Rhodesian Railway
1926 · Class 15A Garratt · Work 36 of 1,871
A Garratt articulated locomotive on an African savannah line: it looks like three separate vehicles coupled in a row, a squat water tank on wheels at the front, a squat coal bunker on wheels at the rear, and between them the boiler with cab hung in mid-air on a bridge frame that rests on the two end vehicles, the boiler unit itself having no wheels of its own, a gap visible under the boiler, the two end vehicles each carrying their own cylinders and driving wheels, running on narrow gauge track past flat-topped acacia trees and open grassland.
- What it was used for
- Freight and passenger work in Rhodesia on light track and tight curves.
- What was new
- The Garratt type divides boiler and engine units across three frames: the boiler hangs between two power bogies. Light track can then carry a large machine, because the weight is spread over more axles.