VR Class Vk3

The VR Class Vk3 was originally called the Finnish Steam Locomotive Class I3. The Finnish State Railways ordered three similar classes of locomotives; The American-built Baldwin Class I1s, and the Class I2s and Class I3s, built at Tampella. All were tank locomotives, which did not have to be turned at terminal stations and could run in both directions at the same speed.

VR Class Vk3 Finnish Steam Locomotive Class I3
Class Vk3 steam locomotive (no. 490) at Kauklahti railway station in Espoo in the 1920s.
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Tampella Tampereen Pellava- ja Rautateollisuus Oy Serial number 456, 487–492 Build date 1906–1909 Total produced 7
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-6-4T Gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) Length 11.33 m (37 ft 2 in) Loco weight 53.5 t (52.7 long tons; 59.0 short tons) Fuel type coal or wood Fuel capacity Coal: 2.3 m3 (81.2 cu ft) Wood: 4.5 m3 (158.9 cu ft) Water cap. 5.5 m3 (194.2 cu ft) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 1.54 m2 (16.58 sq ft) Feedwater heater 15.5 m2 (166.8 sq ft) Heating surface 82.2 m2 (884.8 sq ft)
Performance figures Maximum speed 64 km/h (40 mph)
Career Nicknames "Iita" First run 1906 Withdrawn 1964 Disposition One preserved (No. 489), at the Finnish Railway Museum
information from [1] and [2]

Vk3 492 on a funeral train from Harju Morgue, Helsinki, Finland to Malmi cemetery in 1931

All the Class I locomotives were used for local transport until the mid-1920s. After the mid-1920s the more efficient Class N1 locomotives entered service and the Class I locomotives were transferred to the shunting duties.

Locomotive No. 456 was the first state railway locomotive to be fitted with a superheater; the results were successful and from then on, almost all the Finnish State Railways steam locomotives were fitted with superheaters.

Locomotive No. 489 was built in 1909, was equipped with a superheater, and was initially used for local traffic around Helsinki. It served for 55 years before being withdrawn from shunting duties in 1964. It is now preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum.