Australian Locomotive Specifications

North East Dundas Tramway Class K (Locobase #794)

The Railway Engineer has the original patent drawing of Garratt's invention and it is interesting chiefly in how it differed from the K-1. FirLocomotive Engines. 17,765. 26th July, 1907. II. If. Carrait, 25, Leweston Place, Portland Avenue, Stamford Hill. This invention relates to a double bogie engine having a large boiler with a low centre of gravity and large driving wheels on both bogies. The boiler and fittings are carried on a frame of the shortest length practicable, connected at both its ends to self- driven bogie tanks by swivel heads d. Steam cylinder c, with the necessary driving gear, are carried on the bogies. (Accepted 11th June, 1908). The sketch showed a "typical" Garratt, but with tall drivers and a truck under the nether ends of the tanks.

http://www.rosebery.tco.asn.au/visitors.htm describes the railway for which these first-ever Garratts were built. The context is walking routes on the West Coast of Tasmania [Don't you just love the Web?]

"Montezuma Falls: Tasmania's Highest Waterfall:

Walk Length : 7 Kilometres

Time: 3+ hours return.

... The existing track was orginally constructed in 1889, for the North East Dundas Tramway, which ran from Zeehan to Williamsford on a two-foot gauge track. The track travelled from Zeehan a distance of 29 km between the mountains and valleys surounding the picturesque Montezuma Falls to service the mines of the Ring Valley and Hercules on Mt Hamilton near Williamsford. The railway cost the government of the day well over 170,000 pounds and took more than eighteen months to complete ....

"... The railway closed in 1925 [other sources say 1929] and much of the evidence of its existence has long since disappeared but enough remains of the old formation to excite the passion of any history buff. Several examples of early timber bridge building techniques are still well preserved and one must be amazed by the fine job of surveying which took place to mark out the original route along the hillside which at times is close to vertical with the Ring River rushing along many metres below."

K-1 wound up back in England to operate on a tourist railway.

Hoffman Steam Brick Co / SAR Class I (""Durty Gert"") (Locobase #5885)

Works number was 2980 for this compact, but relatively large and certainly broad-gauge saddle-tanker. Colquhoun says there's no information on the locomotive's work history until Waring & Rawdon is shown as owning it in 1903. After working on Sydney's Outer Harbor construction in 1908, it was taken into the SAR in 1910. After another 19 years of service (41 all told), Durty Gert was retired on 8 April 1929 and scrapped a year later (10 May 1930).

Magnet Tramway Class 2 (Locobase #8414)

See Locobase 8413 for an extended comment of this railway's two Mallets. Waller described this little tank as "...a good and efficient machine, and [it] does excellent work for its size. At the worst of times it pulls comfortably a gross load of 15 tons up the six-mile stretch of heavy [4%] gradient." Increasing the burden by even 3 tons overmatched the locomotive's boiler with the result, he observed, that it "...cannot make steam fast enough to keep this up for a long distance."

Magnet Tramway Class 1 (Locobase #8413)

One of Locobase's great pleasures as he assembles the world's steam locomotives is spotlighting a particular engine in a particular environment. And when the location is the west coast of Tasmania and the engine is this little Mallet and the documents a contemporary report by the Tramway's head, its exoticism exudes a heady perfume indeed.

In exploiting the mineral deposits strewn about the West Coast, the mining companies had to figure out how to move the extracted ore to a port. In the case of the Magnet Range, which had some rich deposits but more numerous pockets of lower-grade ore of iron, manganese, silver, and led, its exploiters first tried a pack road with animals, but quickly saw that they needed more power. A 2 3/4-mile horse-powered rail tramway followed, but "...such a means of transport was utterly incompetent to deal with the ore available." So Waller turned to steam locomotives to move his minerals along a 6-mile track. The line eventually had 10 miles of track that included 196 curves!

An O & K 0-4-0T came first, followed by the first of two Mallets. Waller's detailed analysis of the fit between locomotive and service deserves close attention by any student of the period. The #1 could handle 35 tons gross up a 4 % grade (1 in 25) "quite comfortably" and proved economical on fuel, burning 50-80 cubic ft of wood in a 20-mile trip or about 170 lb of coal. Waller notes that while coal has a 2 1/2:1 advantage in calories per ton, wood fuel (in this case, myrtle cut in 2 1/2-ft lengths) was much cheaper. He acknowledged that getting the best, and more important, the fastest work out of a locomotive would require coal and if the traffic was heavy enough, "...it would pay to use coal exclusively."

Waller liked the combination of the long engine wheelbase and short rigid wheelbase implicit in the Mallet layout. The former made for a steadier locomotive, while the latter allowed more power on a very curvy layout. He also noted that the engine ran equally well in either direction. It was, however, "under-cylindered" with a boiler that could supply 8 1/2" x 12" cylinders. "In ordering another engine, I should increase these diameters to 9 and 13 1/2 inches; the engine would then have ample power for an emergency, a point in which it is deficient at present."

Derek Bayliss's comments following the IRR's publication of an article on Orenstein & Koppel said that #1 was joined by #3 of the same design in 1903-1905; later research credited the engine with O & K works #2609 and entering service in 1907. After the Magnet Tramway closed (in 1940), the two worked for other 2' mining tramways on the island. The IRR editor explained as well the unusual location of the HP cylinders behind its set of drivers as a way to encourage a longer wheelbase on the rear, fixed set. This contributed to a larger grate, which REW notes was the "main point" of the O & K adaptation of the basic Mallet design.

