loco-info.com
The reference for locomotives and railcars
Navigation
Random
Search
Compare
Settings

Navigation

Page views since 2023-01-26: 1017073
French Northern Railway No. 4.061 to 4.340 “Le Boeuff”
French State Railway 2-140 A 1 to 280
France | 1912
280 produced
Fernand Fleury

When the existing 4-6-0 locomotives for mixed traffic could no longer cope with the increasing train loads, new superheated locomotives were developed for pure freight train service, which only had one leading axle. In addition to the 2-10-0 locomotives of the series from number 5.001, 2-8-0 locomotives were developed which were to be given the numbers 4.061 to 4.340.

The boiler was from the 3.1150 series Pacifics and featured corrugated Serve tubes. The Belpaire firebox with inclined grate found its place by locating the fourth domed axle at a greater distance from the third and moving the lower, front part of the grate between the wheels. As was usual with most large French locomotives at the time, a De Glehn type compound engine was used, which acted on the second and third coupled axles. After the steam was introduced into the high-pressure cylinders at a maximum of 16 bars, it entered an intermediate reservoir at 7.8 bars and from there it reached the low-pressure cylinders.

The production initially comprised several series from different manufacturers, which were completed in 1912 and 1913. 1919 followed 20 pieces at Franco-Belge and 1922 another 100 from the SFCM, formerly Cail. The last 40 units only followed in 1928 and 1929 from three different manufacturers and brought the total number of units to 280. Nord-Belge procured 35 identical locomotives, which bore the numbers 421 to 455 and later became the SNCB Type 48.

Sectional drawing with dimensions
Sectional drawing with dimensions
Locomotive Magazine, August 1912

The locomotives were given the nickname “Le Boeuf”, i.e. “The Bull” because of their pulling power. They were used in large parts of the Nord network and also pulled pure coal trains. Different models with three axles and a capacity of 17 or 19 m³ of water were used as tenders. The smaller of the two made it possible for the locomotive to use turntables that were 18 meters long. After the First World War, they were also used in front of passenger trains, as the large diameter of the coupling wheel allowed speeds of up to 105 km/h. During this period they also received four-axle tenders of the 140 “Pershing” with a capacity of 22 or 24 m³ and Prussian tenders with 31.5 or 34 m³. Some locomotives later received a Lemaître-type blast pipe, which increased the output by 100 hp. Their decommissioning took place between 1950 and 1959.

Varianttender 17Atender 34A
General
Built1912-1913, 1919, 1922, 1928-1929
ManufacturerCreusot, SFCM, Bâtignolles-Châtillon, SACM, Franco-Belge
Axle config2-8-0 (Consolidation) 
Gauge4 ft 8 1/2 in (Standard gauge)
Dimensions and Weights
Length57 ft 3 5/16 in
Length loco38 ft 8 in
Wheelbase27 ft 9 1/16 in
Rigid wheelbase19 ft 4 5/16 in
Total wheelbase48 ft 9 7/16 in
Empty weight173,735 lbs
Service weight190,700 lbs
Adhesive weight166,890 lbs
Total weight270,661 lbs
Axle load40,984 lbs
Water capacity4,491 us gal8,982 us gal
Fuel capacity8,818 lbs (coal)16,535 lbs (coal)
Boiler
Grate area34.7 sq ft
Firebox area187.1 sq ft
Tube heating area2,105.4 sq ft
Evaporative heating area2,292.5 sq ft
Superheater area484.4 sq ft
Total heating area2,776.9 sq ft
Varianttender 17Atender 34A
Power Plant
Driver diameter61 in
Boiler pressure232 psi
Expansion typecompound
Cylindersfour, HP: 16 9/16 x 25 3/16 in
and LP: 22 7/16 x 27 9/16 in
Power
Power sourcesteam
Indicated power1,381 hp (1,030 kW)
Optimal speed30 mph
Top speed65 mph
Starting effort29,767 lbf
with start valve35,720 lbf
Calculated Values
steam locomotive
freight
De Glehn compound
last changed: 06/2022
loading...

We use cookies to save the following settings:

  • selected navigation structure
  • selected language
  • preferred units
  • spelling of railway company names

If you refuse the use of cookies, the settings will only be retained for the current session and will be reset to the default values the next time you visit the site.

Display of units

Here you can set the desired unit system for the technical data.

  • Metric: Lengths in meters, weights in tonnes, and volumes in cubic meters
  • Imperial (UK): Lengths in feet/inches, weights in long tons and volumes in imperial gallons
  • Imperial (US): Lengths in feet/inches, weights in pounds, and volumes in US gallons
  • Individual: Depends on the country of origin of each locomotive
Operator names

Here you can set the display of railway company names.

  • Short: Abbreviation or short form of the name
  • Standard: commonly used name, partially translated to English
  • Complete: full name in local language