New South Wales C38 class locomotive

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New South Wales C38 Class
3801 with Newcastle Flyer.png
3801 on a Newcastle Flyer charter in October 2005
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Builder Clyde Engineering (5)
Eveleigh Railway Workshops (13)
Cardiff Locomotive Workshops (12)
Build dateJanuary 1943 – November 1949
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 4-6-2
Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.5 ft 9 in (1,753 mm)
Wheelbase 65 ft 7+1⁄8 in (19.99 m)
Length76 ft 5 in (23.29 m)
Total weight201 long tons
(204 tonnes; 225 short tons) when in steam
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity14 long tons
(14.225 tonnes; 15.680 short tons)
Water cap.8,100 imp gal
(37,000 L; 9,700 US gal)
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		47 sq ft (4.4 m2)
Boiler pressure245 psi (1.69 MPa)
Heating surface3,367.79 sq ft (312.878 m2)
 • Tubes142 tubes, 2+1⁄4 in (57.1 mm) dia each
 • Flues36 flues, 2+1⁄4 in (57.1 mm) dia each
Superheater36 element
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 21.5 in × 26 in
(550 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Tractive effort 36,273 lbf (161.35 kN)
Career
Operators New South Wales Government Railways
Class C38
Number in class30
Numbers3801–3830
Locale New South Wales, Australia
First run22 January 1943
Last run29 December 1970
Preserved 3801, 3813, 3820, 3830
Disposition4 preserved, 26 scrapped

The C38 class (occasionally known as the 38 class and nicknamed "Pacifics" by some railwaymen) was a class of steam locomotive built for the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia.

Contents

Constructed between January 1943 and November 1949, the 30 locomotives in the class were designed to haul express passenger services throughout New South Wales. They were the only New South Wales locomotives to use the popular Pacific 4-6-2 wheel arrangement and were the last steam locomotives in the state to be built for passenger train operation, all subsequent deliveries being specifically for freight haulage. [1]

Design

C.38 Class Locomotive Cab Controls NSWGR C.38 Class Locomotive Cab Controls.jpg
C.38 Class Locomotive Cab Controls

The 38 class were first conceived in the 1930s when the NSWGR established there was a need for a locomotive to eliminate the complications of double heading on a number of fast intrastate passenger trains. [2]

The design was influenced by the fashion for streamlining at the time, including elements of the class J locomotives of the Norfolk and Western Railway and of some of the streamlined versions of the PRR K4 locomotives in the United States. The design team was headed by Harold Young, the Principal Design Engineer (later Chief Mechanical Engineer) of the NSWGR. [3] The conditions of trackwork with frequent sharp curvature to be traversed at high speed would require six-coupled driving wheels in a 'Pacific' 4-6-2 configuration. Maintenance requirements suggested a two-cylinder simple steam locomotive.

The design was carried out by the NSWGR Locomotive Section of the Design Office and incorporated the latest developments in locomotive design from Australia and overseas. The incorporation of as many Australian manufactured components as possible was a requirement at the design stage. [3]

Similarly to the earlier D57 class (which had some input from Young), the massively proportioned locomotive incorporated a cast steel chassis. The design also sported cast Boxpok coupled wheels for better rotational balance, and a Delta trailing truck. [3]

History

In May 1939, an order for five 38 class locomotives was placed with Clyde Engineering. [4] They suffered many delays during construction, mostly due to resource shortages caused by World War II and the Great Depression. The first five locomotives, built by Clyde Engineering, had a semi-streamlined boiler casing. However with this design, the firemen could not maintain steam in the 245 psi boiler – the highest boiler pressure of any engine in Australia. In early trials on the Southern line, 3801, the class leader, was allocated two firemen. The fault was located when it was found that the shape of the blast pipe prevented steam from the cylinders from passing optimally into the petticoat pipe below the chimney, through which it was ejected to the atmosphere. In turn, this reduced the suction of hot gases through the boiler tubes, making it more demanding to fire. Soon the blast pipe was adjusted, and the C38 class became noted for the clean "bark" of its exhaust. [3]

As the last of the five initial locomotives were leaving the shop in 1945, a decision was made to purchase more. This order of 25 locomotives were built at the New South Wales Government Railways' Eveleigh Railway Workshops (13, even-numbered) and Cardiff Locomotive Workshops (12, odd-numbered); all were non-streamlined for quicker maintenance. [3] [5] [6]

The locomotives built by Clyde Engineering were delivered in wartime grey. After the war, all were repainted green, as the 25 unstreamlined locomotives had been from new. In the 1950s, all except 3813 were painted black. 3801 and 3830 had their green livery restored due to pressure from heritage groups in the 1960s. [5] [7]

Among the services they initially hauled were the Central West Express , Newcastle Flyer , Melbourne Limited Express, Riverina Express and South Coast Daylight Express as well as the overnight mail trains. Because of their axle load, they were confined to operating between Sydney and the following extremities of operation: Port Kembla (Coniston), Albury, Dubbo and Maitland, although they worked the North Coast passenger trains to Brisbane until track problems surfaced. [6]

Following the arrival of the 42, 43 and 44 class diesel locomotives in the 1950s, these began to take over some express services, but the 38 class continued to haul many passenger and freight trains. Even after the electrification of the Main Western line to Lithgow in 1957 and the Main North line to Gosford in January 1960, using 46 class electric locomotives, the 38s still operated the Central West Express between Lithgow and Orange into the 1960s and the Newcastle Flyer between Gosford and Newcastle until December 1970. [8]

The 38 class briefly returned to the former Melbourne Limited Express route in April 1962, when 3830 and 3813 hauled the inaugural standard gauge Spirit of Progress from Albury to Sydney. The first 38 class locomotive was withdrawn in 1961 with the last withdrawn in December 1970. [5] [7]

In August 1970, 3801 hauled the Western Endeavour to Perth following the conversion to standard gauge of the Sydney–Perth rail corridor with 3813 assisting as far as Port Pirie. In April 1988, 3801 again operated to Perth during the Australian Bicentenary. [6] [9]

Locomotive 3801 featured in an evocative 1974 short film, A Steam Train Passes , which won many awards and is generally regarded as Australia's finest railway film. [10]

Roster

Streamlined 3805 NSWGR Class C.38 Locomotive Streamlined.jpg
Streamlined 3805
Streamlined
LocomotiveBuilderBuilder's NoBuiltIn ServiceWithdrawn
3801 Clyde Engineering 463Dec 194222 Jan 194319 Oct 1965
3802Clyde Engineering464Mar 19438 Apr 194331 Jan 1967
3803Clyde Engineering465Aug 19439 Sep 194329 Feb 1968
3804Clyde Engineering466Jan 194410 Feb 194429 Oct 1965
3805Clyde Engineering467Feb 19452 Mar 1945Dec 1961
Non streamlined 3820 NSWGR Class C.38 Locomotive Non-Streamlined.jpg
Non streamlined 3820
3830 at Sydney 3830 (NSW Steam Locomotive) 2005.jpg
3830 at Sydney
Non streamlined
LocomotiveBuilderBuilder's NoBuiltWithdrawn
3806 Eveleigh Railway Workshops 15819451967
3807 Cardiff Locomotive Workshops 159194628 Sep 1968
3808Eveleigh Railway Workshops16019461968
3809Cardiff Locomotive Workshops16119461969
3810Eveleigh Railway Workshops16219461969
3811Cardiff Locomotive Workshops16319461969
3812Eveleigh Railway Workshops16419461965
3813Cardiff Locomotive Workshops165194612 Sep 1970
3814Eveleigh Railway Workshops16619461966
3815Cardiff Locomotive Workshops16719471967
3816Eveleigh Railway Workshops16819471966
3817Cardiff Locomotive Workshops16919471963
3818Eveleigh Railway Workshops17019471968
3819Cardiff Locomotive Workshops17119471963
3820 Eveleigh Railway Workshops172194729 Dec 1970
3821Cardiff Locomotive Workshops17319481962
3822Eveleigh Railway Workshops17419471970
3823Cardiff Locomotive Workshops17519481967
3824Eveleigh Railway Workshops17619481969
3825Cardiff Locomotive Workshops17719481969
3826Eveleigh Railway Workshops17819481961
3827Cardiff Locomotive Workshops17919481970
3828Eveleigh Railway Workshops18019491969
3829Cardiff Locomotive Workshops18119491966
3830 Eveleigh Railway Workshops18219491967

Preservation

5 of the 38 class locomotives survive-3801, 3803, 3813, 3820 and 3830. 3813 is in pieces at Dorrigo after an overhaul in 1972 by the former NSW Rail Transport Museum was forced to be stopped by the then commissioner of the Public Transport Commission, Philip Shirley who ordered that the locomotive's parts be transferred to the scrapyard. The NSWRTM managed a reprive and the parts were sent to be stored in many locations. Components such as the wheels, cab and smokebox were stored in S trucks at Thirlmere, the frame and tender at Clyde and the boiler at Castle Hill until they were donated to the Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum. Over time all were donated to the Dorrigo museum and put in storage there. [11]

Preserved C38 class locomotives
No.DescriptionManufacturerYearOrganisationLocationStatusRef
3801 4-6-2 express passenger Clyde Engineering 1943 Transport Heritage NSW Thirlmere Operational NSW Heritage Register Locomotive, Steam 3801
38134-6-2 express passenger Cardiff Locomotive Workshops 1946 Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum Dorrigo Dismantled
3820 4-6-2 express passenger Eveleigh Railway Workshops 1947 Transport Heritage NSW Thirlmere Static exhibit NSW Heritage Register Locomotive, Steam 3820
3830 4-6-2 express passengerEveleigh Railway Workshops1949 Powerhouse Museum Thirlmere Stored Powerhouse Museum Locomotive 3830

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References

  1. ↑ "Some Notes on the C38 Class 4-6-2 Locomotive" Young, Harold Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin December 2003 pp443-463
  2. ↑ The C38 Class, John. B. Thompson pp3 'Why the 38's'
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Leon., Oberg (2010). Locomotives of Australia 1850s–2010 (5th ed.). Kenthurst, N.S.W.: Rosenberg Publishing Pty ltd. ISBN   9781921719011. OCLC   631100395.
  4. ↑ "The 38 Class Part 3" Roundhouse July 1981 page 22
  5. 1 2 3 Flyer. Sydney: New South Wales Rail Transport Museum. 1970. pp. 35–40. ISBN   0-909862-16-8.
  6. 1 2 3 Grunbach, Alex (1989). A Compendium of New South Wales Steam Locomotives. Sydney: Australian Railway Historical Society, NSW Division. pp. 210–229. ISBN   0-909650-27-6.
  7. 1 2 Oberg, Leon (1984). Locomotives of Australia 1850's – 1980s. Frenchs Forest: Reed Books. pp. 168–170. ISBN   0-730100-05-7.
  8. ↑ Preston, Ron G (1992). 3801 A Legend in Steam. 3801 Limited. ISBN   0-646-11931-1.
  9. ↑ "3801 West" Railway Digest July 1988 page 250
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". www.digitales.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ↑ "Preserved Steam Locomotives Down Under – 3813".

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