Belgian State Railways Type 6

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Belgian State Railways Type 6 was a class of steam locomotives built for fast passenger trains on steep slopes. Introduced in 1885, 32 of these locomotives were produced between 1885 and 1894 by several manufacturers.

Prototypes and design changes
- The three 1885–1886 prototypes had a separate engineer’s cab in front of the firebox. They were later rebuilt to a conventional layout with a single cab at the footplate.
- In 1897, twelve Type 6 engines were updated with the improved Type 16 boiler and became Type 16 Moguls.
- Because the Belpaire firebox with a shallow grate was weak on these locomotives, seven received new boilers with deeper, narrower fireboxes and were reclassified as Type 6bis.

Configuration and performance
- Wheel arrangement: 2-6-0 (Whyte), UIC 1C n2
- Gauge: 1,435 mm (standard gauge)
- Driver diameter: 1,700 mm
- Wheelbase: 6.65 m
- Length: 9.8 m
- Loco weight: 54.06 t
- Axle loads: leading 11.88 t; first coupled 12.66 t; second coupled 15.24 t; third coupled 14.28 t
- Firebox: Belpaire, grate area 3.74 m2
- Boiler pressure: 10 atm (about 147 psi)
- Heating surface: 146.22 m2
- Cylinders: two inside, 500 mm × 600 mm
- Valve gear: Walschaert
- Tractive effort: 5,924 kg

Operators
- Belgian State Railways, class Type 6

In summary, the Type 6 were early Belgians built for demanding express work on hills, evolving from unusual early cabs to a more standard design, with some later boilers upgrading to the Type 16 family.