USATC S100 Class


The United States Army Transportation Corps S100 Class is a "Switcher" type steam locomotive that was designed for switching duties in Europe and North Africa during World War II. After the war, they were used on railways in Austria, China, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Palestine, Mexico, the United States, and Yugoslavia.

Wartime development and use

The S100 is a side tank designed by Col. Howard G. Hill. In 1942, the USATC ordered 382 S100s from Davenport Locomotive Works of Iowa, H. K. Porter, Inc, of Pittsburgh and Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre. They were shipped to the British War Department in 1943. They were stored in Britain until 1944. After D-Day, most went overseas but some remained in store.

Construction

Use after the Second World War

After the Second World War, SNCF bought 77 S100s and designated them class 030TU. Jugoslovenske železnice bought many S100s and designated them class 62. In the 1950s JŽ assembled more examples bringing the number of class 62 to 129. The Hellenic State Railways in Greece acquired 20 S100s and designated them class Δα. Österreichische Bundesbahnen in Austria acquired 10 and designated them class 989. Ferrovie dello Stato in Italy acquired four and designated them class 831.
Several were sold into industrial use in the US, including to Georgia Power and Oklahoma Gas & Electric.
The Oranje-Nassau Mijnen, a coal mining company in The Netherlands acquired two S100s and numbered them ON-26 and ON-27 respectively. The ON-26 survived the scrapyard and was sold to the museum railway Stoomtrein Goes-Borsele.
Other S100s entered British industrial use with the National Coal Board, Longmoor Military Railway, Austin Motor Company and others.
China acquired about 20 S100s, designating them class XK2. In 1946, Egyptian State Railways bought eight and numbered them 1151–1158. The UK War Department loaned six to Palestine Railways. In 1946 PR bought two of these, both of which subsequently entered the stock of Israel Railways in 1948.
Iraqi State Railways bought five, designated them Class SA, and gave them fleet numbers 1211–1215. All five were Davenport-built examples. At least two were still in service in March 1967: 1211 at Basrah and 1214 as the station pilot at Baghdad West.

Southern Railway

The Southern Railway bought 15 S100s and designated them USA Class. They were purchased and adapted to replace the LSWR B4 class then working in Southampton Docks. SR staff nicknamed them "Yank Tanks".
By 1946 the SR needed either to renew or replace the ageing B4, D1 and E1 class tanks used in Southampton Docks, but Eastleigh Works was not in a position to do so in a timely manner or at an economic price. The replacement locomotives would need to have a short wheelbase to negotiate the tight curves found in the dockyard, but be able to haul heavy goods trains as well as full-length passenger trains in the harbour area.
The railway's Chief mechanical engineer, Oliver Bulleid therefore inspected the surplus War Department tank locomotives. The Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST locomotives stored at the Longmoor Military Railway proved to be unsuitable for dock work because of their wheelbase and inside cylinders; also many of the survivors were in poor condition. However, the S100s stored at Newbury Racecourse had a wheelbase, outside cylinders and had hardly been used. Those available for sale had been built by the Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania and H. K. Porter, Inc, of Pittsburgh.
Bulleid therefore took Vulcan-built locomotive WD4236 on approval in May 1946 and tested it thoroughly over the next few months. When it was found to be suitable, this locomotive and a further thirteen were purchased in 1947 for £2500 each. Six of these had been built by Porter and the remainder by Vulcan. However, when it was discovered that there were differences in dimensions between the locomotives from different builders the SR exchanged its Porter built locomotives for Vulcans, but could only do so with five examples. The railway therefore accepted one Porter locomotive at a reduced price and purchased another to provide spare parts. Thus, the thirteen further locomotives entered traffic between April and November 1947 as soon as they had been adapted.

Construction and adaptation

Following purchase, members of the class were fitted with steam heating, vacuum ejectors, sliding cab windows, additional lamp irons and new cylinder drain cocks. Further modifications became necessary once the locomotives started to enter traffic, including large roof-top ventilators, British-style regulators, three rectangular cab-front lookout windows, extended coal bunkers, separate steam and vacuum brake controls and wooden tip-up seats. This meant that it took until November 1947 for the entire class to be ready for work. Radio-telephones were later installed on the footplate to improve communication on the vast network of sidings at Southampton.
The class was allocated the British Railways power classification 3F following nationalisation in 1948.