South Australian Railways Class V (Locobase #5886)

This is the smallest 0-4-4T in Locobase and one of the smallest Cape gauge locomotives as well. The first 4 came from Beyer's in 1876 (works # 1597-1599 and 1619). They were assigned to the South East. All were rebuilt in the 1890s in the following order: #11 (October 1891), #12 (December 1892), #10 (July 1894), and #9 (October 1896). At the same time as the rebuilding project, SAR went to the local builder James Martin for 4 more to serve in the Northern District. These were works numbers 67-70.

As all the locomotives were essentially the same age after the reconstruction of the earlier quartet, retirements fell in similar, broken patterns. 145 went first in July 1924 with 11 following 11 days later. Thirteen years passed and 144 went in June 1937 with 10 being condemned in November. 1940 saw one retirment - 12 in March. The last two carried on for many years with 146 finally retiring in May 1953. 9, the first was also the last, being condemned in April 1955 -- 79 years after it first went to work.

South Australian Railways Class Gd (Locobase #5675)

Originally delivered to the Holdfast Bay Railway in 1880 (works # 2044-2045, railway # 4 &5), the pair of tanks went to the Glenelg in November 1881. The SAR took them over on 16 December 1899. Both were condemned on 2 June 1925.

South Australian Railways Class J - rebuilt (Locobase #5679)

These freight locomotives were originally delivered in 1875 (works # 1422-23). They were rebuilt in the year shown and that's the version Colquhoun's data reflects. #32 was condemned in April 1923, but 33 operated for another 11 years.

Victorian Government Rlys Class Y (Locobase #2395)

Several were superheated in 1904 and most were rebuilt between 1904 and 1909 with the boiler whose data is shown in the specifications.

http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/ notes that they were known as "free steamers and were reasonable riders for their 0-6-0 wheeel arrangement." Y-class engines often were used with suburban tank locomotives on the Box Hill/Ringwood and the Caulfield lines as well as for special race trains and Sunday excursions.

Scrapping began in 1926 and the number was gradually reduced until the last was withdrawn in 1963.

Commonwealth Railways Class NB (Locobase #6690)

Unusual quartet of saddle-tanks in several respects. First of all, they were supplied by Vulcan (works #2532-2533, 2539-2540) to contractors building the RAN's Henderson Naval Base in Western Australia.

Nine years later, the Commonwealth Railways bought the earlier two (2532-2533) to operate on the narrow-gauge Central Australian Railway. 29's withdrawal in October 1946 was followed by years in mothballs until it was scrapped in July 1958.

30 soldiered on a few years longer, going into mothballs in April 1950. Seven years later, however, the locomotive was converted to a diesel-hydraulic, which must be so unusual a modification as to be perhaps one of a kind.

In August 2006, Graeme Reid of Australia sent Locobase some photos of #4, a saddle-tanker with the builder's number of 2539. Locobase believes the engine must be similar or identical to the two described above and in fact the site says it too was used in the construction of the Henderson Naval Base. This is confirmed by http://www.prr.org.au/cms/content/view/152/52/, which relates all four locomotives' later history.

The Bellarine Peninsula Railway website -- http://www.bpr.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27, accessed 21 August 2006 -- shows 2 (or 3) in this grouping as they also have #5 (VIW 2540) and they seem to be unsure if #4 is 2539 or 2541 (a builder's-plate switch?). #5 also served the construction crew. Then both were sold to Australian Portland Cement in 1926 to work at the Fyansford Cement Works. It was from the latter that the two came to this museum railway.

Richmond-Kurrajong Railway Class Windsor (Locobase #5881)

The three locomotives ordered from Manning Wardle were technically "box-saddle-tanks", the water tank sitting as a rectangular box over the boiler. Enlarging this tank in 1872 led to an increase in all-up weight to 43,904 lb (19 tons 12 cwt) and raised the factor of adhesion to 7.53.

Windsor (MW works # 88), Sydney (works 109), and Richmond (works 89) were originally 15, 16, and 16 (second) but soon numbered 29, 31, and 30 respectively.

For 15 years, these locomotives held pride of place on the Blacktown-Richmond line, amassing 289,698 (Windsor), 340,083 (Sydney) and 333,301 (Richmond) miles, respectively . Replaced by larger machines, all were sold to tramways in 1890-1892. Richmond was scrapped in 1892, Windsor & Sydney i 1923.

South Australian Railways Class Kitson goods motors (Locobase #5677)

Small freight locomotives from a well-known Glasgow builder early in its career (works #s were 142-143). Although quite modest in power, they still proved satisfactory enough to last 38 years, being condemned on 11 July 1923.

South Australian Railways Class K (Locobase #5680)

Unusual wheel arrangement with a relatively low percentage of the total weight on the drivers for the type. The first 3 (works # 1824-6) went into service in February 1879. 37 (works 1851) followed 9 months later, and 42 (works 1936) landed 13 months after that. Three more (works 2246-48) arrived in February 1883, 3 more (2305-7) in October 1883, and the last 6 were built as a sextet (works 2530-2535) but delivered in two batches in November 1884 and February 1885.

One of Colquhoun's numbers seems out of sequence. He credits locomotive 60 with works 2124, yet it arrived considerably later than the others in June 1887.

Most were rebuilt early in their careers and all lasted until 1936 in most instances although 4 stayed in service for 20 more years.

South Australian Railways Class C (Locobase #5673)

Data from Douglas Colquhoun's entries presented in the Australian national railway museum site: http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/exhibitions/dc%20loco%20pages/Class%20index.doc (visited 14 October 2003).

