SLR Class 81 No. 81

No.81

Overview -

Propulsion:

Steam

Loco Type:

Side Tank Engine

Gauge:

2 ft 6 in

History -

Livery:

Unlined Black

Sibling Locomotives:

No.85

Manufacturing Details:

Builder:

Hunslet Engine Co.

(b/n) Builder's No.

3398

Build Date:

1947

Service:

Former Operators:

Sierra Leone Government Railways

No.

81

Years in Operation:

1947 - 1975

Disposition:

Preserved: Display

Wheel Arrangement:

Whyte Notation:

2-6-2T

Axle No.

5

Boiler & Firebox:

Grate Area:

6 ¼ sq. ft.

Heating Surface:

381 sq. ft.

Tubes:

345 sq. ft.

Cylinders:

Cylinders (Dia. x Stroke):

10 in x 15 in

Operation:

Water Capacity:

470 Gallons

Coal Capacity:

1 Ton

Total Weight:

18 Tons

Dimensions:

Total Length:

15 ft. 4 in.

No.81 is a black 2-6-2 side tank steam locomotive.

History[]

No.81 was built in 1947 by the Hunslet Engine company of Leeds, Yorkshire, England in the United Kingdom as builder's number 3398 for the Sierra Leone Government Railway (SLR) in Africa as their No.81 to their highly successful 2-6-2 designs. No.81 along with it's many siblings mainly operated passenger services on all SLR lines.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Upon the closure of the SLR in 1975 No.81 was withdrawn from service but saved due to the general manager Richard Norman ordering No.81 be stored along with 17 other pieces of rolling stock at the back of the workshops at Freetown and had the doors welded shut.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

However the collection was suspected to have been scrapped during the desperate times of the civil war in the country from 1991 to 2002. However a British Army officer Colonel Steve Davies who was a railway enthusiast found the workshops (which had been used as a home for displaced peoples during the war) and inside No.81 among other locomotives and carriages. In 2005 the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum opened to the public with No.81 having been cosmetically restored though still missing a pair of driving wheels.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Trivia[]

No.81 is the most incomplete preserved locomotive in Sierra Leone.
It's sibling No.85 is preserved in mid-Wales, United Kingdom.

Bibliography[]

Preserved Sierra Leonean Locomotives
Sierra Leone Government Railway (SLR)	0-4-0ST	No. 10 'Nellie'
	Class 81	No. 81 • No. 85 (W&LLR No. 14)
	Class 63	No. 73
	Class 101	No. 105 • No. 107
	Class 120	No. 123 • No. 133

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 https://www.sierraleonerailwaymuseum.org/the-collection

[:1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 https://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=21979

[:2-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 https://www.steamlocomotive.info/nloconoteshow.cfm?which=21979

[:3-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 https://www.alamy.com/sierra-leone-photograph-of-sierra-leone-government-railway-locomotive-no-23-built-by-hunslet-engine-co-leeds-engine-specifications-are-handwritten-on-the-photographcaption-reads-standard-type-locomotive-c1898-199922113445-image337617938.html

[:4-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/3+4/hunslet_SL.htm

[:5-6] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 http://www.leedsengine.info/leeds/locolist.asp

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