New South Wales 0-6-0 Locomotives in Australia

Class A(93) /Z19 (Locobase 2403)

See also [], last accessed 4 December 2011 and John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p. 68, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11March 2015 email supplying the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website.) Beyer, Peacock & Co. delivered 56, Henry Vale 16, NSW's shops at Everleigh 7, Robert Stephenson & Co 1.

The A(93)s were long-wheelbase six-coupled goods engines with with the front-middle axle spacing considerably greater than the middle-rear axle distance. Total weight of engine and tender was 137,760 lb. The specs show the engines as delivered, when they were regarded as heavy freight engines.

In the late 1880s, South Australian Railways' locomotive superintendent William Thow praised the A(93)'s sound qualities, but in view of the greater traffic demand, recommended that the class be upgraded. Beginning in 1897, the engines were refitted with a larger 150-psi boiler mated to a Belpaire firebox. Total heating surface then came to 1,322 sq ft (122.8 sq m) and grate area increased to 17.9 sq ft (1.66 sq m). Weight increased to 84,000 lb (38,102 kg).

In that same period (1896), the A(93)s began to be supplanted by more powerful 2-6-0 and 2-8-0 types. At that point, the class was diverted to lightly built branches that scaled "steeply graded" mountain profiles associated with segments reaching toward Batlow, Dorrigo, Oberon, and Tumut (not actually an Australian law firm). Their combination of low axle loading and a useful amount of power also suited requirements for coal-train shunting and regular shunting.

Class E-17 Class (Locobase 1084)

Data from Leon Oberg, The Locomotives of Australia - 1854-2007 (, 2008, 4th ed), pp. 27-29 and John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p. 52, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11March 2015 email supplying the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website.)

Oberg explains that steep grades (as high as 1 in 30 or 3.3%) on the newly built Goulburn and Bathurst prompted the purchase of six of these engines from Robert Stephenson & Company in 1865. To add to the stud, Sydney-based builder Vale & Lacy produced 17 more over the next decade and a half. The design had an unusual driver spacing in which the wheelbase between the first two axles was considerably greater than that between the second and third.

Although most were sold off beginning in 1889, four went to the state's Public Works Department where they supported railway construction until that function was incorporated into the New South Wales Government Railways.

The last of the class to go out of service was #18 of the Southern Coal Company in Corrimal; it was withdrawn in 1963.

Class Old Buck (Locobase 12345)

Data from "History of Locomotive 20N NSWGR JABAS 4 " as detailed on [] . Works number was 1620 in 1870.

This saddle-tanker gained its nickname first, then its number. The nickname was applied to the engine when new (of course) and in service to the contractor JB Watt. Watt used it for one section of the Great Northern, then handed it on to Messrs John Alger & Son, who were building the Parkville - Murrurundi section.

The NSWGR bought Old Buck in June 1872 and numbered it 20N. The engine served the Northern Division (which was not connected to the rest of the railway) until 1891 and amassed over 23,000 miles a year on average.

The NSWGR sold it in May 1891 to the private colliery owned by J. & A. Brown to run on their Richmond Vale Railway between Hexham and Browns' collieries at Minmi. Rebuilt twice with new boilers and many other components, the 4 ran for another 76 years.

After its retirement, the 4 was purchased by the Rail Transport Museum in August 1973