South Australian Railways Class G (Locobase #5674)

Although all of them eventually wound up on the SAR, engines 156 and 161-162 (works # 1901, 1900, 1902, respectively) were delivered to Holdfast Bay Railway in November 1881. Later moving to the Glenelg Railway as 2, 7, & 8, the trio came to the SAR in 1899 (161-162) and 1902 (156).

The other engines were supplied by BP in 1869 (works # 858-859) and 1886 (works # 2739-2741).

Except for the 161, condemned on 12 December 1904, the class was retired as a group on 5 June 1923.

South Australian Railways Class A (Locobase #5882)

Three healthy well tanks. The latter two (19 and 20) actually arrived first, in 1868. (Works # 1827-1828). Five years later, works # 2108 arrived and took #1. Each locomotive was rebuilt over a long period of time: #19 in December 1883, #1 in May 1889 and #20 sometime in 1893. All were withdrawn in the mid-1920s.

South Australian Railways Class X (Locobase #5690)

South Australian Railways Class Y (Locobase #2429)

(Chris Drymalik's http://www.railpage.org.au/comrails/cr_locos/index.html gives a firebox heating surface of 76.2 sq ft for the Yx for a total of 796.2 sq ft. Commonwealth Railways procured 18 Yx-class engines in two batches - 8 in 1941-1942, 10 more later in 1942. These were classed as NFB.) These are the numbers given for the ex-Tasmanian Government Railways Fs that were transferred in 1949.

Australian Portland Cement Class 1 (Locobase #532)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at http://users.powernet.co.uk/hamilton/dimensions.html

(6 September 2005).

Victorian Government Rlys Class G (Locobase #534)

G41 lasted until 1960, when it was scrapped. G42, which had been overhauled in 1954 when it was moved from Moe-Walhalla to Colac Crows, went into storage in 1962.

Weiner (1930)

Western Australian Government Class M (Locobase #535)

(6 September 2005).

Western Australian Government Class Ms (Locobase #536)

(6 September 2005).

Superheated version of class M; BP works # 5665-5671

Follow-on to first Western Australia Double Mogul Garratts, these being fitted with superheaters.

Western Australian Government Class Msa (Locobase #6847)

(6 September 2005).

Obviously based on the pre-World War I Ms class supplied by Beyer, Peacock (Locobase 536), this set of Double Mogul Garratts came from the WAGR's own shops as works #46-55. The grate size grew while the boiler was unchanged.

Tasmanian Government Class L (Locobase #795)

After being stored for most of the 1930s, they were revived briefly for wartime use, then scrapped in the late 1940s.

Broken Hill / SAR Class 0 (Locobase #5888)

This Prairie tank - works #3357-- proved too heavy for the Broken Hill line, so South Australian and BHP swapped engines for a while. (BHP used #11 of the V class). In 1901, the locomotive found its permanent home in Whyalla, working the Hummocky Hill tramway until 1962. Now preserved.

Victorian Government Rlys Class NA (Locobase #1000)

According to http://www.whitfieldrail.netc.net.au/loco.htm (consulted Sept 2001), the two prototypes (see the compound version at Locobase 4895) served the Wangaratta-Whitfield line.

Scrapped in March 1929.

Victorian Government Rlys Class NA (Locobase #2396)

Used on Victorian Rwys branch lines (such as the 26-mile Me Hilhalla (apparently aka Walhalla) Railway, Beech Forest Line, and the 44-mile Colac Crows Railway) with 60-lb rail climbing gradients of 1 in 30 (3.33%) and very tight curvatures.

A hint of the operating style of a 2 1/2' gauge railway comes when you link the maximum permissible speed -- 20 mph --with the purpose description -- mixed traffic. Even so, they ran for decades and of the 17, six - 3A, 6A, 7A, 8A, 12A, 14A -- were either in service or undergoing overhaul on the Puffing Billy Railway in 2007.

Data from Peter Cokley in Bryan Attewell's Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000 edition)

Victorian Government Rlys Class NA (Locobase #4895)

See Whitfieldrail.netc.net.au/loco.html about the locomotives and the narrow-gauge Wangaratta to Whitfield branch they travelled over.

New South Wales Class A/E E 10/Z20 (Locobase #2404)

A photo shows a straightforward design, but with an odd spacing between the first and second driving axles. Could it be because of the location of the inside cylinders and the consequent need to clear the first axle in order to drive the second? A later upgrade included a Belpaire firebox

Commonwealth Class K (Locobase #2733)

Note: The weight on drivers is undoubtedly too high, being derived by a straight multiplication of the maximum axle load.

Commonwealth Class KA (Locobase #3318)

These were slight modifications of the earlier K class. The first 20 were produced by Walker Engineering in Maryborough, Queensland and entered service between August 1919 and June 1920. Apparently none of these was ever superheated and most were withdrawn from service in the early 1940s.

The last six, manufactured by Perry Engineering at Gawler, were introduced first from September 1918 to September 1919. All were superheated in 1943. These operated until the late 1940s.

http://www.railpage.org.au/comrails/cr_locos/index.html

Victorian Government Rlys Class C (Locobase #2386)

Designed by WM Shannon of the VR with an eye toward reliability and maintainability. The design included a Belpaire firebox and a surprising turn of speed. Although its nominal speed limit was 50 mph, it would do 60 mph with a passenger train on some lines.

Still, its boiler was relatively small for the cylinders it served and the class struggled when called upon to pull the heavier passenger trains of World War II. A trial conversion to oil-burning in C15 in 1946 rejuvenated the design, particularly in its ability to boil more water quickly as steam was used, and all 26 were converted. They also received smoke deflectors similar in style to those seen on German locomotives in 1948.

