New South Wales 4-6-0 Locomotives in Australia

Class C36 (Locobase 15989)

Data verified and supplemented from 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at [] . See also John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p.84, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11 March 2015 email supplying the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website.)

NSW - Everleigh shops (10) and Clyde Engineering (65) produced these engines, which are based on the C35s but have outside piston valves. Seventy-three were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers; see Locobase 2412.

Class C36 -- rebuilt (Locobase 2412)

Data verified and supplemented from 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at [] . See also John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p.84, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11 March 2015 email supplying the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website.) and some data from Peter Cokley in Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000 edition).

Total weight of engine and tender was 359,072 lb. NSW - Everleigh shops (10) and Clyde Engineering (65) produced these engines, which are based on the C35s but have outside piston valves. All but two were rebuilt with Belpaire boilers, vessels whose higher pressure setting produced the performance sketched in the specifications. Except for two that were retired early, all of them also had their copper fireboxes replaced with an all-steel version that included two arch tubes that contributed 12 sq ft (1.1 sq m).

Class NN-1027/C35 (Locobase 2411)

Data from "4-6-0 Express Locomotive, New South Wales Government Railways", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXI [21] (15 July 1915), pp.147. See also 2 January 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at [] . See also Capt. Sir Robert J Walker, Bart., MA, "Railway Travel in Australia", Railway Magazine, Volume 40, p. 341.

Passenger engines with much taller drivers than heretofore seen on the NSW. Like many NSW engines of the time, the design had a Belpaire firebox and inside valves. NNs were rated to haul trains of 300 tons up a 2 1/2% (1 in 40) grade at 16 mph (26.4 km/h).

Lucy, the locomotive superintendent testified to the design's economy and reliability: "I sent one engine through from Sydney to Albury, roughly speaking 400 miles [644 km], turned it and ran back again another 400 miles, with express passenger trains, on 44 lbs of coal per mile [12.4 kg per km]...Flaman's speed recorder shows that on occasions the engines of the 'NN' class travel at 69 miles per hour [111 km/h)"

The weights shown in the 1961 handout reflect the 1937 modifications that included a new frame, new boiler, rebalanced drivers, and more sheltered cabs. Adhesion weight now came to 138,275 lb (62,271 kg) and engine weight rose to 182,448 lb (82,757 kg).

Class O/Z-23 (Locobase 9648)

Data from Locomotive Engineers Monthly Journal, Vol. XXV, No 4 (April, 1891), p. 315 and Thomas Fletcher Birrell, "The Railway System of New South Wales," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, August 1893, p.343. Item notes: v.29 (1893). See also Thomas Fletcher Birrell, "The Railway System of New South Wales", Report 614, American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions, Volume 28 (August 1893), pp. 326-356, esp.341-348; DeGolyer, Volume 16, p. 225 and Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Alleged Defectiveness and Unsuitability of the Baldwin Locomotives--Apointed March 15, 1892 (Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printers, 1892). (See Appendix D2 for a detailed elevation drawing of this class.) (Thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 25 February 2015 email giving the later class ID for the O class.) Works numbers ran 11643, 11647, 11649-11650, 11654, 11658 in February 1891; 11664, 11674, 11686, 11712, 11724, 11736 in March.

The title of the Royal Commission report conveys the controversy aroused by the purchase, production, and delivery of these twelve Ten-wheelers. Like other American engines running on rails hitherto reserved for British locomotives, the Baldwins encountered withering skepticism that grew from long and satisfactory experience with British locomotives, doubt that American locomotives could match the quality of the English engines, many detail differences, and fundamental differences in philosophies in construction and operation.

It is possible to dip into the book and turn up any number of fascinating details and disputes. Spend some time on the 300 pages of absorbing give-and-take in the examination of witnesses, for example.

On page 302, the correspondence between NSWGR and Baldwin begins with an acknowledgement that the railway sought "twelve powerful American passenger engines,provided that the builders can guarantee early delivery" because they needed the power soon and British engines would take too long to arrive. The railway noted two Baldwin designs--one recently supplied to the Baltimore and Ohio Railway (Locobase 1251) and another delivered to the New York, Lake Erie & Western's design (Locobase 391)--as well as a Rogers design recently delivered to the Chesapeake & Ohio (Locobase 5420).

