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Today I present you the Belgian type 12






Like several European and American rail companies, the Belgian State Railways in the 1930s sought to increase the speed of their long-distance trains, especially on the important link between the capital, Brussels, and the Ostend Ferry Terminal. Although the new powerful Pacific Series 1 were delivered from 1935, but with 120 km / h top speed they were not enough for the desired acceleration. The French PLM and the American Milwaukee Road had successfully acquired light trains with streamlined steam locomotives of the "Atlantic" type. [1] Based on these models, the SNCB / NMBS and Cockerill, under the direction of their chief engineer Raoul Notesse, developed an Atlantic-style powerline steam locomotive. It was the last locomotive series with this wheel alignment, at the same time they were the largest and heaviest ever built European Atlantic locomotives.

The locomotives were delivered by Cockerill in 1939 and came after a short trial from May 15, 1939 in the scheduled service. In one of the test drives the locomotive 1202 had reached a top speed of 165 km / h. In the summer of 1939, the locomotives of the series covered 12 trains between Brussels and Ostende, including with the two pairs of trains 401/402 and 405/404 the fastest at this time steam-hauled trains in the world. The two pairs of trains covered the 114.3-kilometer route between Brussels-South Station and Oostende Station in just one hour, stopping in Bruges in exactly one hour. Between Brussels and Bruges, the trains even reached a cruising speed of 120.46 km / h, at that time world record and to date European record for steam-drawn trains between two stations. This was helped by the good acceleration of row 12, which left behind other fast steam trains such as the Henschel-Wegmann train of the German Reichsbahn between Berlin and Dresden. However, the Milwaukee Road soon subsided and already from July 1939 drove the Morning Hiawatha, who had previously held the world record, between the stations Sparta and Portage a bit faster and reached 121.95 km / h scheduled cruising speed.

The outbreak of the Second World War led to a significant reduction in train traffic in what was initially neutral Belgium. Already in the winter timetable 1939/40 only a fast train pair left for Ostend. From March 1940, the series 12 also led a fast train pair between Brussels and Liege. At the beginning of the western campaign, the planned express train service had to be stopped altogether. During the German occupation of Belgium, speeding was not possible, the locomotives were used in the normal express train service from Brussels.


Locomotive 12.004 in front of a special train in October 1986 in Namur

Locomotive 12.004 in the Train World, Brussels
After the war, the SNCB / NMBS began swiftly with the electrification of its main lines. From 1955, the contact wire between Ostend and Brussels was complete and the use of steam locomotives was dispensable. The series 12 was used before fast trains on the routes from Brussels to Lille, Tournai and Mons. Their maximum speed of 140 km / h was also exploited on the route to Lille, the travel speeds of the prewar period were not reached again. In 1962, the locomotives dropped out of service and were retired.

The locomotive 12.004 remained as the only copy. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Belgian railways in 1985, it was operationally reconditioned and used for several years before special trains. After serious damage, it was not worked up and is now in the collection of the Belgian railway museum Train World at Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek station.

technology
The row 12 has a bar frame and inner cylinder with external control. This construction, which was unusual for the construction period, was supposed to reduce the twitching of two-cylinder engines. While the first four locomotives received a conventional Walschaerts control, the 1205 got a Dabeg valve control and the 1206 a Caprotti valve control.

The boiler was of conventional design, the grate designed for coal firing. To increase the steam generation, the firebox also received three water pipes. The streamlining was based on French models. The access to the smoke chamber was ensured by centrally opening rounded front parts. The wind deflectors continued in the form of panels to the cab, fireplace and dome were covered by a continuous paneling. In contrast to most German streamline locomotives, the chassis and the drive of row 12 were easily accessible through wide cut-outs in front of the driving wheels and the cylinders.