The locomotive was built for purely political purposes in order to block the passage through Parliament of a new rival scheme for an electric railway. The Decapod was built in 1902 to a design by the GER Chief Draughtsman, Fred Russell[1] under the supervision of the Chief Superintendent, James Holden. The aim was to demonstrate the ability of a steam locomotive to accelerate passenger trains at a rate comparable to electric traction and the electric trams with which the GER was also in competition over short distances.
The locomotive was far larger than any locomotive previously built in Britain for home service. It had 10 driving wheels for maximum grip and prevention of wheelspin, each of which was four-foot-six-inches in diameter which gave high tractive effort. Three cylinders were used because there was insufficient room for two cylinders large enough to develop the required tractive effort without going up to a higher boiler pressure. Even so, it still had to have a pressure of 200 psi (1,380 kPa)[2] to achieve the required result.
Technical details
The engine was fitted with a large Wootten firebox. There were three separate grates and ash pans, one on each side outside the frames and a third between, giving an aggregate area of 42 sq ft (3.90 m2). The trailing drivers were given a side play of 0.5 in (12.7 mm), the coupling rods being fitted with ball and socket joints. As the cranks of the three cylinders were set at 120 degrees in relation to each other, perfect balancing of the reciprocating parts was secured. In order to minimise the drivers slipping, compressed air sanders were fitted.[citation needed]
Performance
The specification required that the locomotive should accelerate a 315 long tons (320 t) train from a stand to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) in 30 seconds, an acceleration of 1.46 feet per second per second. According to Ahrons, "Holden's engine actually accelerated a new train of eighteen coaches, weighing 335 tons, at a rate of 1.4ft. per second per second in very windy weather."[3]
Axle load at 16.75 tons (17 tonnes) was not excessive, but weight per foot run of wheelbase was very high and using a class of these engines would have necessitated considerable strengthening of bridges. Thus whilst it achieved its design aims, nothing resulted from the experiment.
As the locomotive was therefore surplus to requirements, it was rebuilt in 1906, and converted into an 0-8-0 freight tender engine. The rebuild included a new boiler with a Belpaire firebox and a standard GE high-sided goods locomotive tender.[4]
Number 20 was then assigned to March district for hauling coal trains, but proved no more capable than the Class G58 locomotives. The design was therefore not repeated, and the locomotive remained the only eight-coupled engine of the GER.
It was scrapped in 1913[5] as nonstandard after a short working life.
^Boddy, M. G.; Brown, W. A.; Hennigan, W.; Hoole, Ken; Neve, E.; Yeadon, W. B. (September 1984). Fry, E. V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., Part 6C: Tender Engines—Classes Q1 to Y10. Kenilworth: RCTS. p. 3. ISBN0-901115-55-X.
^"Hurricane - Character Profile & Bio | Thomas & Friends". play.thomasandfriends.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
External links
Mixed Traffic Locomotives Mike's Railway History
Wikimedia Commons has media related to GER Decapod.
January 21, 2023
class, decapod, experimental, steam, locomotive, with, wheel, arrangement, designed, james, holden, great, eastern, railway, first, coupled, steam, locomotive, great, britain, type, originpower, typesteamdesignerjames, holdenbuilderstratford, worksorder, numbe. The GER Class A55 or Decapod was an experimental steam locomotive with an 0 10 0T wheel arrangement designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway It was the first ten coupled steam locomotive in Great Britain GER Class A55Type and originPower typeSteamDesignerJames HoldenBuilderStratford WorksOrder numberA55Build date1902Total produced1SpecificationsConfiguration Whyte0 10 0WT UICE n3tGauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm Driver dia 4 ft 6 in 1 372 m Loco weight80 long tons 0 cwt 179 200 lb or 81 3 t Fuel capacity2 long tons 0 cwt 4 500 lb or 2 t Water cap 1 300 imp gal 5 900 l 1 600 US gal Firebox Firegrate area42 sq ft 3 9 m2 Boilerlength 15 ft 6 in 4 724 m inside dia 5 ft 3 in 1 600 m Heating surface2 873 3 sq ft 266 94 m2 Tubes395 x 1 75 in 44 5 mm dia Firebox131 7 sq ft 12 24 m2 CylindersThreeCylinder size18 5 in 24 in 470 mm 610 mm Performance figuresTractive effort38 788 lbf 172 54 kN CareerOperatorsGreat Eastern RailwayClassA55Number in class1Numbers20NicknamesDecapodDispositionRebuilt in 1906 as 0 8 0 and later scrapped Contents 1 Background 2 Technical details 3 Performance 4 Rebuilt 5 0 10 0 developments 6 In Fiction 7 References 8 External linksBackground Edit James Holden stands in front of his locomotive The locomotive was built for purely political purposes in order to block the