Indian locomotive class YP

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Indian locomotive class YP
India - Railway Museum Mysore 62.jpg
No. 2511 on display at the Railway Museum, Mysore.
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works
North British Locomotive Company
Krauss-Maffei
Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co.
Build date1949–1970
Total produced871
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 4-6-2
   UIC 2'C1'
Gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)
Coupled dia.1,372 mm (4 ft 6.0 in)
Wheelbase:
  incl. tender16,333 mm (53 ft 7.0 in)
Length:
  Over buffers19,088 mm (62 ft 7.5 in)
Width2,590 mm (8 ft 6 in)
Height3,430 mm (11 ft 3 in)
Axle load 10.5 t (10.3 long tons; 11.6 short tons)
Service weight99 t (97 long tons; 109 short tons)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity9.8 t (9.6 long tons; 10.8 short tons)
Water cap.3,000 US gal (11,000 L; 2,500 imp gal)
Firebox:
  Grate area2.6 m2 (28 sq ft)
Boiler pressure14.4 bar (209 psi)
Heating surface:
  Tubes and flues134 m2 (1,440 sq ft)
  Total surface103.35 m2 (1,112.5 sq ft)
Superheater:
  Heating area30.75 m2 (331.0 sq ft)
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 609 mm (24.0 in)
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Tractive effort:
  Starting82 kN (18,000 lbf)
Career
Operators Indian Railways
NumbersSee table
References (unless where noted): [1]

The Indian locomotive classYP are a class of 4-6-2 passenger locomotives built for Indian Railways' metre gauge network as one of several post-partition standard designs evolved from the pre-war Indian Railway Standard designs. [2]

Contents

History

The YP locomotives were intended to replace the earlier YB and YC class locomotives of the original IRS series designs. [3] A total of 871 locomotives were built between 1949 and 1970 by various manufacturers. They were among the most commonly used steam locomotives in the country and one of the last built specifically for passenger service in the world. Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered the first batch of 20 locomotives in 1949, followed by another 100 from the North British Locomotive Company, [4] with Krauss-Maffei supplying a further 200 locomotives between 1952 and 1954. The remaining 551 were domestically built by Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. between 1954 and 1970. [2] [5]

Until the 1990s, YP class were in service on India's metre-gauge network in large numbers, especially, in the states of Rajasthan, Assam and Tamil Nadu. [2]

Several examples have been preserved and are now on display in various locations in India. Numbers 2257 and 2684 were sold in 1990 to American-owned Railroad Development Corporation and were seen in Togo as of 2007. [6]

Table of builders and numbers

YearQuantityBuilderSerial numberRunning number
194920 Baldwin Locomotive Works 74454–744732000–2870

(not in order)
1952100 North British Locomotive Company 27120–27219
1952–1954200 Krauss-Maffei 17732–17781, 17991–18140
1954–1970551 Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. 51–150, 201–290, 761–830, 845–935, 956–1155

Design

As the replacement for the original IRS design YB class, which had less efficient steaming from the coal which they were fired on with the lower grate area of the class, [3] and for the YC class, which were barred from working lighter lines due to their heavy axle load, [3] the superheating and upgraded valve gear of the YPs made them more powerful than the YBs and YCs. [3]

The YPs were greatly standardised between the YG class locomotives, which were their goods counterparts. [7] Many parts of both classes were shared with each other. [7] Moreover, both locomotives shared the designs of parts from their broad-gauge counterparts, the WG class and the WP class, scaled down from their broad gauge versions, allowing common maintenance prodecures. [7]

Since the locomotives were intended for use on routes with relatively low axle loads, they had to be as light as possible. For this reason, the side panels[ clarify ] and cab were made of aluminum as a weight-saving measure. [2]

Allocation

The YP class locomotives were used all over India. By the end of 1976, the locomotives were allocated to the following regional zones of Indian Railways: [8]

ZoneQuantity
Central Railways 9
Northern Railways 101
North Eastern Railways 235
Northern Frontier Railway98
Western Railways 155
South Central Railways 72
Southern Railways 199

Two locomotives of this class had been withdrawn at the time.

References

  1. da Costa 1952, p. 516.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Information sheet for the YP class. Madrid: Ediciones del Prado. 2005. p. 2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 da Costa 1952, p. 520.
  4. ""YP" Locomotives for India". Railway Gazette International . Vol. 97. 14 November 1952. pp. 550, 553. Retrieved 8 August 2025 via Internet Archive.
  5. Hughes 1977, p. 24.
  6. "Benin Tourist Railway Project" . Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  7. 1 2 3 da Costa 1952, p. 517.
  8. Hughes 1977, p. 96.

Bibliography

Further reading