Indian locomotive class HG

Indian locomotive class HG
Pakistan Railways HGS 2216 on the Khyber Pass Railway.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer British Engineering Standards Association Builder Vulcan Foundry North British Locomotive Co. Robert Stephenson & Co. Kitson & Co. Beyer, Peacock & Co. Build date c.1907-1924 Total produced More than 500
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0  • UIC 1'D n2 (HG class) 1'D h2 (HGS/HGC class) Gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Leading dia. 3 ft 7 in (1,090 mm) Driver dia. Variant A: 5 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1,562 mm) Variant B: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Wheelbase: ​  • Coupled Variant A: 17 ft (5.2 m) Variant B: 16 ft (4.9 m)  • incl. tender Variant A with 4000 gallon tender: 51 ft 6+7⁄8 in (15.719 m) Variant B with 4000 gallon tender: 50 ft 4+1⁄2 in (15.354 m) Length: ​  • Over buffers Variant A with 4000 gallon tender: 61 ft 6+1⁄4 in (18.752 m) Variant B with 4000 gallon tender: 60 ft 3+7⁄8 in (18.386 m) Width 9 ft 6 in (2,900 mm) Height 13 ft 6 in (4,110 mm) Axle load Variant A: 16.3 long tons (16.6 t) Variant B: 15.7 long tons (16.0 t) Fuel type Coal, later converted to oil-firing Fuel capacity 7.6t of coal (3000/4000 gal tenders) 10.2t of coal (4500 gal tender) Water cap. 3,000 or 4,000 or 4,500 imp gal (14,000 or 18,000 or 20,000 L; 3,600 or 4,800 or 5,400 US gal) Firebox: ​  • Type Belpaire  • Grate area Variant A: 35 sq ft (3.3 m2) Variant B: 32 sq ft (3.0 m2) Boiler pressure 180 psi (12.4 bar; 12.7 kgf/cm2) Superheater Classes HGS & HGC: Schimdt Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size Variant A: 21 in × 26 in (533 mm × 660 mm) Variant B: 20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type Slide (HG class) Piston (HGS/HGC class)
Performance figures Tractive effort Starting at 11.2 bar boiler pressure: * Variant A: 146 kN (33,000 lbf) * Variant B: 134 kN (30,000 lbf)
Career Operators Indian Railways Pakistan Railways Locale British Raj (until 1947) India (from 1947) Pakistan (from 1947) Retired Up until 2006 Preserved 2 (India) 4 (Pakistan) Disposition At least six preserved, remainder scrapped.

The Class HG (Heavy Goods) is a 2-8-0 goods steam locomotive, which was one of seven standard classes of broad gauge steam locomotives designed by the British Engineering Standards Association (BESA) for use in the British Raj in the mid-1900s.

This design was used by various railway companies of the British Raj, later passing on to Indian Railways and Pakistan Railways after the partition, the latter of which continued using these locomotives into the 21st century to haul the Khyber Steam Safari on the rugged Khyber Pass Railway.

History

NBL builder's photo of an HG class locomotive.

The British Engineering Standards Committee (BESC, later renamed to the British Engineering Standards Association), founded in 1901, envisioned standardised locomotive classes for use in British India, to improve production and maintenance. In the second edition of the BESA report on British Indian standard locomotive classes of 1907, the HG class, designed for heavy goods trains, was first mentioned. As with the AP and HP class passenger locomotives, the HG was provided with three different tenders: the smaller 3000 gallon and 4000 gallon three-axle tenders, and the larger 4500 gallon bogie tender.

In addition, the 1907 BESA report also catalogued two variants: Variant A with 5 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1,562 mm) diameter driving wheels, which was proposed by the Indian Railways Ministry, and Variant B with 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) diameter driving wheels, in common with several other locomotives already in use on various railways, including the Bengal Nagpur Railway. Variant A, however, never saw production, and was excluded from the third edition of BESA's report in 1910.

From 1912, in common with other BESA designs, the HGS class was introduced, fitted with the Schmidt superheater - the S denotes superheated. The saturated HG locomotives that were later retrofitted with a superheater were given the classification of HGC - the C in the designation stands for converted. The superheated locomotives performed better than their saturated counterparts, as the latter were of British designs unsuited for the climate of the Indian subcontinent, due to their narrower fireboxes.

In 1947, after the British Raj was partitioned, 133 HG class locomotives of the North Western Railway ended up in the hands of Pakistan Railways. Indian Railways, who inherited the remainder, still had 168 HG class locomotives on the Central, Eastern, and South Eastern zones in June 1977, and were likely retired in the 1980s.

Pakistan Railways however, despite steam traction being mostly phased out in Pakistan in the 1990s, retained HGS 2216, 2277, and 2306 for use on the Khyber Pass Railway, where two of them worked top and tail on tourist trains to Landi Kotal, until 2006, when the railway suspended operations after monsoon rains damaged the line.

Preservation

Two of the Indian HG class locomotives have been preserved:

• HGS 26761 at the Rail Museum, Howrah
• Ex-NWR HGC 1598 (Vulcan no.2461) at the National Rail Museum, New Delhi

Four of the Pakistani HGS class locomotives are known to have survived, most recently used at a steam event around Attock in April 2020.

See also

• Indian locomotive class HP
• Indian locomotive class AP
• Indian locomotive class SG
• Indian locomotive class SP
• Indian locomotive class PT
• Indian locomotive class HT
• Locomotives of India
• Locomotives of Pakistan
• Khyber Train Safari
• Khyber Pass Railway
• Retirement of steam locomotives by country
• Steam locomotives of the 21st century

References

• Hughes, Hugh (1979). Steam locomotives in India, Part 3 – Broad Gauge. Harrow, Middlesex: The Continental Railway Circle. ISBN 978-0-9503469-4-6.