The first was delivered in 1918, the others followed in 1921 (5), 1922-1926 (20). Withdrawals began in June 1954 as the class was replaced by S-Class diesels.

Victorian Government Rlys Class K (Locobase #2392)

http://www.steamrail.com/au notes that the engine's operating range was 50-70 miles per water tankful, 200 miles per load of coal, and the Ks could hit 50 mph.

http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/

Victorian Government Rlys Class J (Locobase #2391)

See http://www1.railpage.org.au/vr/locos/j.html .

Commonwealth Class L (Locobase #3319)

As http://www.railpage.org.au/comrails/cr_locos/index.html, the source of much of this information, points out, however, the Commonwealth didn't really want more steamers as the available coal was quite poor. Only a reluctance on the government's part to finance diesel purchases led them to adopt the Ls. Delivery was held up by strikes and shortages as well as a preference for South Australian (doubtless because they already had 700s in service) and in the interim the Commonwealth Government changed its financing policy to allow diesel purchases. As a result, most of the Ls never actually pulled a train. They were scrapped in the mid 1960s.

New South Wales Class D59 (Locobase #2418)

Like all late Baldwins, the cast-steel frame had integral cylinders. These and the 10" piston valves could be relined.

A photograph shows them to have had the orthodox American good looks mated to a stubby tender. So small a tender was necessary to fit the assembly on a 60' turntable.

Data from publicity handout reproduced at htt;://homepages.ihug.com.au/~nickel/6002.htm

Queensland Government Rlys Class AC16 (Locobase #4390)

An article on the http://www.sunsteam.org.au website notes that the origin for this class came from a Queensland Railways plan to order 20 more C17 4-8-0s from the US. A counter-proposal suggested building a 2-8-2 design that could be delivered sooner than copying a wheel arrangement that had seen little service in North America. Soon, the US settled on the MacArthur design that had been developed for several narrow-gauge railroads.

Sixty were promised, but ultimately 20 arrived (Baldwin works #69451-69470), later than originally hoped, more expensive, and apparently less capable. And the laundry list of complaints suggested a poor fit between locomotive and railway. In particular the axle boxes suffered high wear even as the locomotives squeezed out the track. Perhaps the main reason was the very light rail (41 3/4 lb per yard) and indifferent quality of the underlying ballast.

Also the tender jumped around alarmingly at speeds above 30 mph because of lively springing.According to http://wuiskepromotions.com.au/wuiskemodels/info/steam/ac16.htm (4 April 2004), that was due to a design flaw in the tender that allowed the coal plate to drop all the way to the floor. When the tender was nearly empty, its front bogie would have little or no weight on it and the tender would jump.

But all would be put right. The QR was able to reprofile the driver tread, take some thickness of the flanges on the second and third driver sets, substitute brass axle boxes for the cast-iron originals. Finally in 1959 the standard C16 tender proved the answer for the jumpy tenders.

Ultimately, the verdict turned favorable because, according to the account, these locomotives could pull the same load as a C17. Moreover, "In service, they proved they could handle those loads well, particularly on heavy rising grades. This was due to an excellent boiler with its ability to supply steam to the cylinders and it made them a good worker."

Withdrawals only began in the last 1960s.

South Australian Railways Class 740 (Locobase #5689)

These were repeats of the 700 class built well after World War II against an order for 40 locomotives by the new People's Republic of China. That order was cancelled and Clyde sent 10 of them to the SAR.. A short service life ended for most of them ended in 1963-1964.

Victorian Government Rlys Class N (Locobase #2422)

http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/exhibits/nrm_752.html (25 October 2003) gives details on the history of this class. Designed by AE Smith, this class was produced over a 26-year period.

10 of these went to South Australian Railways in 1951 as the 750 class. There they were unpopular with their crews, according to the National Rail Museum website, because they had cramped cab dimensions compared to the home-grown Mikes.

Victorian Government Rlys Class X - copper (Locobase #7688)

Mark Bau, editor of the Victorian railways site, says the X class was delivered by Newport in several groups and in several variants over a long building period punctuated by gaps of several years. He comments: "A heavy goods loco, the X's were basically a gauge convertible C class with a decent size boiler, and a booster unit. (except X 36). They were a much respected loco by the drivers and fireman that worked them. The X's were the most powerful goods locos VR ever rostered. "

The first set of 9 had round-top boilers. Eight of these were produced in 1929 and the ninth came 8 years later in 1937; this one was delivered with "elephant ear" smoke deflectors that came standard for the rest of the class.

These later were rebuilt with the Belpaire firebox introduced as new-construction standard in 1938 when Newport delivered 39-45. 1942 saw 3 more arrive (46-48) and the class was finished with another 3 (49-51) in 1943.

The diagram shows two versions, one with a copper firebox, one with a steel one; the steel one had more heating surface; see Locobase 7689.

Victorian Government Rlys Class X - steel (Locobase #7689)

This entry shows the variant with the steel firebox that, when including the thermic syphons, added 36 sq ft to the original firebox heating surface. Locobase does not know if the steel firebox also used the Belpaire construction technique. If so, all of the X class eventually had steel fireboxes.

Western Australian Government Class V (Locobase #2873)

They were introduced late in the steam era because the railroad had large resources of soft Collie coal to draw from. These engines operated out of York on the Albany-York "Great Southern" route as well as the Trans section between Midland and York and were rated at 1,600 tons. Nock (RWC VI, pl 41) contends that these were the most powerful non-articulateds to run on an Australian 3'6"-gauge line.

