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Class B1 locomotive Nš 17 |
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Tabare Bordach emtb@adinet.com.uy has sent details of this locomotive. Class B1 consisted of only eight engines. Three of them were built for the Midland Uruguay Railway (MUR) by Beyer Peacock & Co. as 3009, 3010 and 3011/1889, and numbered 6, 7 and 8 of MUR. In 1899, MUR 8 was sold to The Central Uruguay Railway (CUR) and renumbered Nš 4. The remainder were built for the CUR. Nš1 , Nš 2 and Nš 17 came out from Beyer Peacock as 4744 & 4745/1905 , and 5394/1910; Nš 15 and Nš 16 from Hudswell Clarke of Leeds, as 778 & 779/1906. The original "B1" had 15―in. x 20in. cylinders; 3ft. 4in. driving wheels and 2ft. 3in. leading wheels; a wheelbase of 17ft. 4in. (10ft. 2in. between coupled wheels); a boiler 4ft. diameter containing 166 tubes of 17/8in. diameter; with a tube heating surface of 722 sq. ft., firebox 73 sq. ft. and total 795 sq. ft.; a grate area of 13 sq. ft; and a working pressure of 140 lb. per sq. in. with 14,300 lb. of tractive effort. Weight in working order was 38 UK tons. 12 cwt. of which the adhesion weight was 33 UK tons. 10 cwt. By the first 1990, three "B1" were still in service: Nš 4, 15 and 17. In 1993, Nš 4 was reported as engine with broken down boiler. She is preserved by a local society in a park of Montevideo. Last year, Nš 15 was semi-scrapped at AFE's Peņarol Works; and therefore, Nš 17 is the last "B1" serviceable. Aged 88 years, class B1 N 17 became the last steam locomotive which work everyday for the Uruguayan State Railways (AFE). Allocated at Piedra Alta shed (about 70 miles northward from Montevideo), she is intended for shunting purposes. 1. - Class B1 2-6-0T Nš 17 (with 3-axle extra tender) hauls a two-coach train for European photographers.
2. - Nš 17 is seen making its usual shunting work at Piedra Alta siding yard. It is equipped with small cowcatcher of Diesel engine, because the track is maintained in bad condition in its working area.
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