Indian locomotive class YD

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Indian locomotive class YD
073 PakistanMirpurKhas 19931219.jpg
Pakistan Railways 729, an oil-fired Nippon Sharyo product, at Mirpur Khas, 1993
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder
Build date1927-1953
Total producedAt least 270
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 2-8-2
   UIC 1'D1' h2
Gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)
Leading dia. 762 mm (2 ft 6.0 in)
Coupled dia.1,219 mm (4 ft 0 in)
Trailing dia. 762 mm (2 ft 6.0 in)
Wheelbase:
  Engine8,458 mm (27 ft 9.0 in)
  Coupled4,089 mm (13 ft 5.0 in)
  incl. tender15,367 mm (50 ft 5.0 in)
Length:
  Over buffers18,313 mm (60 ft 1.0 in)
Height3,429 mm (11 ft 3.0 in)
Axle load 10.2 t (10.0 long tons; 11.2 short tons)
Adhesive weight 40.4 t (39.8 long tons; 44.5 short tons)
Empty weight52 t (51 long tons; 57 short tons)
Service weight58 t (57 long tons; 64 short tons)
Total weight95.9 t (94.4 long tons; 105.7 short tons)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity4.5 t (4.4 long tons; 5.0 short tons)
Water cap.13.6 m3 (480 cu ft)
Firebox:
  Grate area2.42 m2 (26.0 sq ft)
Boiler pressure12.7 bar (184 psi)
Heating surface117.2 m2 (1,262 sq ft)
Superheater:
  Heating area36.6 m2 (394 sq ft)
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 432 mm × 610 mm (17.0 in × 24.0 in)
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Maximum speed56 km/h (35 mph)
Tractive effort:
  Starting86.8 kN (19,500 lbf)
Career
NumbersSee table
References: [1] [2]

The YD class was a class of 2-8-2 tender locomotives built for metre-gauge railways of the British Raj, designed accordingly to the Indian Railway Standard (IRS).

Contents

History

In early 1927, Vulcan Foundry built ten 2-8-2 goods locomotives to the Assam Bengal Railway. Initially unclassified, they would later be known as the class YD/1, as from mid-1927, the YD class was mass-produced for other railway companies in British India as a further development from the original ten examples. The YD/1 were somewhat smaller, and were equipped with three-axle tenders, as opposed to the four-axle bogie tenders used on the YDs.

Between 1927 and 1953, a total of at least 270 locomotives were built by eight manufacturers in Germany, United Kingdom, India, Japan and Czechoslovakia.

India

When Indian Railways introduced a new numbering scheme in March 1957, the 143 locomotives remaining in service at the time were renumbered 30154–30296. The ten YD/1 class locomotives 30297–30306. By 1975, 133 YD class locomotives were in service with three regional zones of Indian Railways. 71 were allocated to the South Central Railway zone, 45 to Western Railways (including the ten YD/1) and 17 to Southern Railways. Some of the locomotives were in service until the 1990s.

Pakistan

During the partition of India, several examples came under the ownership of Pakistan Railways. In 1952, Nippon Sharyo of Japan built 25 near-identical locomotives with oil-firing, and were put to work on passenger trains in addition to freight trains. [3] [4] When East Pakistan gained independence as Bangladesh in 1974, the YDs allocated to East Pakistan were inherited by the Bangladesh Railway. Many were in service until the end of steam traction in Pakistan in the 1990s.

Burma

The colony of Burma was part of the British Raj until 1937, and Burma Railways was under jurisdiction of Indian Railways at the same time. As such, the YD class were used in Burma. After Burma became a separate crown colony and Burma Railways came under the control of the new government, its rolling stock including the YDs were taken over, and a further 20 were acquired in 1949. Some were still in service in 2014. [5]

Design

The YD class shared the same boiler as the YC class, albeit shorter and with a smaller firebox compared to the latter. The class YD's axle load was 10.2 t, which is the same as with the YB class 4-6-2 locomotives. A heavier 12.2 t axle load variant known as the class YE was proposed, but never built.

Not only the YD/1 class locomotives had differences, some batches of class YD locomotives also had differences. Locomotives that were built in 1933 and 1934 were fitted with poppet valves, while two built for the Gondal State Railway originally did not have superheaters, which were later retrofitted in 1951. Pakistan's Japanese-built locomotives burn oil as fuel.

Table of locomotives

This list may not be complete. Some sources have conflicting statements about the quantity of locomotives produced and operators who initially used them. [a]

