Kenja Uganda Railways Garratt

No. 409

In 1950 Queensland Railways placed 30 narrow gauge Beyer Garratt locomotives in service. These locomotives were found to be very reliable performers. It was around this time the South Australian Railways needed to replace their six 300 class Australian Standard Garratts. In 1951 the South Australian Railways purchased ten oil fired Garratts, classified as the 400 class, which were a slightly modified, heavier version of the Queensland Beyer Garratt.
These locomotives were unique in that they were not painted in standard black, they were painted in a colour called invisible green, a black with a green tinge which can be seen in a certain light. These ten locomotives were built by a French company under licence from Beyer Peacock in England.
The locomotives were placed into service between 1953 and 1954 to handle all of the heavy ore traffic from Broken Hill. The Beyer Garratt design was particularly suitable, due to its substantial power yet light axle load. The class worked the mainline between Cockburn and Port Pirie and the section between Peterborough and Terowie, primarily on heavy freight trains, but also the Broken Hill Express passenger train.
Following introduction of narrow gauge 830 class Goodwin-Alto diesel electric locomotives on the Peterborough Division in 1963, the 400s were gradually phased out of service. However several returned to service in the late 1960s while the 830 class diesels were converted to standard gauge for the new Port Pirie to Broken Hill line.

Société Franco-Belge de Matériel de Chemins de Fer, Raismes, France under licence from Beyer, Peacock & Co.

Serial nr. BP: 7622–7631 SFB: 2973–2982
Build date 1952–1953

Specifications Configuration          4-8-2+2-8-4 (Garratt)    UIC class     (2′D1′)(2′D1′) h4t
Gauge 3 ft 6 in / 1,067 mm
Driver dia. 4 ft 0 in / 1.219 m
Length 87 ft 5 in /     26.64 m
Loco weight 148.955 long tons 151.345 tons 166.830 short tons

Fuel type Oil    Fuel capacity 6 long tons     6.1 t; 6.7 short tons
Water cap 3,700 imperial gal    17,000 l;     4,400 US gal

Firebox:
Firegrate area 49 sq ft / 4.6 m2
Boiler press. 200 psi / 1,379 kPa
Heating surf.1,970 sq ft / 183 m2Superheater:
Heating area 390 sq ft / 36 m2

Cylinders:
Four, outside    Cylinder size 16 in × 24 in 406 mm × 610 mm

Performance figures:
Tractive effort 43,520 lbf,193.6 kN    [hide]Career

Operators South Australian Railways
Numbers 400–409
First run 1953

Produced 10/Preserved 2

www.natrailmuseum.org.au/
Port Adelaide
South Australia 5015
E-mail: info@nrm.org.auortAdelaide