A Crampton locomotive is a type of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...

. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomotiv ...

. Notable features were a low

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

and large driving wheels. The crux of the Crampton patent was that the single driving axle was placed behind the firebox, so that the driving wheels could be very large. This helped to give this design a low centre of gravity, so that it did not require a very

broad-gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

track to travel safely at high speeds. Its wheel arrangement was usually or .

Design variations

Because the single driving axle was behind the firebox, Crampton locomotives usually had outside cylinders. However, some inside cylinder versions were built using indirect drive, then known as a ''jackshaft''. The inside cylinders drove a

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

located in front of the firebox and the crankshaft was connected to the driving wheels by outside rods. Some long-wheelbase s were also built using this crankshaft system. The boiler feed-pump was often driven from the crankshaft as well because many Cramptons were built before the

injector An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pressure. It is a fluid-dynamic ...

was invented. Another peculiarity on some Crampton locomotives was the use of a boiler of oval cross-section, to lower the centre of gravity. It would nowadays be regarded as bad engineering practice because the internal pressure would tend to push the boiler into a circular cross-section and increase the risk of metal fatigue.

Usage

France Paris Champs Elysees Locomotive Crampton 80 01

Crampton locomotives were used by some British railways and speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) were achieved on the

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lond ...

. They were more popular in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the US. In France the expression ''"prendre la Crampton"'' meant to catch an express, and in the

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...

of the

Saint Cyr military academy In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, footplate staff were known as "officiers de Crampton" (and this as late as 1971). One of the French examples has been preserved in the '' Cité du Train'' (the French Railway Museum) at

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

and is still in working order. This is number 80 of the ''

Chemin de Fer de l'Est The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early French railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by the merger of ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Strasbourg'', ope ...

'', the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

line, which is named ''"Le Continent"''.

Locomotive list

Approximate numbers of Crampton-type locomotives built in Europe were: * Great Britain 51 * France 127 * Germany 135

Manufactured in Great Britain

Built by: Tulk and Ley, all of wheel arrangement: Notes: ----
Built by:

Robert Stephenson and Company built a number of Crampton type locomotives for the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. These were all of wheel arrangement with inside cylinders and indirect drive. The inside cylinders drove a

located in front of the firebox and the crankshaft was coupled to the driving wheels by outside rods. Great Exhibition, No 136 Folkstone by HF Talbot, 1851

Great Exhibition, No 136 Folkstone by HF Talbot, 1851

Notes: ----
Built by: Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy, all except ''Liverpool'' which was . Notes: ----
Built by:

E. B. Wilson and Company E. B. Wilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company at the Railway Foundry in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Origins Charles Todd was one of the founders of Todd, Kitson & Laird, but left early in the company's history a ...

Notes: ----
Built by:

R and W Hawthorn R and W Hawthorn Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, from 1817 until 1885. Locomotive building Robert Hawthorn first began business at Forth Bank Works in 1817, building marine and stationary steam engines. In 1820, ...

Notes: ----
Built by: various builders Notes:

Manufactured in France

Notes:

Manufactured in Germany

Notes:

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

The Cité du Train museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crampton Locomotive Steam locomotive types