BuilderYearQuantitySerial numberOperatorRunning number
Vulcan Foundry 1927104081–4090 Assam Bengal Railway 201–210 (YD/1)
Vulcan Foundry192754164–4168 Assam Bengal Railway 211–215
Nasmyth, Wilson and Company192721505–1506 Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway 283, 324 [6]
Nasmyth, Wilson and Company192721507–1508 Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway 430–431 [6]
Nasmyth, Wilson and Company192771509–1515 Burma Railways 427–433 [6] [7]
Škoda 192817494–510Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway448–449, 481, 600–613
Vulcan Foundry192874226–4232 Burma Railways 434–440
Vulcan Foundry1928164233–4248Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway432–447
Vulcan Foundry192814249Mysore State Railway131
Vulcan Foundry1928104250–4259 South Indian Railway YD 1–10
Vulcan Foundry192944399–4402Assam Bengal RailwayN/A
Vulcan Foundry1929104403–4412 Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway 220–229
Nasmyth, Wilson and Company192911562 Gondal State Railway 1
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM)1929183261–3278Burma Railways441–458
SLM192953279–3283Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway125, 181, 345, 915, 916
SLM192943284–3287South Indian RailwayYD 11–14
Henschel & Sohn 19292921544–72Burma RailwaysN/A [8] [9]
AEG-Borsig 193014447Gondal State Railway2
AEG-Borsig193144573–4576Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway482, 616–618
AEG-Borsig193164577–4582South Indian RailwayYD 15–20
AEG-Borsig193124583–4584Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway614–615
BB&CI193115N/ABombay, Baroda and Central India Railway142–156
BB&CI19322N/ABombay, Baroda and Central India RailwayN/A
BB&CI19328N/AMysore State Railway134–141
BB&CI1933/3415N/ABombay, Baroda and Central India Railway357–371
Vulcan Foundry194855660–5664Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway206–210
Vulcan Foundry1949105705–5714Mysore State Railway142–151
Vulcan Foundry1949205715–5734Burma Railways956–975
Vulcan Foundry194995735–5743Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway211–219
Nippon Sharyo 1952/5325N/A Pakistan Railways N/A [3] [4]

Other YDs

In 1942, two locomotives similar to the YD class built by W. G. Bagnall for the Companhia Ferroviária São Paulo-Paraná in Brazil were requisitioned by the War Department and shipped to India in 1943. The Mysore State Railway and the Jodhpur State Railway each received one locomotive. Both locomotives were designated as class YD by Indian Railways, although they bore significant differences. Other than their external appearance, these two locomotives had larger cylinders and fireboxes. Both were in service in the South Central Railway zone as of 1975. [10]

The Jordan Hedjaz Railway (JHR) had 3 locomotives built in 1951 to the design of the YD class [11] from Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, and received running numbers 21–23 (RSH 7431—33/1951). [12]

In 1955, Vulcan Foundry built three locomotives similar to the class YD design, albeit with a shorter 2-6-2 wheel arrangement, for the North Borneo Railway (NBR). [13] These locomotives were numbered 14–16 (VF 6274–76/1955) on the NBR, and were among the last Vulcan-built steam locomotives. [14]

Preservation

Several locomotives are on display in various railway museums in India, [15] Bangladesh, [16] Myanmar [17] and Pakistan. [18]

Of the 3 Jordanian YDs, only JHR 22 (RSH 7432/1952) was scrapped aside from its tender, which still is at Amman station. JHR 21 (RSH 7431/1952) stands derelict outside Amman station, and JHR 23 (RSH 7433/1952) is preserved. [12]

All three NBR Vulcan Foundry locomotives are preserved. [19] NBR 15 was maintained in working order and chartered for tourist trains, [20] which, however, since the COVID-19 pandemic, remain suspended as of 2025. [19] [20]

Notes

  1. Unless otherwise stated, this list is based on the sources listed in the "Bibliography" section, and AEG-Borsig, SLM and Vulcan Foundry production lists.

References

  1. Henschel-Werke (1935). Henschel-Lokomotiv-Taschenbuch [Henschel locomotive paperback] (in German). Henschel and Son. pp. 193–194.
  2. "Standard Locomotives for the Indian State Railways - Broad and Metre Gauge". The Locomotive Magazine Carriage and Wagon Review. Locomotive Publishing Company. 15 December 1928. pp. 377, 379.
  3. 1 2 1955 Pakistan 1956. 1956. p. 186.
  4. 1 2 Pakistan Railways. Vol. 5. Ferozsons Limited. 1957. p. 36.
  5. "Myanmar (Burma)". internationalsteam.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  6. 1 2 3 Pacific Type Express Locomotive, Indian State Rys. Moore's Monthly Magazine. Vol. 33. Locomotive Publishing Company, London. 1927-12-15. p. 377.
  7. Burma Railways, Dampflokomotiven 1. und 2. Generation. January 2012. p. 31.
  8. Indian State Rys. Locomotive, Railway Carriage and Wagon Review. Vol. 35. Locomotive Publishing Company, London. 1929-07-15. p. 224.
  9. Sohn, Henschel (1931). Henschel-Lokomotiven [Henschel Locomotives] (in German). p. 126.
  10. Hughes, Hugh (1996). Indian Locomotives: Part 4 - 1941-1990. Harrow, Middlesex: Continental Railway Circle. p. 53. ISBN   0-9521655-1-1 . Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  11. Sources:
    • Ballantyne, Hugh (11 June 1999). "Steam in Jordan and Syria May 1999". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025. ... RSH built 2-8-2 23 which is a standard IRS design YD class...
    • van Dorp, Jan Willem (6 October 2005). "Steam in the Middle East". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025. ... unidentified YD... ... YD 23 opposite the turntable...
  12. 1 2 Kautzor, Thomas. "Steam Locomotives in Jordan, 2015". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  13. Sources:
  14. Waite, James. "The North Borneo Railway". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  15. "Steam locomotives in India". steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  16. "Steam locomotives in Bangladesh". steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  17. "Steam locomotives in Myanmar". steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  18. "Steam locomotives in Pakistan". steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  19. 1 2 Dickinson, Rob. "Preserved Steam in East Malaysia". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  20. 1 2 Dickinson, Rob. "Report on NBR tourist train services". International Steam. Retrieved 30 August 2025.

Bibliography