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NS class 4300

Introduction - WD Austerity 2-8-0 NS Class 4300

History overview

The Dutch class 4300 was originally conceived by the War Department in the UK about halfway WW2. In general the so-called Austerity classes were conceived to serve the war effort with a minimum of resources in terms of production time, materials used and maintenance effort. The 2-8-0 was based on LMS class 8F. The modifications to the 8F design were made by R.A. Riddles, since 1939 Director of Transportation Equipment of the Ministry of Supply, and former assistant of the 8F's designer William Stanier. Riddles woudld design the British Standard locomotive classes after the war, from which the 9F can be seen as the peacetime version of the WD 2-10-0.

Design changes aimed to simplify the war production, like a parallel rather than tapered boiler and a round-topped firebox rather than a Belpaire firebox. Production of the 2-8-0 started in 1943.

A 2-8-0 builder's photo

 

Table of main dimensions and comparison to other classes

I compared the WD 2-8-0 to its direct competitor the German BR 52. I also included its sister design WD 2-10-0 / NS 5000 and two peace time designs of the Dutch Railways.

Subject 4300 5000II BR 52 4600 6300
Wheel arrangement 2-8-0 2-10-0 2-10-0 2-8-0 4-8-4
Grate area (m2) 2.66 3.72 3.89 2.84 3.16
Heated area firebox (m2) 15.2 17.3 15.9 15.0 17.0
Heated area tubes (m2) 128.7 150.5

161.7

 130.0 150.0
Heated area superheater (m2) 34.8 47.5 68.9 41.0 50.0
Boiler pressure (kg/cm2)

12

(15.8)

12

(15.8)

 16 12 14
Cylinders 2 2 2 2 4
Cylinder diameter (mm) 483 483 600 600 420
Cylinder stroke (mm) 711 711 660 660 660
Driver diameter (mm) 1,435 1,435 1,400 1,400 1,550
Water (m3) 22.7 22.7 30.0 18.0 14.0
Coal (tons) 9.1 9.1 10.0 6.0 4.5
Axle load (tons)   13.7 15.1   18.0
Weight loco and tender,
operational (tons)		 127.8 136.0 102.7 118.5 127.0
Length (mm) 19,354 20,579 22,975 17,780 17,385
Top speed (km/h) 65 65 80 60 90
Tractive effort (kgf)

9,700

(12,800)

9,700

(12,800)

 19,000 14,260 14,720

 

Remarks

  • variations within a class are possible due to engineering changes over the span of delivery or due to different builders. I tried to find the typical values.
  • For the BR 52 I have used the data of the standard version with "bath tub" tender
  • I could not find the tractive effort of the BR 52 so I calculated it on the formula T = ( p * ( (d2*l) / D ), where
    • p = 70% of the boiler pressure (European standard)
    • d = cylinder diameter
    • l = stroke
    • D = wheel diameter
  • The result of the aforementioned calculation are congruent with the remarks I found that the BR 52 had almost twice as most tractive effort as the WD 2-8-0 and WD 2-10-0.

Afterword

6 April 2018, today this pair arrived. I am very happy to have been able to buy these books.