The Argentina (also known as Presidente Perón) was a 4-8-0 type steam locomotive with four double expansion cylinders designed by the Argentine Livio Dante Porta for the Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1949. The machine thanks to the innovative design of its fairing The aerodynamic engine had a high efficiency, reaching 2,500 HP, it obtained records for weight/power ratio and efficiency, some of which were still valid 60 years later.
History[]
The Argentina locomotive was not a machine built entirely from scratch, but rather a reconstruction of a metric gauge locomotive, ex FC Central Córdoba class B22 4-6-2 N° 2011. The main components such as the boiler were new. Structural and thermodynamic improvements were incorporated into the rebuilt locomotive along with a streamlined external appearance inspired by locomotives built in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. This was the first locomotive project carried out by the world famous Argentinian locomotive engineer Livio Dante Porta., who was only 27 years old when the locomotive first ran. During his lifetime (1922-2003) Porta was responsible for many substantial performance improvements to many steam locomotives operating around the world. The Argentine machine remains one of the most efficient steam locomotives of all time. The financing came from the National Development Bank , previously Porta had met with President Juan Domingo Peron to obtain financing. To carry out the reconstruction of machine No. 2011, it was transferred to the workshops in Puerto de Rosario, province of Santa Fe., in 1948. Besides Porta, the other engineers involved in the reconstruction work were Gino Margutti, Adolfo P. Allegri, Raymundo Falardo and Miguel Egulazu.
Construction[]
Many of the main components of the original machine were completely replaced. Original to the 2011 N ended up being nothing more than the wheelsets, frame sections, and tender. The rebuild transformed the locomotive into a 4-cylinder compound machine with a new class 4-8-0 wheel arrangement with a twin-axle bogie . The locomotive was arranged with the two high-pressure cylinders , 360mm bore by 660mm stroke, between the frames and two low-pressure cylinders, 580mm bore by 560mm stroke, outside the frame. The maximum axle load was 13.5 tons, giving an adhesive weight of 54 tons. Total operating weight, excluding tender, amounted to 68 tons. The built-in, fully balanced crank spindle had 135° crank settings. The drive wheels had a diameter of 1270 mm. Despite the small diameter of the coupled wheels, the design speed was 120 km/h. The drive wheels were modified with a steeper cone and relatively thin flanges (as now employed on self-steering vehicles). The third set of drive wheels was flangeless. The fact that the tread did most of the steering of the locomotive is considered one of the reasons why it ran. The poor conditions of the test tracks prevented the design speed from being reached. The maximum recorded in service is 105 km/h. The cross-sectional area of the steam ports has been increased to 25% of the piston surface to reduce pressure drop, thus reducing energy waste to a minimum and to improve steam flow freedom. All the steam pipes were greatly enlarged; they were made larger than recommended by the French locomotive engineer André Chapelon, who had so inspired Porta.
2011 Before being turned into Argentina.
Its performance was higher than expected for a relatively small locomotive and designed for a top speed of 120 km/h, it could pull 1,200-tonne freight trains at 105 km/h.
The construction costs were lower than for any locomotive of equivalent power despite the fact that Argentina is experimental. This can be attributed to the extensive use of welded mild steel in many areas, such as the pistons , cylinders, aerodynamic housing, tank extension on top of the tender and original axleboxes. Strangely for a steam locomotive, Argentina was painted light blue and white (mostly white), rare for such a machine.
Boiler[]
The new boiler was of welded construction with the exception of the main barrel seam which was riveted. No flange was required for this entirely handcrafted boiler, thus saving considerable sums on construction. In the firebox, five 'T' safety circulators were fitted with the long brick arch sitting on top of the four frontmost circulators. The boiler pressure was 19.6 bar with a sizeable superheater supplying steam at 450 °C. Between the high and low pressure cylinders, along the lines of Chapelon's experimental 2-12-0 160A1, reheating was employed to ensure that the receiver vapor temperature could reach 317 °C.
The firebox was located on the racks and was equipped with a fully swinging grate. It was arranged to give a deep bed of fire and a large proportion of combustion air was admitted over the fire. Below, on each side of the firebox, six secondary (over fire) air holes were fitted with two more above on each side and eight at various levels to the rear. Thus, "Argentina" became the first locomotive to have a Gas Producers Basic Combustion System (GPCS). In the smokebox the exhaust system was a Kylchap which provided a good draft. While many trains continued to run without continuous brakes, Porta ensured that the locomotive was future-proof by installing air brakes on the locomotive.
Construction costs were lower than for any locomotive of equivalent power despite the fact that "Argentina" was experimental. This is largely due to the use of welded mild steel in many areas such as the pistons, cylinders, airfoil housing, tender tank extension and axle housings.
Service[]
After testing, display and related work was complete, 'Argentina' was used exclusively for freight trains in the FCGB. This continued until the early 1960s and saw the locomotive operating mainly on the Mira Pampa and Olavarría branch lines southwest of Buenos Aires. When these were closed, the service from Argentina ended. Around 1961, after traveling approximately 70,000 km, the locomotive was withdrawn from active service and left in a warehouse in La Plata, where it remained until the mid-1970s. It is not known exactly when, but at some point it moved to the province of Tucumán.
Restoration attempt[]
In 2000 the engineer Livio Dante Porta decided to return the locomotive to Buenos Aires with the intention of restoring it to put it into service, he even planned to include some modifications. A group of mechanical and computer engineers led by the British Martyn Bane tried to raise about ten thousand pounds to move the machine to a safer place in Buenos Aires. A VHS video with footage of the locomotive in action was sold to raise funds. But shortly after this initiative began to take shape, the 2001 crisis occurred in Argentina , which dynamited any possibility of rescuing the machine.
A group of enthusiasts visited the Argentina locomotive that was in a warehouse in Mate de Luna, Tucumán province on October 14, 2004. Various factors made its recovery impossible, among them the difficult place in which the machine was, the economic situation of the country. Over the years various parts of the machine have been stolen to be sold for scrap, so the state of the locomotive today makes restoration impossible.
Trivia[]
- The engine is featured in the game "TrainStation"
Gallery[]
Videos[]
