#1620
Ceylon Government Railway A1 and A2
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka ·built by Kitson and Company· from 1913· 4-8-0 steam banking locomotives used by British Ceylon
what is it?
The Ceylon Government Railway A1 & A2 were two similar classes of 4-8-0 steam banking locomotives used by the national rail operator of British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). These locomotives were collectively a part of the BB (Big Bank) Class at first, before being split into two distinct classes during the reclassification of 1937. These locomotives were ordered for banking duties on the Kadugannawa incline to replace the then aging F Class locomotives.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 113 years ago, in 1913.
- Weighs about as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 18 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1913–1922
- status
- retired
- number built
- 4
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
- builders
- Kitson and Company
- operators
- Sri Lanka Railways
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,676 mm Indian broad gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-0
- length
- 18 m
- weight
- 77.8 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q135300981, Wikipedia: Ceylon Government Railway A1 and A2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.