Their retirement came in 1971 when all of steam was replaced by diesel

According to http://www.pemtram.com.au/Steam%20Locomotive%20Driving%20Experience%20Course.htm (visited 30 Dec 2003), fuel consumption amounted to approximately 20 miles/ton (30km/tonne) of coal and the V used water at the rate of 79 US gal (65 Imp gal)/mile (185L/km). (In 2003, this website offered two levels of engine driving experience on the surviving V1213. The Full Course duration was approximately 7 hours (including 1 + hours lunch break) and cost $450 Australian. The Basic Course duration was approximately 3 + hours and ran $325 Australian.)

South Maitland Railway Class 10 (Locobase #7569)

Batch #02253-022554 (works#6125-6127) (Production data from The Beyer, Peacock production list -- http://www.beyerpeacock.co.uk/loco%20list/Customerlist.PDF, last accessed 29 May 2006).

These tanks were put to work on the coal trains running from the many collieries in the Maitland, New South Wales area. Fourteen 2-8-2Ts were supplied to Heatley & Company (the owners) from 1912 to 1925; the specs in the BP catalogue are likely representative of all 14. Like many BP engines, they all sported the Belpaire firebox

According to the Friends of the SMR Railways site -- http://www2.tpgi.com.au/users/irener/friendsofsmr.htm, accessed 14 June 2006 -- these "double-enders" could operated equally as fast in either direction and "were designed especially for the short Coalfields runs." Also see the http://www.nswrail.net/library/smr.php (accessed 14 June 2006) for heaps of information on the entire complex of collieries owned by the South Maitland Railway.

South Australian Railways Class 720B (Locobase #5688)

The only "Berkshires" in Australian service, these were enlargements of the "Mighty 700s". Five were delivered in 1930-1931, 3 each in 1938, 1939, 1942, and 1943. Before the class's retirement in 1958-1960, the least-used of the class had accumulated 411,097 miles in service. Of those delivered in the early 1930s, the class leader covered 729,376 miles before its 14 April 1960 withdrawal.

New South Wales Class Class 79//C12/Z12 (Locobase #2400)

Hollingsworth (1982) says that 68 engines were supplied: 30 from Beyer, Peacock in 1877, 26 from Dubs & Company, 4 more from Beyer, Peacock in 1881, and a final 4 from Atlas Engineering of Sydney. According to the Powerhouse Museum web exhibit -- http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/opac/88-5.asp, last accessed 2 June 2006, the designs firebox heating surface was later increased to 94 sq ft. The museum also notes the short, straight, free-steaming boiler, raked smokebox, slightly inclined outside cylinders, tall thin stack, brass steam dome, and circular windows in the cab as delivered. In the 1890s, a refit introduced the Belpaire firebox and an upright smokebox

OS Nock (RWC II, pl 30) points out that the leading truck wasn't a bogie that turned around a central pivot. Instead the 4-wheel Bissell truck was carried on a radial arm that pivoted from a point just ahead of the leading driving axle.

Noting their long service (as much as 80 years), Hollingsworth concludes that their simplicity --"the steam locomotive's trump card" -- was the key. This "classic" design, he says, "came near the ultimate in this respect."

South Australian Railways Class D class (Locobase #3798)

Drymalik notes that they came in singles and pairs. Two landed in 1859, two in 1862, two in 1866, and two in 1867.

All 8 were rebuilt in the 1880s with a smaller boiler (805 sq ft). This was not a tight class for retirements. The first (D11) in 1896, D17 followed in 1900, then D9 and D15 in 1904. For some reason, the others didn't follow until the late 1920s (D16 & D18 in 1928, D12 in 1929, and finally (and improbably, given that she was the first in service) D8 in November 1932.

South Australian Railways Class H (Locobase #5678)

SAR # works # In service

25-27 1992-4 May 1871

28-29 2015-6 October 1872

30-31 2128-9 August 1874

2-3 2303-4 June & July 1877

All were rebuilt in the 1880s, with 25 & 26 going out of service soon thereafter. The others all carried on into the 1920s, with 2 the last to be condemned in February 1930.

Data from Douglas Colquhoun's entries presented in the Australian national railway museum site: http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/exhibitions/dc%20loco%20pages/Class%20index.doc (visited 14 October 2003).

South Australian Railways Class L (Locobase #5681)

This quartet was delivered as 4-4-0T tank engines (builder's numbers 1883-1886), but clearly that didn't work out well as all 4 were rebuilt as tender engines within the year. The revision just as clearly satisfied the railroad as all of the class remained in service for at least 45 years and 3 made the 50-year mark.

South Australian Railways Class Q (Locobase #5685)

This large group of 8-wheelers was supplied in two batches, one from Great Britain (well, Scotland) and one from Australia itself. The first 15 were built as a batch by Dubs & Company of Glasgow (works # 2030-2044). Six years later the James Martin company of Gawler supplied 7 more (works # 45-51).

No important changes apparently made to the class, although they were soon replaced by the 78" drivered S class in mainline service. But they carried on for decades. Except for #79, which was withdrawn in July 1923, the others were retired in two blocks in 1936. The James Martin engines went first in April (as did Dubs-built 89), and 12 more in December. #90, for some reason, was held off from the scrapper until August 1956.

South Australian Railways Class S (Locobase #5686)

This class of high-drivered express engines was built entirely in Australia in 3 batches. Six (works # 71-76) were delivered in February-April 1894, six more (works # 93-98) that October, and the last six (176-181) in late 1903-early 1904.

