War Locomotives
During World War II, several Garratt designs were built to meet the wartime needs of narrow-gauge railways in Africa, Asia and Australia.
Six 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratts were built for the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Sierra Leone Government Railway in 1942, to a design first supplied to that railway in 1926. Five of the older Garratts were converted to a 2-8-0+0-8-2 wheel arrangement to increase their tractive effort.
Seventy Garratts were constructed by Beyer, Peacock for the War Department, to three standard designs. A 2-8-2+2-8-2 based on the South African Railways GE class was constructed on 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge for West Africa and Rhodesia, while a heavier class of 4-8-2+2-8-4 was constructed for East African Railways. A lighter metre-gauge 4-8-2+2-8-4 was constructed for India and Burma. This design was particularly successful, and was the basis for several post-war classes.
The Australian Standard Garratt (ASG) was constructed for Australian 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge railways. It was a 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotive, designed and constructed in Australia in 1943, during the crisis days of World War II immediately following the bombing of Darwin in 1942. The class had several design problems, and encountered resistance from unions, and most were withdrawn at the end of the war.
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