly on the Puffing Billy Railway in the Dandenong Ranges
Dandenong Ranges
The Dandenong Ranges are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
outside Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
currently it is full operation. The Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a government-owned railway operator in the state of Queensland. Under the control of the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates the inner-city and long-distance passenger services, as well as some freight operations and gives railway access to other...
ways removed 1009, its sole remaining gauge 4-8-2+2-8-4
4-8-2+2-8-4
A 4-8-2+2-8-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated type used on Garratt locomotives....
Garratt, from an open air museum and fully restored it to working order. It was out of service in December 2007, awaiting a new boiler which Queensland Rail plans to fabricate itself. In late 2007 work commenced to overhaul NSWGR AD60 6029 to operating condition in Canberra. Information relating to the restoration of 6029 can be found here
In Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, East African Railways 59 class
EAR 59 class
The East African Railways 59 Class Garratt was the largest, heaviest and most powerful steam locomotive to operate on any metre gauge railway in the world ....
5918 was maintained in operating condition. Likewise in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
20th class 730 and 740 were held in operating condition. They have not run since 2004 when 730 was briefly used on Bulawayo commuter services. None are likely to operate again without external funding for major repairs as the only work available for them are excursion trains for foreign tourists / rail enthusiasts.
In South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, a restored main-line gauge GMAM class Garratt 4079 operates as a tourist attraction and was used in 2006 on a special Rovos Rail
Rovos Rail
Rovos Rail is a private railway company operating out of Capital Park Station in Pretoria, South Africa. The Society of International Railway Travelers has regularly named the Pride of Africa, as the train is called, as one of the World's Top 25 Trains because of its excellent accommodation, public...
tour. At Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
in KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
a gauge Garratt is operational on a short tourist line.
In December 2007, Zimbabwe class 14A Garratt number 509, overhauled in Bulawayo was offloaded in New Zealand for operational preservation by the Mainline Steam trust. In early 2011 Zimbabwe 15th class 398 was also delivered to New Zealand for restoration to operating condition by Steam Inc.
As of February 2011 there are only two places in the world where one can with reasonable confidence view a Beyer-Garratt in daily operating service. Bulawayo/Hwange, Zimbabwe and Ushuaia, Argentina whilst Dinas in North Wales offers the sight of daily operation for about 10 months of the year.
External links
- A Complete List of All Garratt Locomotives, Gavin Hamilton
- Karamoja,a Kenya-Uganda Garratt Locomotive, garrattmaker
- Herbert William Garratt.