From the time of introduction, these were the SAR's principal express engines. In addition to running between Serviceton and Tailem Bend on the mainline, the S' class worked northern routes to Terowie and Kapunda. In later years, this meant double-heading because of the increasing weight of the trains.

As locomotive artist Peter Ormsby -- http://www.steamtrainartist.com/steam_train_drawing_gallery.html (visited 25 October 2003) -- notes on his website, the S class was squeezed out of mainline operation in the 1920s both by new 600-class Pacifics and by the acquistiion of American diesel railcars - 12 from Service Motors (Wabash, Ind) in 1924 and 35 JG Brill "Barwell Bulls" in 1926.

Relegated to secondary service, for which their tall drivers didn't really suit them, the S class was superseded in the 1930s by the 620-class light Pacifics. Even so, the locomotives remained in service into the mid-1950s, with a few retiring only in 1960 and 1961.

South Australian Railways Class Ge (Locobase #5676)

Originally delivered to the Glenelg Railway in 1896 (works # 3873-4, railway # 11-12). , The SAR took them over on 16 December 1899. 165 was condemned on 4 June 1935, more than 6 years after 166, which was retired on 9 April 1929.

Colquhoun's data shows 13 x 16" cylinders, but a tractive effort commensurate with 13 x 18". I've adopted the later stroke.

Tasmanian Government Class M (Locobase #796)

Wiener (1930) make this trenchant comment about this unusual solution to the need for power in a narrow-gauge setting: "It is because the Garratt design permits the use of a boiler of relatively high evaporative power that it is possible to use so many cylinders. This is, however," he adds drily, "not to be recommended."

Wiener and Gavin Hamilton (http://users.powernet.co.uk/hamilton/dimensions.html, accessed 6 September 2005) agree that the Ms had the same boilers as the Ls, but used twice as many cylinders. Each bogie had the four cylinders arranged abreast, each outside one driven by Walschaerts, each inside counterpart operated by Gresley conjugated gear. All drove the leading coupled axles.

www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/railtas/loco/garratts.htm comments that "despite their haulage abilities and speed [they] were difficult to maintain and were withdrawn some time after the arrival of the R-class Pacifics in1924 (BP numbers were 5523-5524.)

New South Wales Class NN-1027/C35 (Locobase #2411)

Data from 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at htt;://homepages.ihug.com.au/~nickel/35class.htm

New South Wales Class C36 (Locobase #2412)

Data verified and supplemented from 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at htt;://homepages.ihug.com.au/~nickel/36class.htm

New South Wales Class P-6/C32 - superheated (Locobase #7831)

Remarkably, every one of the 191 engines delivered was still in service as of 1954, when replacement by diesel engines began

Queensland Government Rlys Class PB15 (Locobase #3779)

Cokley tells us that the PB15 grew out of the earlier B15 freight engine, but with the driver diameter increased to 48". Designed to the specifications of the line's Chief Engineer H Horniblow, this class was one of the most numerous to be supplied by an Australian locomotive builder.

They were used in both passenger and freight service on very light rail ("pioneer style branch lines" Cokley terms them) such as the South Brisbane-Beenleigh line. PB15s were built over 27 years (1899-1926) and a few saw out steam in 1962. The particular locomotive run on the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway tourist line in the 21st Century came to that venue as follows:"It was sold to K.R. Hunter's Pioneer Valley Amusement Park after its retirement in August 1970. from where a group of Ipswich and Brisbane enthusiasts purchased, it on that venture's failure."

Silverton Tramway Class A (Locobase #7523)

Batch #0882 (works# 5912-5913) (Production data from The Beyer, Peacock production list -- http://www.beyerpeacock.co.uk/loco%20list/Customerlist.PDF, last accessed 29 May 2006).

These engines ran on a private railroad established to bridge the political gap created when the states of New South Wales and South Australia couldn't agree on which of their railways should operate over their joint border. The main line - which opened in 1888 - ran 56 km (35 miles) from Broken Hill & Silverton in NSW to Cockburn in South Australia.

Beyer's modestly scaled Tenwheelers had saturated boilers and Belpaire fireboxes.

South Australian Railways Class N (Locobase #5683)

This pair (works numbers 5238, 5241) were among the few SAR locomotives imported from the USA. Although among the most powerful engines in Australian service at the time of their delivery, increasing demands led to a significant rebuiild in 1904. See Locobase 5684.

South Australian Railways Class N - rebuilt (Locobase #5684)

Originally imported in 1881 as 130-psi engines, this pair was rebuilt by the SAR shops with 25% larger boilers, a slightly deeper firebox, and a larger tender carrying 1/3 again more water. Adhesion weight increased by 18% while the maximum axle loading only increased by 4%, according to Colquhoun's specs. Locobase regards that as unlikely. Whatever the details, the rebuild created locomotives as powerful as the Rx 4-6-0s, but with taller drivers. They continued in service until August 1925 (#52) and 18 June 1928 (#53).

Victorian Government Rlys Class A2 (Locobase #2385)

The first 125 were completed with Stephenson link motion, the last 60 getting Walschaerts radial valve gear. A measure of their importance to the Victorian state rail system is that out of 640 locomotives altogether, 185 were Class As. Some were converted to-oil firing

Victorian Government Rlys Class DD (Locobase #7568)

Batch #0333(works# 5912-5913) (Production data from The Beyer, Peacock production list -- http://www.beyerpeacock.co.uk/loco%20list/Customerlist.PDF, last accessed 29 May 2006).

