Belgian State Railways Type 6

The Belgian State Railways Type 6 was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives for express passenger service on steep inclines, introduced in 1885. The three prototypes from 1885-1886 had a separate cab for the engineer, forward from the firebox, and would later be rebuilt to a more conventional arrangement with a single cab at the footplate.

Belgian State Railways Type 6
Prototype locomotive 1818.
Type and origin Power type Steam Build date 1885–1894 Total produced 32
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-6-0  • UIC 1C n2 Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Driver dia. 1,700 mm (66.93 in) Wheelbase 6.65 m (21 ft 9+3⁄4 in) Length 9.8 m (32 ft 1+3⁄4 in) Axle load 15.24 t (15.00 long tons; 16.80 short tons) ​  • Leading 11.88 t (11.69 long tons; 13.10 short tons)  • 1st coupled 12.66 t (12.46 long tons; 13.96 short tons)  • 2nd coupled 15.24 t (15.00 long tons; 16.80 short tons)  • 3rd coupled 14.28 t (14.05 long tons; 15.74 short tons) Loco weight 54.06 t (53.21 long tons; 59.59 short tons) Firebox: ​  • Type Belpaire  • Grate area 3.74 m2 (40.3 sq ft) Boiler pressure 10 atm (1.01 MPa; 147 psi) Heating surface 146.22 m2 (1,573.9 sq ft) Cylinders Two, inside Cylinder size 500 mm × 600 mm (19.69 in × 23.62 in) Valve gear Walschaert
Performance figures Tractive effort 5,924 kg (13,060 lb)
Career Operators Belgian State Railways Class Type 6

They were superseded in 1897 by the similar but larger Type 16 Moguls, with twelve Type 6 receiving the improved Type 16 boiler that year. Owing to the deficiencies of the Belpaire firebox with a shallow grate, seven received new boilers with deep and narrow fireboxes, being reclassified as Type 6bis.

Construction history

The locomotives were built by various manufacturers from 1885 to 1894. The machines had an outside frame and inside cylinders and a Walschaert valve gear.

Known production numbers

Manufacturer / factory number	Quantity	Date in service	État Belge numbers / Note
Cockerill 1411	1	1884	EB 1818 (prototype)
Cockerill 1456, 1480	2	1886	EB 1825, 235
Haine-Saint-Pierre 385 – 387	3	1889	EB 100 (1C), 156 – 157 (1B1)
Haine-Saint-Pierre	1	1891	EB 159
Franco-Belge 694 – 696	3	1889	EB 101, 105, 109
Franco-Belge 790 – 793	4	1891 – 1894	EB 81, 92, 94, 117
Franco-Belge 861 – 865	5	1892	EB 2101 – 2105
Franco-Belge 676 – 679	4	1893	EB 2111 – 2114
Franco-Belge 1000	1	1894	EB 39
Couillet 1011 – 1013	3	1891	EB 184, 224, 423
Couillet 1044 – 1048	5	1892	EB 2106 – 2110

Bibliography

• Tordeur, Emile (1909). Le Machiniste des Chemins de Fer Belges (in French).
• Dambly, Phil (Dec 1966). "Nos inoubliables vapeurs - Cinquième période, 1884-1898 – Régime Masui et Belpaire". Le Rail (in French). No. 124.
• Morandiere, Jules (Jan 1886). "Les locomotives à l'Exposition d'Anvers 1885". Revue générale des chemins de fer (in French). 9, 1er Semestre. Paris: P. Vicq-Dunod: 33–47. OCLC 6536095.
• Deghilage (May 1890). "Les locomotives Belges pour voie normale, à l'Exposition Universelle de 1889". Revue générale des chemins de fer (in French). 13, 1er Semestre. Paris: P. Vicq-Dunod: 297–310. OCLC 6536095.
• Vandenberghen, J. (1988). Période Belpaire - Masui (in French). Bruxelles: SNCB.
• Dagant, André (1974). "Cent vingt-cinq ans de construction de locomotives à vapeur en Belgique". Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique liégeois (in French). 86. Liège: Maison Curtius: 23–244.
• "Stoomlocomotieven Type 6 / Type 16" (PDF). L.S.V. Tijdschrift (in Dutch). 86. As: Limburgse Stoom Vereniging: 1–10. June–July 1998.