Negotiations between parties half a world apart in the days of telegraph, cable, and steamship were taxing enough, but the NSWGR's desire to reduce engine weight led to changes that Baldwin warned would produce a less satisfactory locomotive.

One apparent misapprehension in particular underscores the difficulty of issuing a rush order over an 11,000 mile distance. The Railway Commissioners confirmed Baldwin's offer supply twelve Ten-wheeled express engines and tenders similar to those recently supplied to the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. The guarantee they asked for (and Baldwin declined to give) was for the engines to haul a passenger train seven cars up a grade of 116 feet per mile, and 17 miles long, at a speed of 25 miles per hour. The Railway Commissioners added that these engines would usually haul "trains weighing 152 gross tons (340,500 lb.) up long grades of 130 feet per mile at about 22 miles per hour. The regular load up the 176-foot grades would be 120 gross tons (269,0001b.) without engine or tender. (p. 84 of the Report).

Baldwin pointed out in a later reply that the Commissioners had apparently conflated two reports seven pages apart the same issue of the Railroad Gazette. According to Baldwin, they referred to the B&O engine's performance, but apparently used the New York, Lake Erie & Western's design as a reference for the grate area they requested. (This in itself confuses the issue still more because, as Baldwin points out, the Erie engines had wider anthracite-burning grates that rode above the drivers.) The dialogue continues for several pages of the Appendix beginning on page 302.

This one issue was eventually resolved to allow the larger grate after the New South Wales noted that they only objected to a maximum cab width of 9' 6" (instead of a preferred 9' 3") at the deck level, not the grate level.

The Commission's verdict found that after delivery the twelve Baldwins revealed "various defects" that Baldwin remedied at their own expense. One substantial exception to the generally minor impact of such failing was the failure of improperly treated bogie and tender axles. Baldwin investigated and laid the blame on a subcontractor whose work they said had to that point been acceptable. After tests determined the cause, the railway replaced the bad axles with steel shafts. The report added that three tender tires broke and twelve-fifteen engine wheels worked loose and delared that great care needed to be taken to ensure that all axles and wheels were made of suitable materials and properly manufactured.

The Commission concluded that the Baldwin engines did not overtax the NSWGR's permanent way as it was more strongly built than the railroads over which similar Baldwins ran in the United States. Indeed, they suggested that "on the contrary, their flexibility renders them less likely to spread the road than the more rigid engines of English manufacture."

Finally, the Commission found that the passenger engines carried the loads up the grades at the speeds required in the specifications. They added that readers should remember that the class's "chief purpose ...was to draw heavy loads over lines of railway most exceptional in their character, on which steep gradients and sharp curves are of frequent occurrence, especially on the Western line, which is stated to be more difficult to work than any of the Alpine railways."

After an unequivocal endorsement of the Baldwins' worth, the three commissioners signed their report on the Fourth of July, 1892. Despite the report's exoneration, Baldwin would build only 20 of the much more numerous P class (Locobase 2410) that began arriving in Australia in 1892. These had very similar dimensions, but carried a larger firebox.

Birrell discusses this engine class in terms of its boiler's low center of gravity.

A later rebuild reduced the tube count by six and total evaporative heating surface area by 6.5 sq ft (0.52 sq m). Still later, all of the Os were superheated beginning in 1918; see Locobase 15978.

Class O/Z-23 (Locobase 15979)

Data from John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p. 78, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11March 2015 email for supplying the data for the O/Z-23 upgrades and the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website that archives a copy of the Steam Locomotive Databook for preview or sale.)

Locobase 9648 shows the original O class built by Baldwin as a rush order in 1891 and the controversy surrounding its design and operation.

The Os were nonetheless a long-lasting class, all surviving to be superheated in 1918-1928; the Os were redesignated Z-23 in 1924. The drier steam was admitted to new cylinders through 8" (203 mm) piston valves. Fitzpatrick says the NSW built superheated Belpaire boilers for this class from 1923 to 1925. He adds:"There were only four of these boilers built and they were fitted at various times to 2301, 2303, 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2310 and 2311. As a result, these locomotives had Belpaire or roundtop boilers at different times."

