Le Belge (locomotive)

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4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gaugeDriver dia.1,524 mm (60.0 in)^[1]Loco weight11,560 kg (25,490 lb) (in running order)^[2]Boiler pressure4 kg/cm² (390 kPa; 57 psi)^[2]Heating surface: • Firebox0.86 m² (9.3 sq ft)^[2] • Total surface33.6 m² (362 sq ft)^[2]Cylinders2^[2]Cylinder size280 mm (11.02 in) (bore) x
458 mm (18.03 in) (stroke)^[2]

Performance figures
Maximum speed	60 km/h (37 mph)^[1]
Power output	40 hp (30 kW)^[1] or 50 hp or 37 kW ^[2])

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.

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.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "S.A. Cockerill de Seraing". users.skynet.be (in French).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "La Construction des LOCOMOTIVES à VAPEUR en Belgique". www.tassignon.be (in French).