Numbering

The original locomotive carried the War Department number 4326, and the subsequent purchase were numbered between 1264 and 1284 and between 1952 and 1973. Thirteen of the locomotives were re-numbered in a single sequence from 61 to 73 by SR but 4326 retained its War Department number. The locomotive used for spares was not numbered. After 1948 they were renumbered 30061–30074 by BR. Six examples were transferred to departmental use in 1962/3 and renumbered DS233–DS238.

Livery

During the Second World War they were painted USATC black with white numbering and lettering 'Transportation Dept.' on the tank sides. Prior to nationalisation, the locomotives were painted in Southern black livery with 'Southern' in "Sunshine Yellow" lettering. The lettering on the tank sides was changed to 'British Railways' during 1948 as a transitional measure. Finally, in the mid 1960s several of the class were painted in a malachite livery, with BR crests on the water tank sides and numbers on the cab sides.

Operational details

For fifteen years the entire class was used for shunting and carriage and van heating in Southampton Docks. They performed well and were popular with the footplatemen, but the limited bunker capacity often necessitated the provision of relief engines for some of the longer duties. Two examples were fitted with extended bunkers to address this problem in 1959 and 1960, but a more ambitious plan to extend the frames and build larger bunkers was abandoned in 1960 due to the imminent dieselization of the docks. They also often suffered from overheated axleboxes which was less of a problem when shunting but prevented them from being used on longer journeys.
A more serious issue was the condition of the steel fireboxes originally fitted to the class which rusted and fatigued quickly. This was partly due to their construction under conditions of austerity, and the hard water present in the docks. This came to a head in 1951 when several had to be laid aside until new fireboxes could be constructed. Thereafter there were no further problems.
The class was replaced from their shunting duties at Southampton from 1962 by British Rail Class 07 diesel-electric shunters, when the first member of the class was withdrawn, but the remainder were still in fairly good condition. The survivors were used for informal departmental purposes such as providing steam heating at Southampton or shunting at Eastleigh Motive Power Depot, before the withdrawal. 30072 became the shed pilot locomotive at Guildford Motive Power Depot in 1963, replacing a B4. Although malachite painted 30064 was substituted in 1964 it soon returned to Eastleigh, later having a short spell at Meldon Quarry near Okehampton when it was the last steam locomotive active on the Western Region. No. 30072 continued as pilot at Guildford until the end of steam on the Southern in July 1967, when it was the last to leave Guildford. During the mid 1960s six examples were officially transferred to ‘departmental’ duties and renumbered. These went to Redbridge Sleeper Depot, Meldon Quarry, Lancing Carriage Works, and Ashford wagon works.
Nine examples remained in service until March 1967 and five of these survived until the end of steam on the Southern Region four months later. Two of these engines, 30065/DS237 and 30070/DS238, were sold to Woodham Brothers in South Wales in March 1968. However, before they could make their journey, their bearings ran hot and were declared "unfit for travel" which led to the two tank engines being dumped at Tonbridge. Five months later, they were taken to Rolvenden when they were purchased for preservation.

Stock list

USATC No.SR No.BR No.Dept No.BuilderYearWithdrawnNotes
12646130061DS 233Porter 74201942March 1967
12776230062DS 234Vulcan 43751942March 1967
12846330063Vulcan 43821942May 1962Withdrawn due to collision damage
19596430064Vulcan 44321943July 1967Preserved
19686530065DS 237Vulcan 44411943August 1965Preserved
12796630066DS 235Vulcan 43771942August 1965
12826730067Vulcan 43801942July 1967
19716830068Vulcan 44441943June 1964
19526930069Vulcan 44251943July 1967
19607030070DS 238Vulcan 44331943October 1962Preserved
19667130071Vulcan 44391943July 1967
19737230072Vulcan 44461943July 1967Preserved
19747330073Vulcan 44371943December 1966
432674*30074DS 236Vulcan 44881943August 1965Never carried SR number