La numérotation des locomotives à vapeur

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Identifying rolling stock has always been a necessity for railway companies, whether manufacturers or operators. How can we effectively monitor the upkeep and maintenance operations of locomotives, cars and wagons which all look the same and whose number put into circulation continues to increase? How can we know where they are at any time and which movements to assign them to? It is to this set of difficulties that serial numbering will attempt to find solutions. Initially specific to each company, it was necessary to end up thinking about a form of logic, even standardization, even if it is very far from being completely accomplished and perfectly understandable by ordinary mortals. If it is not always very easy, there are still some points of reference which allow us to find our way and I will endeavor to give you some of them in this new issue devoted to steam locomotives and in future ones. will be interested in other types of rolling stock. Hello and welcome to Aiguillages ! So let’s go back for a moment to the days of steam locomotives. Depending on the intended use, they could be classified into 5 categories. Those intended to pull passenger trains, those put at the head of freight trains, those whose vocation was mixed, those intended to carry out short services and the particular case of articulated locomotives. What distinguishes them from each other? The size and arrangement of their wheels. For the first ones we naturally wanted to favor speed. They were therefore equipped with wheels with a diameter greater than 1.70 meters, knowing that theoretically at least the larger a wheel, the higher a speed can be obtained while producing the same traction effort. It is no coincidence that the first bicycles had very large wheels, it is because it was the only solution we knew at the time to achieve a satisfactory speed without having to pedal too fast. It’s the same thing for steam locomotives, except of course no one ever had to pedal to make them move, it’s a piston that moves back and forth to set the wheels in motion. At a constant number of round trips per minute, the speed obtained is greater as the diameter of the wheels increases. Problem, the larger the size of the wheels, the more occurs on the rails a phenomenon that we could do without. Ice skating. Unfortunately, the heavier the train , the more this phenomenon increases. Freight trains which move the largest masses will therefore have to be pulled by locomotives with smaller wheels, forcing them to reduce their speed in favor of better grip. Most steam locomotives intended to pull freight trains therefore had wheels with a diameter close to 50 meters. For reasons of economy, the companies sought a compromise which would allow their machines to sometimes be placed at the head of the train. freight trains, sometimes passenger trains. Those belonging to this family of so-called mixed locomotives will therefore be equipped with wheels whose size is between that of the two previous families, i.e. around 1.60 m. Finally, certain locomotives are not intended for to pull large express trains or be placed at the head of heavy freight trains, because it is also necessary to handle maneuvers or commuter trains. Their common characteristic? Do not have long distances to travel. These machines can therefore do without a tender, and take the water and coal they need directly into the bunkers. But it’s not just the size that matters, it’s also the number. To obtain more power or better grip, we will multiply the number of wheels until it gets stuck at the template. We will have to find a solution to accommodate these additional wheels and to make the locomotives even longer. The solution will pass by the articulation of machines. You will find such machines in the United States in XXL versions, or smaller locomotives which adapt very well to difficult conditions, particularly in the mountains. They are mostly metric gauge, which allows them to navigate very tight curves. In our country, the best-known system is called “Mallet”, named after the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet who developed the principle. More than their visual appearance, it is therefore the number of wheels of the locomotives and their arrangement which will allow them to be identified. For this we distinguish between carrier axles and drive axles. The first are there to help better distribute the weight of the machine over its entire length, the second are equipped with connecting rods intended to drive the rotation of the wheels. It is on this distribution that the numbering systems adopted by the railway companies will be based. There are 4 main different ways to obtain this classification around the world. The Anglo-Saxon system also used in Belgium bears the name of its inventor: Whyte. It consists of counting the number of wheels from the front to the rear of the machine, distinguishing between those associated with a carrier axle and those with a driving axle. The Swiss system also differentiates between carrier and drive axles but according to a different logic. The first number indicates the number of drive axles, the second the total number of axles. In the German system the driving axles are represented by letters, the carriers by numbers, finally in the French system, we return to counting the wheels but by axles by listing the number of those which are carriers and those which are motors in the order of their positioning on the machine. Concretely, this is what it would look like for a locomotive with two tag axles at the front, then three drive axles and finally 1 tag axle at the rear. In the Whyte system, it is a 4-6-2, in Switzerland a 3/6, the two figures being separated by an oblique