Le Belge (locomotive)

Le Belge was a 2-2-2 Patentee type steam locomotive with tender, built in 1835 by the company founded by John Cockerill in Seraing, Belgium. It was the first steam railway locomotive built in Belgium, and was built under license to a design by Robert Stephenson & Co.

Le Belge
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder John Cockerill & Cie. Build date 1835
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC 1A1 Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) Driver dia. 1.52 m (60 in)[1] Loco weight 11,560 kg (25,490 lb) (in running order)[2] Boiler pressure 4 kg/cm²[2] Heating surface 33.6 m^2 (362 sq ft)[2]  • Firebox 0.86 m^2 (9.3 sq ft)[2] Cylinders 2[2] Cylinder size 280 mm (11 in) (diameter) x 458 mm (18.0 in) (stroke)[2]
Performance figures Maximum speed 60 km/h (37 mph)[1] Power output 40 hp (30 kW)[1] (or 50hp[2])

Design and operation

The locomotive was built for the first main line on the European mainland, the Brussels-Mechelen line.[2]

Replicas

A replica locomotive was built at the workshops of Boissellerie Cognaut for the 150th anniversary in 1980 of the formation of Belgium. Another replica was built in 1885 and is now displayed at Train World, the museum of the National Railways of Belgium, in Schaerbeek, Brussels.

See also

• Adler (locomotive)

References

1. "S.A. Cockerill de Seraing". users.skynet.be (in French).
2. "La Construction des LOCOMOTIVES à VAPEUR en Belgique". www.tassignon.be (in French).

Further information

• U. Lamaille; F. Legein. "La Locomotive, Description raisonnée de ses organes" (in French).

External links

• "1835. " Le Belge " des ateliers Cockerill". users.skynet.be. from an unfinished album of lithographs by Jacobs and Hergé.