Some of the engines received new cylinders with piston valves cast integrally and parallel to the cylinders. He can't say for sure how many Z-23s received this modification but says 2306 certainly was one of them.

By 1935, the fleet had run 9,645,000 miles.

Tthe first Z-23 headed for the scrapyard in May 1933, the last in September 1946.

Class P-6/C32 (Locobase 2410)

Data from the Powerhouse collection's entry [] (accessed 6 September 2006), later available at [], last accessed 8 January 2023. See also "English Locomotives in New South Wales", Engineer, Volume 75 (10 February 1893), pp. 128-129; Appendix E, inter alia of Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Alleged Defectiveness and Unsuitability of the Baldwin Locomotives--Apointed March 15, 1892 (Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printers, 1892; and Thomas Fletcher Birrell, "The Railway System of New South Wales", Report 614, American Society of Civil Engineers Transactions, Volume 28 (August 1893), pp. 326-356, esp.341-348.

See Locobase 9648 for the account of the twelve O class locomotives from Baldwin bought in an emergency in 1890-1891. Although the Baldwins survived intense scrutiny, the NSWGR continued to prefer English-built products even as they established their own ability to build locomotives. 106 of these express passenger and fast-freight engines were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. Clyde Engineering added 45, Baldwin 20, and NSW's Everleigh shops 20. Baldwin's 20 had slightly different specifications; see Locobase 10978.

According to Powerhouse, the first 50 locomotives (BP builder's numbers 3400-3449) arrived in 1892-1893 and were nicknamed the "Manchester Engines". They were rated to pull a 170 ton train load up a 1 in 40 (2 1/2%) grade at 20 mph (32 kph). The NSW was satisfied enought to order 20 more (BP 4211-4230) in 1901

Powerhouse's detailed look at this class includes the following summary of reasons for their longevity: "Some of the reasons ...may lie in the fact that the 32 class were popular with train crews, being good steamers and capable of a "good turn of speed". Furthermore, mechanical staff found them simple and easy to maintain and repair while administrators considered them economical to run and failures were infrequent. They were so versatile that the 32 class could work anything from express trains to mixed traffic and even shunting."

Delivered with long, straight boiler barrels, Belpaire fireboxes and inside slide valves with Allan motion, many were later refitted with superheaters and piston valves; see Locobase 7831.

Class P-6/C32 - Baldwin (Locobase 10978)

Data from Record of Recent Construction #54 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1905), p. 4-5; and DeGolyer, Volume 28, pp. 36+ . Works numbers were 25750-25769 in May 1905.

See Locobase 2410 for the main C32 entry. This was the only batch to come from North America. The illustrations show how readily Baldwin would accommodate itself to other countries' requirements to gain export orders. Compared to the Anglo-Australian C32s, this batch had somewhat less boiler heating surface and a slightly smaller grate in its Belpaire firebox.

All but two (3278, scrapped in February 1957 and 3287, scrapped in May 1959) operated into the 1960s. 3289 was the only one to usher in the 1970s and it was scrapped in September of that year.

Class P-6/C32 - superheated (Locobase 7831)

In Locobase 2410, the P-6 as delivered is described. Data for the superheated engines shown in this entry comes from John Forsythe (Archive Officer, Transport House), Steam Locomotive Data, Public Transport Commission of NSW [New South Wales], July 1974, p.81, archived at [], last accessed 12 March 2015. (Many thanks to Brett Fitzpatrick for his 11 March 2015 email supplying the link to the CoalsToNewcastle website.) See also 2 Jan 1961 publicity handout from the NSW reproduced at [], and Powerhouse collection's detailed entry at [] (accessed 6 September 2006)

Like most of the other NSWGR engines, the entire class of standard Ten-wheeler received a superheater. Beginning in 1914, the NSW installed the Schmidt superheater, enlarged the cylinders and fitted 9" (279 mm) piston valves. Otherwise, the railway saw little reason to change what was a very successful design.

Even so, the NSW chose to put new frames under the boilers for about 1/3 of the class in 1937-1947. The 69 refreshed locomotives' axle loading increased to 36,960 lb (16 t 10 cwt), adhesion weight rose to 104,840 lb (46 t 15 cwt 3 q), and engine weight reached 146,916 lb (65 t 11 cwt 3 q).