Indian locomotive class HG

The Indian locomotive class HG, short for Heavy Goods, is a 2-8-0 steam locomotive built for goods traffic and introduced in 1907. It was one of seven standard locomotive designs drawn up by the Engineering Standards Committee, later the British Engineering Standards Association, for the railways of British India. The goods design appeared in the committee's 1907 report beside two mail engines and a tank engine, with a choice of three tenders carrying 3000, 4000 or 4500 gallons of water. Two driving wheel variants were planned, but the larger-wheeled one was never built and was dropped from the 1910 report. From 1912 locomotives fitted new with Schmidt superheaters were classed HGS, and those retrofitted later were classed HGC. The engines used two outside cylinders, a Belpaire firebox and Walschaerts valve gear. After partition in 1947, 133 of them passed to Pakistan Railways and the rest to Indian Railways, which still listed 168 in June 1977. Pakistan kept three HGS engines for the Khyber Pass Railway tourist trains until 2006, and a few survive in preservation.