HPS2
4-6-0
Click here to see photo of HPS2
Click here to see photo of HPS2
Click here to see photo of HPS2
During the first half of the twentieth century, the various railways in India had many types of ten-wheelers called "mail engines" because of the trains they hauled. Most were variations on the same design. In the late 1920s, the X class Pacifics were introduced to replace the 4-6-0s. Unfortunately, they proved troublesome, so the 4-6-0s got a new lease on life. So excellent were they that even as late as 1950, Indian Railways were ordering new ones. The HPS, the forerunner of the HPS was designed in 1925.
My father informs me that in British times, a similar engine, the oil-burning W Class 4-6-0 used to haul the Viceroy's train. It had a beautiful brass-topped chimney.
Up to the early 1980s, the HPS2 used to haul local trains between Arkonam and Madras (to me, it will always be "Madras". I grew up there and am sad to see its present decline)
TECHNICAL NOTES
The HPS2 was the ultimate development of the 4-6-0 in India. It was a purely British design which owed little to American practice. It had superheating and front-end improvements over other mail engines. A free-running engine, it was capable of speeds that were high by Indian standards. My father recalls the Bangalore Express hauled by an HPS2 could reach speeds up to 65 mph, and is never tired of pointing out that the diesel-hauled Bangalore Express took the same time to reach its destination as when it was headed by a HPS2 in pre-Independence India. The Bangalore-Madras line is now fully electrified and speeds are much higher.
DIMENSIONS
Boiler Pressure: 180 psig, Heating Surface: 1480 sq.ft, Grate Area: 32 sq.ft, Cylinders: (2), 20 1/2" Bore x 26" Stroke, Wheel Diameter: 6'-2", Tractive Effort: 22,595 lb, Nominal Axle Load: 17.5 tonnes, Engine Weight without tender: 69 tonnes, Maximum Train Load: 500 tonnes.
