USA 0-6-0T and Class 62 steam locomotive history

USA 0-6-0T AND CLASS 62 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE HISTORY

During 1942, to fulfil various war-time motive power requirements, the USATC (United States Army Transportation Corps) ordered 382 standard gauge 0-6-0 tank locomotives. Built by three manufacturers (Davenport of Iowa, HK Porter of Pittsburgh and Vulcan Ironworks of Pennsylvania) to a US Army specification T1531, the USA Class tank locomotives are considered to be the most powerful 0-6-0 tank engines ever made. Designed by Colonel Howard G Hill, the bulk of these locomotives were constructed for service in Europe and began to arrive in England during 1943. Many were used on military railways and depots as well as in collieries and other engineering facilities. Many saw service with the US Army Corps of Engineers. They were designated as Class "S100" by the USATC.

USA Class 0-6-0T 30064 awaits overhaul at The Bluebell Railway on 28th July 2006. It has been painted in War Department livery with its original service number WD 1959 for display purposes.

After D-Day in 1944 they were shipped to France and, later on, many of them were used in Belgium around Antwerp docks. Following the end of the war the French SNCF bought 77 of these USA Class tank locomotives which they classified as 030TU. 10 were shipped to Austria - they were renumbered in three batches according to the builder (989.01-5, 989.101-3 and 989.201-2).

Five USA 0-6-0T's were sent to North Africa in 1943 and these were moved to Italy in 1944. Some twenty locomotives went to Greece in 1947 to form the Hellenic State Railway's class DA, numbers 51-70 and a number also found their way to Greece having been captured by the Germans during the few counter-attacks after D-Day.

Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST WD198 "Royal Engineer" at Smallbrook Junction, Isle of Wight, August 2004. Engines of this type were tested without success at Southampton docks, the 11 feet wheelbase of the Hunslets made them unsuitable for the tight radius curves within the dock facility.

After examining a single engine and producing a modified prototype for UK service, the Southern Railway in Britain bought a total of 15 USA tanks (including one for spare parts) to replace the B4 0-4-0T dock shunters based in Southampton. The B4's were built in the 1890's and were, by the late 1940's, worn out. The virtually new USA Class 0-6-0T's with their short wheelbase and immense power were ideal replacements for the B4's, even so they required extensive changes to make them suitable for use in the UK. OVS Bulleid, the CME of the Southern Railway, oversaw these modifications which included extension of the coal bunkers, the fitting of vacuum brakes, steam heating, cab roof vents and improved windows, turbo generators and eventually two way radio. Other mechanical modifications to improve axle bearing lubrication and to reduce "priming" by fitting larger cylinder drain cocks were also made.

Taken into British Railways stock on Nationalisation in 1948, they received the running numbers 30061 to 30074. Most of these engines lasted almost to the end of steam, the last nine were withdrawn in 1967 and four survive today in preservation.

A number of the Southern Railway USA tanks also saw service with exchange trials on the Great Western Railway (later BR Western Region). It is considered that the GWR 15xx series 0-6-0 pannier tanks, designed by Hawksworth, drew heavily on the USA tank design based on experience of use of the locomotives whilst based in that region.

The only surviving Hawksworth "USA" Tank is based on the Severn Valley Railway. Here BR Western Region 0-6-0PT 1501 waits at Kidderminster to move onto its train during the SVR Gala in 2003. Note the the large outside cylinders and Walschaerts valve gear - a departure from standard "Swindon" practise.

Several other USA tanks were taken into industrial operation in Britain, most notable of which were USATC numbers WD1938 and WD1940, which worked at the Austin Motors factory at Longbridge near Birmingham. Works locomotive WD1938 even acquired the name "Ada II". These engines saw service up to the 1960's. At least four locomotives went into service with the National Coal Board and one (USATC 4382) ended up on the Longmoor Military Railway as "Frank S Ross". This particular locomotive had seen service in France before arriving on the LMR in 1947. It eventually carried the number WD300 and was finally scrapped in 1959.

