LTM 51
Locomotive 51 of the Limburgsche Tramweg Maatschappij was a Garratt locomotive. It was the only Garratt type locomotive in the Netherlands. The locomotive was designed for operation on the line Maastricht - Vaals, which required a locomotive with at least 5 coupled axles. A conventional locomotive of this size would experience too much rolling resistance in the many curves on this line, which were typical tramway curves of small radius.
History
It was built by Henschel with builder number 22063 in 1931. It entered service in the same year. Ir. D. Verhoop, in collaboration with Hanomag, is the likely designer of the locomotive. Builder number 10758 was reserved by Hanomag. The locomotive was completed after the take-over of Hanomag by Henschel. After the Maastricht-Vaals line was closed the locomotive was sold to Dotremont in Maastricht in 1938. Technisch Bureau Groen bought the machine in 1940, and sold the machine to a client in Germany in 1941.Design considerations
A normal locomotive would cause considerable wear on the line. A Garratt type locomotive, flexible by its articulated design, offered several further advantages: accommodation for a short and wide boiler, low center of gravity, and better accessibility for maintenance.Technology
In exception to the general type, this Garratt locomotive had internal cylinders, and is more in line with other tramway locomotives in The Netherlands. The water storage was located on the bogies. The water tanks were located below the running boards, to ensure pressure was applied to all axles even when running empty. Additionally, this allowed for unobstructed views from the cabin. The valve gear was of the Verhoop system. The two traction bogies, which were in fact locomotives without a boiler and cabin, shared - apart from one extra axle - their basic design and layout with B locomotives LTM 21-35. Pistons, valves and rods were identical.Coal storage was located at the rear of the cabin in two coal storage bins. In between these storage bins there were a door and a passage way that allowed easy access to the pivot point.