FS Class 690 II

The Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS; Italian State Railways) Class 690 (Italian: Gruppo 690) was a 4-6-2 'Pacific' steam locomotive for express trains.

For the first use (1905–1907) of FS Class 690, see FS Class 670.

FS Class 690
FS locomotive 69001 (later 690.001)
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Ernesto Breda (20), Officine Meccaniche (3), Gio. Ansaldo & C. (10) Build date 1911–1914 Total produced 33
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC 2′C1′ h4 Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge Leading dia. 1,090 mm (42.91 in) Driver dia. 2,030 mm (79.92 in) Trailing dia. 1,360 mm (53.54 in) Length 13,430 mm (44 ft ^3⁄4 in) Axle load 17.1 tonnes (16.8 long tons; 18.8 short tons) Loco weight 87.2 tonnes (85.8 long tons; 96.1 short tons) Tender weight 49.6 tonnes (48.8 long tons; 54.7 short tons) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) Water cap 22,000 litres (4,800 imp gal; 5,800 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 3.5 m^2 (38 sq ft) Boiler pressure 12 kg/cm^2 (1,180 kPa; 171 psi) Heating surface 210 m^2 (2,300 sq ft) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 67 m^2 (720 sq ft) Cylinders Four, simple Cylinder size 450 mm × 680 mm (17.72 in × 26.77 in) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Maximum speed 130 km/h (81 mph) Power output 1,400 CV (1,030 kW; 1,380 hp) Tractive effort 12,400 kgf (122 kN; 27,300 lbf)

Design and construction

The Class 690 was designed just as the superheater technology was becoming available, allowing the FS to discard what had been a widespread feature on many Italian locomotives, the compound engine, deeming the advantages of the more simple single-expansion engine coupled with superheated steam to be superior.[1]

The English author Peter Michael Kalla-Bishop claims that, just before the production run, a prototype (numbered FS 6901) was built with a number of different features, but was so unsuccessful that it was withdrawn and quietly scrapped after just a few months. However, there is no reference for this claim, which is not repeated in any other document.[2]

The first nine locomotives, all with right-hand drive, were built in 1911 by Ernesto Breda (6) and the Officine Meccaniche (3); the following twenty-four, built in 1914 by Breda (14) and Gio. Ansaldo & C. (10) had left-hand drive. All of them had been designed for an axle load of 18 tons, but since this value was too high for even the current mainline railways, they all entered service with the load on the driving wheels lightened to 17.1 tons. They were the first Italian four-cylinder simple-expansion locomotives that had the feature of having the adjacent cylinders paired together and both served by a single piston valve through crossed ports (a feature shared by the more numerous Class 685). The firebox had to be placed between the rearmost driving wheels and was therefore of trapezoidal shape and relatively small; this feature would prove to be the locomotive's weakness, as it caused poor steaming and was expensive to maintain.[3][2][4]

Operations

Limited by their high axle load to the Milan-Venice and Milan-Bologna-Florence mainlines, the Class 690 did not prove to be satisfactory, as its poor steaming qualities greatly hampered the performance. While fast (being the first Italian locomotive certified for a mainline top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph) and powerful in absolute terms, relatively speaking its performance was modest – 1400 CV at 90 km/h (1,030 kW; 1,380 hp at 56 mph), while the Class 685 (which was smaller and had a shorter boiler) had a power of 1250 CV at 75 km/h (920 kW; 1,230 hp at 47 mph).[3][5]

As a result, by the end of the 1920s a new three-cylinders Pacific locomotive (to be classified as Class 695) was designed; however, although more powerful than the Class 690, it would have required considerable strengthening of bridges and other infrastructures of the railways it was supposed to work on, because of an axle load of 21 tons. Therefore, a less ambitious plan to rebuild the Class 690 by replacing the boiler and firebox with those of the FS Class 746 was approved. From 1928 to 1934 all thirty-three locomotives were rebuilt into the new Class 691.[6][7]

References

1. Cornolò 2014, p. 334.
2. Kalla-Bishop 1986, p. 61.
3. Cornolò 2014, pp. 335–336.
4. Pedrazzini 1976, pp. 7–8.
5. Pedrazzini 1976, p. 9.
6. Cornolò 2014, p. 340–341.
7. Pedrazzini 1976, pp. 11–12.

• Cornolò, Giovanni (July 2014). "Locomotive a vapore". TuttoTreno (3).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Kalla-Bishop, P. M. (1986). Italian state railways steam locomotives : together with low-voltage direct current and three-phase motive power. Abingdon: Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0905878035.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Pedrazzini, Claudio (1976). Pacific F.S. Parma: Ermanno Albertelli.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)