This batch of Ten-wheelers were part of the long-running program that supplied the Victorian with the great bulk of its low-axle-loading locomotives. Like the others, the twenty from BP had Belpaire fireboxes, slightly inclined outside cylinders, a tall, rounded dome over the first two driving axles, and front bogie with large wheels.

http:\\www.steamrail.com\au. and http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/

Victorian Government Rlys Class D3 (Locobase #2389)

Data from http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=locomotives&class=D3&orgstate=V&type=Steam, last accessed 6 September 2006. See also http:\\www.steamrail.com\au. and

http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/

New South Wales Class C38 (Locobase #2413)

NSW - Everleigh shops turned out 13 of these Pacifics, NSW - Cardiff contributed another 12 and Clyde Engineering delivered 5 streamlined versions. CME Harold Young of the NSWGR was the designer, who built these engines only after his proposal for exotic 4-6-4+4-6-4 Express Double Baltic Garratt was turned down. (This engine would have had Cossart-driven poppet valves on 4 18" x 28" cylinders, 65 sq ft of firegrate, 70" drivers, and a tractive effort of 55,000 lb.) (Information from http://www.geocities.com/history117/steaming_south.htm, visited 11 October 2002).

C38s represented the latest in conventional steam locomotive design, having cast steel frames with integral cylinders, roller bearings on all the axles, power reverse, air sanding, rocking and dumping sections in the grates. As the specs show, the boiler was huge in relation to the cylinders and steam was distributed using 12" piston valves -- clearly this locomotive was meant to steam easily.

One limitation the Powerhouse museum site (www.powerhousemuseum.com/opac/88-4.asp, 10 Oct 2004) notes:

"Despite their size, the 38s were hand fired and required constant feed of their 48 square foot grate. A typical run from Sydney to Newcastle would consume 4 and a half tons of coal, giving the toiling fireman no opportunity to rest."

All of this enabled the C38s to take 450 tons up the 1.33% Albury incline. One mild criticism from OS Nock (RWC VI, pl 28): "Like all Pacifics, they were inclined to slip on starting ...But with more generous provision of sand and increased experience, this was largely overcome. " He adds that despite their relatively small drivers, they hit speeds of more than 70 mph "with ease." Steaming_south claims that these engines regularly produced more than 2,000 hp at the rail and reached speeds of better than 80 mph.

The class carried on well into the 1960s with the last leaving service in 1969.

Some data from Peter Cokley in Bryan Attewell's Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000 edition). Data supplemented by 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at htt;://homepages.ihug.com.au/~nickel/6002.htm

Queensland Class BB 18 1/4 (Locobase #8584)

These Pacifics had low axle-loadings and could negotiate quite tight curves.

Tasmanian Government Class M (Locobase #8580)

Pipe-festooned Pacific based on the Indian Government Railway's YB class that fulfilled all the requirements for this twisting, hilly narrow-gauge line. Like the Vulcan Foundry H-class 4-8-2s described on Locobase 8579, these Pacifics (works #7421-7430) had cast-steel SCOA-P drivers and roller bearings on every axle including the 4 under the tender, the main (connecting) rod, and the side (coupling) rods. Unlike the Hs, however, these engines had Belpaire fireboxes.

The Hobart-Launceston passenger service needed light but powerful engines, notes OS Nock (RWC VI, pl. 106), so this design used welded construction for such components as the inner steel liner to the Belpaire firebox, ashpan, and parts of the tender's tank. Line curvature is as tight as 330 ft radius, "and personal observation from the footplate has confirmed that they do ride these severe curves both smoothly and comfortably."

Four were rebuilt as MAs for freight work; see Locobase 2872.

Retirements came in the early 1960s, although M5 remained in service until 1971 as a suburban-traffic, special-service engine.

Tasmanian Government Class MA (Locobase #2872)

In 1957-58, four of the M-class Pacific engines were retrofitted with 48" drivers taken from Garratt locomotives and smaller pony-truck wheels. A change in weight distribution added a little more than 1 long ton to the adhesion weight. Tractive effort went up, but they were had a significantly lower factor of adhesion.

These were designated MA 1-4 and were the ex-M8, M1, M6, and M2, respectively. They tackled the more challenging North East line.

Victorian Government Rlys Class S (Locobase #2591)

Built to handle the Melbourne-Sydney expresses from Melbourne to the NSW border at Albury (where the gauge changed), these big engines were the only 3-cylinder engines adopted by an Australian road. The inside valve was actuated by the Holcroft-Gresley conjugating gear.

All of the engines eventually were named: Matthew Flinders, Sir Thomas Mitchell, Edward Henty, and CJ Latrobe. Between 1936 and 1938, they all wore a streamline, shovelnose casing resembling that used on the Canadian National's 4-8-4s. The streamlining marked the debut of the air-conditioned "Spirit of Progress" train sets.

http://www.nex.net.au/users/reidgck/S-TRAINS.HTM (October 2002) gives these particulars about the 4 locomotives: (He gives a figure of 570 sq ft for the superheater). See also http://www.victorianrailways.net/motive%20power/diagrams/stedia.html, accessed 14 July 2006.

S301 (Sir Thomas Mitchell, built 1929), with worn cylinders due for replacement, and a mileage of 1,147,408 was the first of the class to be scrapped in October 1953. Usable parts were stored for possible further use.

S302 (Edward Henty, built 1929) during its life of 25 years, held the greatest mileage with a total of 1,446,468. It was scrapped in July 1954.

S300 (Matthew Flinders, built 1928), after covering 1,254,806 miles, was withdrawn from service on September 17, 1954.

S303 (C.J. Latrobe, built 1930), with a mileage of 1,139,978 was scrapped in May 1954.