passage through Parliament of a new rival scheme for an electric railway The Decapod was built in 1902 to a design by the GER Chief Draughtsman Fred Russell 1 under the supervision of the Chief Superintendent James Holden The aim was to demonstrate the ability of a steam locomotive to accelerate passenger trains at a rate comparable to electric traction and the electric trams with which the GER was also in competition over short distances The locomotive was far larger than any locomotive previously built in Britain for home service It had 10 driving wheels for maximum grip and prevention of wheelspin each of which was four foot six inches in diameter which gave high tractive effort Three cylinders were used because there was insufficient room for two cylinders large enough to develop the required tractive effort without going up to a higher boiler pressure Even so it still had to have a pressure of 200 psi 1 380 kPa 2 to achieve the required result Technical details EditThe engine was fitted with a large Wootten firebox There were three separate grates and ash pans one on each side outside the frames and a third between giving an aggregate area of 42 sq ft 3 90 m2 The trailing drivers were given a side play of 0 5 in 12 7 mm the coupling rods being fitted with ball and socket joints As the cranks of the three cylinders were set at 120 degrees in relation to each other perfect balancing of the reciprocating parts was secured In order to minimise the drivers slipping compressed air sanders were fitted citation needed Performance EditThe specification required that the locomotive should accelerate a 315 long tons 320 t train from a stand to 30 miles per hour 48 km h in 30 seconds an acceleration of 1 46 feet per second per second According to Ahrons Holden s engine actually accelerated a new train of eighteen coaches weighing 335 tons at a rate of 1 4ft per second per second in very windy weather 3 Axle load at 16 75 tons 17 tonnes was not excessive but weight per foot run of wheelbase was very high and using a class of these engines would have necessitated considerable strengthening of bridges Thus whilst it achieved its design aims nothing resulted from the experiment Rebuilt EditGER Class A55R As rebuilt to an 0 8 0Type and originPower typeSteamRebuilderStratford WorksRebuild date1906Number rebuilt1SpecificationsConfiguration Whyte0 8 0 UICD n2Gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm Driver dia 4 ft 6 in 1 372 m Wheelbase23 ft 3 in 7 09 m Length56 ft 11 in 17 35 m over buffersLoco weight54 long tons 6 75 cwt 121 700 lb or 55 2 t Tender weight38 long tons 5 cwt 85 700 lb or 38 9 t Total weight92 long tons 11 75 cwt 207 400 lb or 94 1 t BoilerInside length 12 ft 11 3 4 in 3 956 m Diameter 4 ft 9 in 1 448 m Boiler pressure180 psi 1 24 MPa Heating surface1 869 sq ft 173 6 m2 Tubes1 738 sq ft 161 5 m2 Flues22 9 sq ft 2 1 m2 Firebox131 sq ft 12 2 m2 CylindersTwo outsideCylinder size18 5 in 24 in 470 mm 610 mm CareerOperatorsGreat Eastern RailwayNumbers20Scrapped1913As the locomotive was therefore surplus to requirements it was rebuilt in 1906 and converted into an 0 8 0 freight tender engine The rebuild included a new boiler with a Belpaire firebox and a standard GE high sided goods locomotive tender 4 Number 20 was then assigned to March district for hauling coal trains but proved no more capable than the Class G58 locomotives The design was therefore not repeated and the locomotive remained the only eight coupled engine of the GER It was scrapped in 1913 5 as nonstandard after a short working life 0 10 0 developments EditThe Midland Railway produced the second 0 10 0 locomotive in 1919 with its MR 0 10 0 Lickey Banker The third ten coupled engine however would not appear until 1943 in the guise of a class of 2 10 0s built by the War Department the Austerity 2 10 0 These were followed in 1954 by the last class of British ten coupled engines the BR Standard Class 9F In Fiction EditIn the 2017 film Thomas amp Friends Journey Beyond Sodor the character Hurricane is based on this engine before it was rebuilt 6 References Edit James Holden S D Holden A J Hill amp F V Russell Retrieved 4 November 2007 Ahrons E L 1987 1927 The British Steam Railway Locomotive 1825 1925 London Bracken Books pp 337 8 ISBN 1 85170 103 6 Ahrons 1987 p 337 Aldrich 1969 p 41 Boddy M G Brown W A Hennigan W Hoole Ken Neve E Yeadon W B September 1984 Fry E V ed Locomotives of the L N E R Part 6C Tender Engines Classes Q1 to Y10 Kenilworth RCTS p 3 ISBN 0 901115 55 X Hurricane Character Profile amp Bio Thomas amp Friends play thomasandfriends com Retrieved 15 September 2018 Aldrich C Langley 1969 The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862 1962 7th ed Wickford Essex C Langley Aldrich OCLC 30278831 External links EditMixed Traffic Locomotives Mike s Railway History Wikimedia Commons has media related to GER Decapod Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title GER Class A55 amp oldid 1128849293, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
