| Thuile | |
|---|---|
| Thuile locomotive at Chartres, 1900 | |
| Power type | Steam |
| Designer | Thuile |
| Builder | Schneider |
| Build date | 1899 |
| Configuration | 4-4-6 |
| Gauge | 4ft 8½in (1435mm) |
| Leading wheel diameter |
1.06 metres (3 ft 6 in) |
| Driver diameter | 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) |
| Trailing wheel diameter |
1.06 metres (3 ft 6 in) |
| Wheelbase | 12.25 metres (40 ft 2 in) |
| Length | 24.80 metres (81 ft 4 in) (locomotive & tender) |
| Locomotive weight | 80.60 tonnes (79.33 long tons) |
| Boiler pressure | 15 kg/cm2 (213 lb/in2) |
| Firegrate area | 4.68 square metres (50.4 sq ft) |
| Heating surface: Total |
297.70 square metres (3,204.4 sq ft) |
| Cylinders | 2 |
| Cylinder size | 510 x 700mm (20 x 27½ in) |
| Top speed | 117 kilometres per hour (73 mph) |
| Career | Chemin de Fer de l'Etat |
| Scrapped | 1904 (locomotive), post 1946 (tender) |
The Thuile locomotive was a steam locomotive designed by Monsieur Thiule, of Alexandria, Egypt, and built in 1899.
Thiule proposed a 6-4-8 or 6-4-6 locomotive with 3-metre-diameter (9 ft 10 in) driving wheels, but this was not built.[1]
The design was taken up by Schneider, of Le Creusot, who built a 4-4-6 with 2.5-metre-diameter (8 ft 2 in) driving wheels, and a forward cab for the driver. The two-cylinder locomotive had Walschaerts valve gear and a double-lobed boiler of nickel-steel. The locomotive was exhibited at the International Exposition in Paris in 1900, and the trials were undertaken on the Chemin de Fer de l'Etat line between Chartres and Thouars. A speed of 117 kilometres per hour (73 mph) was attained hauling a load of 186 tonnes (183 long tons).[1]
The trials ended when Thiule was killed in June 1900 - apparently by leaning too far out of the locomotive and being in collision with a lineside pole.[2] The locomotive was returned to Schneider. It was scrapped in 1904. The tender survived until at least 1946, when it was noted at Saint Pierre-des-Corps.[1]