Richmond-Kurrajong Railway 0-6-0 Locomotives in Australia

Class Windsor (Locobase 5881)

Almost as soon as railways in Australia were dreamt of, residents began agitating for new lines out of Sydney. Alan Aldrich of [] site implies that the citizens of Windsor and Richmond envied the success of the Parramatta line and eventually won a 60,000-pound government grant (originally 57,000 pounds in 1860) to establish the 16 1/4-mile line from Blacktown. It was to use 40-lb rail and horse traction, but the Government's Engineer-in-Chief for Railways John Whitton held out successfully for 55-lb rail and steam power. The line opened on 1 December 1864.

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 (works number 88), Sydney (works number 109), and Richmond (works number 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 in 1923.