KUR EC5 class

The KUR EC5 class was a class of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt-type articulated steam locomotives built during the latter stages of World War II by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Gorton, Manchester, England, for the War Department of the United Kingdom. The two members of the class entered service on the Kenya-Uganda Railway (KUR) in 1945. They were part of a batch of 20 locomotives, the rest of which were sent to either India or Burma.[1]

One of the two war department locomotives
  • Kenya-Uganda Railway EC5 class
  • Tanganyika Railway GB class
  • East African Railways 55 class
5505 at the Nairobi Railway Museum, 2012
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Build date1945
Total produced
  • KUR EC5 class: 2
  • TR GB class: 4
  • EAR 55 class: 2+4+5
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-8-2+2-8-4 (Garratt)
 • UIC(2′D1′)(1′D2′) h4
Gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)

The following year, 1946, four locomotives from that batch were acquired by the Tanganyika Railway (TR) from Burma. They entered service on the TR as the TR GB class.[1]

In 1949, upon the merger of the KUR and the TR to form the East African Railways (EAR), the EC5 and GB classes were combined as the EAR 55 class. In 1952, the EAR acquired five more of the War Department batch of 20 from Burma, where they had been Burma Railways class GD; these five locomotives were then added to the EAR 55 class, bringing the total number of that class to 11 units.[1]

Class list

The builders and fleet numbers of each member of the EAR 55 class were as follows:[2][3]

Builders
number		 WD
number		 KUR
number		 BAR
number		 WD (India)
number		 BR
number		 TR
number		 EAR
number		 Notes
7158 74242 120 – – – – 5501
7159 74243 121 – – – – 5502
7150 74234 – 690 422 851 750 5503
7151 74235 – 691 423 852 751 5504
7157 74241 – 697 – 853 752 5505 Preserved at Nairobi Railway Museum.
7146 74230 – 686 – 854 753 5506
7155 74231 – 687 – 855/865 – 5507
7154 74232 – 688 – 856/866 – 5508
7149 74233 – 689 – 857/867 – 5509
71?? 74238 – 694 – 858/868 – 5510
7148 74239 – 695 – 859/869 – 5511

See also

References

Notes
  1. Ramaer 1974, p. 64.
  2. Ramaer 1974, pp. 70, 83.
  3. Durrant 1981, pp. 189, 196.

Bibliography
  • Durrant, A E (1981). Garratt Locomotives of the World (rev. and enl. ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon, UK; North Pomfret, Vt, USA: David & Charles. ISBN 0715376411.
  • Durrant, A E; Lewis, C P; Jorgensen, A A (1981). Steam in Africa. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0600349462.
  • Patience, Kevin (1976). Steam in East Africa: a pictorial history of the railways in East Africa, 1893-1976. Nairobi: Heinemann Educational Books (E.A.) Ltd. OCLC 3781370.
  • Ramaer, Roel (1974). Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways. David & Charles Locomotive Studies. Newton Abbot, Devon, UK; North Pomfret, Vt, USA: David & Charles. ISBN 0715364375.
  • Ramaer, Roel (2009). Gari la Moshi: Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways. Malmö, Sweden: Stenvalls. ISBN 9789172661721.

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