Manila Railway 100 class explained

Manila Railway 100 class
Powertype:Steam
Designer:Horace L. Higgins
Builder:North British Locomotive Company
Serialnumber:17410-414
Builddate:1906
Totalproduction:5
Whytetype:4-4-2
Uicclass:2'B1n2
Driverdiameter:60inches
Wheelbase:13.27m (43.54feet)
Engine Total:6.45m (21.16feet)
Drivers:3.66m (12.01feet)
Weightondrivers:47712lb
Locoweight:91392lb
Tenderweight:71680lb
Locotenderweight:163072lb
Fueltype:Coal
Watercap:3000gal
Firearea:16.5square feet
Boilertype:Fire-tube boiler
Boilerpressure:180psi
Fireboxarea:107square feet
Valvegear:Walschaerts
Tractiveeffort:15667lbf
Operator:Manila Railway
Manila Railroad
Numinclass:5
Fleetnumbers:101-105
Locale:Metro Manila
Central Luzon
Ilocos Region
Deliverydate:1906
Firstrundate:1909
Lastrundate:1949
Scrapdate: 1950
Preservedunits:0
Disposition:All scrapped
Notes:References:[1] [2]

The Manila Railway 100 class[2] of 1906 was a class of five 4-4-2 Atlantic type steam locomotives built by the North British Locomotive Company for the Manila Railway Company, a predecessor of the Philippine National Railways. They were the flagship locomotives of the Manila Railway from the late 1900s to the 1910s and were the first class of tender locomotives to operate in the Philippines. They hauled the Baguio Special, an express service between Manila and Baguio via Damortis station in Rosario, La Union.[3]

The locomotives were relegated to freight services in the 1920s, hauling sugarcane trains in Central Luzon until they were withdrawn and scrapped after 1948.[4]

Background

In the early years of its operation, Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan (now the North Main Line) of the Manila Railway Company was solely operated by tank locomotives that used wood fuel instead of coal. Horace L. Higgins, a British engineer who was the head of the Manila Railway at the time, ordered the modernization of its entire fleet. This would include the acquisition of bigger locomotives of the NaNt range and the purchase of heavier tracks.[5]

During this period, Neilson and Company and Dübs and Company, manufacturers of the preceding Dagupan class locomotives, amalgamated with Sharp, Stewart and Company to form the North British Locomotive Company.[6] The newly formed company was then approached by the Manila Railway to build what would become the 100 class of locomotives, as well as a series of tank locomotives of the 70 class.[7]

Design

Having entered service in 1906, the 100 class was the first tender locomotive class in the Philippines. They utilised the 4-4-2 Atlantic wheel arrangement, which was popular among the railways in Britain through the first decade of the twentieth century, especially for express passenger train service.

They were built with the intention of meeting the expectations of Higgins, especially for their weight.[5] Weighing 41t for the locomotive alone, they were 28 percent heavier than their predecessors, which weighed 32t. Along with their four-axle tender, they had a total weight of 73t.[1]

One of the most notable features of these locomotives was the use of a tender cab. This feature would later influence the design of the 2-8-0 Consolidation type 130 class of 1912[8] and the first batch of the 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler type Manila Railroad 45 class of 1919.[9] Another notable feature was the Americanized tender design, which had bogies instead of three rigid axles as used in most British tender locomotives of that era.

Service

Upon their introduction, the 100 class locomotives were promoted as the flagship of the Manila Railway, and, as later stated by The Locomotive Magazine, had a brief heyday serving as the premier express passenger locomotives.[1] They appeared on various advertisements for the Baguio Special, a mixed train-bus service that operated between Manila and Baguio via Damortis station in Rosario, La Union. This particular service was considered as the company's premier offering on the North Main Line, transporting tourists between the two cities in nine hours with an average speed of 30km/h.[10] The class was also featured on the header of the Manila Railway's bond documents.

Retirement

By 1916, the Insular Government acquired the Manila Railway and merged it with the New Jersey-based Manila Railroad Company. Henry Bayard McCoy, a United States Army colonel[11] and a member of the Republican National Committee for the Philippines,[12] replaced Higgins as the general manager.

Under the new administration, the company began the acquisition of more powerful locomotives from the United States. These newer locomotives began entering service by 1919 and largely replaced the ageing British locomotives in mainline service for the next few decades.[13] The Baguio Special[14] and the freshly inaugurated Bicol Express between Manila and Quezon province were then hauled by the newly acquired 45 class.[15] Since 1922, the 100 and 120 classes were relegated to pull sugarcane trains.[4]

The 100 class was last recorded in 1947 when F. Unson, the superintendent of the Manila Railroad Mechanical Department at the time, reported that at least one class member was still operational.[16]

In 1949, ten Manila Railroad 100 class locomotives with a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, built by the Vulcan Iron Works of Pennsylvania, were put into service to replace seven of the 170 class locomotives, also with a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, that were destroyed during World War II. These locomotives ran successfully on both passenger and freight services on the North Main Line, rendering the original 100 class Atlantics obsolete and prompting their retirement.[17] Sometime after, the Manila Railroad ordered the surviving units to be scrapped.

References

  1. Web site: Steve . Llanso . Manila Railroad 4-4-2 Locomotives in [the] Philippines ]. SteamLocomotive.com . Sweat House Media . January 18, 2021.
  2. New Locomotives, Manila Railway . The Locomotive Magazine . XIV . May 15, 1909.
  3. Baguio Special at Manila Station ca 1911 . Far Eastern Review . 1912 . January 14, 2021.
  4. Web site: Manila RR Sugar Cane train - 1922 . . December 31, 1922 . January 20, 2021.
  5. Gary . Sartre . The Cagayan Valley Railway Extension Project . Japan Railway & Transport Review . 22 . East Japan Railway Culture Foundation.
  6. North British Locomotive Co. Grace's Guide to British Industrial Heritage.
  7. Web site: Steve . Llanso . Manila Railroad 0-6-2 Locomotives in [the] Philippines ]. SteamLocomotive.com . Sweat House Media . January 20, 2021.
  8. Luis . Moreno Jerez . The Nationalization of the Philippine Railroads . The Philippine Review . 259 . 1917 . January 19, 2021.
  9. Web site: Manila RR 4-6-0 (Porter) Locomotive - 1922 . . 19 November 2015 . January 19, 2021.
  10. Ad for the Manila Railroad Co. - 1912 . Far Eastern Review . September 1912 . January 19, 2021.
  11. Web site: USN 900555 Colonel Henry Bayard McCoy Memorial . Naval History and Heritage Command . . January 30, 2021.
  12. Web site: McCoy . . June 1, 1916 . January 30, 2021.
  13. Book: Wright, Roy . 1922 . Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice, Sixth Edition . Simmons-Boardman . New York City.
  14. Web site: Manila Railroad Co. service from Manila to Baguio . . 18 November 2015 . January 20, 2021.
  15. Web site: Bicol Express leaving Paco Station, Manila ca 1920 . . 18 November 2015 . January 20, 2021.
  16. F. . Unson . Manila Railroad Co. Mech. Dept. Diagrams Locos, Coaches, Motor Cars . Outlines and Particulars . Manila Railroad Company Mechanical Department . 1947.
  17. Sergio . Bayan . 1949 Report of the General Manager . Reports of the General Manager, Manila Railroad Company . 31 . 1949.