Austria-Hungary Class The first European Atlantic locomotive type was the
Austro-Hungarian IId class of the
Kaiser Ferdinands-Nordbahn (KFNB). It was built from 1895 and later became the 308 class on the
Imperial Royal State Railways (
kaiserlich und königlich Staatsbahnen, kkStB). It was followed from 1901 by the XVIb class of the
Austrian Northwestern Railway (
Österreichische Nordwestbahn, ÖNWB) that later became the kkStB class 208, and then by the kkStB 108 class. They were not numerous, though. All three classes together numbered a little more than one hundred locomotives. Apart from the
Austrian locomotives, the
Hungarian State Railways (
Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV) also operated some Atlantic classes.
Belgium In 1939, the
National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) introduced six
Class 12 streamlined Atlantic locomotives on the fast lightweight
boat trains that ran on the line between Brussels and
Ostend. Designed by Raoul Notesse to be capable of speeds of and based on the successful
Canadian Pacific Railway 4-4-4 Jubilee type semi-streamlined locomotives, but incorporating the ideas on streamlining of André Huet, they were built by
John Cockerill at
Seraing. They were fully streamlined, except for openings to provide access to the
valve gear and motion, and had
inside cylinders with outside valve gear to reduce oscillation at speed. The class remained in service until 1962.
Germany The Atlantic, known in Germany as the 2'B1' wheel arrangement, enjoyed some short-lived popularity in the German states. Between 1902 and 1906, the class of the
Prussian state railways was built to two competing designs, 159 locomotives to the design of
August von Borries and 79 locomotives to that of
Alfred de Glehn. Between 1908 and 1910,
Hanomag built 99
Prussian S 9 locomotives. All were four-cylinder compound engines working on saturated steam. The Prussian Atlantics were withdrawn shortly after the First World War and some were given to France, Belgium and Poland. Atlantics were also adopted in some other German states. • Twelve
Pfalz P3.1 class locomotives were built for the
Palatinate Railway (
Pfalzbahn) from 1898. In addition, eleven Pfalz P4 class locomotives were built from 1905. • Fifteen
Saxon X V class locomotives were built for the
Royal Saxon State Railways from 1902. • Eighteen Baden IId class locomotives were built for the
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways from 1902. • In 1900, the
Royal Bavarian State Railways imported two 4-4-2 locomotives from
Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States of America and classified them
Bavarian S 2/5. Ten more locomotives were built by
Maffei in 1904.
India In India, the broad gauge E class was rebuilt in the 1940s and survived into the 1970s.
Japan In 1895 the then private gauge Nippon Tetsudo (Japan Ry) sought, without success, to use low grade coal from the online Iwaki and Iryana mines in conventional narrow firebox loomotives. At that time the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, in the United States of America, offered and guaranteed to build locomotives to burn successfully any fuel sent to them. For this case, Baldwin employed a wide firebox placed behind the drivers and over a trailing truck, building 24 4-4-2s and 20 2-8-2s to a single order in 1897 - recording that "They gave excellent satisfaction, and are wonderfully free steamers." Following nationalization, the Atlantics became
Japanese Railways 6600 Class. Six more locomotives, built to the same design, were built for the
Cape Government Railways in South Africa immediately following the completion of the Japanese order.
Mozambique By the 1980s, the last Atlantics at work in the world were a few examples in Mozambique. These survived reported retirements to operate into the beginning of the 21st century, becoming some of the last working steam in the country. Exceptionally, they had outlasted much larger and newer power, including Garratt locomotives.
Philippines The Manila Railway (ancestor to the
Philippine National Railways) purchased five 100-class locomotives from the
North British Locomotive Company in 1906. These were the first tender locomotives in Philippine service. In 1949, 7 American-built
4-8-2s were also numbered as the 100 class, presuming that the locomotives have been retired after
World War II.
South Africa In 1897, additional locomotives were urgently required by the
Cape Government Railways (CGR) for the section south of
Kimberley, at a time when locomotive production in
England was being disrupted by strikes, while simultaneously the steamship companies had suddenly doubled all their freight rates to the
Cape of Good Hope. As a result, six locomotives were ordered from
Baldwin Locomotive Works. These were built in addition to a just fulfilled order for 24 Atlantics, designed and built for the then private gauge Nippon Tetsudo, later nationalized into the
Japanese Railways. The LT&SR continued to build tank locomotives after 1897, with the
Class 37,
Class 51 and
Class 79.
Henry Ivatt of the
Great Northern Railway (GNR) also built sixty
Class C2 tank locomotives between 1898 and 1907, for use on local and commuter trains in Yorkshire and North London.
Precursor Tank Class During the first decade of the twentieth century, the Atlantic tank locomotive became very popular in the United Kingdom. • The
Great Central Railway’s
Class 9K and
Class 9L were built between 1903 and 1907. They later became the LNER classes C13 and C14. • The
Great Western Railway’s
2221 Class was built between 1905 and 1912. • The
London and North Western Railway’s
Precursor Tank Class was built between 1906 and 1909. • Four classes were introduced by the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, the
I1 class,
I2 class,
I3 class and
I4 class.
Tender locomotives Klondyke Atlantic of 1898,
Henry Oakley Following
Henry Ivatt’s
GNR Class C1 Klondyke Atlantic of 1898 and
John Aspinall's L&YR Class 7 High-Flyer, of which forty were built between 1899 and 1902, a lot of interest was shown in the Atlantic type by British railways during the first decade of the twentieth century, especially for express passenger train service. Between 1902 and 1908, Ivatt built eighty
larger boilered versions of his GNR Class C1, which were known as the
Large Boiler Class C1. These remained in service until the early 1950s. In 1903, for use in comparative trials against his own designs,
George Jackson Churchward of the
Great Western Railway (GWR) purchased three French
De Glehn compound s, beginning with the
GWR no. 102 La France and followed by two larger locomotives in 1905. Fourteen members of his two-cylinder
2900 Saint class locomotives were subsequently either built or rebuilt with this wheel arrangement, including one four-cylinder
GWR 4000 Star class, no. 40
North Star. All of these were later rebuilt to a
4-6-0 wheel arrangement.
Wilson Worsdell of the
North Eastern Railway (NER) designed his classes
V and 4CC between 1903 and 1906, while his successor on the NER,
Vincent Raven, introduced his
V/09 and
NER Class Z classes between 1910 and 1917. By 1918, however, the type had been largely superseded by the 4-6-0 type in the United Kingdom. These Atlantics with their distinctive streamlining shrouds were designed by industrial designer
Otto Kuhler. Their calculated
tractive effort was . An unusual feature of this locomotive was the drive onto the front coupled axle, which improved riding quality at speed. In addition, due to the locomotive being designed to operate at higher speeds, the Milwaukee Road's Atlantics were fitted with Leslie type A-125 air horns instead of the standard steam whistle. All four locomotives were withdrawn and scrapped between 1949 and 1951.
Preserved locomotives Several 4-4-2 locomotives were preserved in the United States. Bearing in mind that this information may become outdated over time, some known examples are: • Southern Pacific no. 3025 at the
Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles, CA. • Chicago & North Western no. 1015 at the
National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO. •
Pennsylvania Railroad E6s no. 460 at the
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA. • Pennsylvania Railroad no. 7002, formerly no. 8063, at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA. It has steamed since preservation, but is now static. • Michigan Central no. 254 (later no. 7953, then New York Central no. 8085 before being sold to the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad as no. 45) at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. •
Central Railroad of New Jersey no. 592 at the
B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD. ==References==