Thuile locomotive

Thuile
Thuile locomotive at Chartres, 1900
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Thuile
Builder Schneider
Build date 1899
Specifications
Configuration:
 ​
 • Whyte 4-4-6
 • UIC 2'B3'
Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Leading dia. 1.06 metres (3 ft 6 in)
Driver dia. 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in)
Trailing dia. 1.06 metres (3 ft 6 in)
Wheelbase 12.25 metres (40 ft 2 in)
Length 24.80 metres (81 ft 4 in) (locomotive & tender)
Loco weight 80.60 tonnes (79.33 long tons)
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		 4.68 square metres (50.4 sq ft)
Boiler pressure 15 kg/cm2 (213 lb/in2)
Heating surface 297.70 square metres (3,204.4 sq ft)
Cylinders 2
Cylinder size 510 x 700mm (20 x 27½ in)
Performance figures
Maximum speed 117 kilometres per hour (73 mph)
Career
Operators Chemin de Fer de l'Etat
Scrapped 1904 (locomotive), post 1946 (tender)

The Thuile locomotive was a steam locomotive designed by Monsieur Thuile, of Alexandria, Egypt, and built in 1899.

History

Thuile proposed a 6-4-8 or 6-4-6 locomotive with 3-metre-diameter (9 ft 10 in) driving wheels, but this was not built.[1]

The design was taken up by Schneider, of Le Creusot, who built a 4-4-6 with 2.5-metre-diameter (8 ft 2 in) driving wheels, and a forward cab for the driver. The two-cylinder locomotive had Walschaerts valve gear and a double-lobed boiler of nickel-steel. The locomotive was exhibited at the International Exposition in Paris in 1900, and the trials were undertaken on the Chemin de Fer de l'Etat line between Chartres and Thouars. A speed of 117 kilometres per hour (73 mph) was attained hauling a load of 186 tonnes (183 long tons).[1]

The trials ended when Thuile was killed in June 1900 - apparently by leaning too far out of the locomotive and being in collision with a lineside pole.[2] The locomotive was returned to Schneider. It was scrapped in 1904. The tender survived until at least 1946, when it was noted at Saint Pierre-des-Corps.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "BIG WHEELS FOR HIGH SPEEDS". SNCF Society. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  2. ↑ "The Thuile Cabforward". Douglas Self. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
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