bar, for the Germans a 2C1 and in France a 231. More universally we can also speak of a “Pacific” type locomotive. And yes because certain series will also be given a name that is easier to remember, generally of American origin. We will focus here on the most prestigious series of locomotives from the era of steam traction which officially ended here on March 29, 1974 with the circulation that day of the last of these machines in France. Since then, some of them still run occasionally at the head of special trains chartered by preservation associations or are being restored with a view to one day resuming service in this capacity. You will find the list in the last chapter of my Guide to Railway Tourism and Leisure published by La Vie du Rail, which is available in all good bookstores in town or online and on the Aiguillages website www.aiguillages.eu in the Aiguilloshop section. Among the largest machines of which at least one example has been preserved in working order, there are 140, 141, 150, 230, 231 and 241. The 140 belongs to the American family called “Consolidation”. The first series were built by Schneider at Le Creusot, SACM at Belfort, and Fives-Lille in northern France for the State Railway Administration, the following in Great Britain due to the first World War which led to the requisition of French factories for the war effort. These machines mainly circulated in the east and west of France. Those preserved and capable of providing special trains are the 140 C 231 entrusted to Ajecta in the Paris region, the 140 C 38 preserved by the CFTLP in Limoges, the 140 C 27 by Gadeft in Nîmes and the 140 C 100 of Touraine Steam Train currently entrusted to Train Thur Doller Alsace near Mulhouse. The 141 are called Mikado. They were ordered by the SNCF following the Second World War and built in North America by different firms from the United States and Canada on plans drawn up by the company. Baldwin Locomotives Works. Suffice to say that given their number, they circulated almost everywhere on French territory. Several AAATV branches preserve copies: 141 R 840 and 1199 in Orléans, 141 TC 51 in Lille, 141 TB 424 in Carhaix in Brittany, 141 R 1108 in Breil-sur-Roya not far from Nice, 141 R 1298 in Nîmes. Other associations also keep it in their collections: the Amicale des Cheminots pour la Préservation de la 141 R 1126 takes care of this example near Toulouse, Ajecta watches over the 141 TB 407 and 141 TC 19 in Provins, the CFTLP of Limoges the 141 TD 740 and the Auvergne steam train the 141 R 420. Locomotives dedicated to goods traffic par excellence, the Decapods are 150. France will see a few of them rolling, but Germany alone will build 11,000. Only one is preserved in France, it is the 150 P 13 which was stationed for a long time under the rotundas of Mohon, before being very recently transferred to Normandy where it is the Pacific Vapeur Club from Sotteville les Rouen who is now responsible for taking care of it. We add an axle at the front and move into the 200 family. First of all, the 230, built for the Paris-Orléans. With 10 wheels, they were naturally called the “Ten Wheels”. They have been assigned to all types of uses, whether towing express or omnibus passenger trains, or goods. We have mainly seen them running on the rails in the west and south-west of the country. In this series, the CFTVA in Arques watches over the 230 D 9, the 230 D 116 is entrusted to Ajecta and the 230 G 353 is preserved by the APPMF in Gièvres in central France. Its restoration is reaching its final phase and this machine should very soon be able to be heated again. The 231 are the famous Pacific! They owe their name to the fact that the first of the series were built by Baldwin from the beginning of the 20th century for the New Zealand Railways. They therefore had to cross the Pacific Ocean to be delivered to their customer. Examples of these machines are preserved by the AAATV of Saint-Pierre des Corps, the 231 E 41 which has long been exhibited as a flower pot on a roundabout in the city, but which should be able to return to the rails in a few years , the CMCF in Oignies is in charge of the 231 P 78 in typical northern chocolate livery, the CFTLP of Limoges the 231 K 82, the MFPN in the Paris region the 231 K 8 and finally the pampered Pacific Vapeur Club near Rouen the 231 G 558 still under major overhaul but which should soon be back on track. And we arrive at the largest machines in their category, at least as far as those which were built and which we were able to see circulating in France, the 241. There are several series, the most emblematic being the 241 P nicknamed Mountain. Only 35 examples were built by the Schneider du Creusot workshops at the end of the Second World War and their lifespan was quite short since they were written off after only 20 years of good and loyal service. Several are preserved. One of them, the 241 P 16 at the Cité du Train in Mulhouse. The P9 is being reassembled in Toulouse by AAATV Midi-Pyrénées, the Ajecta is in possession of the P30 awaiting restoration, while at the P17, it regularly provides special trains on the national rail network. I hope that you will now understand better how the numbering of steam locomotives works. Other numbers of Switches will be devoted to more recent series of thermal and electric or even dual-mode locomotives as well as railcars and railcars. railcars to TGVs, because rather than offering you a huge subject on the numbering of SNCF rolling stock which would have risked seeming very indigestible to you, I preferred to concoct several small ones that you will find in a few weeks on this channel, where you can also see or rewatch numerous reports devoted to the associations cited in this one as well as to others which preserve many steam locomotives throughout the country.