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In many boiler designs, the top of the boiler is cylindrical above the firebox, matching the contour of the rest of the boiler and naturally resisting boiler pressure more easily. In the
Belpaire design, the outer upper boiler wall sheets are roughly parallel with the flat upper firebox sheets giving
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The flat firebox top would make supporting it against pressure more difficult (e.g. by means of girders, or stays) compared to a round-top. However, the use of a similarly shaped square outer boiler shell allows simpler perpendicular stays to be used between the shells. The
Belpaire outer firebox is,
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in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and square in cross-section, indicated by the longitudinal ridges on the top sides. However, it is the similar square cross-section inner firebox which provides the main advantages
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In steam boilers, the firebox is encased in a water jacket on five sides, (front, back, left, right and top) to ensure maximum heat transfer to the water. Stays are used to support the surfaces against the high pressure between the outside wall and the interior firebox wall, and partially to conduct
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Due to the increased expense involved in manufacturing this boiler shell, just two major US railroads adopted the
Belpaire firebox, the Pennsylvania and the Great Northern. In Britain most locomotives employed the design after the 1920s, except notably those of the
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Locomotive Works for two passenger engines, afterwards numbered 94 and 95, and five freight engines, afterwards numbered, 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60. That marked the beginning of the use of the
Belpaire-type locomotive boiler in the United States. The
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Diagramatic cross section of the
Belpaire fire box showing the increased area for evaporation and larger volume of water contained in the square section above the box. The hatched circles show the outline of the barrel to which the firebox was
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to collect steam. Churchward also improved the
Belpaire design, maximising the flow of water in a given size of boiler by tapering the firebox and boiler barrel outwards to the area of highest steam production at the front of the firebox.
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used
Belpaire fireboxes on nearly all of its steam locomotives. The distinctive square shape of the boiler cladding at the firebox end of locomotives practically became a "Pennsy" trademark, as otherwise only the
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had flat-topped inner fireboxes with round-topped outer shells and with as good a thermal performance as the
Belpaire type, without suffering major problems with staying between shells.
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Having obtained knowledge of a special form of locomotive boiler (the
Belpaire), Sanderson wrote to an old acquaintance from his college days who was working at the
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102:(foaming), involving water getting into the cylinders, compared with the narrowing upper space of a classic cylindrical boiler. This allowed
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William D. Middleton; Rick Morgan; Roberta L. Diehl. 2007. Encyclopedia of North
American Railroads. Indiana University Press. p. 1009.
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In the USA, the Belpaire firebox was introduced in about 1882 or 83 by R. P. C. Sanderson, who at the time was working for the
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locomotive factory at Cassel. He sent Sanderson a tracing of Henschel's latest Belpaire boiler. When shown the design,
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at the top of the firebox where the heat is greatest, improving heat transfer and steam production, compared with a
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it a squarer shape. The advantage was a greater surface area for evaporation, and less susceptibility to
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A Round-topped firebox cross section shown for comparison. Note the angling of the stays.
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locomotive Earl Bathurst. The Belpaire firebox is the square shape in front of the cab.
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nevertheless, more complicated and expensive to manufacture than a round-top version.
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HAPS AND MISHAPS: The Autobiography of R. P. C. Sanderson, 1940, Philadelphia
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Belpaire firebox and boiler, in storage. A second firebox can be seen behind.
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Despite these claimed advantages, other locomotive boilers such as the
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The shape of the Belpaire firebox also allows easier placement of the
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as an American citizen) who had attained his engineering degree from
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steam locomotive #1500, showing the square Belpaire firebox.
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used Belpaire fireboxes in significant numbers in the USA.
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Saunders, Lawrence; Blundstone, S. R. (April 1924).
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356:By American Railway Master Mechanics' Association.
122:, because they are at right angles to the sheets.
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258:Belpaire firebox and boiler illustrated in
362:Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice
171:, Superintendent of Motive Power for the
16:Type of firebox used on steam locomotives
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106:, the chief mechanical engineer of the
40:Pacific-type flat-topped inner firebox
65:of this design i.e. it has a greater
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136:(essentially a subsidiary of the
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94:heat into the boiler interior.
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276:round top boiler and firebox
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407:Steam locomotive fireboxes
212:Victorian Railways J class
173:Shenandoah Valley Railroad
134:Shenandoah Valley Railroad
311:"The Belpaire Firebox"
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358:"Dictionary of Terms"
278:shown for comparison.
186:Pennsylvania Railroad
142:E. W. Clark & Co.
138:Pennsylvania Railroad
110:, to dispense with a
108:Great Western Railway
56:. It was invented by
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315:The Railway Engineer
144:). Sanderson was an
127:LNER Engine Pacifics
260:Scientific American
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344:978-0-253-02799-3
169:Charles Blackwell
54:steam locomotives
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228:GWR Castle Class
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46:Belpaire firebox
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290:Wootten firebox
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104:G.J. Churchward
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71:round-top shape
58:Alfred Belpaire
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48:is a type of
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375:. Retrieved
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323:. Retrieved
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120:boiler stays
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67:surface area
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150:naturalized
89:Description
401:Categories
377:2014-08-22
325:2014-08-22
296:References
146:Englishman
112:steam dome
242:American
160:in 1875.
24:attached.
284:See also
262:in 1897.
226:British
165:Henschel
52:used on
197:Gallery
177:Baldwin
158:Germany
148:(later
100:priming
62:Belgium
50:firebox
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154:Cassel
321:: 237
181:Grant
366:ISBN
340:ISBN
179:and
83:LNER
44:The
156:in
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274:A
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