Around 20 USA 0-6-0T steam locomotives went to the Chinese State Railways and became the XK2 Class. Some went on into industrial service in China and two, XK2-28 and XK2-51 were operational until the mid 1990's. XK2-51 (formerly Davenport 2482 built in 1943) is today preserved, plinthed at the Anshan Steelworks. XK2-28 is also preserved, as an exhibit at the Benxi Steelworks. It is not known as which USA locomotive XK2-28 started life - the XK2 class numbers were often changed and swapped about. Indeed it appears at one stage there may have even been two locomotives bearing the XK2-28 number!

XK2-28 working at Benxi in December 1992 (photo courtesy of Duncan Cotterill, web site Tractive Efforts)

By the late 1940's, most of the remaining USA tanks stored in Newbury were transferred to Yugoslavia. In total, the Yugoslavians eventually received around 120 engines which were designated as "Class 62". Of these 106 were allocated the running numbers 62-001 to 106. The remaining locomotives were probably used for spare parts. So impressive was the performance and economy in use of the USA tank engines, by the mid 1950's the Yugoslavian authorities decided to copy and improve the design based on experience in use. Around 90 locomotives were built up to the 1960's, to a pattern design closely resembling the Porter built machines. These were also classified as Class 62 and took the 62-xyz number. 62-669 built by the Djuro Djakovic works in Croatia in 1960, was purchased by the British locomotive owning group "Project 62" in 1990 after running a mere 25,000 miles in service at the Store steelworks near Ljubljana in Slovenia. It runs today at the East Somerset Railway under the next vacant BR number which would have been available to the USA Class - 30075.

Many original engines were also subject to heavy modification elsewhere than in the UK and Yugoslavia - examples exist today in Mexico and Iran where conversion to 0-6-0 tender locomotives has occurred. The differences between the Yugoslavian "patterns" and the original USA locomotives to US Army specification T1531 reflect both the passage of time and operational requirements.

The most obvious difference is the height of the boiler in it's frames. The original USA's had heavy bar frames, the European patterns are based on lighter plate frames, however this means the boiler is mounted about 25cm (10 inches) higher than in their original counterparts. The steam pipes emerging from the smoke box on the Yugoslavian machines are therefore higher above the steam chests and have a noticeable elbow leading down to them (on the originals the steam pipes lead straight to the steam chests). The higher boiler also means that the steam dome and sand box covers have flattened rather than domed tops to ensure the height of these does not exceed that of the cab roof. Many of the Yugoslavian locomotives are oil fired and this also leads to external variations in chimney design. The larger diameter smokebox door also gives easier access for cleaning and maintenance than that of the original USA Class.

The coal bunkers of the original locos, sufficient to hold about a tonne of coal, are extended to cab roof level giving around 50% increase in capacity. This was a modification also carried out by the Southern Railway to the original engines that came to the UK after the war. Additionally, partly to increase cab ventilation (the firebox protrudes considerably into the large cab and can make it quite hot) but also improve forward vision, the original small forward facing "porthole" windows have been replaced with two large opening rectangular windows and a central fixed window in some locomotives.

There are many other mechanical and construction modifications, some performed as part of the manufactured design, others following introduction into service which are too numerous to mention. However, the above gives a taste of some of the obvious visible changes.

Polish Ferrum TKh 7646 at Pitsford on the Northampton and Lamport Railway April 2005 (Photo D. Leeson)

Although the Yugoslavian Class 62 "patterns" followed the original design closely, there are a number of other post WW2 0-6-0 tank engine types produced within Europe, which also incorporate certain features of the USA tanks, though not with the same degree of success. In Poland and on a number of new "fledgling" heritage railways in the UK, look out for the Polish "Ferrum" TKh (Polish locomotive coding for 0-6-0T). Superficially similar to the USA tanks, there is only one sand box positioned on the boiler casing. The crank drive is to the centre wheel (On Class 62's the connecting rod drives the crank on the rear wheel). This shorter drive connection and therefore increased angular occilation of the crankshaft gives an inferior ride quality with noticeable "waddle" which is virtually absent in the Class 62's with their rear wheel crank position.

62-669 now running as BR 30075 on the East Somerset Railway, Cranmore on 11th July 2004

All photos are copyright of Project 62 unless credited otherwise

Back to Home Page