AWE
2-8-2
Click here to see photo of AWE
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No railway has publicly expressed gratitude to the United States for supplying locomotives for free. During World War II, the U.S. built thousands of steam locomotives and supplied them to various Allied countries. Pre-independence India, an American ally, got hundreds of such "War Department" locomotives, to alleviate the prevailing motive power shortage. The AWE Class was one of the 3 such "War Department" class locomotives supplied to India, the other two being the AWD (or CWD, the version supplied by Canada) and the MAWD meter gauge 2-8-2 known as "MacArthurs". With their stovepipe chimneys, bar frames and central headlamps, they were typical American locomotives. Though these engines were designed and built in a hurry, they rendered yeoman service to the railways which owned them, long after the War had ended. Thanks America!
HISTORICAL NOTES
The AWE was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the premier locomotive builder in the United States. It was essentially an Americanised version of the XE 2-8-2, so had similar duties, i.e., hauling heavy mineral trains (as pictured above). Like the XE, the AWE had an enormous grate suitable for burning high ash Indian coal. The AWE was the heaviest and most powerful non-articulated locomotive in India. An AWE is preserved at the National Rail Museum in New Delhi.
In their early years, spare parts for the War Department locomotives were not readily available, so they had to be "shedded", until the parts came in from the U.S.
DIMENSIONS
Boiler Pressure: 210 psig, Heating Surface: 3 801 sq.ft, Grate Area: 63.25 sq.ft, Cylinders: (2), 23.5" Bore x 30" Stroke, Wheel Diameter: 5''1-1/2", Tractive Effort: 48 086 lb, Engine Weight: 119 tonnes (without tender), Nominal Axle Load: 22.25 tonnes, Maximum Train Load: 2182 tonnes (on level track).
