The Belgian State Railways Type 1 was a class of steam locomotives for passenger service, introduced in 1864.
The class was built by various Belgian manufacturers, with the exception of 9 members built in 1867 by Schneider-Creusot in France.
The locomotives were built by various manufacturers from 1864 to 1883. A Belpaire firebox was used and the boiler consisted of three boiler shells. The machines had an outside frame with the cylinders and the Stephenson valve gear located inside the frame.
The design evolved over the years of construction. While first series in 1864 was produced without cabs, they were added in the following series in 1865âÂÂ1866. On the earlier series the suspension had simple balancing levers between the driving wheels. The engines built by Couillet and Schneider in 1867âÂÂ1868 used a doorbell mechanism instead of the balancing lever to equalize the suspension forces between the two driving axles and on the last series in 1882 balancing levers between the leading axle and the first driver were used, combined with larger leaf springs on the rear driving axle.
Westinghouse brakes were fitted starting in 1878. The locomotives also received new boilers and new cabs on major overhauls beginning with 1889.
From 1864 until 1890 the Type 1 was used on the main passenger trains on the major lines of the network, except for the line to Luxembourg. With the advent of the Type 12 in 1888 the machines were deployed to secondary lines. The last locomotives were withdrawn from service in 1921âÂÂ1926.