The four S class were converted from coal to oil in 1951-52. Newly introduced Diesel electric locos took over the run.

When the VR moved to diesels in the early 1950s, these engines left service.

Western Australia Class Ec (Locobase #4085)

In February 2008, Steve Gunnell emailed Wes Barris, who then hosted Locobase entries covering several types, including those used in Australia. He was able to supply the designation for this class. Upon further investigation, Locobase determined that what he listed as a Ten-wheeler was in fact the first Pacific class built in any number by Baldwin for anyone. (It just preceded a simple-expansion batch for New Zealand's Government Railways that is often credited with being the first Pacifics.)

Oberg says these were bought from Baldwin as "emergency power" to pull trains on the Eastern Goldfields route. He notes that the class - which entered service in August 1901 -- could pull a 40% heavier train than existing goods engines and accomplish the task in an hour to hour-and-a-half less time. As the Christmas rush approached, the Ecs were pressed into passenger service where the railway found that one Ec could easily deputize for two of the locomotives previously used.

One defect that appeared in this class was stress-fracturing in the frames such that almost 8 out of the class of 20 had their frames replaced within 5 years. The source of the stress was the thrust of LP cylinders into which high-pressure steam had been introduced to raise starting tractive effort.

Ecs were converted to simple-expansion engines by 1925 and were superheated in the bargain. Redesignated L class, they proved highly useful in branch-line service and were only withdrawn when X-class diesels were ready to replace them in 1954.

South Australian Railways Class F (Locobase #2425)

Data from Douglas Colquhoun's entries presented in the Australian national railway museum site: http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/exhibitions/dc%20loco%20pages/Class%20index.doc (visited 14 October 2003).

Colquhoun's table shows that most of these locomotives were converted to oil-burning in the late 1940s, fitted with a heating coil soon after and reconverted to coal-burning some time later. Most were retired in the late 1950s, early 1960s.

http://www.steamranger.org.au/enthusiast/steam.htm , a museum-railroad site visited on 20 October 2003, says they were "...primarily used for working the suburban lines to Semaphore, Outer Harbor, Henley Beach, Belair and Marino prior to the introduction of the Red Hen Railcars in 1955-56." When heading up the Adelaide-Alberton Alberton Flyer, Fs could be induced to hit 60 mph (97 km/h). They served other lines and later went into switching service in the Adelaide yards and Islington shops.

Victorian Government Rlys Class R (Locobase #2393)

Express passenger locomotives, but with 72" drivers and a max speed limit of 70 mph.

They showed an interesting blend of European, British, American, and Australian practice. The slotted pilot is Australian, the long sand dome American, the Belpaire firebox and cab British, and the mid-line smoke lifters ("elephant ears") European.

OS Nock (RWC VI, pl 104) states that these were the high-end engines procured under VR's post-World War II "Operation Phoenix" rehabilitation program. He notes that they featured many modern elements including self-aligning roller bearings, frames of 5" bar, cast steel fittings,and 11" piston valves.

http:\\www.steamrail.com\au, a museum site in Australia, says the design was to be produced in Australia, but was contracted out to North British at a cost of 36,187 pounds each. Steamrail adds that when many of these engines arrived from North British Locomotive in 1951-1953, they had significant corrosion damage from their sea voyage on deck. Repairs at the Newport shops required between 10 and 300 days before they were pronounced fit for use.

Although they were gradually supplanted by B-class diesels, some Rs remained in service as long as 17 years, the last engine retiring on 25 November 1968. The class rang up 12,000,000 service miles. Water range was 100-120 miles, coal range was 230-250 miles.

New South Wales Class S-636/C30 (Locobase #2409)

Note the high weight and low drivers suitable for good traction and rapid acceleration in suburban commuter service. 77 of these were converted to C30T 4-6-0 tender engines from 1928-1933. By 1961, the system had 67 left in service.

Data from 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at htt;://homepages.ihug.com.au/~nickel/3030.htm. This source notes that some of the C30s on the North Shore line had 19" cylinders and 175-psi settings for more tractive power.

Western Australian Government Class Ut (Locobase #7494)

The UT is a conversion of the Class U Pacific, a class originally built for operations in the Sudan (see Locobase 4486) and supplied to the WAGR in 1946-1947. For the latter, the locomotives were converted to oil-burning. The UT's boiler and running gear were essentially unchanged, the changes being concentrated in crafting a fixed oil-fuel bunker, side tanks that ran from cab to smokebox, and a 4-wheel trailing truck.

At the time of writing, the 1958 correspondent claimed that the engine accelerated "smartly" and kept suburban railcar schedules easily, including the taxing Perth to Fremantle, a 14-stop run over 11 miles covered in 34 minutes. Consumption when hauling a 4-car, 74-ton train amounted to 36 Imp gallons of water and 4.25 Imp gallons of oil per mile. Given that the goal was two round trips without refuelling or watering, the 50-mile water range was sufficient.

On the other hand, the rail heritage Museum of Western Australia (http://www.railheritagewa.org.au/museum/u_loco.htm, accessed 17 April 2007) notes that while "[t]he Ut locomotive was able to easily keep to the railcar schedule[,] [f]urther conversions were not undertaken due to the high running costs. The Ut was used intermittently until withdrawn in 1970"

Midland Railway Class 19 (Locobase #3228)

Queensland Government Rlys Class C16 (Locobase #3322)

The Downs Street website -- http://au.geocities.com/downssteam/story3.html, accessed 19 Sept 2006 -- notes that all but 10 of these locomotives were still in service in 1950. They were light-footed engines

Queensland Government Rlys Class C17 (Locobase #4388)